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Big Mo made a comment today that it seems there are no real statesmen in our country today.
I happen to agree with that and will take it another step and say that Al Qaeda had us pegged when they called us a paper tiger.
We left the people in Vietnam high and dry so we could have “peace with honor”. Try telling that to the boat people and those who were tortured after we left. The ones who died were the lucky ones.
Now we have not only the Democratic Caucus in Congress calling for withdrawal in Iraq, but in the last two days we have had Senators Lugar and Voinovich both say we should draw down or get out.
This country used to stand for something; something that made me proud to be an American. It stands for nothing now because at the first sign of trouble everyone wants to run away.
Everything is done by polling with the next election in mind. The founding fathers did not make this a democracy for that very reason. In a democracy the majority rules whether it is right or wrong. In a constitutional republic, which is what we are, we elect people (I refuse to call them leaders now) to do what’s best regardless of the majority opinion.
If the majority of Americans wanted us all to stand in front of a fast moving train I guess Congress would mandate that we all do it because it polls well. That’s not smart and definitely not in our best interests, but hey, that’s politics.
Except GWB. He doesn’t wet his finger in the morning and hold it up to see which way the wind is blowing. He believes something is right and he does it even if it costs him his popularity.
Unlike President Clinton before him, he doesn’t seem to have a “need” to be loved by the masses. He realizes he was elected to do a job as he saw fit and he’s doing it, but the very people who admired that in him are tearing at his throat right now.
If all we want in our politicians is someone we can show our adoration to then we should set up a monarchy and worship the king.
Death is a part of war, and while I don’t want to trivialize it, we have lost fewer people in the almost six years of this war than we lost in one week in Vietnam at the height of that war.
The fact of the matter is we went to Iraq, overthrew a corrupt government and dictator, took on the enemy, and are now trying our hardest to get the Iraqis to learn to stabilize their own country.
Maybe it will work and maybe it won’t work, but we at least owe them our best shot at trying to help them before wringing our hands and saying “Woe is me.”
I don’t enjoy hearing of the deaths or maimings of any of our soldiers who are in harm’s way, and if a draft were ever re-instated I have two grandsons I wouldn’t want sent to war, but the fact of the matter is we have an all volunteer military and when they joined they certainly knew they could go to war. They trained for it so they should have been knowledgeable about it.
Reading dispatches from the mil blogs tells me the troops are ready to do whatever is necessary to win.
As John Kennedy famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
Today the slogan seems to be To heck with the country; I know what’s best.”
And that’s a shame. We are witnessing the waning days of what used to be a great people because we have so many who are so loud about something most of them know nothing except emotions whipped up by the all too willing media.
Written by ~J~
david Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 12:02 pmVisit david
This is kind of off-topic, but did anyone else see the YouTube phone call from Elizabeth Edwards to Ann Coulter during a Coulter interview with (I think) Chris Matthews? I don’t watch any of the political shows, so I’m not positive. Anyway-Ms. Edwards apparently called without her husband’s knowledge to ask Coulter to stop personal attacks and stick to the political issues. Apparently, Coulters been joking about the Edwards’ deceased son. Matthews (?) kind of took Ms. Edwards’ side. He asked Coulter why Sen. Clinton’s “pudgy” legs were mentioned by Coulter in a book and why Coulter attacked Monica Lewinsky’s weight. Coulter acted like a complete idiot. Laughing, grinning, joking and never answered Matthews or Ms. Edwards. She interrupted Ms. Edwards constantly. I think there’s something seriously wrong with Coulter mentally. The whole attitude was odd and inappropriate. Ms. Edwards didn’t even attack her. She was a complete Southern lady throughout the phone call. This is no indication I like Edwards, but it is an absolute indication I cannot stand to listen to Coulter and will never read a word she writes. She has personally brought politics to a new low. That others have done so also does not cut it with me.
Big Mo Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 12:54 pmVisit Big Mo
David - she’s a print shock-jock. I don’t pay attention to her anymore either.
J - You’ve identified one of the reasons why I go to lengths to defend Dubya the man, and I think why DJ Drummond does as well. Bush is a man of principles and a man of his word. With him, you know exactly where he stands. There is no ambiguity. He does what he believes is right according to what he believes is right, no polls.
And it makes a lot of people mad.
He’s not good at defending himself or his policies, which is the biggest reason why his administration is in such trouble.
I don’t agree with everything he’s done, nor approve. But you’ve heard me say that before.
As for statesmen as a whole, I think the last great one on the scene was Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He drew tremendous respect from both sides of the isle.
~J~ Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 1:35 pmVisit ~J~
David,
Coulter has been a non-read for me for many years for the reasons you state.
Big Mo Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 1:56 pmVisit Big Mo
And I’ve been said I’m not a conservative because I thought Coulter’s joke about Edwards and “faggot” (tied to actor Isaiah Washington’s potty mouth about a fellow actor) was stupid and out of line.
The intense polarization on both sides makes me wonder: What really is a conservative? What really is a liberal? And WHO decides?
I’ve asked that question numerous times on Wizbang but never got an answer.
david Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 2:22 pmVisit david
Big Mo-That’s a really good question. I’m off to support my niece’s thesis defense in Urban Planning this afternoon, but I’m really going to ponder that question. Let’s get a dialogue started on that.
Big Mo Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 3:27 pmVisit Big Mo
David - sounds like an interesting thesis. Good luck to her.
Big Mo Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 5:05 pmVisit Big Mo
Turns out Mrs. Edwards was lying about what Coulter said about John E. Coulter was taken completely out of conext. She was making a comparison — but the lapdog media misreported it. Big surprise.
http://wizbangblog.com/2007/06/27/elizabeth-edwards-liar.php#comments
Read the comments for an interesting lesson on distortion. The resident idiot — and I DO mean idiot — Lee Ward repeats Coulter’s comment word-for-word and screams about what she said, but conveniently leaves out the rest of the quote, where she’s talking about what Bill Maher (another idiot) said about Dick Cheney. And she said, in essence, if that’s the way it is, then that’s what I’ll do.
This kind of bilge happens to Republicans and conservatives all of the time. Like, daily.
Ayschlay Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 5:23 pmVisit Ayschlay
Big Mo, I checked out the wizbang link and it sounds like there’s still disagreement over what Coulter meant, or the ramifications of what she said.
And wow, I had no idea that (presumably all?) Republicans and conservatives face some sort of censorship “all the time.”
~J~ Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 5:48 pmVisit ~J~
I’m conservative on some issues and probably liberal on others. I have a tender heart and want people who really need help to get it.
I think I’m really a moderate, and judging by the way the wing nuts in both parties are acting, I think I like it that way.
Sue Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 5:57 pmVisit Sue
I am no fan of Ann Coulter by any means but there are four videos up here
http://www.breitbart.tv/html/2258.html
which might help those who are trying to decide who said what about whom.
As for political association, I belong to the Republican party but they do not determine my direction on issues, I do that.
I believe the time will come when a third competitive party will develop in this country and it will give a lot of us who are bewildered by todays politics a place to go. Oh well, I can dream, right?
Big Mo Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 9:28 pmVisit Big Mo
Ayschlay - it’s not “censorship,” which, as you know, can only be done by the government. What I’m talking about is selective editing that takes things wildly out of context. As a trained journalist, I have come to expect this when dealing with politics (it’s called the BS Detector), but these days, it is especially prevalent coming from the left. Case in point is Media Matters and how they wildly misquote AND selectively quote Rush Limbaugh, which completely and invariably distorts the real meaning.
And sorry, the “disagreement” over what Coulter said over at Wizbang is willful obtuseness. She by no means wanted or wished Edwards to be killed in a terrorist attack. She was aping what Maher said about Cheney. That’s her style. (Not mine.)
Big Mo Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 9:37 pmVisit Big Mo
(Note - I wasn’t calling you obtuse, but some of the people over at Wizbang.) :”>
Ayschlay Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 9:12 amVisit Ayschlay
I should have said that conservatives are misrrepresented–my point, though, was that this was huge, unsupported claim.
I guess I just don’t buy the idea that Republicans and conservatives, as bodies, are misrepresented in the media everywhere all the time.
I don’t think you even need to make this claim to argue that Coulter was misrepresented in this exchange, and that this isn’t the first time–and that’s serious enough.
For my part, though, having read some of Coulter’s stuff, and hear her speak, I have zero sympathy. She doesn’t want to give careful, reasonsed arguments. She’s making money (20K for the talk I heard) with this sort of hack theater.
~J~ Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 9:37 amVisit ~J~
It seems she was misrepresented from the links we’ve read since none of us or not many of us actually bothered to watch the programs she was on.
I just don’t care for her style. She’s supposed to be a constitutional lawyer and I could respect her opinions if they weren’t given with such a sharp tongue. That’s why I quit watching her a few years ago. At first it was funny, but then I found it was something she does all the time and it wasn’t funny anymore.
Big Mo Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 10:23 amVisit Big Mo
Ayschlay - oh, I agree in the large sense about Coulter. See what I said in #2 above.