Thoughts brought on by a conversation with two non-Republican friends

The speech on Iraq fell short of expectations because of a problem the President has. It’s a problem he shares with most of the Republican Party, where it seems to be endemic: the man simply cannot f__king communicate. His speech did not give the impression that things were going to improve; he failed entirely (in my opinion) to emphasize that our rules of engagement were to change, which I think was the most important part of the whole thing. he inteds to let our troops try and WIN for once, but he certainly didn’t seem eager to say so to us. Instead we all got the idea that he was just sending another 25,000 men into the meat grinder.

If we were to change tactics and make it that much clearer that we were doing so, I think public opinion of the war would significantly improve — I think a lot of Americans agree with the principle on which we’re over there, but they don’t agree with the half-assed methods we’re using to fight it. But too many people, myself included, took away the wrong impression from Bush’s speech: that we weren’t fixing our tactics, just sending more guys in to do the same goddamned thing — the same useless and unsuccessful shit we’ve been trying for the last three years.

 

So I think, for obvious reasons, that this is a REEEEEALLY bad idea

But my fiancee wants to travel to England someday.

And I can’t think of anything to say to her on the subject that she won’t brush off as mere paranoia.

HELP.

 

Why the Hamdan decision is not a bad thing

Technically, it ought to be seen as a setback that SCOTUS does not want us to set up military tribunals for captured terrorists – when you have the Supreme Court treating the Geneva Convention like some kind of holy writ (and ignoring certain parts of it that piss off the Left), you have a problem on your hands.

But this will set things up for the Republicans beautifully, in one of two ways: 1) What we do with our prisoners of war is a much better issue to run for re-election on than flag defacement or gay marriage. 2) It gives our soldiers less of a moral dilemma about what to do with enemy combatants – don’t capture the Allahu Akbar shouters, kill them where they stand.  The latter may sound ruthless, but even the Geneva Convention says that you no longer have to play by the rules if your enemy disguises himself by not wearing a uniform.

 

So are we talking to Iran or aren’t we?

Because I just heard on Fox News that we’re opening diplomatic relations with Iran for the first time since the hostage crisis that killed Jimmy Carter’s presidency… and then I hear on CNN that we’re not actually going to sit down at the table unless Iran holds off on their nuclear-enrichment program.

Ah well. I guess it’s a case of “do nothing till you hear from Condi.”

 

The real lesson of Flight 93

Americans are willing to fight for their lives – but only when they recognize that they are in mortal danger.  They will fight the enemy, but only if they can look into his eyes and see the incontrovertible truth that they are about die.  If they do not see hatred and murder rising in the eyes of their opponent, they will stand back and whine about "just getting along" until the bastard whips out a gun or a blade or a detonator and makes a quick end of them.  The fighting spirit of America does not die, but it lies, not even dormant, but comatose within us.

But when we see that we are doomed, then we will finally awaken, and our death throes shall be great.

"Nothing in his life / became him like the leaving it; he died / as one that had been studied in his death / to throw away the dearest thing he ow'd, / as 'twere a careless trifle." Macbeth I.iv

 

The Democratic Plan for Victory in 2006-2008

Step 1. Wait for your political opponents to piss off their constituency, then leap on them like wolves on a bleeding deer.

Step 2. Take away their seats in the legislation come election time.

Step 3. Spend the next two years undoing everything they did – or more exactly, everything they didn't stop the White House from doing.

Step 4. Presidential authority should be sufficiently undermined that, after you win Congress back, he will be effectively paralyzed as a political animal for the remainder of his term.

 

Turn their lyrics against them – Part Three?

I'm not sure if this one counts as Part Three; the song's intention seems to be a bitter satire on both forms of political extremism.  The Leftists could use it as a criticism of the Bush administration, and the Right Wing could use it as a shot at the violence of lefty rioters and the murderous intentions of the left (and if you think I'm exaggerating, I know a few guys who say that they WOULD like to kill President Bush and the only thing that stop them is the fear of having Dick Cheney replace him).

GENESIS: "THE KNIFE"

(for those that trespass against us)
Tell me my life is about to begin
Tell me that I'm a hero
Promise me all of your violent dreams
Light up your body with anger
Now, in this ugly world
it is time to destroy all this evil
Now, when I give the word
get ready to fight for your freedom
Now -

Stand up and fight, for you know we are right
We must strike at the lies
That have spread like disease through our minds
Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest
And we'll spread out our kindness
To all who our love now deserve
Some of you are going to die -
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide

I'll give you the names of those you must kill
All must die with their children
Carry their heads to the palace of old
Hang them high, let the blood flow
Now, in this ugly world
break all the chains around us
Now, the crusade has begun
give us a land fit for heroes
Now -

Stand up and fight for you know we are right
We must strike at the lies
That have spread like disease through our minds
Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest
And we'll spread out our kindness
To all who our love now deserve
Some of you are going to die -
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide

We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom ("Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom…")
We are only wanting freedom ("Things are getting out of control here today")
We are only wanting freedom ("OK men – fire over their heads!")
We are only wanting freedom

WE HAVE WON

Some of you are going to die
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide.

 

Turn their lyrics against them Part Two

Disturbed, “Just Stop”

Just stop enough of the venemous critical comments on my life
Just stop the judgment and all of your pseudo-involvement in my life
Sit back a moment, and look at the miracle starting in the light
Don’t stop a moment, and let the incredible happen knowing that

All that you want is to criticize
Something for nothing
And all that I want is forgiveness one more time
To be the best in the world

Just stop with all of your little deliberate problems with my life
Enough of all the crippling, terrible pain we feel inside
Step back a moment, remember how the miracle started in the light
Take back the torment; I’ll only enjoy this moment knowing that

All that you want is to criticize
Something for nothing
And all that I want is forgiveness one more time
I know that
All that we want is to feel inside
Some kind of comfort
With all that we’ve done
We can hide
We’ll be the best in the world

All I ever wanted was to be a real source of compassion
From the moment that we found ourselves drowning
All I ever wanted was to be a real source of compassion
From the moment that we found ourselves drowning

All that you want is to criticize
Something for nothing
And all that I want is forgiveness one more time
I know that
All that we want is to feel inside
Some kind of comfort
With all that we’ve done
We can hide
We’ll be the best in the world
We’ll be the best in the world

Just stop enough of the venemous critical comments on my life
Just stop the judgment and all of your pseudo-involvement in my life

 

Turn their words – or LYRICS – against them.

Several well-known musicians and bands openly ally themselves with the far Left (incidentally, where are the wingnut-Rightie bands? – and the “Bush Was Right” guys don’t count)… I propose that we take their lyrics and turn them inside out. Why not edit a bootleg video for a piece by Nine Inch Nails, or perhaps Disturbed, so that their bile and vitriol appears to be aimed at the murderers and religious nuts of the Middle East?

The material is there; the potential is there; all we need is to actually make it a reality. It’d be fun to yank their chains for once…

LYRICS SAMPLE #1: Nine Inch Nails, “The Hand That Feeds” – snark aimed at Christian Right, possibly reworked as warning to “moderate” Muslims

You’re keeping in step, in the line
Got your chin held high and you feel just fine
‘Cause you do what you’re told
But inside your heart it is black and it’s hollow and it’s cold

Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you wanna change it?

What if this whole crusade’s a charade
And behind it all there’s a price to be paid
For the blood on which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine

Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you wanna change it?

So naïve
I keep holding on to what I wanna believe
I can see
But I keep holding on and on and on and on

(Repeat x8)
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?

 

Gun control as paranoia

My own personal theory: People who agitate for the banning of guns do so on the basis of an unconscious and unacknowledged fear of coming to grief at the hands of somebody holding a gun.

Paranoia is the fear that someone is subliminally directing a great deal of aggression at you. It is a personalized fear – you believe, not only that a threat exists, but that you yourself are the direct target of the threat. 

Briefly stated, they want to get rid of guns because deep down inside they’re paranoiacally afraid that someday, for some reason, they’re going to get shot at.