Bush major policy address

[Jim]

... this morning was, as usual, delivered with adroitness. Here's a few gems ---

 

Third, the militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia.

 

Some might be tempted to dismiss these goals as fanatical or extreme. Well, they are fanatical and extreme, and they should not be dismissed.

 

 

 

And the civilized world knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and genocide before leaving the stage of history.

 

Evil men obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously, and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply.

 

 

The radicals exploit local conflicts to build a culture of victimization in which someone else is always to blame and violence is always the solution. (sounds familar eh?)

 

 

 

In fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with unalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world. (OK, here we go for the finale, actually using the C word)

 

The murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals is the great challenge of our new century. Yet in many ways, this fight resembles the struggle against communism in the last century. (always have to have a worldwide enemy to keep up the Defense Department budget )

[Cobra_Commander]

(always have to have a worldwide enemy to keep up the Defense Department budget )

 

It often seems people have to have an enemy to understand and feel comfortable with their own identity.

 

For years the USSR was a common quantifiable enemy around which Americans could rally, and through this shared hatred and fear, in some perverted way we could identify with each other as Americans.

[minx]

why is it that there is a need to identify ourselves as americans or poor dru as a canadian. why not develop an identity as a resident of this planet. borders are arbitrary, manmade definitions. would it not be better if we all considered ourselves part of one large community rather than divided units?

[ChrisT]

that makes sense since we're "fighting" global terrorism...

[Dru]

why is it that there is a need to identify ourselves as americans or poor dru as a canadian. why not develop an identity as a resident of this planet. borders are arbitrary, manmade definitions. would it not be better if we all considered ourselves part of one large community rather than divided units?

 

Why "poor Dru"? Being a Canadian means that I have many things to be proud of, one of which is that I'm not an American

 

And I live in the best place in the world - according to the Economist. Put that in your monorail and smoke it.

[minx]

ahh dru--you're such an easy troll

 

but seriously, why does the collective "we" feel so hung up on having a national identity? would it not be better to embrace a global identity?

 

this of course is an oversimplified idea. the practicalities of implementing it are a little overwhelming but i like the concept.

[Alan]

why is it that there is a need to identify ourselves as americans or poor dru as a canadian. why not develop an identity as a resident of this planet. borders are arbitrary, manmade definitions. would it not be better if we all considered ourselves part of one large community rather than divided units?

 

"Better the pride that resides in a citizen of the world,

Than the pride that divides, when a colourful flag is unfurled"

 

Neil Peart from "Territories"

[minx]

besides dru, our monorail already smokes occasionally

[Dru]

why is it that there is a need to identify ourselves as americans or poor dru as a canadian. why not develop an identity as a resident of this planet. borders are arbitrary, manmade definitions. would it not be better if we all considered ourselves part of one large community rather than divided units?

 

"Better the pride that resides in a citizen of the world,

Than the pride that divides, when a colourful flag is unfurled"

 

Neil Peart from "Territories"

 

Neil Peart is a homophobe?

 

 

[stinkyclimber]

And I live in the best place in the world - according to the Economist. Put that in your monorail and smoke it.

The Economist said that Chilliwack is the best place in the world to live?! Was Abbotsford a close-run second place? Someone is clearly smoking something (and that something was probably grown in the Chilliwack Valley, so that's appropriate).

[Dru]

Chilliwack is part of the Greater Vancouver area. Unlike Toronto and Victoria

[bunglehead]

you guys are always good for a laugh.

CC.com is the only place that can make terrorism hilarious.

[JoshK]

association is a funny thing...and people do it to different extents. Dru might be "canadian", and I might be "american" but, c'mon, seriously, i feel way more related to somebody like dru than your average texan, southerner, etc, who I hold nothing more in common than the title "american." Some people see things much more in terms of those titles and "us and them."

[catbirdseat]

You make a damn good point there, Josh.

[JayB]

Given that the whole premise of Bush's speech is baseless fearmongering, and there's nothing more at work here than superficial attempts to manipulate the minor differences and misunderstandings between the Islamists and the West - I presume that none of you would object to jettisoning the principles that underly our civilization and replacing them with those advocated and enforced by the Taliban.

 

I know that when my wife saw the stooped chick in the bee-keeper suit walking three steps behind the bearded guy in the park the other day she got a serious case of Burqua envy, and nothing keeps couples devoted like seeing a good public stoning every now and then....

[Dru]

Yeah, I've been stoned in public before

 

You're right though JayB, Islam is a serious threat to Bush's dream of a fundy-Christian theocracy. Happily, either flavour of God knows best government will crush those annoying, pro-science, atheistic liberals underfoot like bugs.

[cj001f]

I presume that none of you would object to jettisoning the principles that underly our civilization and replacing them with those advocated and enforced by the Taliban.

I was unawares we had reached a consensus on what principles underline our civilization. I am acutely aware that the most pressing issue facing our society today is not terrorism.

[Jim]

Given that the whole premise of Bush's speech is baseless fearmongering, and there's nothing more at work here than superficial attempts to manipulate the minor differences and misunderstandings between the Islamists and the West - I presume that none of you would object to jettisoning the principles that underly our civilization and replacing them with those advocated and enforced by the Taliban.

 

I know that when my wife saw the stooped chick in the bee-keeper suit walking three steps behind the bearded guy in the park the other day she got a serious case of Burqua envy, and nothing keeps couples devoted like seeing a good public stoning every now and then....

 

Yep, they're knocking on our doorstep right now and we had better, I know, spend another 3 trillion dollars on some new weapon systems or something. Hilarious.

Edited October 6, 2005 by Jim

[Norman_Clyde]

Given that the whole premise of Bush's speech is baseless fearmongering, and there's nothing more at work here than superficial attempts to manipulate the minor differences and misunderstandings between the Islamists and the West - I presume that none of you would object to jettisoning the principles that underly our civilization and replacing them with those advocated and enforced by the Taliban.

 

The above post suggests that you see the Bush administration and the Islamic fundamentalist movement as being absolute political opposites. This must mean that you see nothing ironic in any of the words our president spoke this morning. Ambition...militaristic expansionism...unburdened by conscience... for some Americans, not only the Taliban comes to mind when we hear these words. There is an email making the rounds today titled "Bush calls for his own impeachment." I conclude from your post that if you were to receive this email, not only would you fail to see the humor-- you wouldn't even get the joke.

[JoshK]

JayB's sense of humor is smugly smiling when he words up another email with as many words as humanly possible. If it can be said with twenty, he'll push the envelope to at least fifty!

[Gary_Yngve]

Anyone notice how a non-Aryan such as Bush was worried about the preservation of the non-radical Muslims?

[Jim]

I know that when my wife saw the stooped chick in the bee-keeper suit walking three steps behind the bearded guy in the park the other day she got a serious case of Burqua envy, and nothing keeps couples devoted like seeing a good public stoning every now and then....

 

He at least gets points for consistency. Always throw out an absurd straw dog option to beat upon in opposition to the Bushie line, therefore making the Bushie line seem (almost) plausible. The above is a classic example suggesting that those who are looking for an alternative to this administration's stumbling are in favor of the Taliban. Excellent! Great parallel to Bush's references to the Communist threat. Bring on the black lists! Hmmmm, who is likely to stand in for McCarthy?

[JoshK]

Oh, and JayB, if you and bush cared so much about the women of Islam, you'd advocate cutting ties and pressuring Saudi Arabia more than any other country.

[ScottP]

Why "poor Dru"? Being a Canadian means that I have many things to be proud of, one of which is that I'm not an American

 

And I live in the best place in the world - according to the Economist. Put that in your monorail and smoke it.

[selkirk]

Given that the whole premise of Bush's speech is baseless fearmongering, and there's nothing more at work here than superficial attempts to manipulate the minor differences and misunderstandings between the Islamists and the West - I presume that none of you would object to jettisoning the principles that underly our civilization and replacing them with those advocated and enforced by the Taliban.

 

I know that when my wife saw the stooped chick in the bee-keeper suit walking three steps behind the bearded guy in the park the other day she got a serious case of Burqua envy, and nothing keeps couples devoted like seeing a good public stoning every now and then....

 

Yep, they're knocking on our doorstep right now and we had better, I know, spend another 3 trillion dollars on some new weapon systems or something. Hilarious.

 

yep, because we can all agree that bigger guns and faster ways to kill people will keep Iran from invading, and the terrorists from winning.