It is simply heartbreaking to acknowledge this about a place which once was quite a nice place for tolerance, progress, and reason, but Neal Pollack has got it right:
America has gone insane.My only hope is that we will all redouble our efforts to remain calm and compassionate in the face of waht we disagree with. Kathy Kelly provides an inspiring example in her
Letter from Baghdad: A Moment of Understanding.
posted by Kirsten at 12:44 PM
Trust us. The United States has
no plans to invade Syria...
...except to find
Saddam.
The disinformation campaign is so transparent as to be downright embarrassing.
And so it begins again.
posted by Kirsten at 7:25 PM
I am still working on catching up my e-mails and weblog. The dilemma is that I have so much stuff to talk about that it takes a long time to put it all into electrons. And the more time that goes on, the more I have to tell- a trip to the emergency room (for a false alarm), sailing certifications, Yuri's Night... I'll try to get it together this week.
I am still wondering if the United States government had proof (of the magnitude and quality such that war was warranted, no less) that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction and constituted a threat to the United States, then why after months of inspections and three weeks of war has nothing been found? Julian Sanchez explains the
WMD Shell Game for those of us who are having trouble following it.
So far as I can tell, either there really was nothing of significance to begin with and it was all another lie spread by our government needlessly costing thousands of lives and billions of dollars, or those WMDs have now been dispersed to people and locations we no longer can identify which brings me to another question...
Not to harp on the obvious, but exactly how is threatening other nations with massive destruction increasing the security of Americans here and abroad? Anti-American sentiment is
growing on the streets of Baghdad. Pakistan says that the United States' policies are
polarizing the world. Whether in the flesh or from the grave, Osama bin Laden continues his
exhortations against Americans. Really now, the prospect that widespread war based on misinformation is helping us is simply ridiculous.
How much longer will Bush continue to poke at the hornet's nest? Apparently he's not through with his crusade yet. Having yet to find anything of any significance in Iraq, the United States has moved on to
threatening Syria on similar grounds. I am starting to think this war was not as much about
oil as I originally thought. Clearly, plans are afoot to throw significant business to Rand McNally via redrawing the world map time over and over.
Yes, yes, much will be made of our having "liberated" the Iraqis, but that is but a shady euphamism. More likely, we have merely set them up for
new and different oppression which I fail to see as being an improvement over the devil they already knew.
The gall of the Bush administration is just amazing. I suppose the one thing to cling to right now is that barring a complete overhaul of the Constitution (which we cannot safely assume to be beyond the realm of this administration), regime change in the United States will take place no later than 2008.
In an ironic twist of fate, right after I wrote that I found an article showing that I may have spoken too soon. Can we really be so unlucky to have a
Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Rodham Clinton showdown in 2008? I mean really, with choices like that,
why bother to vote?
Of course, these folks aren't the only snakes I've had to worry about lately. This weekend seems to have kicked off snake season here in Three Points.
On Saturday I avoided running over and already butchered snake lying dead in the middle of Sierrita Mountain Road.
Then on Sunday when Bill took Pepper out for a walk, they had a close encounter in which Pepper decided to start sniffing a rattler she found. Fortunately, the "Leave It" command is well-ingrained in her tiny little brain and she knows it well. (Bill also mentions that dragging Pepper by the leash as he dashed away from the snake probably helped, too.)
Later that morning, as I drove behind Bill to breakfast (we were parting company to run errands in town), I avoided a live snake skittering off the road after a close encounter with Bill. I didn't catch all the action, but Bill says he thinks the snake struck the car after he upset it.
Much as I don't care for these snakes, they are at least useful for keeping down rodent populations and such. I can't say anything nearly so good about the Bush and Clinton dynasties.
posted by Kirsten at 3:25 PM
My husband and I spent a lovely 5 days last week and the week before taking sailing lessons with
SeaMist Skippers of Marina del Rey. We tested for and got our ASA 101 and 103 certifications. This involved several days of fairly intensive reading and studying, so I did not get caught up on my e-mail as I had planned. I'll keep the blogging to a minimum until I rectify that and attend to a few other neglected details.
But one glaring question is hanging like a giant thought bubble over my head as the war on Iraq progresses:
Where the fuck are these weapons of mass destruction that have lead us to kill hundreds of Iraqi civilians?
"Smoking gun" WMD site in Iraq turns out to contain pesticideSmoking gun still proves to be elusive for searchersSearch for smoking gun draws a blank
posted by Kirsten at 12:21 PM 