If there is one thing I hope we have learned from the present conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is that US involvement in the Middle East can have no positive outcome. Involvement by pretty much ANYONE in the Middle East can have no positive outcome. When you’re dealing with governments and groups led by people who lack the slightest shred of common thought patterns, you just can’t expect to be able to play in their sandbox. Continue reading “We seem to have trouble learning new things.”
If the Republicans lose the 2008 elections…
It’s only because we shot ourselves squarely in the foot.
I say “we” because, for lack of a viable alternative, I’m a registered Republican. I can honestly say I disagree with a lot of what both of the predominant parties stand for. Continue reading “If the Republicans lose the 2008 elections…”
There’s no reaction quite like a knee-jerk reaction…
I received an email today, another forwarded message with someone’s teary reflections on how sad the world is. This one dealt with the recent Westroads mall shootings in Omaha, which are still pretty fresh in our minds. Locally, at least – the national news has pretty much forgotten them already and moved on to the next catastrophe. Part of the email read:
“We’ve learned that while the gun lobby keeps saying “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” that in this case “people with guns kill people.” We need to find a way to keep adolescents and guns away from each other, and that no hunter needs a semi-automatic assault rifle with armor-piercing bullets to kill Bambi.”
It saddens me to see that some people are shifting the focus away from the human reason for this tragedy, and onto the convenient scapegoat again. I’m not the least bit surprised, of course; it was only a matter of time. Usually this time is measured in minutes, if not seconds.
Let’s start with the glaring factual errors first: The moron was 19, not an “adolescent”, a mentally Continue reading “There’s no reaction quite like a knee-jerk reaction…”