You're rubber, I'm glue....wait, switch that
El Presidente made a speech pertaining to the occupation of Iraq today, and it has been very interesting to note the change in his vocabulary regarding it over the past year. Since we have arrived there, he's been preaching this constant line of "Mission Accomplished!" and "Victory this, victory that". Now, however, some of the blood he's so willingly spilled is perhaps showing on his hands, and a more somber president has arrived. Well, at least a more somber political strategy.
What irritates me the most about the president, I think, is that his whole mantra seems to be "Right or wrong, whether you agree with me or not, it is my decision to make and I stand by it." Last time i checked, "stubborn" wasn't on the list of the seven virtues. Making a bad, poorly-informed decision and backing it with even worse actions IS NOT the sign of a good leader. Yes, some politicians change their mind a lot, but most of the time it is because they want to make a good decision based on the best information. "Staying the course" is only a good thing when the decision was a sound one.
One more thing. I HATE that most politicians have speech writers. Seriously, can they not speak their own minds? We know that the president is a terrible public speaker, but come on, own it; you don't get better by having someone else do the hard part for you. Especially when they throw in souch catchy little soundbites such as this that then flow from the prez's mouth.
"Defeatism may have its partisan uses," he said, "but it is not justified by the facts."
It's catchy all right, but what does that even mean? If his writer is trying to say, "Yes, leaving Iraq now would save lives, but could we count that as a victory?" then I would respond with a simple, "Yes it would." We catpured their tyrranical leader, the people of Iraq have held democratic elections with excellent turnouts multiple times, and the infastructure to support a growing nation is now being built; how is that not victory? Well, according to Bush, if we left now we would be "handing the country over to our enemies." That is just a huge pile of BS that everyone just accepts as fact, and it's ridiculous. We would be handing the country over to its democratically elected congress. Last time i checked, the terrorists were NOT a well-organized army that could re-conquer Iraq. The only reason they even make their attacks is because WE ARE STILL OCCUPYING THEM! Remeber when they bombed the hotel a few months back, and apologized for killing innocent Iraquis? They don't want to kill civilians, they want to hurt us. If we withdrew, they would leave the Iraquis alone. This is where Bush's "We are fighting them abroad so we don't have to fight them at home" rhetoric comes into play, his fallback. I say, fighting our enemies in a foreign nation so we don't have to fight them here is completely irresponsible on our part. IF the only reason we are staying in Iraq is to avoid having our enemies attack us here, then we are endangering innocent Iraquis to save ourselves. That isn't noble OR heroic. It's cowardly and manipulative, which ARE the attributes our president has displayed throughout his life. I think a little quote from Shadow of the Hegemon sums up most of our current politicians.
"Your country is led by men without honor. And yet they are sustained in power by men of honor like you. Who, then betrays his country?" I keep that in mind everytime I hear the current administration or the GOP taking shots at anyone who questions their actions, or encourages alternate lines of thought. Or, as President and author of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson said "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." Disagreeing with whoever is in charge shows interest in the system and the welfair or your fellow countrymen, and questioning every decision of anyone in power encourages debate and defense of those thoughts and actions, instead of blind acceptance. THAT is true patriotism, despite the "mindless sheep who should just agree with everything we say," definition the current party in power would like to impose on us.
What irritates me the most about the president, I think, is that his whole mantra seems to be "Right or wrong, whether you agree with me or not, it is my decision to make and I stand by it." Last time i checked, "stubborn" wasn't on the list of the seven virtues. Making a bad, poorly-informed decision and backing it with even worse actions IS NOT the sign of a good leader. Yes, some politicians change their mind a lot, but most of the time it is because they want to make a good decision based on the best information. "Staying the course" is only a good thing when the decision was a sound one.
One more thing. I HATE that most politicians have speech writers. Seriously, can they not speak their own minds? We know that the president is a terrible public speaker, but come on, own it; you don't get better by having someone else do the hard part for you. Especially when they throw in souch catchy little soundbites such as this that then flow from the prez's mouth.
"Defeatism may have its partisan uses," he said, "but it is not justified by the facts."
It's catchy all right, but what does that even mean? If his writer is trying to say, "Yes, leaving Iraq now would save lives, but could we count that as a victory?" then I would respond with a simple, "Yes it would." We catpured their tyrranical leader, the people of Iraq have held democratic elections with excellent turnouts multiple times, and the infastructure to support a growing nation is now being built; how is that not victory? Well, according to Bush, if we left now we would be "handing the country over to our enemies." That is just a huge pile of BS that everyone just accepts as fact, and it's ridiculous. We would be handing the country over to its democratically elected congress. Last time i checked, the terrorists were NOT a well-organized army that could re-conquer Iraq. The only reason they even make their attacks is because WE ARE STILL OCCUPYING THEM! Remeber when they bombed the hotel a few months back, and apologized for killing innocent Iraquis? They don't want to kill civilians, they want to hurt us. If we withdrew, they would leave the Iraquis alone. This is where Bush's "We are fighting them abroad so we don't have to fight them at home" rhetoric comes into play, his fallback. I say, fighting our enemies in a foreign nation so we don't have to fight them here is completely irresponsible on our part. IF the only reason we are staying in Iraq is to avoid having our enemies attack us here, then we are endangering innocent Iraquis to save ourselves. That isn't noble OR heroic. It's cowardly and manipulative, which ARE the attributes our president has displayed throughout his life. I think a little quote from Shadow of the Hegemon sums up most of our current politicians.
"Your country is led by men without honor. And yet they are sustained in power by men of honor like you. Who, then betrays his country?" I keep that in mind everytime I hear the current administration or the GOP taking shots at anyone who questions their actions, or encourages alternate lines of thought. Or, as President and author of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson said "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." Disagreeing with whoever is in charge shows interest in the system and the welfair or your fellow countrymen, and questioning every decision of anyone in power encourages debate and defense of those thoughts and actions, instead of blind acceptance. THAT is true patriotism, despite the "mindless sheep who should just agree with everything we say," definition the current party in power would like to impose on us.
posted by Burn1nMyLight at 9:32 PM
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