The Botched Joke
Maybe you've heard it. If you haven't, you haven't been paying any attention. John Kerry, tired, made a comment that the Republicans--from the President on down--are jumping on to try to save their political asses in an election they could never manage to win without Diebold or taking on the issues that matter to better than 70% of the American public.
Here is what he said: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." -- Sen. John Kerry
First of all, even if it is a botched joke, it works on two different levels and is funny because its true.
First level: Reflection of the President. He is perhaps our nation's most powerful and important C student in history....and due to his inability to try to be smart, he and the rest of the nation are stuck in Iraq. His idiotic insistance on fighting a conventional war and ignoring even the most fundamental lessons taught by the war he managed to avoid fighting in (Viet Nam for those of you who are also not making an effort to be smart) instead of fighting a counter-insurgency means that we are doing more damage than we are good there.
A "C" is what happens when you skip class. Iraq is what happens when you skip going to Viet Nam.
We are stuck in Iraq and the Republicans, in spite of 11th hour changes in language about troop withdrawls, benchmarks, and tough talk to the Iraqi leaders...the Republicans want us to stay there indefinitely. Hence the permanent bases we won't admit we've built or intend to occupy.
Stuck. Stuck. Stuck...because of stupidity and arrogance by our leaders and the people who vote for them.
Level two: The military, because the Republicans are terrified that they will have to admit that sooner or later their imperialistic desires in the Middle East and militaristic foriegn policy will force us to have a reinstatement of the draft, are lowering their recruitment standards to dangerous levels. This means that as the war drags on beyond Rumsfeld's infamous "6 days, 6 weeks, I doubt 6 months" comment and we see our pre-war military stretched dangerously thin and doing 4 and 5 tours in Iraq with recuriters so desperate for new bodies in uniform they'll take nearly anyone willing to go, even if they have to lie and use high pressure, false statements and Conduct Unbecoming to meet quota.
When we've lost 103 soldiers in the month of October alone...well, it doesn't take a smart, hard studying, educated mind to realize that with demand for soldiers going higher, the benefits getting lower, the risks increasing along with the hatred and resentment of the people in the region for our presence there...that the people who sign up are mostly going to be those who have fewer options available.
If you're smart enough to know that we are fighting an illegal war, invading a nation which did not pose a threat and had not attacked us, and see that our civilian leaders don't have any idea what they are doing...Or, if you are wealthy enough not to need to join the military to earn a living, why would you?
OK, some people might still join out of principle and love of country. But damned few.
And if that isn't true...tell me why there aren't more children of politicians serving in uniform in the Middle East right now? Jim Webb has a son who is a Marine lance corporal headed to Ramadi. Where are George Allen's children? George Bush's?
If it isn't true, why is it that so many people who have never worn a uniform or served in combat shouting so angrily about those who have (like John Kerry, Max Cleland, John Murtha, and Jim Webb) that dare to speak out against the war? How is it that the people of this country think draft dodging cowards who avoided service have any right to criticize decorated combat veterans as being anything but supportive of our men and women in combat?
Why is that?
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Allen, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of you chickenhawks who are so eager to keep sending other people's children to die for your failed policy and inability to admit a mistake.
For crying out loud, the only uniform Californian George Allen ever put on was a confederate general's uniform while an extra in Gods and Generals.
The botched joke is this administration. And they're just barely smart enough to know it, which is why the rest of us are so afraid of what they'll do next to hide their shame.
As a PS, Jim Webb is too much of a gentleman to do it, but I'm not any kind of a gentleman.
While Allen is scrambling to win votes away from Webb by calling him a woman hater and a cut & run coward who writes dirty books...Jim Webb never once responded by showing this picture in any of his ads. But somebody has to. Click on the link for the "war record" of General George.
Here is what he said: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." -- Sen. John Kerry
First of all, even if it is a botched joke, it works on two different levels and is funny because its true.
First level: Reflection of the President. He is perhaps our nation's most powerful and important C student in history....and due to his inability to try to be smart, he and the rest of the nation are stuck in Iraq. His idiotic insistance on fighting a conventional war and ignoring even the most fundamental lessons taught by the war he managed to avoid fighting in (Viet Nam for those of you who are also not making an effort to be smart) instead of fighting a counter-insurgency means that we are doing more damage than we are good there.
A "C" is what happens when you skip class. Iraq is what happens when you skip going to Viet Nam.
We are stuck in Iraq and the Republicans, in spite of 11th hour changes in language about troop withdrawls, benchmarks, and tough talk to the Iraqi leaders...the Republicans want us to stay there indefinitely. Hence the permanent bases we won't admit we've built or intend to occupy.
Stuck. Stuck. Stuck...because of stupidity and arrogance by our leaders and the people who vote for them.
Level two: The military, because the Republicans are terrified that they will have to admit that sooner or later their imperialistic desires in the Middle East and militaristic foriegn policy will force us to have a reinstatement of the draft, are lowering their recruitment standards to dangerous levels. This means that as the war drags on beyond Rumsfeld's infamous "6 days, 6 weeks, I doubt 6 months" comment and we see our pre-war military stretched dangerously thin and doing 4 and 5 tours in Iraq with recuriters so desperate for new bodies in uniform they'll take nearly anyone willing to go, even if they have to lie and use high pressure, false statements and Conduct Unbecoming to meet quota.
When we've lost 103 soldiers in the month of October alone...well, it doesn't take a smart, hard studying, educated mind to realize that with demand for soldiers going higher, the benefits getting lower, the risks increasing along with the hatred and resentment of the people in the region for our presence there...that the people who sign up are mostly going to be those who have fewer options available.
If you're smart enough to know that we are fighting an illegal war, invading a nation which did not pose a threat and had not attacked us, and see that our civilian leaders don't have any idea what they are doing...Or, if you are wealthy enough not to need to join the military to earn a living, why would you?
OK, some people might still join out of principle and love of country. But damned few.
And if that isn't true...tell me why there aren't more children of politicians serving in uniform in the Middle East right now? Jim Webb has a son who is a Marine lance corporal headed to Ramadi. Where are George Allen's children? George Bush's?
If it isn't true, why is it that so many people who have never worn a uniform or served in combat shouting so angrily about those who have (like John Kerry, Max Cleland, John Murtha, and Jim Webb) that dare to speak out against the war? How is it that the people of this country think draft dodging cowards who avoided service have any right to criticize decorated combat veterans as being anything but supportive of our men and women in combat?
Why is that?
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Allen, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of you chickenhawks who are so eager to keep sending other people's children to die for your failed policy and inability to admit a mistake.
For crying out loud, the only uniform Californian George Allen ever put on was a confederate general's uniform while an extra in Gods and Generals.
The botched joke is this administration. And they're just barely smart enough to know it, which is why the rest of us are so afraid of what they'll do next to hide their shame.
As a PS, Jim Webb is too much of a gentleman to do it, but I'm not any kind of a gentleman.
While Allen is scrambling to win votes away from Webb by calling him a woman hater and a cut & run coward who writes dirty books...Jim Webb never once responded by showing this picture in any of his ads. But somebody has to. Click on the link for the "war record" of General George.
posted by Archie Levine at 2:52 AM
2 Comments:
Again, because Jim Webb won't brag on himself, I have to do it for him.
James H. Webb, Jr. (born February 9, 1946) is a former Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, best-selling author, and a former United States Marine Corps officer decorated for valor in the Vietnam War. Webb is running for the United States Senate as a Democrat in Virginia.
First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.) FMF
Date of Action: July 10, 1969
The Navy Cross is presented to James H. Webb, Jr., First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Platoon Commander with Company D, First Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 10 July 1969, while participating in a company-sized search and destroy operation deep in hostile territory, First Lieutenant Webb's platoon discovered a well-camouflaged bunker complex which appeared to be unoccupied. Deploying his men into defensive positions, First Lieutenant Webb was advancing to the first bunker when three enemy soldiers armed with hand grenades jumped out. Reacting instantly, he grabbed the closest man and, brandishing his .45 caliber pistol at the others, apprehended all three of the soldiers. Accompanied by one of his men, he then approached the second bunker and called for the enemy to surrender. When the hostile soldiers failed to answer him and threw a grenade which detonated dangerously close to him, First Lieutenant Webb detonated a claymore mine in the bunker aperture, accounting for two enemy casualties and disclosing the entrance to a tunnel. Despite the smoke and debris from the explosion and the possibility of enemy soldiers hiding in the tunnel, he then conducted a thorough search which yielded several items of equipment and numerous documents containing valuable intelligence data. Continuing the assault, he approached a third bunker and was preparing to fire into it when the enemy threw another grenade. Observing the grenade land dangerously close to his companion, First Lieutenant Webb simultaneously fired his weapon at the enemy, pushed the Marine away from the grenade, and shielded him from the explosion with his own body. Although sustaining painful fragmentation wounds from the explosion, he managed to throw a grenade into the aperture and completely destroy the remaining bunker. By his courage, aggressive leadership, and selfless devotion to duty, First Lieutenant Webb upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.
To Rummy:
With YOUR management skills, Doofy Don, six YEARS is probably more like it.
Scheise...
I recently read the Woodward book "State of Denial", and there were so many times I had to re-read and re-read certain passages to see if that was what I had really read, I lost count. I found myself sadly shaking my head and chuckling at the same time. The book reads like a sitcom, and it might have been LOL funny if it hadn't been about a handful of loonies waging an unprovoked war in one of the world's most volatile regions.
Hey Don, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it worser
Remember, to always believe you will win
Then you'll begin
To make it worser.
AND... so GLAD Webb won in VA!!! The "macaca" race was one about which I was VERY concerned. I hope Webb's win severely damaged any presidential hopes Webb's neanderthal opponent may have been harboring!
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