Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursdays Lunch Hour
Here are my quick hit takes on the news of the day.
Former President Bill Clinton laid into the Republicans for the feaux outrage they have generated over the Moveon ad. Which gives me the chance to go off on a tangent which really has no bearing on Moveon or anything else in that clip. I keep hearing about how the nation is tired of the Bush/Clinton Bush/Clinton cycle. I think the people who say this are half right. The nation is beyond tired of the Bush brand, but Clinton is very popular. I think when you hear people talking about the Bush/Clinton cycle, what they are really doing is tying Clinton to Bush. That is patently ridiculous. It is because of those differences that Bill remains popular. Let me take this chance to hearken to one of my favorite political lines of all time. To paraphrase the great Lloyd Bentsen: I don't know the Clinton's, the Clinton's are not friends of mine, but the Bush's are no Clinton's!
Immediately prior to the invasion, Saddam was sending signals to the Egyptians that he would be willing to go into exile if he were given $1 billion to retire on. What a bargain! Knowing now what we didn't know then, $10 billion would have been cheap! Before this disaster is over with we are looking at over a trillion dollars poured into the quagmire in Iraq. Thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives are part of the equation as well. It might have been a bit of a bruise on our collective ego's, but just imagine the quagmire we could have avoided.
From the same source that brought us the Saddam wanted exile story is the news that Bush told the Prime Minister of Spain that what was going on with Iraq was like "Chinese water torture. We have to put an end to it." I think we have ended the Chinese water torture and replaced it with Chinese water boarding... or Chinese enhanced interrogation techniques anyway.
Part of the Patriot Act has been tossed by a federal judge for being unconstitutional. The judge rules that the act "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment". So what happens when the President simply decides to ignore the law, the judicial system and the constitution and continue with his illegality anyway? I suppose this is an example of the famous quote by Andrew Jackson about a supreme court ruling: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it". Who will hold this President accountable for blatantly defying the law, and when being caught at it announcing his intention to continue the practice?
Former President Bill Clinton laid into the Republicans for the feaux outrage they have generated over the Moveon ad. Which gives me the chance to go off on a tangent which really has no bearing on Moveon or anything else in that clip. I keep hearing about how the nation is tired of the Bush/Clinton Bush/Clinton cycle. I think the people who say this are half right. The nation is beyond tired of the Bush brand, but Clinton is very popular. I think when you hear people talking about the Bush/Clinton cycle, what they are really doing is tying Clinton to Bush. That is patently ridiculous. It is because of those differences that Bill remains popular. Let me take this chance to hearken to one of my favorite political lines of all time. To paraphrase the great Lloyd Bentsen: I don't know the Clinton's, the Clinton's are not friends of mine, but the Bush's are no Clinton's!
Immediately prior to the invasion, Saddam was sending signals to the Egyptians that he would be willing to go into exile if he were given $1 billion to retire on. What a bargain! Knowing now what we didn't know then, $10 billion would have been cheap! Before this disaster is over with we are looking at over a trillion dollars poured into the quagmire in Iraq. Thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives are part of the equation as well. It might have been a bit of a bruise on our collective ego's, but just imagine the quagmire we could have avoided.
From the same source that brought us the Saddam wanted exile story is the news that Bush told the Prime Minister of Spain that what was going on with Iraq was like "Chinese water torture. We have to put an end to it." I think we have ended the Chinese water torture and replaced it with Chinese water boarding... or Chinese enhanced interrogation techniques anyway.
Part of the Patriot Act has been tossed by a federal judge for being unconstitutional. The judge rules that the act "now permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment". So what happens when the President simply decides to ignore the law, the judicial system and the constitution and continue with his illegality anyway? I suppose this is an example of the famous quote by Andrew Jackson about a supreme court ruling: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it". Who will hold this President accountable for blatantly defying the law, and when being caught at it announcing his intention to continue the practice?
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