(2006-11-22) — A day after the assassination of Lebanese Christian politician Pierre Gemayel, Democrats in the U.S. Congress called on President George Bush to pull U.S. troops out of Lebanon as a way of ending the strife that threatens to descend into civil war.
“As everyone knows,” said Rep. Jack Murtha, D-PA, a former Marine, “the American military is the cause of terrorism and sectarian tensions around the world. We can’t win in Lebanon, so we need to begin a phased redeployment immediately.”
Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, a professional Vietnam veteran, said, “There’s no reason that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Lebanese people in the dead of night terrorizing kids and children and women, breaking historical customs, religious customs. Lebanese soldiers should be doing that.”
The former Democrat presidential nominee added, “if American young people would study hard, do their homework and make an effort to be smart, they wouldn’t get stuck in Lebanon.”
House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, said the recent U.S. elections in which Democrats swept to a majority in the House and Senate, “were a mandate from the voters to get out of Lebanon and liberate those people from the oppression of the U.S. occupation that causes them to act out like this.”
Asked when the president would submit to the will of the people and pull the military from Lebanon, an unnamed White House spokesman said, “1984.”
In related news, Iran and Syria today offered to mediate the crisis by holding a summit meeting with the president of Lebanon and Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to discuss ways of preventing foreigners and Muslim fanatics from upsetting Lebanon’s natural state of peace and security.
79 responses so far ↓
1 JamesonLewis3rd // Nov 22, 2006 at 6:53 am
God Bless America
2 Scott Ott // Nov 22, 2006 at 6:57 am
Democrats Call for U.S. Troop Pullout from Lebanon…
by Scott Ott(2006-11-22) — A day after the assassination of Lebanese Christian politician Pierre Gemayel, Democrats in the U.S. Congress called on President George Bush to pull U.S. troops out of Lebanon as a way of ending the strife that threatens…..
3 Rock Slatestone // Nov 22, 2006 at 6:59 am
Good One Scott!
4 egospeak // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:24 am
1984???? Blast that George Bush an his eeeevil rasputin Karl Rove!!! Curses…. foiled again!!
You know I wonder when we’re getting out of France and the Philippines and Vietnam. Somebody should get John Kerry right on that now that his party is in power again.
Regards,
5 TouchyFeely // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:31 am
Perhaps if the Democratic Party had supported Bush’s war on terror, we’d already be in Tehran, no more nukes, no more ruling Mullahs, no more terrorism. As it is, a lot more people will have to die before the mullets on the left quit believing the pablum their being fed by Teddy kennedy and the NYTimes. It may be years away, but it could well be a nuclear catastrophe, and could involve more than one city. But, heh, cut and run, baby, CUT AND RUN.
6 egospeak // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:43 am
1984????. On second thought, maybe that should be “blast that Ronald Reagan and his eeevil henchmen (choose anybody)!!!” It really doesn’t matter as all Republicans are lesser lights intellectually and basically corrupt warmongers who only get America into conflicts so their fatcat friends can profiteer. Isn’t that what our Democrat friends tell us all the time? And they would never lie to us, would they?
Hey John!!! When are we pulling out of that little conflict in Vietnam? Didn’t you serve there?
Don’t forget Grenada! How long are we gonna stay there? Better jump on that Ms. Pelosi!
Regards,
7 bystander // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:44 am
Hmmmmm.
“3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October”
And they say there is no civil war ?
Hmmmmm.
Must be a new form of kindergarten recess play time.
Yes,yes, that’s it !
8 bystander // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:49 am
“…some saw the detention of six imams at the airport here as a case of “Flying while Muslim” - the idea that Muslims come in for extra scrutiny when they fly.:
Hmmmmm. I wonder why ?
9 Ms RightWing, Ink // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:53 am
we have nothing to fear but babaganoush itself
10 sojourner // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:56 am
It’s sad that the Lebanese Muslims feel the way to handle their differences is to kill the opposition. We’re so blessed that in the U.S., we have dopes like Kerry and Kennedy, yet no one even discusses killing them. Very good thing the vast majority of Dum-o-crats extend the same courtesy to the Republicans.
11 Darthmeister // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:59 am
The coming civil war in Lebanon - another country steeped in the “religion of peace” despite the fact there are enclaves of Christians just trying to survive among their more militant Muslim neighbors - is obviously another Karl Rove/CIA plot to eventually acquire the secret oil reserves which lie beneath Lebanon. No war for oil, Mr. President!
12 JamesonLewis3rd // Nov 22, 2006 at 8:04 am
The sad thing is that, since the Democrat party had no real stance on any issues of importance, the “mandate” was a mandate for mediocrity, bigotry and oppression.
13 egospeak // Nov 22, 2006 at 8:13 am
There are a lot of other places we should pull out of. What about Arizona, Texas, California, Nevada, and New Mexico? Didn’t we forcibly take that land from Mexico after the Mexican War?
And what about Alaska? Two cents an acre??? Even in the 1860’s that wasn’t any money. We took advantage of Russia, and as an act of good faith and friendship we should give it back. Just think how much good will that would get us in the World community.
Do I need to mention the Louisiana Purchase? It was a deal, fair and square, but just imagine how it would improve our relations with France if we gave it back. Not to mention that it would finally legitimize France as a superpower.
We can’t forget Native Americans. We came here 400 years ago, murdered them and stole the East Coast. We have to pull out of there too.
Think about the upside. We get rid of Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer, Hillary et al because there would be no more Senate or House and we all get to live in Hawaii!!
Regards,
14 JamesonLewis3rd // Nov 22, 2006 at 8:19 am
On this date in 1963, life, as we knew it, changed forever.
15 wildhowd // Nov 22, 2006 at 8:22 am
Big brother is watching
16 gafisher // Nov 22, 2006 at 8:29 am
Bistandard #7: Do you have the statistics on how many of those murders were committed by Iraqis against Iraqis? They definitely have a serious gang violence problem, but the figures seem to show a lot of the killings being the work of non-Iraqi insurgents. In any case, it’s a chilling reminder of how severe the problem would become if the coalition weren’t there — just look at what happened when we failed to intervene in Cambodia or Rwanda!
No doubt about it, you make a good case for remaining to protect this fragile, fledgeling democracy.
17 Hawkeye // Nov 22, 2006 at 8:32 am
Excellent post Maestro Scott. Another classic!
18 gafisher // Nov 22, 2006 at 8:45 am
JL3 #14: Indeed, with the death of C.S. Lewis on that day the last Medieval passed from this world. But there was another famous death on the same day: Aldous Huxley, grandson of T.H. Huxley (known as “Darwin’s Bulldog”) and the screenwriter for such well-known works as Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland,” as well as a number of pacifist and utopian novels, including what may be his best-known work, “Brave New World.”
Oh, also on that day control of the United States government was forcibly taken in a violent coup, or so it has been said.
19 Darthmeister // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:13 am
Let’s pull out of Lebanon and redeploy to Syria.
Does everybody remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard President Kennedy was shot? I sure do.
20 JamesonLewis3rd // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:21 am
I was 13, in my 8th grade Health/Science class-Eastmoor Junior High School, Columbus OH-when the announcement was made over the PA.
21 onlineanalyst // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:28 am
So little time, so little time for Madame Pelosi to have her decorators measure for drapes in her new digs… when what should come along but a pesky situation in Lebanon. Isn’t a situation how Nanny Poohlousy describe Iraq?
Not to worry about holiday decorations here on the home front though! Effigies of the highly decorated effigies of Murtha and Kerry should make those home fires bright. What with the burning issues of minimum wage and the “doughnut hole” in Medicare Part D, our yout’ and their granfolks have their needs taken care of in the foreseeable future- whatever that is from day to day!
22 Darthmeister // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:37 am
#7 bystander, you can thank the “religion of peace” for demonstrating how effective it is in establishing such brotherly love during difficult times. And this fratricide is being done in the name of their misbegotten religion, not for any secular reason like fighting on the basis of legal or moral principles likr eliminating slavery (our War Between the States) or reaffirming the natural rights of man (our own 1776 Revolutionary War).
For example, Christianity has been inextricably woven in the tapestry of the American people these last 230 years which makes any great social upheavel result in one Christian pitted against another on the basis of some national issue, yet there has never been a case where Episcopaleans declared a shooting war on Presbyterians, Baptists against Lutherans or even modern evangelicals against atheists like we see with the Shias and Sunnis. So why isn’t the “religion of peace” the oil on troubled waters? In fact, from what I’m witnessing, adherence to Islam is like gasoline being poured on a fire during internal upheavels.
The fact the the Shias and Sunnis want to fight in a burning barn of their own making now that they’ve been liberated from a tyrant, is the fault of their own faith and not that of American soldiers trying to keep the peace between these two murderous Muslim factions.
23 RedPepper // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:37 am
“Muslim fanatics” ?!?!?
What kind of bigoted , Islamophobic [BLEEP!] is that ?!?
BEHEAD THOSE WHO INSULT ISLAM ! ! !
/s
24 Maggie // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:38 am
” John Kerry,professional Vietnam Veteran”, LMHO.
When will we pull US troops out of Koszicstan(sp?)
……and aren’t our toops still in the Balkins?
25 onlineanalyst // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:43 am
The Dem turkeys thought that the word “pullout” was “pullet” and breathed a sigh of relief that they would not be called “chicken hawks.” Little do they know that chicken hawks eat chickens.
Bridget Johnson tells us not to despair, giving us all plenty of reasons for giving thanks during this season of blessings.
26 Maggie // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:46 am
Onlineanalyst,
“Nanny Poohlousy” lol (sorry Ms Righty) I hope someone is keeping tabs on the unique misspelling of San Fran Nan’s name.I know that Prettyold calls her Peeloosly.
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving Day!
27 conserve-a-tips // Nov 22, 2006 at 9:52 am
re: #7 - Bystander:
In 2002, there were 2388.58 deaths per month in the US from firearms alone. That doesn’t include beating deaths, strangulation, poisoning, stabbing, running over with a vehicle (like a wife did here to her husband), and the myriad of other methods used to kill people. In other words, according to your post, the US is at civil war. Hmmmmmm. Redeploy the police to France!!!
28 conserve-a-tips // Nov 22, 2006 at 10:06 am
Darthmeister, re #19: I was in the fourth grade, living in Silver Spring, MD and attending Dennis Avenue Elementary School. The previous Spring and that Fall, we had been subjected to countless air raid drills and “walk homes” and “duck and cover” because of the various disasters with the Russians and Cuba.
We children were too young to understand totally what was going on but we knew we were just outside of D.C. and that when an airplane (back then many prop planes) went over, we were to dive under our desks and when the sirens went off, we were to vamoose out the door and walk/run as fast as our little legs could carry us, along a predetermined “fastest route” home.
And so, on that fateful day, I remember the principal making the announcement over the ocre colored box of an intercom speaker, stationed in the top left corner of the classroom, telling us to go home immediately. I remember my teacher crying and I remember crying, myself, as I walked home because I thought that the Russians had killed our president and that our country was done for. I didn’t understand the process and all I knew was that the man whom I had seen in processionals and on TV was who “made our country run” and he was gone. Ah, the perceptions of children.
29 conserve-a-tips // Nov 22, 2006 at 10:15 am
Scott, great!!
But you forgot to add that Rick Warren, just returning from Syria where he said, on film, that Syria is a “moderate” nation that allows freedom for all Christians and Jews alike, will be chairing the tete-a-tete between Syria, Iran and Lebanon, totally swallowing, hook, line and sinker, anything the Syrian and Iranian government officials tell him. Evidently, to Mr. Warren, the biblical concept of “discernment” actually means “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.”
ooo..bad, bad CAT.
30 Roguet55 // Nov 22, 2006 at 10:18 am
Maybe all the dems could follow Nancy Pulloutsy
along with Barrage Me Ohbaby to another country!
Choose any of their favorite spots from the last few months, Iran, Syria, Russia, Kazakstan, certain parts of Afganistan, I am sure they would be welcomed with open arms!
And, as a tear rolls from my eye as I wave Bye!
Oh Sorry just dozing I think!
31 Ms RightWing, Ink // Nov 22, 2006 at 10:55 am
Maggie
LOL’s are allowed as long as you hold it to a minimum. So whatever happened to Mr LOL anyhow?
32 GnuCarSmell // Nov 22, 2006 at 12:36 pm
In addition to JFK, this date also saw the passing of Edward Teach (”Blackbeard”, 1718), Jack London (1916) and Mae West (1980). But good things happened on this date, as well: in 1988 the B-2 Stealth Bomber was unveiled.
33 bystander // Nov 22, 2006 at 12:50 pm
“….obviously another Karl Rove/CIA plot to eventually acquire the secret oil reserves which lie beneath Lebanon”
I guess the secret is out there now.
Shame on you Darth !
Babganoush - wasn’t he the guy that was selling pork on a stick in Haifa ?
34 Darthmeister // Nov 22, 2006 at 12:53 pm
I first heard President Kennedy was killed when I was walking out to the school bus as an eight year old in the third grade.
The news spread like wildfire among the student body and I remember a deathly silence as we all were lost in our thoughts while climbing on board the buses around 2:45pm. I don’t remember any yelling or screaming or even that the bus ride was particularly noisier than normal. I do remember I was lost in my own thoughts wondering how it was that someone would accidentally kill the President on a hunting trip.
Being a Texan brought up around their daddy’s firearms, that was my only connection to some important individual like the President being shot. It was only after I got home and my distraught mother told me no, no, it wasn’t a hunting accident, President Kennedy was assassinated that it dawned on me it was indeed a cruel, hard world we lived in fraught with danger. Never one for paranoia, I am quick to sense the danger inherent in ideologies which make men murder the innocent in order to establish their “brave new world”.
Even as we practiced our “hurricane drills” in school, which were really nuclear duck-and-cover drills, I was never confronted with the sheer evil which stalked the world than when this young American brought up in a good Southern Democrat home began to understand that there were evildoers who not only are capable of killing the President of the United States but also the people I love. At the time it was believed Jack Kennedy’s death was a result of a communist plot after the Bay of Pigs and his showdown with the Russians.
35 bystander // Nov 22, 2006 at 12:53 pm
“There are a lot of other places we should pull out of. What about Arizona, Texas, California, Nevada, and New Mexico?”
You got it all wrong !
We ought to pull out of Washington, D.C. !
LOL was on that plane with the Imams !
36 bystander // Nov 22, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Hmmm Darth !
Christians have never conducted any mass slaughters since what’s his name came down off the mountain with his slates ?
We should purge that nasty stuff out of the history books. Our little kids minds might get the wrong ideas about how things really go in this world of ours.
37 da Bunny // Nov 22, 2006 at 2:37 pm
“Nancy Pulloutsy”
That’s the best one yet, Roguet55!
38 Laughing@You // Nov 22, 2006 at 2:39 pm
The Darthmeister says:
“Never one for paranoia, I am quick to sense the danger inherent in ideologies which make men murder the innocent in order to establish their “brave new world”.
This is a very interesting psychological insight. But, Henry, I am sure, even most here dont believe this is true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“There is a big difference between a philosophy and an ideology, on the right or the left.”
“If you have a philosophy, it generally pushes you in a certain direction or another; but, like all philosophers, you want to engage in discussion, and argument. You are open to evidence, to new learning. And, you are certainly open to debate the practical applications of your philosophy. Therefore, you might wind up making a principled agreement with someone with a different philosophy.”
“The problem with ideology is, if you got an ideology, you already got your mind made up; you know all the answers. And, that makes evidence irrelevant and argument a waste of time. So, you tend to govern by assertion and attack.”
Former President Bill Clinton, Georgetown University, Oct. 18, 2006
39 da Bunny // Nov 22, 2006 at 2:54 pm
In an effort to extend the olive branch to all who were offended by the “US Airways/praying Imams” debacle, the US gov’t has announced a joint venture with all commercial airlines to provide free “flying while Muslim” vouchers to all islamo-travelers. These vouchers may be redeemed for a free ONE-WAY ticket BACK to the “highly civilized” Islamic-ruled country of their choice, where they can practice their “religion of peace” anytime they wish, without fear of persecution by “culturally insensitive” fellow travelers who might “mistake” them for terrorists!
40 J. Cougar Melancholy // Nov 22, 2006 at 3:03 pm
[deleted]
41 da Bunny // Nov 22, 2006 at 3:14 pm
“governing by assertion or attack” **
[**see Iran, N Korea, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Germany under Hitler, China/Russia under Communism, etc...]
Yes, we had such great “governing” under der Schlickmeister…governing by “ignorance.” Ignore islamofascists when they bomb the Khobar Towers, ignore them when they bomb the USS Cole, ignore them when they bombed the WTC in ‘93, ignore the threat of Osama bin Laden and let the opportunity to “remove” him slip away. Ignore the dignity of the Office and treat the White House like a wh*rehouse. Fire-bomb the property of a religious cult, killing innocent US civilians, send in the “storm-troopers” to forcibly remove a small child from a loving family home, and return him to a life of poverty in a communist dictatorship! What a gem we had in Willie!
42 Darthmeister // Nov 22, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Finally, some left-wing human shields … oops, they’re protecting the assets of a Palestinian terrorist group. Figures. I wonder if any are standing guard at Israeli schools, pizzarias, or shopping malls?
43 Darthmeister // Nov 22, 2006 at 4:14 pm
Reread what I said, bystander, and keep it in its proper context. If you want to blame modern Christians for what Jews did against debauched societies (after Moses came down from the mountain) and Roman Catholics did in crusades against Muslim encroachments in Europe, go right ahead if it makes you feel better about your own failed secularist ideology.
Compared to the most secular governmental ideologies of the 20th Century (Nazism, Socialism, Communism, Stalinism, Marxism), even Muslim fanatics are pikers compared to the efficient mass murder of innocents by the likes of secular regimes which most accurately reflect your Christian-denigrating ideology. And this within our lifetimes. Why do I have to keep reminding you of this and why do you keep condemning Christendom for its past corruptions by worldly men and Popes, corruptions which pale in comparison to the bloodletting often accomplished in a matter of months and not centuries by atheist/secular ideologues in the modern era?
You insular seculars really love dredging up stuff from thousands of years ago while winking at what radical Muslims are engaging in right before your very eyes. Figures, because you’re in constant denial. So, let me get this straight, Christians can’t criticize the murderous excesses of Muslim fanatics today because of what a Roman Catholic Pope living in a different time and culture did or did not do six hundred years ago in response to a perceived threat to the Roman Catholic Church?
You and laughing gasbag’s false ahistorical double-standards continue to be like fingernails on a blackboard. It’s also been my experience that modern seculars and nominal religionists are the most bigotted, judgmental, arrogant, self-righteous people in the world today. You so readily defend Muslims who wink-wink at their jihadist brethren while vociferously condemning modern Christians who have nothing, nothing to do with “holy wars”, pogroms, or converting people at gunpoint.
You trolls are exhibits one and two of which I’ve just spoken.
44 Pros and Cons » The Ultimate Foreign Minister - Updated to take the latest Gemayel assasination into consideration. // Nov 22, 2006 at 4:19 pm
[...] We might even succeed in toppling it simply by taking out it’s pitifully small oil refining capability. Doing such a thing would at least cripple it’s ability to provide for it’s dependents in the Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere, much less hold down it’s own restless population. Don’t forget that Tehran’s writ travels less far than Baghdad’s does in it’s own country. Can we still afford to think Syria and Iran want to “talk” after this, the latest in a string of murders? Iraq the Model correctly says the Syrians are “not so much” interested in talking and neither are their masters in Tehran. Bombing, invading, or blockading (as I argued at some length last year), Iran may be our best bet if we cannot more completely subvert it from within. Our alternatives seem to me consist of a decision to lie back and do our best to get past it and hope the problem resolves itself (or someone else resolves it for us), or at least denuclearize and chasten, maybe topple, Tehran ourselves. For those like our own Dr. Steven Taylor, Poliblogger, who in all seriousness, think Iraq with it’s small expenditures and remarkably low loss of life is “a clear failure”, I respond by asking if a nuclear Iran being punished only after using it’s nuke (I do not think Iran can be deterred once it is nuclear, as I am convinced that the mullahs believe their own propaganda) is not far worse. Iraq is not much of a stretch by even Cold War standards. We are fighting an ideological conflict much like the Cold War here. The decrease in support for combat operations abroad has much to do with how little sense of direct threat most of our citizens feel at this point, which is good. Further, as I argue above, we need not commit to a functioning Iran the way we had to in Sunni dominated Iraq, bordered as it is by Syria, Palestinians (in Jordan), Iran and Saudi Arabia. If Pakistan, India, Russia and the House of Saud want to fight it out over the new order in Iran, I’ll refer them to how well that worked for everyone in Afghanistan, except, again, as I mentioned above, Iran won’t be proving much of a threat to us nor Europe in the meanwhile, cf Kurdistan, now a rare regional bright spot. As for Iraq, Tehran out of the way will mean an end to probably half the supplies going to the Shiite and Sunni problems we face in Iraq as well. It’s not as though Damascus has the resources to project force out of itself without Iranian cash. As for their threats to the Persian Gulf and especially the Straights of Hormuz, well, we’ve fought that war a coupe of times since the 1980s already and did rather well. I doubt the third time will be the charm for Iran’s Navy or Air Force, though their rocketry will obviously present a serious problem, but not an insurmountable one. As for the continuing Iraq problem (it’s an annoyance, not an existential threat, and it is decidedly not a catastrophe, especially by regional standards though it could become very, very bad indeed should we decide to lose the war), this guy has the right idea. UPDATE II: This updated link and it’s kissing cousin are provided just to prove one can always laugh at a situation. [...]
45 conserve-a-tips // Nov 22, 2006 at 4:42 pm
To all of Scrappledom:
As I prepare to prepare for tomorrow
I would like to wish you all a blessed and pleasant Thanksgiving Day.
We all have so much for which to be thankful, even in our trials, and though Scott has posted in jest today, he reminds us that it is indeed great to live in this country, instead of places like Lebanon and Syria. We may bicker - we may laugh - we may play - we may work - but most of all, we may openly thank God, on whose principles this country was founded, and recognize the blessings which He has bestowed on all of us. Have a great day.
46 bystander // Nov 22, 2006 at 6:56 pm
Look Darth, you must have not only screws loose but bolts falling out to assert that I defend Muslims. You sure have a propensity to read what suits you into what someone else has to say.
It is not a matter of blame to state what each religion has done to its rivals, it is a statement of fact.
It seems to to me that most religions are a crock in that they assert that their way is the only way and that their god will condemn all others who believe differently.
Cmon, I thought man prided himself on his ability to think for himself, but in this respect he seems to wholeheartedly believe what a bunch of religious zealots peddle in their tents and on the byways.
“You so readily defend Muslims who wink-wink at their jihadist brethren..”
Now Darth where/when have I defended Muslims ? You seem to engage in very selective reading, skipping right over what does not fit your own personal spin.
Can’t you think of anything more original then continuing to repeat the term ‘trolls’ ? You kind of wear that term out don’t you ?
47 onlineanalyst // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Mario Loyola has a good commentary about events in Lebanon. He makes several good points about the struggle for democracy there and the enemies to its fruition. The real hegemony in the ME is that practiced by Iran through its proxies in intelligence services of bordering nations and the machinations of Hezbollah. The other point is that the establishment of democracy in the ME is dependent on the acceptance of the rule of law, not of perceived grievances remedied through jihad.
(When will our news services adjust their narrative to reflect reality?)
“So who is responsible for the death of Pierre Gemayal? In Lebanon, the enemies of democracy operate in combination, in a loose network that includes Hezbollah and elements of the intelligence services of Syria, Iran, and Lebanon itself. Whether Hezbollah is directly responsible or not, the killing certainly furthers its goals. As Minister of Industry, Gemayal was widely seen as the youngest and toughest of Lebanon’s democrats — a rising star of the anti-Islamist forces. Eliminating him is a warning to all who would resist Hezbollah’s power grab.
“In this sense, the Gemayal assassination is one of the opening shots in Hezbollah’s showdown with supporters of the Cedar Revolution. But there is a deeper lesson. The ideological struggle is not only one of democrats against Islamists, but more crucially one of democrats against themselves.
“As elsewhere in the Islamic world, the extremists’ grievances are their trump card. The cause of justice — and in particular of resistance to occupation — is the real constitutional norm of the Arab world. Even the region’s moderates — those who fight for political and press freedoms — fail to understand that the rule of law must be paramount over all other norms in order for a democracy to function. They still think that compromise with people who respect nothing above their own interpretation of the Koran is possible. But it isn’t.’
More here.
48 onlineanalyst // Nov 22, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Oh, and I meant to add that the last paragraph that I cited has a lesson for the sectarian battlers in Iraq, too.
49 Godfrey // Nov 23, 2006 at 12:00 am
Hey Scrapplers- haven’t been online much lately but I wanted to wish you all a happy (and safe) Thanksgiving!
That said, I’m off to prepare my secret brine. I sincerely pity anyone who has not tasted Turkey a’la Godfrey…
50 MargeinMI // Nov 23, 2006 at 7:34 am
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Scrappleface is just ONE of the MANY things I’m thankful for today (and every day).
51 Darthmeister // Nov 23, 2006 at 7:40 am
bystander, by default you end up arguing the Islamofascist case against President Bush and America. You ever wonder how it is your arguments and rhetoric end up echoing Islamofascist sentiment. Why is it terrorists celebrated when Democrats won the House and Senate almost three weeks ago? We documented their comments here from Hezbollah to Iranian and Syrian nutbags. Sorry, if the shoe fits …
52 Darthmeister // Nov 23, 2006 at 7:42 am
And another thing, what’s so damn happy about Thanksgiving when we have to put up with all this KKKonservative kkkrap about “winning the war”? What’s with that?
I mean, by any reasonable standard we lost a war where 425,000 Americans soldiers too stupid to stay in school died, millions more were maimed for life, and 65 million civilians around the world were killed. Think about it. Here’s a war where we attacked Italy and Germany even though they didn’t bomb Pearl Harbor.
It was also a racist, illegal and immoral war since we made it a point to target Italians, Germans, and the Japanese. And look at the hundreds of thousands of innocent Wops, Krauts and Japs we firebombed or carpetbombed from the air. NO WAR FOR SAUERKRAUT!
And this war was also an unconstitutional war. Internment camps for the Japanese-Americans, all our mail being read and censored, international telegraphic communications being monitored as well as much of our domestic phone conversations, all under the pretense of trying to catch German and Italian spies WHO LOOKED JUST LIKE US!
We must posthumously impeach Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman for putting AmeriKKKa through this fascist evil!
**moonbat mode/off**
53 Darthmeister // Nov 23, 2006 at 7:46 am
That said, I’m off to prepare my secret brine. I sincerely pity anyone who has not tasted Turkey a’la Godfrey…
Hmmmm, that does have a good sound to it. Have you heard the latest craze, Godfrey? It’s called Turkducken. It’s where you stuff a duck inside a chicken inside a turkey. I’ve never had it but it does sound interesting. Happy Thanksgiving to you and all the Scrapplers but please keep in mind PETA’s admonition to over-indulgent Americans - there are millions of turkeys who aren’t haven’t a Happy Thanksgiving.
I’ll keep that in mind while I stuff my face this afternoon.
54 Ms RightWing, Ink // Nov 23, 2006 at 8:57 am
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Aunt Sarah and pa send their best [[[and believe me you don't wan't it]]]
Umm, Darthmeister, which end does that duck go into the turkey???? Who ever figured death meant going through a turkeys rectum in order to see the light [oven light]
55 nylecoj // Nov 23, 2006 at 10:09 am
Happy Giving of Thanks Day to all.
56 Beerme // Nov 23, 2006 at 10:26 am
I too have been absent from the internet much lately, while the Beerme family deals with some serious adversity. I want to say that though there has been a bump in the road (actually more like a sinkhole) there is still so very much to be thankful for!
I wish all my Scrapplefriends the very best this Thanksgiving!
57 hwy93 // Nov 23, 2006 at 11:32 am
Happy Thanksgiving all. I’m calling for an immediate Turkey pullout from the deepfryer. Negotiations should be completed in about 36 minutes.
58 kajun // Nov 23, 2006 at 12:25 pm
hwy93
Welcome back! Haven’t seen you here much lately.
You and one of my sons are the only people I know who deep fry turkeys. Good stuff though!
Happy Day Before Christmas Shopping to everyone!
59 Maggie // Nov 23, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Hello to Kajun and Hyw93…….two of my favorite people.
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!!
60 kajun // Nov 23, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Maggie A favorite Hello to you, also too!
HAPPY BIRD DAY!
[A little Cajun lingo there]
61 Possumtrot // Nov 23, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Better late than never:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, y’all!
Be safe in your travels.
Political setbacks are not the end of the world. America is a strong country, and we’ll survive the next two years of socialist dictatorship.
Hold on to your faith, and keep your goose down and your hackles up. And may your favorite football team win today.
62 Darthmeister // Nov 23, 2006 at 6:43 pm
A TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN SOLDIER
Dare you to keep a dry eye.
Many thanks to the brave Americans serving our country on the frontiers of freedom! All gave some, and some gave all.
63 Ms RightWing, Ink // Nov 23, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Burp. Ooops. plop, plopp, fizz, fizz hand me an Alkali Seltzerooni please.
64 gafisher // Nov 23, 2006 at 10:25 pm
C.A.T. #29: “Rick Warren … swallowing, hook, line and sinker…”
Fitting for the author of “The Porpoise-Drivin’ Life.”
65 gafisher // Nov 23, 2006 at 10:36 pm
Darth #53: “there are millions of turkeys who aren’t haven’t a Happy Thanksgiving.”
There’s one who fulfilled his life’s purpose on my family’s groaning holiday table; what could be a happier end? PETA must be referring to the millions who simply didn’t live up to the standards of avian culinary fulfillment. To them I say — “Keep trying — there’s always next year.”
66 Hawkeye // Nov 24, 2006 at 8:28 am
Morning all! Hope your “Turkey Day” was a pleasant one. Mine was, but TOO much food… ‘urp!
(:D) Regards…
67 Ms RightWing, Ink // Nov 24, 2006 at 8:31 am
I’m still alive!
Black Friday here is Froggy Friday. The fog is so thick I can walk down it from my 7th floor bunker
68 Darthmeister // Nov 24, 2006 at 9:33 am
Ms RightWing, sounds like the Rovian Weather Control Machine is messing up for your region of the country. Clear skies and 64 degrees today in flyover country! Hee hee.
69 Darthmeister // Nov 24, 2006 at 9:33 am
… see Karl Rove stole my post.
70 bystander // Nov 24, 2006 at 10:22 am
“bystander, by default you end up arguing the Islamofascist case against President Bush and America.”
That is garbage Darth, akin to the old dictatorships’s techniques of accusing anyone who disagrees of being unpatriotic, helping the enemy and all that nonsense.
Cmon, I thought you could think for yourself and not fall back on such bunk !
71 kajun // Nov 24, 2006 at 10:24 am
Missing Post Recovered From Illegal Aliens
Overheard during recovery operation: We don’t need no steenking fence!
72 Ms RightWing, Ink // Nov 24, 2006 at 10:28 am
Darth
Here in Dempocript Country it is Mamma Pelosi the Government Nanny controlling the weather. It all started years ago when they stopped Universal Cooling by sending all the steel and tire factories to Mexico. Now they say, “trust me,” we will fix things. Kucinich is waiting for his marching orders.
73 Libby Gone // Nov 24, 2006 at 10:32 am
Hello all!
Happy belated Thanksgiving! Due to tin cans and broken strings where I am temporarily staying, I get frustrated trying to blog or surf, so please forgive my absence. Much to be thankful however, today I get my boys for the weekend!
74 Libby Gone // Nov 24, 2006 at 10:33 am
BTW, Anonymous = Libby Gone (also temporarily)
75 Tim Gallagher // Nov 24, 2006 at 11:53 am
Conserve-a-tips # 28
It is a small world.
I grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland too. I was a first grader at Silver Spring Intermediate school.
(My older brother was a junior at Blair.) I was walking home and I was almost in front of my house when one of my friends told me that the President had been shot and killed.
We spent the weekend glued to the black and white TV and saw all the events unfold, including seeing Ruby kill Oswald live. Nobody should leave this world the way President Kennedy did but too many gloss over the fact that he was at best a mediocre President.
76 Laughing@You // Nov 24, 2006 at 6:23 pm
Hey, Bush Deadenders:
I think I see what you mean about MSM telling only the bad news from Baghdad.
CNN Online:
“Enraged Shiites burned people to death, torched mosques and denounced Sunni leaders and the United States a day after a bloody assault on Sadr City, the Iraq capital’s Shiite bastion.
That coordinated strike, which killed more than 200 and wounded more (than) 250 Thursday, is considered the worst of the Iraq war, and Sunni militants are widely assumed to have carried it out.
Witnesses said Shiite gunmen on Friday attacked two mosques with rocket-propelled grenades and burned two other Sunni mosques in the largely Shiite area of Hurriya in northwestern Baghdad.â€
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/24/iraq.main/index.html
You’d think these Bush Bashing “Cut and Run†wimps would print the all the good things happening! Didn’t our guys paint a school, or something?
You phony bologna’s say, we’re “spreading freedomâ€; that our people are volunteers, and that they are happy to die for the freedom of the Iraqi’s.
I say: They swore to defend our land, not somebody else’s.
This wasn’t a good idea that turned out bad; it was a bad idea that turned out as anybody with an open mind could have seen easily.
You have been gullible, and too willing to trust your leaders.
We were lied to repeatedly, for reasons soon to be discovered.
77 bystander // Nov 25, 2006 at 7:45 am
I am sure there is good news going on in Iraq, but it sure pales by comparison with the civil war horror being conducted by the Shiites and the Sunnis.
Good news does not catch people’s attention like horror. Not in Iraq, Not here in the US. I don’t see any news source here named Good News that gets any attention.
The real motivational factor in Iraq is ‘revenge’ not Islam, not jihadism, not Democracy, not stability, not even killing Americans although that does continue as well.
The situation calls for a real statesman but there doesn’t seem to be one anywhere in sight.
The really good news is that here in the US we can disagree and call each other names and ridicule each others beliefs and live to do it again tomorrow. We do it everyday right here on Scrappleface
78 kajun // Nov 25, 2006 at 12:19 pm
History Reversal
In a reverse of history, this year—compared to the first Thanksgiving Day Feast; the Pilgrim ladies from the local Missionary Baptist Church [which we have never been in] delivered a turkey and a bushel basket full of fixings to the Kajun Indians…which we were very thankfull for…Bless their hearts!
79 Moonage Political Webdream // Nov 27, 2006 at 10:54 am
Democrats Call for U.S. Troop Pullout from Lebanon…
I LOVE Scott Ott. I really do. This guy has a take on the world I wish I had the time to ponder myself. Gotta read this one. You really, really, do:….“As everyone knows,†said Rep. Jack Murtha, D-PA, a…
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