Here are a few quotes from an interesting Op Ed piece by
Bob Herbert in the NYTimes today he titled "Truth and Deceit":
Slice 1 - Now, with George W. Bush in charge, the nation is mired in yet another tragic period marked by incompetence, duplicity, bad faith and outright lies coming once again from the very top of the government.
Now, Bob is unable to provide evidence by means of linking to various sources, but let me raise just three questions here:
- A) Was it your understanding that the primary reason we bullied our way into Iraq was due to the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)?
- B) Did we find any WMD?
- C) What is troubling about our answers to the prior two questions?
Slice 2 - That's the kind of deceit that was in play as American men and women were suiting up and marching off to combat at the president's command. Mr. Bush wanted war, and he got it. Many thousands have died as a result.
Just how many people have
lost their lives in Iraq is discernibly large, even if underestimated by conservative sources. Two questions here:
- When does the number of deaths in Iraq become unacceptable?
- How do self proclaimed "culture-of-lifers" such as those in the W, Rove and Co. live with themselves in light of the number of those killed at their behest?
Slice 3 - There you have it in a nutshell. Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, drunk with power and insufficiently restrained, took the nation on hair-raising journeys that were as unnecessary as they were destructive. Now, in the first years of the 21st century, George W. Bush is doing the same.
One question here:
- How do we get off this hair-raising ride without exiting the country or taking one's own life?
3 comments:
I think the steps are organization, demonstration, retaliation, hysteria and revolution. I'd like to see it remain non-violent, but I'm not sure it will. The mass stripping of civil rights in the name of security is appalling. At some point, this keg is gonna blow.
Remember Vietnam?
The people organized and demonstrated for years with virtually zero effect on the Vietnam policy of the USA. The fools were in it to win it no matter what the cost, as long as they personally didn't have to pay it. A significant percentage of the public agreed with them then, as now.
Jet has a better opinion of the public than they deserve. The union expression, ''Full bellies, empty heads'' covers it. People are sheep. Reinstating the draft might not be enough to wake them up.
Bloggers, and people leaving comments, are not differential to authority, else they wouldn't be writing. But the vast majority of people, including the college educated, have never written so much as a Letter to the Editor, or a letter to a politician protesting any policy by any government.
Dear Anon,
I have long stipulated that protest really accomplishes little, if nothing. Even more so, it may serve to further placate the participants by making them feel like they did at least something and "had their voices heard." Unfortunately, as we say to our sons, you can't hear of you don't use your ears and close your mouth.
Cesar Chavez was right when he said we need to hit them in the wallets. Boycott works. Protest doesn't.
Also, unfortunate as it seems, the vastly silent majority is just that, acquiescent because of their silence, no matter how well educated.
Incidentially, I think faxes work best to contact your representatives. Post the Antrhax issue, the politicos are reluctant to open mail, and certainly are not reading the emails they get as they are, no doubt, screened first.
Better yet, you could drop by and pay your rep a visit if they are in the home office, or you are visiting DC. They do have an obligation to see their constituents.
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