Monday, March 10, 2008

BLATHER

Such predictably tiresome blather from my rightwing Republican commentors on this blog, whether named or anonymous. But thankfully, they usually make my point. For instance in yesterday's post, which should have been filed under "Overrated," because that was my point in all three comments. The first being that torture is "overrated," as every professional interrogator I have ever read has attested to. Only the inexperienced yes-men of this administration give credit to "torture" producing useful information.
The rightwingers and their spokesmen claim that it was waterboarding that produced information on several terrorist plots that have been thwarted, and that's why there have been no attacks within the U. S. since 9/11. But there were no more attacks within the U. S. between the 1993 World Trade center bombing and 9/11, under the Clinton administration, where no torture was still the U. S. tradition, and yet plots were also thwarted. Hmmmm.
The so-called "greatest generation" managed to defeat one of the mightiest military machines the world has ever known without the use of torture. In every war where we didn't use torture, like our enemies did, we won. But where we used torture, or let our surrogates do it, as in Viet Nam...
And as for the knee-jerk rightwing comments about Democrats—their weakness is not unity, which should be obvious to anyone who looks at the facts without the prism of rightwing propaganda. The remorse with Kerry's candidacy wasn't that he wasn't a good enough candidate, he would have made an incredibly greater president than any Republican who has ran or won in the past eight years, and Edwards would have been a great Vice President, and the damage done by Cheney would never have occurred and we'd all be living in a world where oil companies would not be making profits greater than any ever amassed in history while being given tax break "incentives" and the rest of us struggle to pay the bills, etc.
Kerry is an honorable war hero, who was too reluctant to stoop to the levels of dirty tricks that the Republicans invented, perfected, and practice so well, and used to convince some swing voters that the "swift boat" ads had some validity, even though they were created by people who weren't there when Kerry committed the act of selfless bravery that won him his military honors (those who were, backed Kerry fully), people who were and are part of a rightwing Republican dirty tricks machine capable of running ads in Georgia that cast a war hero who lost his limbs in battle to terrorists and a millionaire draft dodger as a patriot hero. Just like the draft dodger Cheney and AWOL-war-avoider Bush junior cast themselves as some kind of John Waynes (though maybe that makes sense, since Wayne never served in the military either, except on film).
Republicans have been much better at making the "big lie" stick (i.e. Saudi Arabia is our friend, the only country where women are still not allowed to vote and from which the terrorists who attacked the U. S. on 9/11 came and were funded, et endlessly cetera), but like the Nazis and Soviet Communists, who were masters at it, those lies eventually come back to haunt you. Thank God.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Lally said...

The comment deleted was a pitch for a link to take your money, so, not deleted for any political reasons, just anti-scam ones.

JIm said...

Mike,
I believe the quality of your rants could be improved if you recalled the lessons you learned at St. Benedicts, specifically, from Fr. Martin. I am sure you remember since you received much better grades then I did. He would have us state a proposition backed up by footnoted or sourced statements and which would make our argument more powerful.
Your assertion that Kerry would have made “An incredibly greater president” would be more effective if you could list specific achievements or verbiage that would illustrate that he would have been a great Commander and Chief. Possibly you think that when
He said the following:
December 5, 2005
John Kerry: American Soldiers Are Terrorists
John Kerry appeared yesterday on the CBS talking-head show, "Face The Nation", to discuss the war in Iraq with Bob Schieffer.
“And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs. Whether you like it or not...”

Perhaps you think that the above statements would have endeared him to our military.

In the spirit of bipartisanship, bringing together and change, I offer the above suggestion. I do not want to see your rants degenerate in to, dare I say, blather. I believe we can be inspired by the words of that, giant of a Democrat Senator, Daniel Patrick Moignahan “ We are all entitled to our own opinions but not to our own facts”.

AlamedaTom said...

Jim:

With all due respect I think you misinterpret Kerry's words. My dog terrorizes me sometimes but I wouldn't call him a terrorist.

I was a Captain in the U.S. Army JAG Corps 1970 - 1974 in the thick of the War, stationed in Germany. I tried scores of criminal cases both as a defense counsel and a prosecutor. I met many, many officers, NCO's and enlisted personnel in "our military" who felt a deep discomfort, if not outright shame at the things they were ordered to do, or believed they were duty-bound to do while in 'Nam.

The same thing is happening in Iraq, and that is what Kerry was pointing out:

“And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs. Whether you like it or not...”

Exactly!

Thomas W. Wilson, Captain, U.S. Army, 1966 - 1974

JIm said...

Alamedatom,
Thank you for your service. You have me as to credentials. I tried to get into the Navy during the Cuban Missel Crisis but was turned down because of asthma. I would have thought the salt air would have been good for me. The quotes are correct. As you correctly point out, the interpertation of the quotes are open. If I ever meet you and your dog, remind me not to pet him.

JIm said...

Good News Form New York and Hollywood

The Schmuck is dead. Eliot Spitzer Liberal hater of everything corporate in America and employer of American style Gestapo tactics against honorable people whose great crime was that they built large and profitable enterprises making a lot of money for themselves, stockholders, employees, government coffers through taxation, has been brought down by his own lack of self control.
PS He did do some good in the mutual fund industry and in the abuses in the research field on Wall Street. Even Kruszchev was probably nice some of the time. (a paraphrase of a line a used 40 some years ago)

David Mamet: Why I Am No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal'
An election-season essay
by David Mamet
March 11th, 2008 12:00 AM

John Maynard Keynes was twitted with changing his mind. He replied, "When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?"
………As a child of the '60s, I accepted as an article of faith that government is corrupt, that business is exploitative, and that people are generally good at heart.
Full article available below.
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0811,374064,374064,1.html

Anonymous said...

First off, my condolences on the loss of your brother. Your touching tribute to him is evidence of a deep love for him. I'm sorry he's passed on.

In regard to the politics, I get really angry when the Republicans use a lack of terrorist attack to prove that their policies are working.
I would point out that there has not been another Hurricaine like Katrina. That doesn't mean that the government has prevented one. It could hit tomorrow, next week or next year. So could a terrorist attack. Or not. My feeling is that the government knows only slightly more than we do, and has just as much ability to stop it from happening.

JIm said...

Well done John, on the guts of what you said. The government (city, state,and federal) by its actions or lack of same showed their incompetence in New Orleans. It has also shown its incompetence two of the other most lawless ,murder centers in the US, Detroit and Philadelphia. A common thread in New Orleans, Detroit and Philadelphia is that their local and state government is of the Democrat Party and for most part has been for generations. Contrast that with the other gulf states that were hit by the same hurricane but have come back much quicker. The Democrat Party promotes victimhood, dependency, and division. The Republican Party, when they get it right, promote self reliance, low taxes and small govenment, volunteerismm (Church, service clubs, corporate giving etc.)
Our founding fathers established a government that would "Provide for the common defense". I believe this is the first and most important duty of national government. Through wit or luck a Republican president has done that despite a Democrat Party party that does all in its power to cripple that effort.
John, I think it would be better to direct your anger at Islamofascist that wish to kill you, your family, your neighbors because you are an American that lives in a free society. Unless you willing covert to Islam and embrace Shariah law, which advocates stoning of men and women who act inappropriately sexually,and adopt a rule of government that is dominated by mullahs and immans, you will always be their mortal enemy. Our Islamofascist enemies say that we are weak because we value life while they value death.

JIm said...

Alameda Tom,
Re: John Kerry
I thought you might appreciate a little follow up. The link to the source material and original military reords is below.

http://www.wintersoldier.com/staticpages/index.php?page=WSI_CID

On January 31, 1971, members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) met in a Detroit hotel to discuss war crimes they claimed to have participated in or witnessed during their combat tours in Vietnam. During the next three days, more than 100 Vietnam veterans and 16 civilians gave anguished, emotional testimony describing hundreds of atrocities against innocent civilians in South Vietnam, including rape, arson, torture, murder, and the shelling or napalming of entire villages. The witnesses stated that these acts were being committed casually and routinely, under orders, as a matter of policy.

In April, the VVAW stormed Washington in a week-long protest. At its height, spokesman John Kerry went before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to accuse the United States military of committing massive numbers of war crimes in Vietnam. The appearance launched Kerry's political career. The charges he made shocked and sickened a nation, changed the course of a war and stained the reputation of the American military for decades.

But the mass murder of civilians was never American policy in Vietnam. War crimes were the exception, not the rule. And the Winter Soldier tribunal itself -- which John Kerry had helped moderate -- turned out to be "packed with pretenders and liars."


----------
What happened when military investigators asked the "winter soldiers" for evidence of all the war crimes they had alleged? Mostly stonewalling, backtracking, and statements that failed to support the VVAW's claims...


See Newly Discovered Army Reports Discredit "Winter Soldier" Claims by Scott Swett for the full story.
Also check out the original summary reports of the Army's VVAW investigations.


----------
Enemy documents from 1971 show that Vietnamese communists guided the American antiwar movement via meetings between the communist delegations to the Paris Peace talks and American antiwar activists. John Kerry and the VVAW were working toward the exact goals set forth in the communist directives.

Read about it in John Kerry and the VVAW: Hanoi's American Puppets? by Dr. Jerome Corsi and Scott Swett.


----------
In Yesterday's Lies: Steve Pitkin and the Winter Soldiers, Scott Swett tells the story of a former VVAW member and participant in the Winter Soldier Investigation who has now filed an affidavit stating that John Kerry and others pressured him to give false testimony about American atrocities in Vietnam.

In the smash best-seller Unfit for Command, John O'Neill presents eyewitness accounts from Kerry's fellow Swift sailors that demolish his tales of combat heroism, while Dr. Jerry Corsi draws on the WinterSoldier.com research and other new material to expose Kerry's radical activities as a leader of the VVAW.

John Kerry's photograph hangs in the War Protestors Hall of the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City -- an indication of the value the Vietnamese communists place on Kerry's support of their efforts during the Vietnam War.

See Kerry Museum Photo Documented for additional information on the Kerry war museum story.

The Viet Nam News also remembers Kerry in this propaganda article featuring his claim that war crimes were American policy in Vietnam.

Hikermedic said...

All of the comments on this post are very interesting. It's amazing to me to see after nearly eight years of insanity and a president who can barely form complete sentences we still have so many bush supporters out there. How many much more money and loss of American lives will it take before we admit that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake? Why is it we can afford to spend so many billions but can find the leader of the attacks on 9/11? I just hope whomever the next president is that they are more intelligent and charismatic than the embarrassment we've had for nearly two terms now.

JIm said...

Hikermedic,

It is amazing how our semi articulate President, who actually got higher grades than Kerry at Yale, keeps defeating Democrat candidates including Anne Richardson, Al Gore and John Kerry. They just kept misunderestimating him. President Bush with John McCain’s support seems to have had his way with Pelosi and Reid. The “Surge” has been a success to the point it doesn’t seem to be as big a campaign issue for the Democrats. A successful American and Iraqi effort just doesn’t fit in with Hillary’s or Barack’s plans. Both Democrat candidates say they are prepared to raise taxes during a recession, crack down on oil companies, prevent domestic oil exploration, and prevent increased use of Nuclear Energy and clean coal. Is it any wonder, that we have had oil hit as high as $110 per barrel. And we havn’t even gotten to socialized medicine and the prevention of the catastrophic economic disaster, that is runaway social security and Medicare. Bush had the courage to address this his first term, but spineless politicians refused to take the political risk and join him in the effort.