One lesson I've learned in life is that overestimating a person's intelligence on a matter said party has been deemed to have expertise in - is just as much, if not more a reality than underestimating a person's intelligence. Today Tom Hartman came up with a self admitted dubious "explanation" for President Obama's sudden reversal of position on the subject of releasing torture photos at Abu-grave. He said "My hope is that Obama is playing chess while the other person is playing checkers". There is one thing wrong with this assrtion: If everybody watching the game sees only checker pieces on the board it's a fair assumption that "checkers" is the game that's being played, whether you "think" you're playing something else or not. Stated another way, President Obama isn't fooling anybody but himself if he thinks his "roll over and play dead" trick is winning him any intelligence points with his Democratic base on the left. We all see the situation for what it is. Lately, Hartman has come up with the "Make Me" principle. Supposedly FDR was asked about integrating the armed services and he told them "Make me". The idea here is that if there is enough public pressure on a President, if he follows through with said action, and somehow something goes wrong he can point at election time and say, "Public pressure made me do it". So it is that Hartman is banking on the Supreme Court or somebody "Making" President Obama take needed actions. From a puretly "Profiles in Courage" standpoint we learned about in films in school, this thinking doesn't make the grade.
A lot of liberals who are smarter than Obama gives them credit for have their own ideas as to what's going on: Obama is being pressured, or worse, blackmailed by wither the CIA or democrats in congress friendly to the CIA. When someone abruptly reverses position on a key issue they formerly held near and dear, any cop would look at the situation and say "blackmail is the first place to look". I just learned from an MSNBC article that Eric Holder himself has been rather soft on torture in the past and in no way can be counted on to "do the right thing" and file appropiate charges. As you may also know, torture photos have been published in the Sydney Morning Herald and they appear in "George Washington's blog" a blog I would highly reccomend. The address is georgewashington2.blogspot.com - and you can paste that if it still isn't a working link.. THAT WON'T WORK: TRY THIS LINK:
Here Are a Few of the Torture Just as American tradition is in George Washington's shadow when it comes to a tradition of humane treatment of prisoners of war, so it is that I see "George Washington's blog" as a superior source to myself to turn to for blog commentary. Thom Hartman says "Perhaps inflaming world oppinion is a good thing now. After all, if we wern't guilty of anything there would be nothing to get inflamed about". Personally I hardly see how Obama's withholding of the torture photographs won't inflame Islamic passions even further. They will say to the new recruits, "Here are some bloody torture photographs inflicted on our people. Oh by the way, there may be worse ones than these except the United States President is afraid to release them". Psychologically we all need to be keen on the "desensitization phenomenon". Psychologists use it to aid in patients getting over phobias. But it also works in that the Nazis knew that "gradualism" is something that people can live with. They needn't accept the whole Nazi Platform at once. All they need do is be a little more exposed than they were yesterday to acclimate themselves to the latest set of government abuses. All of the Republicans are banking on this hope. Plus there's the fact that Republicans flat out lie. They say that Nancy Palosi and other leading democrats were told all about waterboarding and they went along with it. There are two things wrong with this statement. First of all if they were told, they were sworn to secrecy and would be violating a confidence if they made what they knew about torture - - public. And secondly these democrats claim that water-boarding was among the things that they were told were NOT DONE. If you rely on Sean Hannity to get your facts, you're in big trouble right off the bat.
Voltaire said that people who are led unknowingly into believing an absurdity, will be so tainted that they will allow any abuse or torture to support that absurdity which they were told. Voltaire was ahead of his time. The following is an Italian proverb supposedly. "When all is said and done- - - - more is said than done". People have ideas. Democratic liberals have ideas but somehow too little of those lofty words ever translate into actual action. Here is another quote: "We have figured out just about everything - - except how to live". That's by John Paul Satre. I'm not saying I agree with that one I just thought I would throw it out there. Here's one, "Sometimes things are just what they seem". I think Pink Floyd said that.
There is a group of economic pessimists out there who say that "Happy Talk" will not carry the day. It sure didn't further my growth as a Christian, I'll tell you that. The term is one of disparagement. I think it's always best to look on the bright side. If you don't plan on things getting better, how will you deal with "better" when it comes? My only reservation about this economy is that there was a book I read two years ago before any of our current crises - - and that book author said that we as a nation were pretty much economicly screwed even with the statistics which were ALREADY know. The level of our corporate debt - - and I mean a debt we all owe as a nation - - is staggering. Thom Hartman has said "Untill we again start manufacturing our own products here in the US - - we are going to go into one economic bubble after another". That's the cold hard reality, and one that the current adminestration doesn't want to even consider as a viable possibility. I would say to hold on to your gold futures at this point. It certainly isn't time to sell yet.
It turns out that our family did have an ancester on the Mayflower. But he fell overboard on the trip over and drowned. "Allright you people - - Homer - - Barney - - Anybody - - I could use that life preserver about now".
A lot of liberals who are smarter than Obama gives them credit for have their own ideas as to what's going on: Obama is being pressured, or worse, blackmailed by wither the CIA or democrats in congress friendly to the CIA. When someone abruptly reverses position on a key issue they formerly held near and dear, any cop would look at the situation and say "blackmail is the first place to look". I just learned from an MSNBC article that Eric Holder himself has been rather soft on torture in the past and in no way can be counted on to "do the right thing" and file appropiate charges. As you may also know, torture photos have been published in the Sydney Morning Herald and they appear in "George Washington's blog" a blog I would highly reccomend. The address is georgewashington2.blogspot.com - and you can paste that if it still isn't a working link.. THAT WON'T WORK: TRY THIS LINK:
Here Are a Few of the Torture Just as American tradition is in George Washington's shadow when it comes to a tradition of humane treatment of prisoners of war, so it is that I see "George Washington's blog" as a superior source to myself to turn to for blog commentary. Thom Hartman says "Perhaps inflaming world oppinion is a good thing now. After all, if we wern't guilty of anything there would be nothing to get inflamed about". Personally I hardly see how Obama's withholding of the torture photographs won't inflame Islamic passions even further. They will say to the new recruits, "Here are some bloody torture photographs inflicted on our people. Oh by the way, there may be worse ones than these except the United States President is afraid to release them". Psychologically we all need to be keen on the "desensitization phenomenon". Psychologists use it to aid in patients getting over phobias. But it also works in that the Nazis knew that "gradualism" is something that people can live with. They needn't accept the whole Nazi Platform at once. All they need do is be a little more exposed than they were yesterday to acclimate themselves to the latest set of government abuses. All of the Republicans are banking on this hope. Plus there's the fact that Republicans flat out lie. They say that Nancy Palosi and other leading democrats were told all about waterboarding and they went along with it. There are two things wrong with this statement. First of all if they were told, they were sworn to secrecy and would be violating a confidence if they made what they knew about torture - - public. And secondly these democrats claim that water-boarding was among the things that they were told were NOT DONE. If you rely on Sean Hannity to get your facts, you're in big trouble right off the bat.
Voltaire said that people who are led unknowingly into believing an absurdity, will be so tainted that they will allow any abuse or torture to support that absurdity which they were told. Voltaire was ahead of his time. The following is an Italian proverb supposedly. "When all is said and done- - - - more is said than done". People have ideas. Democratic liberals have ideas but somehow too little of those lofty words ever translate into actual action. Here is another quote: "We have figured out just about everything - - except how to live". That's by John Paul Satre. I'm not saying I agree with that one I just thought I would throw it out there. Here's one, "Sometimes things are just what they seem". I think Pink Floyd said that.
There is a group of economic pessimists out there who say that "Happy Talk" will not carry the day. It sure didn't further my growth as a Christian, I'll tell you that. The term is one of disparagement. I think it's always best to look on the bright side. If you don't plan on things getting better, how will you deal with "better" when it comes? My only reservation about this economy is that there was a book I read two years ago before any of our current crises - - and that book author said that we as a nation were pretty much economicly screwed even with the statistics which were ALREADY know. The level of our corporate debt - - and I mean a debt we all owe as a nation - - is staggering. Thom Hartman has said "Untill we again start manufacturing our own products here in the US - - we are going to go into one economic bubble after another". That's the cold hard reality, and one that the current adminestration doesn't want to even consider as a viable possibility. I would say to hold on to your gold futures at this point. It certainly isn't time to sell yet.
It turns out that our family did have an ancester on the Mayflower. But he fell overboard on the trip over and drowned. "Allright you people - - Homer - - Barney - - Anybody - - I could use that life preserver about now".
OK you O C D fans, listen up.
(especially you who didn't meet with C I A agents)
What did Margo Wendice and Mark Halliday
Have for dinner on their final date
In the Movie, "Dial M For Murder?"
That's just what I had
for dinner tonight.
(especially you who didn't meet with C I A agents)
What did Margo Wendice and Mark Halliday
Have for dinner on their final date
In the Movie, "Dial M For Murder?"
That's just what I had
for dinner tonight.
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