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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (7256)	9/9/2003 1:19:27 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793779

The NYTimes cites a current Palestinian joke: There is a pointed joke making the rounds of Palestinian politicians here. Mr. Arafat is riding in a car with Mr. Abbas, when he spots an obstacle. "Abu Mazen, there's a tree in the road!" Mr. Arafat cries, using Mr. Abbas's nickname. But the car continues on its way. Mr. Arafat's warnings grow more frantic. Finally, the car hits the tree, and as the two Palestinian leaders stumble from the wreckage, battered and bruised, Mr. Arafat turns to Mr. Abbas and says, "Abu Mazen, I told you there was a tree." Mr. Abbas replies, miserably, "But you were driving." nytimes.com Why do we keep propping up this charade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (7256)	9/9/2003 10:40:21 AM
From: MSI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793779

Let's hope we're not at a point where even quoting famous Republicans like TR is considered "vituperative", if it criticizes current administration policies. Even David Brooks' criticism reads as the opposite of criticism: he ends the column with fawning admissions that all is well, insiders know what's going on, can change course, but just keep poker faces. No discussion of how damaging these reverses are to our foreign and domestic credibility, other than Pavlovian comparisons to Reagan. What Brooks is really saying is that we're at a "no criticism allowed" stage in politics, where crtitics are attacked with stony faces, excuses, and stonewalling of any investigations, rather than met with dialog.