Thursday, May 15, 2008

Hittin' a little too close to home, was he?


Sometimes you know you’re doing the right thing merely by gauging the reaction of others.

Bush made his Happy 60th, Israel! speech in the Knesset. Here are some excerpts.

“We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace. So we applaud the courageous choices Israeli's leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction.”

“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”


The last excerpt has touched off the sadly predictable howls of protest and hurt from a few people over here expressing shock and dismay that the President would utter such words. Obama, the mad bomber, Hillary, Pelosi and Biden all felt what Bush said was simply beyond the pale. Actually, no really cares what Pelosi or Biden have to say so we didn’t bother linking. Camp Obama’s response was reportedly so quick on the heels of Bush’s speech, one had to wonder if Obama wasn’t acting just a wee too defensive.

And in case anyone cared what he had to say, Rahm Emanuel, the House Democratic Caucus Chairman opined: "The tradition has always been that when a U.S. president is overseas, partisan politics stops at the water's edge. President Bush has now taken that principle and turned it on its head: for this White House, partisan politics now begins at the water’s edge, no matter the seriousness and gravity of the occasion. Does the president have no shame?”

Oh really?



At least in proving their carbon creds, people like Murtha, Durbin and Kerry don’t even bother going overseas to inject their partisan politics into national security discussions.

Big ups to Gateway Pundit who has been all over this.

P.S. And Yes...! Happy Birthday, Israel! Long may we be worthy of your alliance and friendship.

33 comments:

Foxfier said...

I love this man...

Brave and as Christian a Soldier as can be imagined.

Also:

Happy Birthday, Brave Little Jewish Country! I love you like Ireland! (Mom's maiden name: Patrick.)

Anonymous said...

Yes. I'm sure God can't wait to thank W for all he's done for humanity.

On the election front, as the primary season winds down, this was a good first test for Obama to face comments inserted by the GOP attack dogs. He can sit there and have sparring sessions with Hills in the gym all he wants, but the sooner he got his first taste of real game speed from the Swiftboat Set, the better.

That's a definite advantage HC would have had if she had won the nomination: Battle-tested armor. Obama needed to be innoculated against the fear-mongering GOP operatives, and Swiftboat's paragraph insertion in W's Israel speech may have helped.

- Mongo Carville

Foxfier said...

"Swiftboating" or "slander": telling an inconvenient, relevant truth about a democrat.

Anonymous said...

John "I was for talking to Hezbollah and Hamas before I was against it" McCain??

- Double Standard Mongo

Foxfier said...

Mongo- You're refering to the "deal with them one way or another" re: Hamas got elected quote from two years ago?

Frankly, given McCain's temper, if he said he would "deal with" me, one way or another, I'd look into life insurance.

Dean said...

Mongo, Misrepresenting-mongering... for shame.

Anonymous said...

If "Airplane" was made in 2008 instead of 1979 or so, I'm sure the screenwriters would have opted for this dialogue:

Stewardess: Would you care to read something while we wait to take off?

Passenger: How about something light?

Stewardess: Well, we do have this pamphlet, "George W. Bush Foreign Policy Successes"...

Our current Prez trying to inject his Middle East policy philosophy into the 2008 campaign and trumpet it as a success is as laughable as it gets. I can't wait until he tries to scare Americans about how the Dem nominee would handle natural catastrophes.

- "Big Easy" Mongo

Foxfier said...

Yeah, a war that got finished in record time, and such low numbers of casualties when the terrorists are shipping in folks to blow themselves up, and that Katrina-- single largest federal action to help out for a natural disaster, after the state jacked it up...he should be so ashamed.

Anonymous said...

I look at the photo of the busses in the parking lot during Katrina. Yes, Mongo, pretty scary how the dems handle a natural catastrophe.

Thank you Mongo for your keen insight.

How do you do it Mr. Lloyd?

Anonymous said...

Even when politics is not the issue, Mongo seems to want to soil things. (ie Favre tribute)

This is the same person who is convinced that greedy big oil companies will spend 20 years and billions of dollars to get a four month return in Anwr. His bitter little rants are replete with intellectual dishonesty at every turn.

Mr. Lloyd, your bus is leaving. (it's the little one)


'Dawg

Anonymous said...

When I heard his well-received speech, Obama never came to mind. I thought it was a direct slam on Jimmmmy Carter.

It wasn't until I heard all the objections and punditry that made me reference Obama.

'dawg

Anonymous said...

I gotta hand it to ya, 'Dawg.

I didn't think anybody could connect the dots from Nazis and Israel to Brett Favre. But you proved my short-sightedness wrong in that regard.

Well played.

- Mongo Increasin' The Mideast Peace Via The Lambeau Leap

Anonymous said...

Sailorette,

"A war that was finished in record time"??

So are you saying that the war in Iraq is done? That's really awesome! Gosh, when do our boys come home?

I guess it really IS "Mission Accomplished"!! I think that banner should be hanging at the next GOP national convention so that we can all have our cue to finally celebrate this momentous occasion!

And, of course, the "low number of casualties" you referenced will be music to the ears of those at Walter Reed, Bethesda, and Balboa Naval. I had no idea that the IED campaign of the bad guys had been so ineffective.

Really, you should probably clue in McCain to the President's incredible performance on Katrina. Just the other day even he was commenting on how awful it was.

You really need to spread the word!

- Mongo of The Newly-Found Rose Colored Glasses

Foxfier said...

Mongo:
So are you saying that the war in Iraq is done? That's really awesome! Gosh, when do our boys come home?

We still have "our boys" in Germany, and when my dad was over there during Nam, there were still terrorist bombings--one killed an officer in the O-club on a base he was working at. That was, what, five times the cooling we've had for Iraq? And that wasn't even with suicidal loons being shipped in.

Not all conflicts are war. I should hope that would be obvious by now, since we ARE talking about Israel, and they've been in conflict for some sixty years--although their wars do tend to be admirably short.

Foxfier said...

Oh, and a PS on McCain-- I support him ONLY so far as he prevents something worse; figure kind of like working with the Soviets to finish World War Two. Doesn't mean I like the commie SOBs or support their mass murder, it's simply the lesser of two evils.

Road Dawg said...

Thanks Mongo,
It's been a long time that the Favre thing was on my chest. Of all the NFL players, he played it with the vigor and enthusiasm of a college player. I was surprised to see your comments on the tribute blog.

Anonymous said...

Sailorette,

So the Battle of Fallouja, Part I and Part II were just little mop-up affairs? The fact that we have to have constant patrols and boots on the streets instead of sequestered in say, a Germany-style base means nothing? RPG attacks on the Green Zone? Snipers? IED's? That all means just a little bit of an echo effect? The fact that like a couple hundred got killed during the initial invasion, while over 2,000 have since been killed means things are calming down? "The Surge" means things had been going really well?

Tell me you aren't serious. This is straight out of the Donald Rumsfeld School of Military Analysis.

- Mongo the Perplexed

Foxfier said...

So the Battle of Fallouja, Part I and Part II were just little mop-up affairs?

1) Please, show where I said anything like that; I suspect, however, that it's next to the quote of McCain agreeing to meet with terrorists without preconditions.

2) What country were we at war with in Fallouja? Please include a link to the declaration of war, if possible. (And yes, I think the whole "War on" to mean fighting something is silly; I've thought so since the "war on drugs," which is not a war.)

3) If you think that any mop-up is little, as in easy or insignificant, you might want to hear some stories from WWII--visit an old folks home, there should be someone who will share stories.

RPG attacks on the Green Zone? Snipers? IED's? That all means just a little bit of an echo effect? The fact that like a couple hundred got killed during the initial invasion, while over 2,000 have since been killed means things are calming down?

Scroll up a little to the "shipping in folks" to do terror BS done by the surrounding countries.
Also, if you think *two thousand* troops killed terrorist-style in five years is any kind of a huge count, I don't think any amount of reasoning will get through your bias. 241 were killed in the Beiruit barracks bombings, a single attack.

They are sending in people who are highly willing to kill themselves and civilians in order to just *maybe* harm an American, and those same terrorist murderers are also targeting any civilians who resist them. This is not a situation which we, having previously fought mostly Christian nations which shared some vague respect and a shared notion of honor, have faced before. Even Japan would not TRY to wipe out civilians, and even then we were horrified at their treatment of prisoners.

Yes, I am greatly, darkly amused that the folks who support tolerance the most are the ones who expect other cultures to behave like their own.

Anonymous said...

Even the GOP nominee agrees that the war in Iraq has not been won yet.

The speech he gave yesterday, a prediction on what he hopes to accomplish in cleaning up the diaster-plagued Bush legacy during his hopeful first term, states quite clearly that he hopes to have "the war in Iraq won" by the end of his four years.

Can't get a whole lot more clear than that.

Of course, you'll want to straighten Sen. McCain out on the facts in Iraq by sending him to that old folks home of yours and have the people there explain to a war hero when a war is over.

I'd love to hear that conversation!

- Patton Mongo

Foxfier said...

Even the GOP nominee agrees that the war in Iraq has not been won yet.

And I care...why?
I have already stated, often and loudly, that I only support him because he is LESS of a disaster than "Your own, personal, Jesus" Obama and Hillary "I'm as bad as Bill, but not as slick" Clinton.

If he wants to try to redefine "war" the same way he redefined free speech, cool. Whatever. I honestly have no investment in him, and if I thought there was a better viable option I'd take it.

Still waiting on your links.

Anonymous said...

You want a link to a Declaration of War in Iraq? Is that what you want?

Well, I can't. There isn't one.

Nor has there been one for Vietnam, Desert Storm, or the overall War on Terror. Nor really any such declaration since World War II.

So, that being the case, can you show me which "war won in record time" by W it is that you are referring to in your comments above? I'll be waiting for a link on that one, if you please.

Geez, I'm sure glad I didn't specifically mention an issue much harder to tackle, such as what the heck made us go to war in a nation that had nothing to do with anything relevant to the U.S. in the first place...

If the "war is over" (and in "record time"!), can you also update me on the alleged Iraqi WMD's and pesky links between Saddam and Al Qaeda for which those scant (your term, not mine) 2,000+ American troops have lost their lives?

I'm also not certain the point in complaining about neighboring countries sending in men to press their own interests in Iraq. Hell, we're 10,000 miles away and we've sent over 100,000 troops for reasons passing understanding. War. Not war. Whatever your latest comment calls it, foxfier. It's combat. And neighboring nations who have a stake will enter the fray, especially when the fray was started for something completely illegitimate by a power on the other side of the world.

You get the baby and the bathwater when you start meddling in the middle east.

- Mongo The World Strategist

Foxfier said...

You want a link to a Declaration of War in Iraq? Is that what you want?

Well, I can't. There isn't one.


AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY
FORCE AGAINST IRAQ RESOLUTION OF 2002

http://www.c-span.org/resources/pdf/hjres114.pdf

War:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/war
a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.

So, congress declared war without following their own rules for declaring war.

Pardon me while I go and faint about politicians failing to follow their own rules....

So, that being the case, can you show me which "war won in record time" by W it is that you are referring to in your comments above?

That would be what Wiki is calling the "invasion" of Iraq-- you know, the part where we say "our country is going to kill your country" and then we remove their government?

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was led by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Poland and Denmark

13 days.

Wiki claims the war started after the invasion--odd form, no?--but...given that the elected government of Iraq is on our side...no idea who we're at war with, there. Not Iraq, since they're an ally.... Care to take a guess?

Fighting mass murdering psychotic extremists, that we do, but "at war"--since that requires a country, and none of the guys sending in murders has the balls to declare war-- that we can't really do.

If the "war is over" (and in "record time"!), can you also update me on the alleged Iraqi WMD's and pesky links between Saddam and Al Qaeda for which those scant (your term, not mine) 2,000+ American troops have lost their lives?

1) Never said "scant", although anyone who ever even paid attention to military matters would admit that 2k over 5 years is rather low (lower than the flu each year--63k--http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/lcod.htm)
2) You think 13 DAYS is a long time to overthrow a COUNTRY?!?
3) "alleged Iraqi WMD's"-- please, tell the Kurds they're "alleged" to have been hit with WMDs.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1991/IRAQ913.htm#7
Tell that to the defectors who tell of weapons being sent out.
http://www.2la.org/syria/iraq-wmd.php
Tell that to the inspectors.
http://www.iraqwatch.org/profiles/chemical.html
For that matter, you know sarin?
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040701203743.9i07uh3m.html
Tell the folks hit with THAT it's not a WMD.
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/sarin/basics/facts.asp

I'm also not certain the point in complaining about neighboring countries sending in men to press their own interests in Iraq. Hell, we're 10,000 miles away and we've sent over 100,000 troops for reasons passing understanding. War. Not war. Whatever your latest comment calls it, foxfier. It's combat

Are you SERIOUSLY suggesting that sending in foreign men to blow up themselves or civilians is a form of valid war?

You are REALLY suggesting that acts of homicidal and suicidal terror are the same as our guys?

If so, please state the view clearly.

Because if you really believe that we are the same as those murderous terrorists, I would like to start ignoring every word you say, and spamming the blogmaster to block your IP.

Please clearly state if you actually believe that we are the same, so that I know if I should ignore your insane rantings or continue to assume you are a moral human.

Our guys are NOTHING like those murderous bastards-- when the shooting is over, we *care for* the wounded.
http://theanchoressonline.com/2008/05/01/sometimes-the-twains-just-gotta-meet/

We do not saw their heads off and post it on you tube.

Anonymous said...

Foxfier,

Hi. I'm a "Declaration of War". This is what I look like:

"Whereas the Imperial Government of Japan has committed unprovoked acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial Government of Japan which has been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial Government of Japan; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States."

Joint Resolution approved by the Congress
December 8, 1941, 4:10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time


Notice in my body I say "that a state of war... is hereby formally declared".

Thank you for playing.

Now that we've got that bit of silly semantics out of the way, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

If you want to claim that W got us into armed conflict ("war", whatever you want to call it) and then made a helluva Top Gun-like carrier landing to declare we won the "war" in record time (I seem to recall him saying it was the "end of major combat operations", more to the point), then by all means, stake your claim! That still doesn't alter the original point of mine that this thing, 5 years later, shows no signs of letting up.

Now, where did I say that foreign suicide bombers with no regard to innocent life are the same as American soldiers in theatre? To suggest I did is really just irresponsible. (Oooh. Is there where I make my Spam to the Blogmaster threat?) I will hold fast, though, to my comments that nations in the middle east are going to press their claims and will use all means at their disposal for something the deem that important. Odd ball religous nuts will also do the same. We're in their region, and they aren't happy about it. Did you think they would just lay down and take whatever we dictate? The level of violence would indicate otherwise.

It seems like you left off watching the news after the Bush carrier landing speech and stuck your head in the sand (or turned on Fox News. Same effect). Since I bothered to go through the 15 pages of "whereas's" on your congressional joint resolution, return the favor and play a little catchup: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/

Posting that website, I realized I missed something in my last post about our enemy in this "war,etc" that is still going on:

I had forgotten about the de-baathification policy that put 50,000 out of their jobs without anywhere to go. You add on to that 150,000 angry Iraqi military regulars that were put into the streets by the disintegration of their armed forces (with their weapons, btw!) by Bremer in 2003, and you might think to yourself: That probably wasn't very intelligent. 200,000 people that could have been working for you to stabilize the nation so that we can get the hell out of there are now on the streets, and armed, and pissed off -- mostly at Americans.

It's not very hard to figure out why the war/conflict/battle/ whatever you wanna call it, rages on -- and is a just as good an example of any of the larger failed Bush foreign policy efforts. His administration has made the wrong turn at every single corner. Now THAT you can most certainly spam to whoever you want.

- Mongo Loves Spam

Foxfier said...

Notice in my body I say "that a state of war... is hereby formally declared".

So...by your reasoning, you don't think there was any kind of war in Iraq, AND you think it's still going on.

Right.

Moving on....

That still doesn't alter the original point of mine that this thing, 5 years later, shows no signs of letting up.

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/05/wow-al-qaeda-attacks-down-94-in-iraq-in.html
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/05/madame_speaker_has_reality_sla.html
http://op-for.com/2008/04/general_petraeus_congressional.html
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2007/12/19/outlets-twist-good-news-iraq-bad-except-abc-la-times

Since I bothered to go through the 15 pages of "whereas's" on your congressional joint resolution, return the favor and play a little catchup: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/bushs_war/
By the way, how did you read 15 pages when the PDF is only 6 pages long--if you count the cover page?

I had forgotten about the de-baathification policy that put 50,000 out of their jobs without anywhere to go. You add on to that 150,000 angry Iraqi military
...
200,000 people that could have been working for you to stabilize the nation so that we can get the hell out of there are now on the streets, and armed, and pissed off -- mostly at Americans.


So...if we're evil because we didn't keep borderline Nazis at work...why are the ones that are blowing themselves up OVERWHELMINGLY not Iraqis?
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16576&Itemid=1
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/203497,extra-document-lists-6000-al-qaeda-suicide-bombers-in-iraq.html

Anonymous said...

Dear Ms. Fier,
I'm not sure beating Mr. Lloyd with a logic stick will do any good. But I sure loved it and some of the links provided.

Mongo does his best to misquote with sarcasm, twist facts to his beniefit, and generally do his best to soil BwD blogs with intellectual dishonesty.

I am not equipped with the time or patience to perform the lobotomy of which Mongo is in need.

Mongo is not a person who places a high value on or pursues things of interest to the intellect or the more complex forms and fields of knowledge. His bitterness tends to rely on emotions, feelings and democrat talking points.

Mongo quoting McCain speech, "....to accomplish in cleaning up the diaster-plagued Bush legacy...." McCain never said this. And if he did, Mongo should be cheering instead of taking him to task. You can't campaign that McCain = Bush, then misquote McCain to fit your agenda.

We had an exchange about Anwr, and I just had to laugh. He was absolutely convinced the horrible, evil oil companies would spend 20 years in R&D, production and manpower for four months worth of oil. That, is not a misquote, Mongo actually said it.

When it comes to Pro Sports, he can't let a blog about the NFL or NBA go by without a petty little "dig" The rest of us enjoying the post, have to read his mean or uncharitable comment.

On the home-schooling debate, he had all kinds of comments on what others should do, and how homeschooling should not be an option, and how we should pay more despite the mismanagement of funds, but when asked what he would do if he had a child in the failed system, the conversation ended.

So while I enjoyed your links,(of which I am not through) and the lobsided debate with our resident moron, I was reminded of myself, pounding the keyboard with passionate disbelief of the intellectual dishonesty of my opponant.

Thanks for the great links.

Road Dawg said...

'Dawg

Anonymous said...

'Dawg,

Is there something you need to get off your chest about the Mongoloid race? You often seem to bring it up as a derision in the tone of your comments.

Just curious. I thought I'd go ahead and finally take the bait and allow you to express your view of our Asian-ancestored friends after your many months of referring to me as such.

The stage is yours...

- Mongo And All The Colors of the Rainbow

Road Dawg said...

Take the bait? Are you kidding me? Our family has been affectionately refered to as the traveling Mongoloids for several years.

You know damn well it has to do with your retardedness. Not very politically correct, but... oh well.

The difference is.. Down Sydrome humans are the kindess, sweetest people in the world, and to refer to you as Mr. Lloyd, is an insult to their character. I will cease the reference.

Anonymous said...

'Dawg!

Amazing tap dance!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf0b5sg5LXM

- Mongo Off-Broadway

Foxfier said...

Mr. Dawg- I'm glad you like those blogs.

That's just from a quick search of my google reader--it's amazing how much information is around, if you look, no?

And then there's things like this....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA

Road Dawg said...

No tap dance, I was being sincere. I see your mean, nasty tone.. truly unbefitting for me to use belittling humor equating you to Down Sydrome people.

I sincerely apologize to Down Sydrome humans, their parents and loved ones.

Really, take me at my word. It will never happen again. Get over it.

By the way, nice video, lots of great legs and smiles, thanks!

Anonymous said...

And then I knew how Josh Lyman felt...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRHygbB1dp4&feature=related

- Bartlett For America Mongo

Anonymous said...

Great clip, yes sometimes you make me want to shove a motherboard up your keester.