Whoops ... a Democratic president in 08 may not be a sure thing. We now have a couple of Republican heavy hitters testing the waters -- Mayor Rudy G and John McCain, both proven able to endure in adverse situations. John McCain who refused to leave his band of fellow POWs when North Vietnam wanted to use him as a political pawn, and Rudy Giuliani, America’s Mayor, who led us through the 9/11 attacks with courage and grace. It’s sure looking up, at least for now.
My joy was short lived, though, when I woke up to the news that Iran is nuclear ready. One expert says they have been caught with a smoking gun, the other says NOT SO. OK, BEEN THERE DONE THAT. This time yell “liar liar pants on fire.” It reminds me of a cruel joke from years ago when a boy was asked by a faith healer how his mother was, and he replied that she was very sick. The faith healer said, “Oh no my boy, not so. She just thinks she is sick. You know it is all in her mind, for she is healed.” A few months passed, and the same man and boy met again, and again the faith healer asked about his mother. The boy said, “Well not too good, for now she thinks she is dead.”
Oh yes, and now it is not only hearings the Democrats want, it is impeachment. Now tell me. Wasn't Bremer relieved of his position a long time ago, and don't I remember seeing him before a Congressional hearing being questioned about his actions? Isn't this double jeopardy, and isn't that illegal? Didn't General Patton want to go on with our troops while in Berlin, saying we have our troops right here, and we are not finished until we take care of the Soviet Union? But once again wiser heads prevailed.
Later, President Kennedy was forced to take us within a couple of minutes of nuclear annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wish JFK was around to take care of little brother Ted. I noticed Ted received something like 80 percent of the vote for his Senate seat. Step across the state line, and he wouldn’t be elected dog catcher. I don't kid myself that it is all just one party. But let’s keep in mind what is best for our country and our American people and then stand with them regardless.
Now every one who gets caught with his pants down runs for treatment for drug and alcohol abuse -- Mel Gibson, Foley, Ted Kennedy's son. And most of them get away with it. Imagine a big fire blazing, and the bucket line is passing water as fast as they can when all the sudden some political hack realizes it’s not a good move for their careers, and the bucket brigade stops. They even pass a bucket of gasoline instead of water.
Well I won’t spend any more money on Mel Gibson, and some of my favorite authors are not getting on my book shelf again. During the Cold War, I didn’t buy Wesson Oil because I read their oil came from Russia. So I've been at this patriotic business a long time. My mother said during World War II, Bennie, Mickey and me climbed out of bed to stand at attention when “The Star Spangled Banner” played on the radio. Now our children are not even allowed to pray for our nation because it might offend someone to mention God. It makes me sick.
So now, Steve, it is over to you. SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
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6 comments:
Virgie said that she and her siblings would get out of bed and stand at attention when the national anthem was played, but I think she was joined by tens of thousands of other people who did the same thing during World War II. An woman who was in high school and college during the war told me recently that when the president would speak, the teachers would turn the radio on, and all the students would stand up while he spoke. She said it was just a matter of course to show that respect. Did we lose that during the 60s? It would serve our country well if we would exhume that buried patriotism and respect for our national anthem and the Oval Office.
Virgie mentions John McCain and Rudy Giuliani as contenders for the Republican nomination. Both have followings, but I’m a McCain man – and I’m a Democrat. McCain is the embodiment of all that is noble about the United States. Yes, that’s maudlin, but I believe it. He’s not perfect, but McCain is an honorable man. I’m not always happy when this warrior abandons his independent streak and throws in with his party, but I hold him in high regard. His age and health are factors, though. If elected, McCain would be the oldest person first-term president. Whether his age would be a factor is being debated.
Virgie said that she thought Paul Bremer faced a Congressional Hearing for his role in the Iraqi debacle. I’d have to challenge that simply because the 109th Congress didn’t hold one hearing into the failures in Iraq. Bremer did appear before Congress on other matters, but it was to give them information, not to answer for his failures. Virgie and I disagree on whether there should be hearings that explain how the war in Iraq was fumbled. Let me explain my position.
During the Civil War, President Lincoln faced numerous Congressional oversight hearings. During World War II, the Truman Committee investigated corruption and fraud, saving American taxpayers $15 billion (in 1940s dollars). Then U.S. Senator Harry Truman drove thousands of miles around the country going from one defense plant to another documenting waste and fraud. I won’t burden this commentary with a lengthy diatribe about the good the Truman Committee did for the country and how it saved the lives of many men fighting the Germans and Japanese.
But we haven’t had any oversight hearings during the war in Iraq. There have been no investigation into war profiteering or Halliburton, which is strange because Rumsfeld, as a Republican congressman from Illinois in 1966 raised questions about the 30-year association between Halliburton’s chairman and President Johnson. “Why this huge contract has not been and is not now being adequately audited is beyond me,” Rumsfed said then. “The potential for waste and profiteering under such a contract is substantial.”
And it was. But we need that kind of kind of Congressional investigative zeal today. Where is it?
Virgie,
I'm not clear on where you were going with General Patton. I don't understand what he has to do with Bremer and double jeopardy. I'm familiar with his wanting to take the Army to Moscow because he said we were going to have to fight them someday anyway, and it might as well be now. But I don't get the connection between him and Bremer.
Oops, that was me that left that comment, Virgie, not anonymous!
your problem is you are a journalist and not an ordinary house wife, and there have been many hearings just not all official for instance tou and mo1
List those hearings for me please.
And if I were a housewife, I wouldn't be an "ordinary" one. I'd be June Cleaver, Carol Brady and Donna Reed all rolled up in one! And I'd still be a journalist.
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