According to our President we’re not winning the war in Iraq. While I can’t imagine that the state of this conflict will come as a surprise to anyone it is surprising that our President is admitting that things aren’t going well. My favorite part? “Asked yesterday about his ‘absolutely, we’re winning’ comment at an Oct. 25 news conference, the president recast it as a prediction rather than an assessment. ‘Yes, that was an indication of my belief we’re going to win,’ he said.” OK - I understand that this statement is intended as a political maneuver to cover his ass but it was foolish because it implies a conscious attempt to mislead his audience in his previous address.
“Absolutely, we’re winning,” is pretty cut and dried. There is no suggestion that it is a “prediction” or a “belief,” rather it is a clear and concise fact from a person who is has access to more information then the rest of us. If you were in the hospital after an injury and a doctor said to you, “absolutely, you’re going to live,” how would you take that? Any “belief” Bush felt was blatantly ignored in order to bolster his own reputation. As an added bonus he once again misled the public.
Sadly, though, the misleading statements and outright lies coming from this administration no longer constitute “news.” Lies from this administration have become paramount to rain on Sunday - it’s frustrating but it’s hardly worth more then a passing mention. That is a pretty sad comment on the state of our government.
Also of note: now they’re saying that we do need more troops in Iraq. It’s nice that they have the balls to come out and say it, but I would have been more impressed if they had mentioned it before the mid-term elections. Apparently campaigning and politicizing are more important then the lives of troops or securing a nation that we plunged into a deadly, tumultuous civil war.
I read this today as well. It is sad that a sport and an outdated tradition is more important to this town then the life of a 16 year old boy. In a nutshell: a big football town has a tradition of firing a cannon before every game. The cannon blew up and nearly tore of a kid’s leg. People are threatening the boy and his family because they’re afraid that he’ll try to stop them from firing a cannon off before every game. Bonus: after the cannon exploded and the boy’s leg was shredded by giant pieces of shrapnel the game continued as though nothing had happened.
I don’t think that their tradition should be stopped because of this event. It’s unfortunate, yes, and I feel very bad for the boy and his family, but there is a risk inherent in everything we do and the loading and firing of a piece of artillery carries with it some obvious extra danger. It seems as though this is the only time something like this has happened so it appears to be primarily a case of bad luck for the kid.
At the same time, though, it is absolutely disgusting that people are reacting with such vitriol and completely disregarding the feelings of a young man and his family. Every day I see things that show how ugly and selfish people can be. Now there’s a whole town full of assholes - fantastic!
There is a time to defend your traditions and there is a time to rally behind a member of your community. Help the kid out, for fuck’s sake! If, later on, you need to defend the tradition then use logical arguments and make a case for maintaining the status quo. Don’t immediately attack someone who has yet to do anything! This is witch-hunt, extremist thinking - and it’s all based around a game. How far is that from the “evils” we’re fighting on the other side of the world? People are people and, in too many cases, people are ugly.
People aren’t all bad, though - Penny Arcade has so far raised $750,000 for sick kids in this year’s Child’s Play. That’s a lot of cash for a lot of kids and it’s nice to see a couple of gamers getting people to rally behind a good cause.
It suddenly strikes me that I’m rapidly becoming another negative voice. I never seem to say anything really positive or helpful. I’ve got to watch that.
Sphere It
