Aaahh, that's what's motivating everything...the "tourist" threat. Silly me, I thought it was a "terrorist" threat.

Yeah.. There goes all my watercooler jokes for tomorrow.

IMHO you're doing pretty well with your site as well Lemon. Keep up the good work.

Thank you Scott for encouraging the guy.

See what you started now?

Geez.. some guys.

Cut down the cherry trees? You're durn tootin' cowboy.

Chop those suckers down. We saved the Japanese from themselves and they send us these crappy trees that don't bloom when they're told? Enough!

STOP, NO, IT'S A RUSH TO CHERRY TREES! WE NEED MORE TIME FOR DAILY INSPECTIONS!

Dear All

My position is and has always been the following:

I think and believe that the motivation for WARS has ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS in history been RULERS' GREED for POWER hidden behind PROPAGANDA.

PROPAGANDA is needed because soldiers are HONEST SINCERE and so need to be persuaded that they are going to give their life for a JUST CAUSE.

That has always been true in history and will be always true.

Please believe...

But, will this be the FINAL deadline for the cherry blossoms? Will there be endless extension of the deadline? Are we talking days, not weeks? Weeks, not months?

Note: ScrappleFace readers are intelligent enough to express themselves without obscenities.

Indeed. After all, profanity is the last refuge of the inarticulate mother---.

I think and believe that the motivation for WARS has ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS in history been RULERS' GREED for POWER hidden behind PROPAGANDA.

Then you are a fool, Frenchman. And a simplistic fool, at that.

I cannot tell a lie... I love this one.

I think Frenchie may have a point here. Chirac's Gaullist tendencies have crippled the UN inspection process to the point where a war is almost inevitable. So yes, this war will be largely because of a ruler's greed masked behind propaganda. Come to think of it, that's also a good description for Saddam. Left to his own devices, he'd snatch Kuwait and even Saudi Arabia while under a shield of nuclear-biological-chemical WMD's. Good thinking Frenchie, and all this time I thought you opposed the upcoming conflict.

Frenchman, are your fingers too fat? You seem to be hitting your Caps Lock by mistake a lot. OR IS IT INTENTIONAL?

Frenchie... help me understand... please

Which of YOUR rulers greed, power, and propaganda are you ALWAYS refering to (or defending)?

Hitler, Stalin, PolPot, Kim Jon Ill, Saddam, Taliban ? There is a common thread here.. in case you have missed it historically. These guys have all supressed, masacred, imprisioned, tourtured, dehumanized, plundered, terrorised, starved, and destroyed the lives (and cultures) of MILLIONS of thier their own (innocent?)people.

If you even THINK to put any President of the United States, or leader of a free people, on that list you are a bigger lier, and just as evil, as any of these despots. (and you know it!)

Are you saying that we shouldn't have fought to reisist these? That is what is so appalling to the logical senses... how can we NOT go to war against this greed, power and propaganda?

and let's not forget that sanctions was the UN's idea... or Bush 41 would have kicked Saddam out in 1991.

Good grief !! Your mentality, (and like minded obstructionists in the UN ) And our own dear Liberal movie stars, is what empowers these ruthless greedy bastards. Talk about "useful idiots" !! You ARE their propaganda.

Seriously... you need bad to go start over...
I suggest you begin with Grim's Fairy Tales,
and/or Aesops Fables, they at least have a "moral of the story"
http://www.PageByPageBooks.com/Aesop/Aesops_Fables/

Not to be confused with Mr Peabody and Sherman's Fractured Fairy Tales.

SUPREME COURT ORDERS IMMEDIATE INVASION OF IRAQ

The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision today, ordered the Bush administration to immediately begin military operations against Iraq. Speaking for the majority, Justice Thomas thundered: "Rush to war? Not part of the war on terrorism? What is this, Bizzaro World?! LET'S GET SOME WAR ON ALREADY!!"

The transcript of the proceedings indicate Justice Thomas followed these remarks by firing several rounds from a Magnum into a group of appeasement activists present in the chamber.

Political analysists said that although the Court expressed impatience with the President, the Justices are still expected to appoint Mr. Bush to a second term in 2004.

--

In a separate, unanimous decision, the Justices also ordered the arrest of Martin Sheen on charges of impersonating a government official, sedition, and acting on the behalf of a terrorist organization. Responding to criticism from civil liberties group, the Justices promised Sheen would receive a fair and impartial conviction.

The French have blocked yet another attempt to cut down the useless and blossumless trees. The world politicians are starting to wonder if they are really worried about the trees or their cherries!

Frenchie,
do you believe that Bush is out for power? What power is he going to have. He isn't out for world domintation.
How is it about greed? Is he going to make money off the war? Does he have any ties to people who will? No!
What propoganda? All he has said is that terrorism is evolving and becoming more deadly and there are states that actively encourage this behavior. It is time to take the big boy toys from the irresponsible, so go eat your snack and go nighty nighty.

Justin, there's no sense debating morons.

Like France itself, Frenchie is just being annoying to get attention that in all other cases would be denied. France and Frenchie probably don't really believe a word they say, but it's the only way they can escape being ignored completely.

As for people who really do think Bush is driven by power-lust ... Remember, the hallmark of psychosis is a separation from, or a distorted perception of, reality -- it's quite accurate to call these idiots crazy.

The interesting thing is that clinical experiments demonstrate that people suffering from conspiracy thinking return to rational thinking when treated with anti-depressants and/or anti-psychotic medications.

If the Bushies were really after power and control, they could easily do so (under legislation that has existed for years) by hoaxing a domestic biological attack. Disaster protocol for containing a biological attack calls for the declaration of martial law, and allows the government to control the media, silence critics, squash mobs, etc etc in order to maintain order. I'll leave the rest of this scenario to delusional people to worry about.

The best response to freaks who suffer from conspiracy thinking is to simply recommend they seek medical help. Disorders of this type are quite common these days, particularly in the subcultures from which most of the anti-war crowd is spawned. Drugs like marijuana, cocaine, LSD, methamphetamine, ecstasy, PCP, etc when heavily abused all tend to produce pyschotic thinking and it's generally easy to eliminate with medication.

Abusers of LSD, ecstasy and methamphetamine are particularly prone to highly disorganized, radicalized thinking, which unfortunately is the result of organic brain damage that can't be reversed. Without treatment and medication, most can look foward to schizophrenia. (A terrific example of irrational behavior among methamphetamine abusers would be Adolf Hitler, if you need to conjure up an image of extreme reality-disconnect.)

Are we really obligated to consider the opinions of the deluded and those who pander to them? Do we really need to take into account the views of people who are divorced from reality when we discuss matters like national security and foreign policy?

I'm gonna go with 'no'.

is it possible.. that the hollywood gang is really going to chain themselves to those lil trees?...perhaps.. the french will bring them champagne and the germans can seranade them with thier vast accordian knowledge and 'veinerschnitzelz'...Best tho to give them a little longer... am just sure thier going to "bloom"..
Blooming Idiots all!!!!!!

Keith,
So what you are saying is that the are all drug-addicted, psychopathic idiots...
sounds good to me, lock 'em up!

Justin said:
How is it about greed? Is he going to make money off the war? Does he have any ties to people who will? No!

For the purpose of this argument, are we selectively ignoring that the idea is to topple a regime that currently controls 11% of oil imported into the US, and replace it with one the current administration finds favorable? And that the current administration previously had direct economic ties to (and possible future ties to) oil companies?

Prove that he will or people he know will make money off this and that his decision is based on that and I will eat crow.

He does have ties with the oil industry and I jumped the gun on that one, but Frenchies argument was full of holes (I'm just sick of the oil argument).

There is a lot more evidence that France is complicit than anyone else so far.

Dear Adrift:

the fact that Saddam has oil does NOT negate the fact that he has WMD, told the UN to kiss his a** 18 times, has a history of invading other countries, and that he is a butcher. Hello? The oil is what finances his WMD and butchery. What - it's not PC to go after a rich butcher? We should only go after POOR butchers?