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QUOTATION: People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing. - Walter H. Judd

2004-09-14 - 4:46 p.m. Are they reading my blog? Just yesterday or the day before I suggested in my blog that Senator Kerry consider using Ross Perot's graphic flip-charts to illustrate for the viewing public exactly what's going on in Washington, D.C. and how he might change things for the better. And voila! today he has flip-charts about Medicare. It's hard to believe, but is somebody reading my blog? Today's word: adroit (adjective)[ah�DROIT] 1. quick or skillful or adept in action or thought: "Jim is the kind of adroit host that keeps the drinks full and the conversations flowing." 2. skillful (or showing skill) in adapting means to ends; 'an adroit politician' adverb form: adroitly noun form: adroitness Origin: Approximately 1652; borrowed from French; from Old French, 'adroit,' 'adreit' ('a-': to, from Latin 'ad-,' + 'droit,' 'dreit': right, from Late Latin 'directum': right, justice, from Latin accusative of 'directus': straight). In action: "For their part, the Democrats' convention reflected one overriding objective -- to showcase Kerry as a Vietnam War hero. They left Boston with that mission accomplished -- but with little else. The Republicans were far more adroit. Instead of ignoring the president's most damaging liabilities, such as the war in Iraq or the economy, the Republicans faced up to them. But not in a manner that was the least bit defensive. The war with Iraq represents one of America's finest moments; the economy is improving, thanks to the president's tax cuts; public schools are turning the corner thanks to his education policies. What more could anyone expect from their commander in chief, they seem to be saying." Gerald Boyd. "Op/Ed: Bush's Bash," Yahoo News (September 10, 2004). Take a few minutes to read this article Here's What Happened to the Republican Party, so adroitly written by Garrison Keillor of Lake Wobegone fame. Well worth a read! Yesterday as I adroitly dinked around on the Internet, I came across the following news article at AntiWar.com I thought you'd want to know: While You Weren't Looking...They Lost the War by Justin Raimondo Perhaps you're paying attention to the increasingly annoying presidential campaign, in which the nearly lost art of distinguishing typewriter fonts may prove decisive, and it just didn't register; or maybe you were too focused on the latest developments in the Scott Peterson murder trial, and it slipped beneath your radar. My theory is that Zell Miller's speech to the Republican national convention reached such heights of inspired demagoguery that it blew mental circuits nationwide, resulting in collective brain damage of frightening proportions. In any case, while hardly anyone was looking, the U.S. lost Iraq to the rebels. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, along with Juan Cole and Pat Buchanan, were among the few who noticed. Ramadi and Samarra are lost. Fallujah was never taken, and neither was the teeming ghetto of Shi'ite Muslims loyal to Muqtada Sadr, just outside Baghdad, known as "Sadr City." The alleged "transfer" of sovereignty to the "interim" Iraqi government has gone well beyond farce, all the way to pastiche. The present script reads like David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest, retold in the style of The Simpsons. The Sunni Triangle is a de facto independent state, with absolute control of Fallujah, for example, ceded to something that calls itself the "Mujahideen Shura Council," which executes "American spies" (30-plus so far), collects the garbage, and rules according to the many strictures of Islamic law. The leader of the Shura, Sheik Abdullah al-Janabi, is a conservative Sunni cleric who opposes the American occupation on the grounds that the famed "weapons of mass destruction" proved nonexistent, and hence the American presence has no legitimacy. Although the Bushies are still sticking to the line that the principal armed opposition to the occupation is engineered by "Saddamites," Sheik Abdullah was banned from making speeches in the mosques in the old days for predicting that Saddam was provoking an American invasion. This administration used the plight of people like him to tout the invasion as a "liberation," but the Sheik's answer to them, recorded in this recent interview, is sternly matter of fact. ROSS COULTHART: So do I take from that that you believe that the fight against the Americans is a good fight? SHEIKH ABDULLAH AL-JANABI: In my opinion, it's only natural that you would want to fight invaders and drive them out of your country. ROSS COULTHART: When the Americans liberated, as they say, Iraq from Saddam Hussein, were you not a supporter of that? SHEIKH ABDULLAH AL-JANABI: Not only me, but most Iraqis initially gave credence to what they were saying, but after the Americans occupied Iraq, they changed the tune, and instead of hunting Saddam Hussein, they were here fighting terrorism. They ruined our country, committed human rights abuses, violated our cultures and traditions. All these things negated any credibility they once had. ... Peterson murder trial, and it slipped beneath your radar. My theory is that Zell Miller's speech to the Republican national convention reached such heights of inspired demagoguery that it blew mental circuits nationwide, resulting in collective brain damage of frightening proportions. In any case, while hardly anyone was looking, the U.S. lost Iraq to the rebels. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, along with Juan Cole and Pat Buchanan, were among the few who noticed. Ramadi and Samarra are lost. Fallujah was never taken, and neither was the teeming ghetto of Shi'ite Muslims loyal to Muqtada Sadr, just outside Baghdad, known as "Sadr City." The alleged "transfer" of sovereignty to the "interim" Iraqi government has gone well beyond farce, all the way to pastiche. The present script reads like David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest, retold in the style of The Simpsons. The Sunni Triangle is a de facto independent state, with absolute control of Fallujah, for example, ceded to something that calls itself the "Mujahideen Shura Council," which executes "American spies" (30-plus so far), collects the garbage, and rules according to the many strictures of Islamic law. ---------------------------- This rather confirms what the officer last night said on CNN about the administration holding them back from doing what they could to do more than contain Falujah (if that's what they are doing). He said that they could actually win in I think he said four days if given the go-ahead to win. I think he may have been referring to what Bill Maher said on Larry King Live: He said that the insurgents come out and fight until they get tired and then run back into the mosques saying "Nyanh, nyahn, nyahn, can't get us now," and our troops back off until there's another attack. If someone in the Kerry campaign is reading this now, please have the two Johns indicate how they would do things differently...and perhaps mention what others have been saying. There is the possibility that the war is being politicized in more than one way. Is the war being prolonged so that fewer body bags will be coming home between now and the election? email: Visit the U.S. National Debt Clock Electoral College Vote - Current Current Iraq Body Count previous - next