...more recent posts
Thursday, Sep 26, 2002
Letter to Di Fi
September 26, 2002
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 17:37:37 -0700
To: senator@feinstein.senate.gov
From: Mark
Subject: War in Iraq
Hi Senator Feinstein,
A few comments ...
1) Saddam is an evil bastard, but that's not sufficient cause to go to war. He's a minor evil bastard compared to Mao and Stalin, yet we had relations with those guys. Hell, we helped Saddam during his ill-advised war against Iran, yet that same war is cited as one of the reasons he is evil.
2) Establishing a "preemptive" precedent is dangerous. Who's next in line? Will India take out our good buddy Musharraf?
3) Bush seems just a bit out of control. A few weeks ago, his folks were making the rounds on the Sunday morning shows saying that "legally" the President need not get approval from Congress. Hmmm, I read the Constitution differently. And he treats the UN with a similar disdain. Lacking a clear and present danger, Bush's desire to mount an invasion without the approval of these two bodies reeks of arrogance. Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to maintain balance between the branches of government.
4) If this war is all about US dependence on mid-east oil, and let's be adult enough to admit that, why is Bush encouraging us to use more oil? Wouldn't a little restraint be of value? More efficient use of our resources might save more than just the polar ice caps.
5) Sharon thinks it's a good idea for the US to go after Saddam. Need I say more? On second thought, yes, I do need to say more. See, some people are calling Sharon a peace maker. This is the guy who started the recent round of revenge-making between Israel and Palestine two years ago by visiting the Dome of the Rock with a phalanx of security guards. This bald provocation was nothing more than an electioneering stunt, which lead to rock throwing, which lead to shooting, which lead to yada yada yada. Wait a minute, Bush is making noises about Saddam during the run up to mid-term elections. Could Bush be playing a cynical game ... nah ... that would be evil.
regards,
-Mark
Elocution
September 25, 2002
On the topic of weapons inspection in Iraq, our illustrious president had this to say:
“There’s a sayin’ in Tennessee -- at least there’s a sayin’ in Texas, might be in Tennessee -- ‘Fool me once ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... shame on ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... shame on you ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... fool muh -- can’t get fooled again!’”
Can't say I remember that one. But we got ourselves another sayin’ down there in Texas that just might apply to good ol' Dubya.
“That boy is teched.”
teched (techt) adj.
[regional var. of touched, touched in the head] mentally retarded, dim, thick, slow: Shit fire, that boy must be teched, 'cause he ain't got no more sense than what the good Lord gave a 'possum
One Lap Around a Polder
September 11, 2002
Despite the intanglements oil dependence creates, Bush hasn't asked Americans to make even minor sacrifices. Perhaps in his mind, asking Americans to avoid supersizing their SUVs will allow the terrorists to win.
I've visited Amsterdam a few times, and admired their use of the bicycle. This time, I've made a more concerted effort to ride. Both today and yesterday I've done 40 km loops from Amsterdam, out to the country side and back.
The Dutch love of the bicycle seems rooted in their ability to cling to the best aspects of the past while embracing the best that the future has to offer. Compact, efficient residential areas allow people to walk, ride, use the tram to cross town quickly. Newer residential areas can be identified by the age of buildings, but otherwise are similar in scale to areas settled 400 years earlier.
While cars certainly can be liberating, they seem to imprisoning Americans in gridlock and pollution at an increasing rate. In many newly developed areas, there's simply no other way to get around. And as these suburban areas mature, commuters find themselves spending hours per week behind the wheel. It's a cycle that leads downward, but how far down?
America's advantage in the 20th century was having a clean slate. We had wide open spaces, and were free to build new cities any way we wanted. That slate is pretty fucked up right about now.
Europe seems to have a better understanding for the consequences of their actions. They see that their cities, roads, political systems, have shapes and designs based on decisions made hundreds of years ago, and dozens of years ago, and just last week.
Having no sense of history, America seems to live in the perpetual present. No legacy, no consequences. As the last bits of the empty slate are squandered, America will begin to learn about the unavoidable consequences of profligate choices.
pol·der n.
An area of low-lying land, especially in the Netherlands, that has been reclaimed from a body of water and is protected by dikes.