Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
--Theodore Roosevelt
Listening to the fatuous Al Gore claim his undeserved Nobel Prize and maunder on about how America is ruining the planet makes me realize how fortunate America is to have as its president George W. Bush. Yes, Bush has his ample share of failings. He occasionally speaks at the fifth-grade level. He is too willing to surround himself with cronies and sycophants. An unsupple man, Bush sometimes reminds me of the toy soldier who walks into the wall and keeps going.
Bush's weaknesses, however, are more than compensated for by his one great strength. This is a man with unbelievable tenacity. No American president in my lifetime, not even Reagan, had Bush's guts. Perhaps one would have to go all the way back to Franklin or Teddy Roosevelt to find comparable determination. On the international stage, Bush's stamina recalls that of Churchill. Consider: when Bush was elected in 2000 with the tiniest conceivable margin--a margin so slender it required Supreme Court intervention to place him in the Oval Office--I was sure that Bush's proposed tax cuts were dead. But no: Bush pushed ahead and got most of what he proposed. And the subsequent health of the economy--low interest rates, low unemployment, steady growth--has undoubtedly been nourished by Bush's tax cuts.
Then in 2006, after the midterm debacle, I thought that Bush's Iraq policy was finished. And you could hear the pundits and the newly-elected Democratic congressmen and the pathological Bush-haters gleefully declaring, "Now he's going to have to start pulling out of Iraq." Instead Bush pressed for an increase of 20,000-25,000 troops. Incredibly, he got it. Congress shrieked and howled but went along. The American people were very doubtful, but Bush serenely told them to "wait and see." Bush has seemingly singe-handedly pursued his vision for Iraq even when his allies both at home and abroad have dwindled or lost their nerve. And once again Bush's policy seems to be working. Iraq is becoming more peaceful, and apparently there are Shia and Sunni leaders cooperating with the Americans. The Bush-haters are still with us, but the wind has gone out of the antiwar movement.
Bush has had a tough second term in office. But I think history will be kinder to him than the opinion polls, at least in the past couple of years, have been. When the country looks back at Iraq and sees a standing, even if fragile, democracy, Americans will see that when they became impatient, Bush forged ahead. When they were ready to give up, he was undeterred. And as a consequence the Middle East has its first Muslim democracy, and a pro-American democracy to boot. The lesson of Iraq may well be: Thank God we didn't listen to those advocates of defeat on the left; if we had, it would have been Vietnam all over again.
The diplomat Clare Luce once wrote that history, which has no room for clutter, will remember every president by just one line. I'm not quite sure how Bill Clinton will be remembered: perhaps his only distinguishing mark will be the one that Paula Jones identified. As for Bush, he will go down in history as the president who refused to back down, and if staying the course in Iraq proves to be the right move, then Bush could be remembered as one of America's great presidents.
Reader Comments ( Page 41 of 42)
601. Pat,
Terroism is not a state, they were not in Iraq when Bush attacked! Terrorist are groups of people. Not all terrorist are muslims. Fundamental Islam is not just in the middle east. It is in Europe, Africa, and America does that mean you'll go there to attack terrorist?
goddess1prevail at 1:17PM on Dec 17th 2007
602.
Dawn
"The Jews misunderstood this prophecy just as you have."
How could the Jews misunderstood something THEY invented? The messiahship is a Jewish tradition and the Christians stole it! They then distorted its meaning, how hard is that for you to understand?
The prophecies from the Old Testament are apocalyptic books that described the destruction of Israel first by the Assyrians then the Babylonians. Their need for a savior was in the messiah who would recapture Israel for themselves and install the kingdom, a political office! Not a celestial kingdom for all as the Early Church fathers have twisted it! . How can a Christian not get it? Read your bible for crying out loud!
goddess1prevail at 1:31PM on Dec 17th 2007
603. a weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear or thermonuclear weapon and no, Iraq never came close to having those. >>>
Let's buy your definition of WMD, though clearly many including the entire clinton administration spoke of bio and chem weapon as WMD. That said, we went to war because Saddam refused to disarm, after 16 UN resolutions. Oh, and in those resoultions you will find demands to account for chemical and bio weapons.
You can't change that fact with word games.
Now as to UNCONVENTIONAL weapons, those not allowed by the Geneva Convention, yes he did have them, we sold them to him during the Reagan admin and he used them against the kurds. These were biological.>>>>>>>>>>
Two points.
1.You have no proof that doesn't come from a webiste with an agenda to push and no reputation to protect to justify the above statement.
2. No one gives or sells chem or bio weapons. Why, because you can get everything you need from a hospital (bio) or right off the self (chemical)
What you sell is the duel use equipment used to make these items into weapons. WE know that France and Germany sold such equipment to Iraq, when no American contractor could.
So WMD, real wmd that would to some justify a preemptive strike as was done to an Iraqi enriching facility in the seventies by Israel never existed during the Clinton or Bush administrations. It was a cheney created canard.>>>>>>>>>>
First, it wasn't an enriching facility it was a reactor.
Now, pay attention to the dates, and please explian how Cheney got the entire Clinton administration to buy his canard ... oh, yeah, when Bush was the govenor of Texas.
"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998
"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998
Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed." -- Madeline Albright, 1998
If you'd been watching the sound bytes it was easy to smell a rat. Ritter KNEW - there was no issue, he was there and he covered everything in explanations.
>>>
Here's what Ritter said before an Iraqi paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars ... to make a movie.
"Even today, Iraq is not nearly disarmed. Based on highly credible intelligence, UNSCOM [the U.N. weapons inspectors] suspects that Iraq still has biological agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, and clostridium perfringens in sufficient quantity to fill several dozen bombs and ballistic missile warheads, as well as the means to continue manufacturing these deadly agents. Iraq probably retains several tons of the highly toxic VX substance, as well as sarin nerve gas and mustard gas. This agent is stored in artillery shells, bombs, and ballistic missile warheads. And Iraq retains significant dual-use industrial infrastructure that can be used to rapidly reconstitute large-scale chemical weapons production." -- Ex-Un Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter in 1998
All the evidence now clear ... you do make a great specious argument. That's the problem with liberals ... their ideology spins every word they say.
Thomas J Gassett at 2:14PM on Dec 17th 2007
604. Now as to UNCONVENTIONAL weapons, those not allowed by the Geneva Convention, yes he did have them, we sold them to him during the Reagan admin and he used them against the kurds. These were biological.>>>>>>>>>>
Missed this first time through, but the weapons used on the Kurds and the Iranians were chemical, not bio.
Thomas J Gassett at 2:25PM on Dec 17th 2007
605. My post concerning why the Messiah came was directed to Christians. It is accepted among Christians that Jesus' first Advent was to address the dominion of sin over humanity not the dominion of governmentover humanity. His next coming will deal with Governmental Authority. This is the Christian view. I was challenging Christians to stop being divided by politicians and their bogus claims and to stop equating political partisianship with salvation or lack of it.
I was not speaking to Atheists or Jews concerning their beliefs or instructing them on how to view politics in light of the New Testament, obviously Atheists and Jews don't give a rip about what Jesus says in the Beatitudes.I was not trying to argue with Jews concerning the Messiah, it is well known between Christians and Jews that this is where we part company in our beliefs. So, before you attack me for being anti-semetic or for thinking I'm better than Atheists and Jews again ( which has come mostly from people in the "Pelvic Atheism" blog) try actually reading my post. Which follows....
589. Dinesh, my brother, can't go there with you. What you call tenacity, I call gall. Our being in Iraq at all is based on lies and fabrications. "War on Terror" indeed. He should have stuck with going after the Taliban and left Iraq alone.
Brian being a Christian does not require being a Republican. Jesus Christ is not a Republican or a Democrat. That Demon-crat comment was beneath you.
Salvation comes through Christ alone. I'm tired of the nasty, judgemental comments coming from Christians. We are not supposed to talk like the rest of the world. The Jews looked for a Messiah that would come with political and military power and so did not recognize the Christ when He came and now there are "Christians" who have turned away from the teachings of Christ and speak and act as though "Republican" and "Christian" are interchangeable. I think we need to reread the Beatitudes again and see if our behavior measures up to that and not to be like the man spoken of in James who looks at himself in the mirror and then immediately forgets what he looks like. Remember that the only people Jesus rebuked were the religious people who were heavy handed and legalistic. Two issues are separating brothers and sisters in Christ in America: Abortion and Gay marriage. Neither of these issues will be decided by a president. Why have we allowed these polititians to deceive us into voting for them based on these political non-issues and into turning against each other over choices that only Christ can change peoples hearts about. "For God so LOVED the world that He gave his only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved". John 3:16+17. If Jesus didn't come to condemn then why is our attitude towards others so condemning?
George Bush's attitudes and actions are not indicative of one having the Friut of the Spirit. He rushed to shed blood in Iraq based on lies, if someone deceived him into this then he should have humbly confessed that it was a mistake. The Taliban, who attacked us on 9-11 were not associated with Iraq and there were no WMD's. Iraq was already devastated by the sanctions against it and in no position to threaten us. Now, because of our presence there, Iraq is over run with the Taliban and others who really would seek to do us harm. Saadam Hussein was not a nice man by any stretch of the imagination but he was friendly to Christians and Christians were free to worship in his country. Seems strange to me that a "Christian" president would go after one of the few places in that part of the world that actually allowed Christians freedom. There have been many who have dubbed "GW" "Pastor Bush" wow, if he were my pastor, I would seek to have him removed or leave the church. I'll take a non Christian president who acts in a Christian manner anyday over someone who says they are a Christian and thens acts in a prideful, arrogant and murderous manner.
Just my humble opinion.
dawn at 9:55AM on Dec 17th 2007
dawn at 2:28PM on Dec 17th 2007
606. so people have to stick to their guns no matter what right?
lets say your daughter decided she wanted to become an actress, and for some reason you had knowledge about every single little thing that happened to her.
lets say you found out that she was getting paid barely enough to survive, was slipping into depression cus other people keep snagging the roles that she was trying to get, and started taking drugs and alcohol in an attempt to relieve the pain.
she should keep going right?
after awhile, what little money she does have is gone, so in order to support her habits, she resorts to prostitution. eventually, she also attempts to use her body to gain the roles she so desperately wants, only to be used by the person in charge, then thrown away. eventually she contracts multiple STD's and dies quietly in some obscure alley somewhere.
but hey, she stuck to her guns till the end so it's all good right?
justanotherone at 12:47AM on Dec 18th 2007
607. Missed this first time through, but the weapons used on the Kurds and the Iranians were chemical, not bio.
Thomas J Gassett at 2:25PM on Dec 17th 2007
xxxx
I wasn't sure, since one argument was that hussein used every weapon he ever had. I thought I'd read about a loclized anthrax incident in the kurdish mountains or highlands, but there was something similar in the old ussr and I may have mixed them up.
Chemical weapons development is childs' play compared to weaponized biological agents. I have enough under the sink to kill a few roomsful of people and so do most kitchens.
Clif Kuplen at 6:03PM on Dec 17th 2007
608. William Hayes posted:
Reply to: It's just that religious discussion should be excluded from the lesson plans of any public schoolteacher. What difference does it make as to the teacher's opinion? (end)
Hold on there, pardner. That isn't the (end) of this.
First of all, you cut me kinda short there, didn't you?
Voici.
"It's just that religious discussion should be excluded from the lesson plans of any public schoolteacher. What difference does it make as to the teacher's opinion? Time and taxes should be spent teaching Johnny to read and write. Period."
I'm so sorry my dim-witted ass dumbed that down too much. Permit me to smarten it up a bit.
I'm not going to pretend to be a teacher or a constitutional lawyer and begin a debate on the First Amendment. I'm not saying that religion can't be taught academically. All I'm saying is that a teacher who is (hopefully) in a position of authority, respect, and maybe even admiration has no business interjecting sarcastic opinion in lieu of instruction or academic discussion. Regardless of the stance of the teacher.
Not when it comes to religion. No, sirree. It's too volatile.
Just look at what it does to all of us "adults" right here. I don't think that's an atmosphere conducive to learning. My "teaching Johnny to read and write" statement, of course, is a reference extending to all academic subjects.
Then comes the issue of the resulting litigation. Schoolboard resources are better spent on students than lawyers. They make enough money. 'Nuff said in that area, methinks.
Hey, it's only my opinion, but it counts as much as yours. My tax dollar spends the same as yours, and that teacher is also "on my dime.'
Now the gloves come off.
William Hayes posted:
"I'm not dim enough to be a Christian. And I'm sad every time I meet someone who is."
Up your hiney hole, there Billy boy. I've made no claims to being anything on these pages, so cheer the f*ck up.
I've pushed no religious dogma - in fact I've posted a couple of items trying to engage discussion on valid evolutionary topics (i.e. abiogenesis, and punctuated equilibrium.) So far, with one exception, no one has posted a response. Is that not stimulating enough for you? Or maybe you and others here just can't formulate a response in any other way than ganging up on the dumb Christians and ridiculing them (and ultimately, yourselves.)
You may not be dim enough to be a Christian, but so far you haven't proven yourself bright enough to be an atheist either, especially one that capitalizes it at the top of every post, you self-aggrandizing lout.
Skeptic of Man at 6:09PM on Dec 17th 2007
609. The above (605) is attributed to torquemada, not Skeptic of Man. I dunno why it did that. AOL. sheesh!
torquemada at 6:28PM on Dec 17th 2007
610. Would you all just quit fussing and fighting about Georges Tentacles! Everybody knows about his Tentacles so what more is there to say. Leave Georges Tentacles alone PLEASE!
Timo at 6:51PM on Dec 17th 2007
611. Georgies testicles swing to the right
He likes to shake them every night
Georgie don't give us that kinda fright
When your po old testicles swing to the right...
Now everybody sing...
Georgies testicles swing to the right
They're swingin again probably tonight
Please oh please no more of this fright
Cut them buggers off would be a delight
Timo at 10:51PM on Dec 17th 2007
612. This is absurd. Bush has done nothing for women's rights,>>
Bush has done more for women's rights than any president in ours or anyones history. Before Bush the women of Afghanistan were PROPERTY. Today, they have a constitutional right to an education, and even hold elective office. All this and the women of Afghanistan are one of the most abused groups on the planet. I wonder why we hear nothing from liberals on this subject?
nothing for children's health, nothing for education,>>
Bush's no child left behind is the first program where we can actually test for results, and the first program to provided consequences to our failed educational system. Is it perfect ... no, but it's the best we have or have had.
refuses to recognize that gay people deserve the same rights as straight people,>>
Bush has said nothing about gays not deserving the 'same' rights. He has spoken out in the defense of marriage, and most Americans not to mention human history are with him.
and helped the richest citizens at the expense of the rest of us>>>
He gave everyone a tax cut. Only a leftist clown would think the amount of tax cut shouldn't have anything to do with how much tax one actually pays. Note: Under Bush more people were taken off the tax rolls than under any other president. In fact the rich pay a slightly higher percentage of taxes than Before Bush ... your limp Liberal lies not withstanding.
...and that doesn't even mention the war he lied to get us into and refuses to end.>>
This is the one charge against Bush that really ticks me off. Clue: Bush said nothing about Iraq that wasn't said by the clintoon administration when Bush was the govenor of Texas.
The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998
>>>
As to refusing to end the war. If you worthless liberal pukes had your way we would be out of Iraq now, giving Al Qeada it's biggest victory and recurting tool. Bush is refusing to lose a war we are clearly winning, you stupid liberal Lemming!
Imagine an American political party that wants defeat in Iraq almost as much as it needs defeat in Iraq ... then vote accordingly.
Thomas J Gassett at 12:41AM on Dec 18th 2007
613. Bush is doing a fine job. I'm going to send him a case of champagne.
gorbal at 12:46AM on Dec 18th 2007
614. Now as to UNCONVENTIONAL weapons, those not allowed by the Geneva Convention, yes he did have them, we sold them to him during the Reagan admin and he used them against the kurds. These were biological.>>>>>>>>>>
Two points.
1.You have no proof that doesn't come from a webiste with an agenda to push and no reputation to protect to justify the above statement.
xxxxx
I knew this long before I owned a computer. It was common knowledge reported gratuitously on television news. there was never any dispute from anywhere.
xxx
2. No one gives or sells chem or bio weapons. Why, because you can get everything you need from a hospital (bio) or right off the self (chemical)
What you sell is the duel use equipment used to make these items into weapons. WE know that France and Germany sold such equipment to Iraq, when no American contractor could.
xxxxx
You'll have to document your sources and you never do. You haven't convinced me you know the first thing about weaponization of biological agents. In fact, I think most if not all of your info comes from some single dittohead source.
There are abundant chemical agents like phosgene and sarin and halogens or HCN or ergot that can be made by anybody any time.
They're outlawed by the geneva convention but they're no problem to manufacture.
Biological weapons are a very different story. So are nuclear and thermonuclear weapons.
Your crap about Ritter is also a pantload of foxnews.
Ritter has been vindicated. EVERYTHING he said was true, everything your party said at the time was a lie.
Just like the lies Powell presented to the UN as causus bellae. Lies.
And it's all garbage anyway. There's overwhelming evidence of the neocon preemptive for-profit strike, overwhelming evidence of treason and overwhelming evidence of coverup.
Bush and cheney were hell bent on invasion of iraq and they were asleep at the wheel for 9/11. They killed as many people as hussein, the country's STILL a shambles and bin laden is still at large.
We're trillions of dollars in debt and there's no end in sight. the iraq war killed approx 644,000 iraqis in two years. That's way better than hussein. He murdered women, he didn't free them. The only disagreement in the WORLD about that is from the US republican party.
And libertarian and fascism have been infesting america since 1980. It started with reagan and has snowballed since. And yes, cheney's always been a major player. No bush was needed any more than now - he's a dull normal and a nobody and he'll be remembered as that if history is kind to him and he doesn't managed to get himself arrested.
What made you hate freedom and democracy and your country so much you turned to fascism?
Aren't you old enough to remember our ENEMIES in WWII are now the ROLE MODELS for republicanism?
And if that weren't enough, you need to borrow trillions from communists and I guess hope for the end of the world before the grandkids start paying for your profligacy.
Your party is unamerican and shameful in the deepest meaning of the word and your continual apology for them casts you in the same light.
You wouldn't fare as well as you suppose under the government you want. You wouldn't be excepted.
Clif Kuplen at 2:37AM on Dec 18th 2007
615. What, ya didn't like the sing along......
Christ Fucking Almighty
And I worked so Fucking Hard At The Lyrics
Let's Try Again...
Georgie sucks big bad cocks doo dah doo dah
Georgie sucks big bad cocks oh doo dah day
He sucks them in the morn
He sucks them in the night
Georgie sucks the big bad cocks
Oh doo dah day
Timo at 2:37AM on Dec 18th 2007