The Limits of One’s Power

Pheistyblog wonders why…

...we have a government that claims that it can’t possibly round up illegal aliens, yet at the same time believes that it can change the climate of the earth?

1. Oh, what a good point!!!  Same could be true for health care.

   Posted by on February 26, 2008 at 2350 hrs




2. Hahahaha very good point! We just dont know how the brains of these people in government actually work. Please prioritize, people!

   Posted by Ajit on February 27, 2008 at 0955 hrs




3. Because “rounding up illegal aliens” requires a costly, organized effort and faces resistance, whereas greenhouse gas production is largely the result of entropy.  You know, some of these questions actually have answers if you think about them for 5 seconds.

   Posted by PaulNoonan on February 27, 2008 at 0959 hrs




4. Oh, cleaning UP the earth.  My mistake.  I retract my last comment.  The government will definitely suck at both of those.  Quite right.

   Posted by PaulNoonan on February 27, 2008 at 1001 hrs




5. We have a government that claims it can impose democracy at the point of a gun thousands of miles away at the cost of billions of dollars a week, yet at the same time won’t even try to clean up its own air and water?

   Posted by on February 27, 2008 at 1035 hrs




6. Did I miss some news about Irag?  We are now pointing guns at Iraqi Government officials and the general populace?  Huh, I thought we were pointing them at jihadists that were just trying to kill people...Iraq people, US people, UN people… that is who I thought we were pointing guns at. 

   apc could you point out some of these breaking stories where the US is pointing guns to impose Democracy?

   Is that how the French Republic felt when they helped us in the American Revolution?

   Posted by on February 27, 2008 at 1223 hrs




7. We’ve pointed guns at pretty much everyone in Iraq; who it is at the moment depends on whose support we need at the moment and in which part of Iraq they’re in. Even lowballing casualty figures, tens of thousands have died. I don’t think jihadists killed all of them, do you? Otherwise, why would Iraqis keep joining up to kill Americans?

   Not to be too snarky, but your France-USA analogy doesn’t hold up. Not only was France not a republic yet (1792), but it didn’t start the American Revolution the way the US started the war in Iraq.

   Posted by on February 27, 2008 at 1642 hrs




8. And the time was… 1789, yes I know the start of the French revolution, sorry.  It is true they did not start it and that is a big difference, does that wholly invalidate the analogy?  Would we have become the nation we did without French help?  It depends on how far you take it. 

   The biggest help France gave us was the continuing cold/hot war that divided British attention between us and them I admit, but it was the French fleet that broke the British will to achieve victory in America.  Regardless, they helped ‘in the name of liberty’ even though they really were helping to tweak England’s tail.

   Don’t worry, I don’t think we should invade anybody to spread liberty.  It is just that since Bush couldn’t get us out and there is interest, I think it is a positive that a Democracy has a real chance in Iraq.  And since the initial overthrow, I take umbrage at the ‘pointing guns at innocents’ that is sometimes leveled at our military.  I do think they are doing a great job with the orders given to them.

   Posted by on February 27, 2008 at 1710 hrs




9. And with unerring reliability, yet another thread gets hijacked into a commentary on Iraq.

   Though it is nice to see that our friend apc isn’t one of those sissy libs who claims to support the troops.  He tells it like it is - he doesn’t support them in the least.

   Posted by Tony Turner on February 27, 2008 at 1914 hrs




10. Kiss my liberal ass, Tony. It was the conservatives who sent our troops into Iraq with a poorly-defined mission and without the tools and body armor they needed to even protect themselves adequately. It’s consevatives who cut every veterans’ benefit in sight and allowed Walter Reed Hospital to become a stinking, fetid cesspool. It’s conservatives who have “supported” the troops so much that Barack Obama and Ron Paul have received the most in political contributions from US troops.

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3601542

    I’m sick of the lip service support that this administration and its supporters show our men and women in uniform, who have been used as little more than stage props by this president. Rather than supporting our troops, this administration has stretched them to the breaking point before discarding them like so much used tissue.

    Conservatives need to shut the hell up about troop support, because it’s their side that’s been sorely lacking.

    Posted by on February 28, 2008 at 1005 hrs




11. "I do think they are doing a great job with the orders given to them.”

    I have always blamed the top, but you are wrong in your terminology.  It was Republicans that did all those things and politicians of both sides that did most of them.  There weren’t Democrats saying ‘wait they forgot their mittens’.  Politicians misused our troops and the people slinging the ‘lack of support’ mud at liberals in general have been dead wrong most of the time.  Get it through your head.  Bush is not a conservative in his policies, and neither are most of his decision making cronies.

    Posted by on February 28, 2008 at 1035 hrs




12. TUERQAS, You make a good point. Whether or not Bush is a conservative is one of those “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” arguments, but as soon as I posted my comment, I realized I should have said “the administration and its congressional enablers” or something like that, rather than conservatives. You can certainly understand, though, how infuriating it is to have your patriotism questioned at every turn.

    Posted by on February 28, 2008 at 1229 hrs




13. 72. 

    I do understand and until an individual starts throwing bricks through recruiting office windows or I see someone spit on a uniform, etc. I don’t really question that sort of thing.  I don’t think there is a named large group (liberal et al) that hates the people in the military or thinks they shouldn’t be funded while they are over there(unless you count politicians as a large enough group).  I think most people put the lack of support in the general direction it is deserved.  And Bush’s and Congress’ approval numbers show it.

    Posted by on February 28, 2008 at 1315 hrs




14. We’ve pointed guns at pretty much everyone in Iraq; who it is at the moment depends on whose support we need at the moment and in which part of Iraq they’re in. Even lowballing casualty figures, tens of thousands have died. I don’t think jihadists killed all of them, do you? Otherwise, why would Iraqis keep joining up to kill Americans?

    I’m not the one implying that our troops don’t understand and/or follow their ROE.  I’m not the one implying that our troops go around killing innocent Iraqis just to curry some factional favors.  And I’m certainly not the one who doesn’t follow the war closely enough to understand that Iraqis of all varieties have been coming over to our side for the last six months or more.

    I stated that your remarks made it clear you didn’t support the troops, and in fact congratulated you on your forthrightness.  I didn’t question your patriotism.  [Curious that liberals so frequently get their hackles up about that.]

    My patience with the current administration ran out a number of years ago and I’m not going to sit here and defend them against your laundry list.  However, I would like to know whether you think Walter Reed was a world class hospital on 1/19/2001 and the instant GWB & Co. took over it started its long spiral downward into a “stinking, fetid cesspool”.  And I’d bet that your reference to political contributions, if segmented between those in the bloated military bureaucracy and those at the point of the spear, would tell a different story.

    Anyway, I’m not going to “shut the hell up” about troop support.  Deal with it.

    Posted by Tony Turner on February 28, 2008 at 1927 hrs




15. named large group (liberal et al) that hates the people in the military

    Code Pink. Throw in the Berkeley Mayor and City Council for good measure.

    Campus Antiwar Network
    The New York Times

    That enough?

    Posted by HeatherRadish on February 28, 2008 at 2111 hrs




16. Number 1) the article you link to criticizes the war through attempting to inhibit recruitment.  There is no mention of hating the current individuals fighting the war.

    Number 2) I am not convinced the majority living in Berkeley should be considered ‘of sound mind’ much less be considered a separate large group.

    Number 3)
    I don’t think apc would mind if we questioned code pink’s patriotism or sanity or a host of other Freud like questions. 

    Heatherradish, are you saying you believe that a significant segment of the liberal US population hate not just the war, but our troops and are unpatriotic (say .1% of the voting population)?  If you do, I think you aren’t much better than the code pinkers.  I don’t see large groups of people going to airbases to spit on returning troops.  I personally respect the office, but I could see lots of large groups burning Bush in effigy...heh, he said burning bush.

    Posted by on February 29, 2008 at 1234 hrs




17. You know what, Tony, if you want to try and draw some bullshit distinction between patriotism and supporting the troops, you just go right ahead, but just realize that’s all it is:  bullshit. It’s people like you who have done so much to polarize and divide this country over the last several years with your hate and vindictiveness. Guess what? Just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I don’t support the troops. Can you get that through your thick skull? Just because I’m a liberal doesn’t make me want them any less safe, doesn’t make me want them any less successful in their mission, and it certainly doesn’t make me less proud of the successes they’ve had in an incredibly difficult situation. Is any of this starting to sink into whatever passes for thought processes in your brain?

    So I will tell you again, because I’ve absolutely had it with the ignorance, small-mindedness and flat-out stupidity that says that liberals don’t support the troops--shut the hell up. Deal with it.

    Posted by on February 29, 2008 at 1315 hrs




18. Sounds like you’re the one with the hate problem, apc.

    Like it or not, your words regarding the troops in #7 do not match the sentiments you are now sharing with us.  I suggest you consider choosing your words with more care next time.

    Have a nice day.

    Posted by Tony Turner on February 29, 2008 at 1332 hrs




19. Typical.

    Level a despicable, incendiary charge, then sit back smugly and act surprised at the reaction.

    You have a nice day, too.

    Posted by on February 29, 2008 at 1728 hrs




20. Hey, apc, I’ll make it easy for you.  I’ll retract my charge as soon as you retract what you said about the troops.  Deal?

    Posted by Tony Turner on February 29, 2008 at 1913 hrs