The Long War

I found this article on "the long war" to be very insightful, and ominous. I’ll let you decide for yourself regarding the quality of its insight regarding the dangers of sending an army abroad to fight an eternal war to which the citizens have little or no connection. But I’ll tell you why I find it ominous – I don’t see any political leader with the political courage to change the situation.

Joe H.

No Pain Prior to 24 Weeks

This study has interesting implications for the Abortion debate. A (British) government sponsored scientific board concluded that fetuses are incapable of feeling pain prior to 24 weeks of gestation. Their reasoning appears to be impeccable.

I have argued that once a fetal entity can experience pain, it is surely a "someone" who, like all other human "someones," has a right to life. Put another way, the ability to experience pain is a sufficient condition for concluding that the fetus is a “someone” with a right to life. Of course, the ability to feel pain is not a necessary condition for being a someone - and a fetus could be a someone without being able to feel pain. But the pain argument seemed to be the most promising basis for the right to life position regarding early term abortions, and that now appears to be crumbling.

Joe H.

We were robbed - USA!

This is the best clip I found demonstrating that we were robbed.

Go USA!



Joe H.

My Utter Disappointment with Barack Obama - Distilled to Perfection

I dare anyone to watch this clip and tell me with a straight face that Barack Obama is not a bald faced liar. Don't forget that.

Joe H.

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Understanding the Tea Party Rage

This long quote is from Andrew Sullivan - who summed up the source of the Tea Party Rage as well as anyone else I've read:

"The Bush-Cheney presidency was, in some respects, the perfect pseudo-conservative administration. They waged war based on loathing of the experts (damned knowledgeable elites!); they slashed taxes and boosted spending for their constituencies, while pretending to be fiscally responsible; they tore up the most ancient taboos - against torture - with a bravado that will one day seem obscene; and they left the country in far worse shape than they found it.

Throughout all this, the Tea Partiers supported them. So how do they manage the cognitive dissonance that two failed wars, a financial collapse and a debt crisis have brought? How do they deal with the fact that their beloved president was manifestly the most incompetent and disastrous in modern times? They blame it on the next guy.

Yes, they are doing all they can to avoid facing the fact that they did all of this ... to themselves. And sometimes, the truly, deeply humiliated can only carry on through blind rage."

The entire post is worthwhile, but that sums it up pretty well.

Joe H.

Messeage to Americans

I thougnt this was funny. For some reason, when I embed a clip, it gets off centered. Click on the picture itself to go to the YOU TUBE site.

Joe



Joe H.

Israel vs. Reason and Evidence

Whenever Israel is the subject of discussion, reason and evidence become pointless.

I have been discussing the Israeli raid / flotilla incident that occurred last week on another blog. Israel has been blockading Gaza for over 3 years. Many supporters of Israel have argued that Israel’s blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from entering Gaza. I pointed out that:

1. Israel could inspect all ships and let them pass – demonstrating that the blockade is not needed to keep weapons from reaching Gaza by sea; and

2. Israel’s government is on record as stating that the purpose of the blockade is to create enough human misery to force the Palestinians to elect another government      (not Hamas). (Dov Weisglass, an adviser to Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister told a British reporter that “the idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” The hunger pangs are supposed to encourage the Palestinians to force Hamas to change its attitude towards Israel or force Hamas out of government.

But my interlocuters refused to abandon the safety defense.

How can one cling to a position that makes no sense on its face and also contradicts the stated rationale provided by the policy makers themselves?

I guess reason is no match for tribalistic loyalty!

But I already knew that.

Joe H.

Memorial Day

I'm a bit sad today.  Memorial Day is the day we honor those who gave their lives in military service to our country.  Aside from the fact the most of those who gave their lives in service to their country over the last ten years did so because of the stupidity and stubbornness of our political leaders - leaders the rest of us elected and then reelected, I'm saddend by the fact that most of my fellow citizens no longer know what their country is and why it is, or at least was, worth dying for.

I've said all this before, so I won't belabor the point.  What made America a great nation was its adherence to non-negotiable political ideals - equality before the law, the rule of law, limited and divided government, due process, and so on.  That's what made America worth dying for.  The further we stray from those ideals, and we seem hell bent on continuing our sojourn in the wilderness, the less there is to celebrate on Memorial Day.

Joe H.