tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post876328227654052409..comments2024-03-20T12:34:55.100-05:00Comments on Stonekettle Station: A Question for the CandidatesJim Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-31702666323578946902008-10-10T07:37:00.000-05:002008-10-10T07:37:00.000-05:00(PS--yes, I know they might be lying to the report...(PS--yes, I know they might be lying to the reporters. Somehow I doubt it, but yes. I'm not THAT naive....)Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275812152895151542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-67156052534794343802008-10-10T07:34:00.000-05:002008-10-10T07:34:00.000-05:00Steve: according to this article--http://www.msnbc...Steve: according to this article--<BR/><BR/>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27106870/<BR/><BR/>it looks like they still are pro-Western, or at least pro-American. Which makes our moral failing here even more depressing to me. How sad is it when your captor still comes off looking better than your homeland? Once again, America's tradition--that we are a refuge for those who treasure liberty and justice--is at odds with our actions (one recalls how we instituted immigration quotas in the 1930s that returned thousands upon thousands of Europeans back to Europe so that Hitler could eventually get around to murdering them).<BR/><BR/>You're right about giving our enemies free points, though.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275812152895151542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-20497080375566788772008-10-09T13:31:00.000-05:002008-10-09T13:31:00.000-05:00I don't know, after 7 years at Gitmo I wonder just...I don't know, after 7 years at Gitmo I wonder just how pro-western they still are. <BR/><BR/>Damnit, I wish we would stop giving the enemy free points.Steve Buchheithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12999709767641212586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-15765779045378641972008-10-09T11:44:00.000-05:002008-10-09T11:44:00.000-05:00All empires fall. In time they all go the same wa...All empires fall. In time they all go the same way. From tyranny, to revolution to freedom, to heroic saviour of others, to greed, to complacency, to laziness, to apathy, to tyranny. It's a cycle. We're at the last couple stages. (The stages aren't hard and sure times, and meld into one another as they morph into realization).<BR/><BR/>The US is no different from every other great empire in this regard, sad as that truth is. We will fall just like every nation before us. The hopeful part is that having had unheard of freedoms, and a form of government that was different enough from those before us, we made be able to rebuild with minimum damage.<BR/><BR/>Then again...maybe not.<BR/><BR/>I just pray the utter fall doesn't happen in my own children's life. Or if it does, let me be there to help through it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13152540665352170999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-9097880377612994802008-10-09T11:35:00.000-05:002008-10-09T11:35:00.000-05:00Stupid? No, see, that's the real problem with the...Stupid? No, see, that's the real problem with the Bush Administration, fostered by the "aw shucks" illusion George Bush, this tongue-tied Ivy League graduate, has foisted off on the public with his "I'm just a guy you'd like to have a beer with" demeanor.<BR/><BR/>"Stupid" would imply the Justice Department doesn't know or understand what their position means. And they certainly do know. Their position is cynical, lazy, unimaginative, and opportunistic--not to mention amoral. But they know what they're doing. And it's <I>easier</I>, from their point of view, to do nothing and hope things blow over. These aren't men in Gitmo, Jim, these are an accumulating tumor of mistakes and the sooner it's somebody else's problem, the sooner the bastards in the Bush Administration will be happier.<BR/><BR/>They make reality, remember? When a Bush official said that, the general assessment was he was talking about lying. But there are a lot of ways to make reality. One is to pretend nothing is happening--and <I>voila</I>, nothing is happening. Ignore the problem and it goes away--and if somebody won't let you happily ignore it, then <I>stall</I>. There's not much time left on Bush's watch, anyway.<BR/><BR/>This isn't jail for the Uyghurs's protection, it's for the Bushites' convenience. Because admitting that Gitmo is one ginormous cluster fuck (and here's an incontrovertible example), would be too much to confess.<BR/><BR/>See, I love my country too, but this is an example of why I can understand Jeremiah Wright saying "God damn America." Because, well: damn us all to Hell when we do this and allow it to be done in our names.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275812152895151542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-59919305831724970752008-10-09T11:31:00.000-05:002008-10-09T11:31:00.000-05:00Seriously, Bush needs somebody to stand behind him...<I>Seriously, Bush needs somebody to stand behind him and slap him in the back of the head every time he tries to say something stupid. Yeah, I know, that's a lot of slapping.</I><BR/><BR/>Actually, he needs to be in a maximum security prison with cellmate who will "encourage" Bush to be his girlfriend. His friends who are as culpable as he should join him in the same fate. Don't worry, there will still be a lot of slapping sounds.<BR/><BR/>I can't say that I'm surprised by anything any longer. Shocked, yes, because this <I>is</I> an abomination that should not stand. But it's just one more abomination in a very long list of them.<BR/><BR/>I need to go look at bunnies farting rainbows or something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-15114225078192448952008-10-09T10:28:00.000-05:002008-10-09T10:28:00.000-05:00Vince, yeah I heard. Nice. The logic being if we s...Vince, yeah I heard. Nice. The logic being if we send them back to china, china will kill them, and we don't want to let them go because um well we just don't, so we'll keep them in jail for their own protection. Apparently for the rest of their life.<BR/><BR/>Seriously, Bush needs somebody to stand behind him and slap him in the back of the head every time he tries to say something stupid. Yeah, I know, that's a lot of slapping.Jim Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-90407239876864991412008-10-09T05:34:00.000-05:002008-10-09T05:34:00.000-05:00The candidates both say that they'll close Guantan...The candidates both say that they'll close Guantanamo. That could be a start. But I'm afraid I share you overall sentiment, Jim, all the way to the final conclusion.Ilyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05379167075203188111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-19435753052058648672008-10-08T20:26:00.000-05:002008-10-08T20:26:00.000-05:00In case you haven't heard, A federal appeals court...In case you haven't heard, A federal appeals court blocked the release in order to give the government more time to argue against the plan.<BR/><BR/>Acoording to our fantabulous gummint, only the executive branch, and not the courts, may decide whether to admit an alien into the United States. The gummint further argued that the lower court's decision to free the detainees "threatens serious harm to the interests of the United States and its citizens by mandating that the government release in the nation's capital 17 individuals who engaged in weapons training at a military training camp." Gummint lawyers sfurther argued that the law forbids the detainees' entry into the United States.<BR/><BR/>And to top it all off, the Justice Department said it wanted a ruling on the emergency stay by the end of Wednesday so it would have time to rush a further appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday if necessary. <BR/><BR/>Like you, I love my country, and while I didn't give the 23 years of service you did, I did freely give four years, and would do so again if needed.<BR/><BR/>I love my country, but I purely despise my government as portrayed by the Bush administration.vincehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16955307244053931069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-27181667766224053442008-10-08T17:50:00.000-05:002008-10-08T17:50:00.000-05:00I believe that is the Judge's intention and he spe...I believe that is the Judge's intention and he specifically ordered the INS to stay the hell away from them. Period.<BR/><BR/>That guy belongs on the Supreme Court Bench.Jim Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-51715934330736238782008-10-08T17:24:00.000-05:002008-10-08T17:24:00.000-05:00What's worse is that if we repatriate them, the Ch...What's worse is that if we repatriate them, the Chinese <I>will</I> execute them. I say give them a green card or its equivalent and send them anywhere they want to go in the US, EU, or Canada.John the Scientisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03467337009577733553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-41157987534059424522008-10-08T16:34:00.000-05:002008-10-08T16:34:00.000-05:00High blood pressure. Teeth grinding. Cardiac inf...High blood pressure. Teeth grinding. Cardiac infarction. Embolism. <BR/><BR/>All these can be yours for the low, low price of becoming an informed American citizen. <BR/><BR/>Christ.Janiecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14190655869710465713noreply@blogger.com