Woo hoo!

Bernie Ebbers is convicted. Go to jail, scumbag. I'm very pro-business, but smarmy guys like him need to be put away.

I never thought I would say this, but thank god that Democrats equal Republicans in the Iowa Senate. They won't vote in the House-approved Iowa constitutional marriage amendment, I'm sure. It's a simple concept: government has no business in the private property or private lives of its citizens where no one is getting hurt. Grr... stupid Republicans. It's the one part of conservatism today that nauseates me.

President Bush is looking better by the day in the Middle East. Check this out:

Asking more people what they thought of Americans turned up the same refrain. From a young driver, Fadi Mrad, came the message: "We want to change. We need freedom. Please don't let Bush forget us." From a group of young men came not only the message "Our hope is America," and "We believe in democracy in the Middle East," but also praise for Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. There was also an invitation from one of them, young Edgard Baradhy, for his heroine, Ms. Rice, to come to Beirut "and I am ready to take her for coffee."

And now, I'm off to play some catch football with my sons. Woo hoo!

Tags: politics
by Brett Rogers, 3/15/2005 5:19:35 PM
Permalink

re: the New York Sun
Brett, you know that the Sun is a staunchly conservative paper, of course they are going to report that the world loves the US and Bush. But in reality, I think at very least you will find as many people overseas who hate us and/or Bush. The tide of public opinion the paper is trying to turn is the one held by Americans.
Lib papers will tell you the opposite of conservative papers.

There's no one voice that you can trust on this. I've heard soldiers come back and tell how much teh Iraqi's love us, and soldiers who said they hate us, that they think our presence is hurting their bids for freedom, that fewer people died under saddam on an average month than die now.

Everything is propaganda. Everything.

Posted by Stefanie, 3/15/2005 8:09:01 PM

The lady is right. Case in point, this story from ABC News :

Poll: Two Years After War's Start, Deeper Doubts About its Cost
Analysis by
GARY LANGER

March 15, 2005 — Two years after the shooting began, Americans are deeply conflicted about the costs and benefits of the war with Iraq — and broadly reluctant to enter into any similar military confrontation with either Iran or North Korea.

The public sees some benefits of the war — but more for Iraq than for the United States, and, for many, not enough to justify its costs. Seven in 10 in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll call the level of U.S. casualties in Iraq unacceptable, and 53 percent, on balance, say the war was not worth fighting.

Sampling, data collection and tabulation for this poll were done by TNS.

This poll finds a huge comedown from public opinion before, during and just after the main fighting two years ago. President Bush's wartime job approval rating reached 77 percent; it's 50 percent now. His approval specifically on Iraq was 75 percent as the main fighting ended; it's 39 percent now, a career low.

The number of people who say the war was worth fighting has fallen from 70 percent during the war to 45 percent now. And the number who say it's put the United States in a stronger position in the world has fallen from 52 percent to 28 percent. (It was a vastly higher 84 percent after the 1991 Gulf War.) Indeed more now say the war left the United States weaker (41 percent) than stronger.

Has the War Made the U.S. Stronger or Weaker in the World?

Stronger Weaker

4/9/03 52% 12

3/13/05 28 41

Most, 57 percent, also say the Bush administration lacks a clear plan for handling the situation overall. And 64 percent say the administration lacks a clear plan specifically for eventually withdrawing most U.S. forces from Iraq.

Nonetheless, the successful Iraqi elections in January appear to have helped moderate what was an increasingly negative trend in views of the war. While 54 percent say the United States is bogged down in Iraq, that's down from a peak of 65 percent last spring. And whatever the difficulties, few Americans — just 12 percent — call for an immediate pullout of U.S. forces.

Was the War Worth Fighting?

Yes No No Opinion

3/13/05 45% 53 2

But then, the real face and voice of ABC news, Peter Jennings is a Canadian, and therefore, to some, evil. We know all those Canadians are just trying to kill us with their inexpensive prescription drugs. :-)

Posted by Bella, 3/15/2005 9:43:29 PM

You both bring up good points, but 4 years ago, can you imagine any circumstance in which any Lebanese would be in the streets shouting for democracy and being thankful for George Bush?

Posted by Brett Rogers (http://www.beatcanvas.com), 3/15/2005 10:31:31 PM

George doesn't deserve so much credit--it's predominantly about the people of Lebanon getting fed up after losing Hariri and getting busy...and in a productive way. More power to them.

George and Condi made some strong statements, but so has most of Europe ....hmmm...maybe having some numbers behind an idea really does work.

But wait a minute! That wasn't even the point of the posts...at least it wasn't mine. I was agreeing with Stefanie about the right wing sources. You can't really go criticizing the Register for being lefties if you're going to take (and post) the Sun at it's word. Well, you could, but it would be a little hypocritical.

Posted by Bella, 3/15/2005 11:27:00 PM

Stefanie is right - everything is propaganda in how it is used. Not that these events or attributions aren't true, but that people find what they like or what fits their bias and then they notice that - intentionally or unintentionally.

As I recently pointed out, some in the Middle East attribute the moves in Lebanon to a series of forces, but significantly to what's happened in Iraq. That, reported in the Washington Post.

In Iraq, there are millions of thankful of Iraqis. Schools, hospitals, water facilities, etc. all rebuilt by Americans and our allies. But it's typically not reported in the papers - no blood involved. Do I trust those editorial decisions?

My point with the Register was not that they're biased, but rather that as a business, if main streem media hopes to stem the ongoing loss of circulation, they need to address the problem - which is that the editorial choices they make ignore half of America. Their choice, their paper. I don't mind if they go bankrupt - not something in my control. But I can roll my eyes and point a finger as they do.

America's great. We can publically criticize our commander-in-chief, disagree openly with one another, and still exist as neighbors and friends without fear of imprisonment. No wonder others that don't have it want democracy for themselves.

I hear Ted Kennedy say that this is Bush's Vietnam, and yet we never beat the North Vietnamese. There were no elections or interim governments. I see true signs of progress that run counter to the negativity that gets pushed to us every day in the media. That doesn't mean that the negative items are false, but I would assert that they are overemphasized. Propaganda...

Posted by Brett Rogers (http://www.beatcanvas.com), 3/16/2005 12:48:51 AM

Nor do we see a lot of coverage of anti-war protests, not because there is any lack of them, but as you said, because there isn't any blood. But I do trust my friends who live in NYC and see protests of a lot of honked off New Yorkers who take it kind of personally that we are spending a lot of energy in Iraq but haven't found Osama bin Laden. I digress...

But back to Lebanon---does anybody else find it ironic that George fully admits that Lebanon can't really have free elections with Syria still there, but hey, our setting up elections in Iraq is okay? We're not giving these thankful Iraqis (and I don't doubt that they are there at all---I'm sure most Iraqis are grateful) a chance for real self determination. I can concede that there was some real, if misguided, good that came from going into Iraq, but that part is over now and we need to give them their country back.

Is this thread of commentary giving you a sense of deja vu at all? I'm gonna go do the cookie quiz now....less angst involved with oatmeal and raisins. :-)

Posted by Bella, 3/16/2005 4:10:05 PM