Category: Politics

Interesting that some people who think about these things are now arguing that in opposing same-sex marriage, social conservatives may actually be encouraging the legal recognition of such relationships, and in fact hastening the demise of marriage as an institution!
Jonathan Rauch argues in the Atlantic that the last thing supporters of marriage should be doing is setting up an assortment of alternatives, but that is exactly what they are doing, and not only for gays, when they offer “ABM” (Anything But Marriage).

Every year more companies and governments (at the state and local level) grant marriagelike benefits to cohabiting partners: “concessions fought for and won mostly by gay groups,” as the Los Angeles Times notes, “but enjoyed as well by the much larger population of heterosexual unmarried couples.”
….
ABM, perversely, turns one of the country’s more culturally visible minorities into an advertisement for just how cool and successful life outside of wedlock can be.

So, eventually, a religious ceremony could become more like an alternative decorating choice!

In Paris yesterday an American reporter was the target of the ire of the unelected one, because the NBC News White House correspondent deigned to ask the French President in French the same question he had just asked Bushie in English.

Perhaps Mr. Bush thought the French question was directed at him, or perhaps he thought Mr. Gregory was showing off. Whatever the case, Mr. Bush, his voice dripping with sarcasm, said “Very good, the guy memorizes four words, and he plays like he’s intercontinental.” (Mr. Gregory offered to go on in French, but that only made things worse.)
“I’m impressed — que bueno,” said Mr. Bush, using the Spanish phrase for “how wonderful.” He added: “Now I’m literate in two languages.”
Mr. Gregory seemed a bit abashed, but others noted that, during the trip, Russian, German and French reporters posed questions to Mr. Bush in English, and in their native tongue to other leaders.

Yuck. My guess is that our leader is trying to tell us that, if we are Americans, we should be excoriated for being courteous, smart or educated.
W’s snap at the correspondent was totally out of line, stupid, childish, and especially egregious in the context of the gentle handling he has enjoyed from his hosts in Europe for almost a week. The French President had been especially solicitous:

Perhaps to help cover for Mr. Bush, Mr. Chirac opened the press conference with a lengthy and rambling monologue about their talks and the state of U.S. – French relations. Mr. Chirac’s remarks ate up about half the time allotted to the press conference, and he then shut down the press conference after only a handful of questions.

Bush—Little Boy the World is Not Your Toy! (sign held by a protester in France as Bushie arrives)
But unfortunately it is! And we supposedly gave it to him.

Horrible to know not only that we can’t expect intelligence or competence from the Bushies, but do we also have to be frightened out of our wits in the process? Can’t Chicken Little at least pretend to have a little dignity? Read the first letter in today’s NYTimes.

Making blanket statements about the inevitable success of terrorism in the United States plays right into the hands of the enemy and contributes to public hysteria.
Instilling fear in a population is a major objective of every terrorist cell.

The writer then offers his suggested outline of the message a government ought to send in these circumstances.

As Bushie arrived in the German capital, an anti-Bush banner hung from a Berlin Church reading “Peace for the world, pretzels for Bush.”

Across Western Europe, the sharp criticism of the Bush administration’s perceived unilateralism that predated Sept. 11 — and was then replaced by solidarity and shared mourning — has returned, resurgent.

Reuters reports that Cheney is worried about people finding out stuff.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday he feared a new Sept. 11 inquiry proposed by the top Senate Democrat would leak intelligence secrets and undercut U.S. efforts to prevent future attacks.

Aside from the more than arguable theoretical merits of his position, it seems to me the security problem up to now has been that government “intelligence” has been entirely too secret for our own good.

We, or those with the necessary resources, have to hear this from, yes, the Israeli press. Shoulderchip describes the story being kept from Americans. No wonder we can’t understand what’s going on in the world.

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday said that Israel had made Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority less effective by destroying its security infrastructure, and it absolved Arafat and his senior associates of responsibility for attacks on Israelis in 2001.

I guess he doesn’t trust his god enough. Our Attorney General stopped taking commercial aircraft last July, “. . . just as the intelligence ‘chatter’ about a possible al-Qaida strike on US soil was getting louder.”!!!
Shoulderchip has the scoop, and, no surprise, it doesn’t come from our own media.

I’m feeling so good these days about my government. Look at the first five headlines on Reuters as I write this:

N.Y. Police May Issue Landmarks Alert-Official
Rumsfeld: Extremists to Get Weapons of Mass Destruction
Federal Official Rules Out Firearms in Airline Cockpits
U.S. Says Libya, Sudan Helpful Against ‘Terrorism’
White House Backs FBI in Handling of 9-11 Memo

Oops! Merrill’s story just slipped into the mix, but my point remains: How long can we take this stupidity?

Ok, we just found out that the world is a dangerous place, but America is making it more dangerous, in fact as well as in its imagination.

We are like a nation that has had a psychological break and is descending into rank paranoia. The destruction of the twin towers shows that there are things to be afraid of, but our government’s mad responses are making us more vulnerable to such things, not less.
The ”war on terrorism” has strengthened the hand of those who hate America. The US example of ”overwhelming force” has pushed the Middle East into the abyss and has dragged India-Pakistan to its edge. The only real protections against cross-border terrorism are international structures of criminal justice like the recently established International Criminal Court, yet an ”unsigning” United States slaps the court down with contempt.
Since September we have squandered our wealth and focus on a huge war while neglecting police work and intelligence at home and abroad. Hence the vagueness of the current warning. And how dare our government set off alarms about Cuba’s putative bioterrorism project while it has done nothing to apprehend the anthrax killer? Oh, and – forgive me, just asking – where is Osama?