September 2007 Archives

(Parts I and II can be viewed at Theydidwhat)

As the king realized the winds were shifting and his position and power were waning, he knew things would be great if he only had more time. He thought and thought about this, but not being the brightest candle in the kingdom, came up with no new strategery. Just when things looked the most mystimafied, lo, one of his advisors came upon him muttering to himself, and had an idea. He approached the king, “Oh your most magnificent royalassholiness, decider of decisions, uniter of division, maker of wars, I have an idea.”

The king respondeded, “Bring it on.”

The advisor continued, “What we need is the support of a great warrior, one who is noble of heart, steadfast and loyal to the kingdom, but one who will believe what we tell him, because he has been so trained. He will reassure the people the smelly mound can be controlled, if only we had more time and money and sacrifice.”

It’s so hard to know how to start. Being one of those “dreaded” liberals who believe the present government of the United States led by President George W. Bush is an unmitigated disaster, I’m so frustrated it’s nearly impossible to be articulate within my own mind about the thoughts I have about the Legislative Branch as well. I have “almost” as much disdain for this present Congress as I do for this so-called Administration! Considering, however, that there are some redeeming souls in the Senate and the House, on both sides, it would be impossible to entirely equate both branches in this regard.

One has to wonder of late, well for at least seven years now, what planet Congress has been on? I learned in grade school that Congress was one of the three branches of government, and mainly responsible for legislating laws. I was also taught, and under the impression, apparently false, that they had a major role in oversight of the other branches. Silly me.

I began writing this blog as a comment to a column written by a man whose opinions and word craft I admire greatly. His name is Jaime O’Neill. To those of you who only read this online and from afar via the Internet, and aren’t really familiar with the Paradise Post itself, he is a widely published freelance writer. I’m fortunate enough to know him personally, and freely admit he has directly, and by example, encouraged me to put my opinions on paper. As often happens with me, a small comment grew into another large blog. I can’t even make soup at home for less than ten people, even though there are only two of us.

The column I was commenting on, and which ultimately inspired a continuation in other, and hopefully related areas, can be found at Is Petraeus his own man? Perhaps not .

One has to wonder what Dick Little’s real motive is for constantly debunking mankind’s possible contribution to global warming, and attacking environmentalists. He himself states in the opening line of his Post column of September 11, “I know this is getting old.” Yes Dick, in fact, it is getting VERY old.

I’d love to know exactly why Mr. Little feels there is a media bias concerning global warming, and why he thinks it’s a political issue? What do we gain from ignoring any and all possibilities? If the ecological balance of Planet Earth goes awry it will be too late to do anything. Isn’t it logical, rational and prudent to assume mankind “might” have some influence on the climate, and play it safe rather than be sorry? What’s the worse that could happen, we might clean up the environment a bit?

No one wants Iran to have nuclear arms, possibly with the exception of some in Iran itself, and various ideologues. Yet one can understand why Iran as a nation might wish they had them, if not only to prevent the continual threats towards them by the United States government. President George Bush quickly singled out Iran in his first State of the Union address on January 29, 2002 as one of the “axis of evil” nations. Soon afterward, a concerted effort began to find and/or trump up reasons to justify a preemptive invasion against their neighbor Iraq, another member of the “axis of evil."

Iraq had no nuclear capabilities, so they were invaded. Much of the saber rattling by Bush against North Korea, the third alleged “axis of evil” nation, ended soon after they tested a nuclear device. Relations with Pakistan, though often iffy, never get real pushy, because they also have the bomb. It seems to follow that if you have nuclear weapon’s capabilities you are less likely to be threatened or attacked. Thus, Iran also having been placed on the dartboard by Bush, it might follow they would want nuclear weapons, if not only to protect themselves from him.