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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (682532)	5/17/2005 3:37:15 PM
From: tonto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

It sure did. It was embarrassing, wasn't it? They both came across so poorly. Two mediocre guys running for President and some silly fools talking them up like they believed they were wonderful...(s) The Bush-Kerry debates demonstrated the relative intelligence of the two candidates.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (682532)	5/17/2005 7:30:46 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769667

Reuters reports from Islamabad that the Pakistani government remains unhappy with Newsweek: "The apology and retraction are not enough," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Reuters. "They should understand the sentiments of Muslims and think 101 times before publishing news which hurt feelings of Muslims." Now this is getting a little ridiculous. A New York Sun editorial lends some perspective: The Bush administration has been so quick to condemn this particular press blunder that it's in danger of committing a blunder of its own. "Disrespect for the holy Koran is something the United States will never tolerate," Secretary of State Rice said last week. . . . It would have been nice if our secretary of state acknowledged that it is every American's right to voice all kinds of opinions in respect of all kinds of religious texts. This is a fact the rioters know full well. It is no doubt one of the reasons they hated America long before the Newsweek article went to press. Ms. Rice is a brilliant individual, but she--and a number of other individuals in the administration--are reacting to the Newsweek imbroglio in a way that comes close to pandering to the sensibilities of our Islamist enemies. If there is one lesson we should have learned from the recent developments in the Middle East, it is that there is a large constituency that rejects the narrow sectarianism of those most visibly offended by the alleged Koran incident. In fairness to Rice, she presumably was referring to government policy, not the actions or opinions of private individuals. Still, by way of comparison, recall that three years ago Palestinian Arab terrorists occupied the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Priests reported that "gunmen tore up Bibles for toilet paper," according to the Daily Camera of Boulder, Colo. The Chicago Tribune noted after the siege that "altars had been turned into cooking and eating tables, a sacrilege to the religious faithful." Christians in the U.S. responded by declining to riot and refraining from killing anyone. They had the same response 15 or so years ago when the National Endowment for the Arts was subsidizing the scatological desecration of a crucifix and other Christian symbols. This should also put to rest the oft-heard calumny that America's "religious right" is somehow a Christian equivalent of our jihadi enemies. You Don't Say "Newsweek's Blurb on Quran a Major Media Mistake"--headline, Portland (Maine) Press Herald, May 17 What Would We Do Without U.S. Studies? "Blogs Haven't Displaced Media, U.S. Study Finds"--headline, Reuters, May 16

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (682532)	5/17/2005 7:34:16 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769667

Senator Spitball The Pentagon last week proposed to close 180 military installations, and Sen. John Kerry* is defending a home-state base. The Associated Press reports Kerry "condemned the proposal to close Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod, saying, 'Otis is the number one base for homeland defense on the entire East Coast. . . . It simply makes no sense to close Otis in the post 9/11 world.' " Among the units stationed at Otis is the 102nd Fighter Wing, which flies the F-15 Eagle--a plane then-Lt. Gov. Kerry, according to this memo, said during his 1984 Senate campaign that he wanted to cancel. What does he want the guys at Otis to defend the country with, spitballs? * The haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat, who by the way promised 106 days ago to release his military records.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (682532)	5/17/2005 7:34:32 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769667

* The haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat, who by the way promised 106 days ago to release his military records.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (682532)	5/17/2005 7:35:36 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769667

"Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Party, said [Saturday] that the US House majority leader, Tom DeLay, 'ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence,' " reports the Boston Globe from the Massachusetts Democratic Party convention. This was too much for Rep. Barney Frank, a very liberal Massachusetts Democrat: "That's just wrong," Frank said in an interview on the convention floor. "I think Howard Dean was out of line talking about DeLay. The man has not been indicted. I don't like him, I disagree with some of what he does, but I don't think you, in a political speech, talk about a man as a criminal or his jail sentence." The New York Times seems unbothered by the increasingly outlandish rhetoric of the Democrats. Consider the lead paragraph from a Times story yesterday on the Senate battle over judicial nominees: In the end, the brutal public battle over judicial confirmations in the Senate comes down to two starkly different men. One is a wealthy surgeon still considered new to the Senate but with an eye on the White House, the other a former lightweight boxer and police officer whose flashes of candor sometimes get him into trouble--like calling President Bush "a loser" in a speech to students. In 1995 DeLay's predecessor, Dick Armey, referred to Frank, who is gay, as "Barney Fag." (Armey said he had misspoken and apologized, though he also faulted the news media for reporting his comment.) The Times did not euphemize this as a "flash of candor" but accurately described it, in a headline no less, as an "anti-gay slur." Perhaps Frank, having been on the receiving end of such nastiness, understands better than most that witless insults are not an effective political tool. That's a lesson Dean, Reid and the Times could stand to learn.