I was watching The O'reilly Factor last night and managed to catch his two minute interview with Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York. Lets just say he really didn't sound like a Democrat. As I was not really paying attention I only caught three statements but the were pretty damning. Now I'm wondering if he's just our mole into the DNC. Here's what I heard:
1. I believe questioning Kerry's military record is wrong, just like questioning Bush's military record is wrong.
If you've noticed, this is only the second time I've mentioned anything about a candidate's record on this blog. I think it's complete crap to be questioning the war record of anybody, especially one that happened over 30 years ago. (Noted correction by Toni) Jesse "TheBody/governor" Ventura admitted to some fairly spicy things that went on in Vietnam. He turned out to be quite possibly the best percieved governor of Minnesota but in reality screwed up the state worse than it already was. A man's war record shows absolutely nothing about how well he will do in office. Many great chickens have been even greater leaders. If you don't believe me check out Redhunter's assessment of veterans vs. non-veterans in time of war. It's wrong and it doesn't prove a damn thing.
This is why I've done my best to boycott the subject. If you want to comment on it feel free, I'll listen, I may even debate talking points. However, this is the first and last time I'm going to do it. Back to Ed Koch:
2. The Democratic party doesn't have the stomach to defeat terrorism.
No, I didn't type it wrong. These are the words he said. I just about had to clean my shorts on that one. He sounded more Republican than just about anybody I've ever heard. Are we sure this guy's a Democrat? If you've noticed, the Democratic party has found a line of almost complete jingoism. It is close to impossible to find one, a democrat, saying anything negative right now. Did he just wake up one morning and forget what party he's with? Whatever happened to him, I think I like it.
We've always known that the Democratic party is weak when it comes to the military. They have never once gone out on a limb and say that war is the right thing to start now. They have always ben the one's suckling on the UN's teat and seeing how far they could bury their heads up their UN posteriors. Honestly, I can't remember when the last time the UN has actually decided on a military action. Can anybody else think of one?
This next one echoes my sentiments exactly:
3. It's better for us to be over there killing them (the terrorists) than for them to be over here killing us.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I could care less about any WMD. The terrorists on 9/11/2001 HAD BOXCUTTERS! If some shmuck with a box cutter can take over a plane and blow the snot out of around 4,000 people I don't think our problems are WMD. The problem is the terrorists, not the nukes.
If you can actually remember back to the time when Powell was presenting their case he stated that the terrorist camps that were already in Iraq Would have the potential to use dirty bombs. This was absolutely true. To make a dirty bomb you do not need to use Plutonium or Uranium. It's actually more effective with other chemicals like cobalt-60 or strontium. These chemicals were taken out of Iraq along with enough low-enriched uranium to make a nuke if enriched further.
One of the first things we did upon our arrival in Iraq was to take out a large terrorist training facility north of Baghdad. Since our arrival and attempt at keeping the peace we've killed more terrorists than anyone had expected. It's amazing to me how many Syrians and Palestinians are in the mix over there. They are trying to fight us on someone else's soil, not our own. Strategically, this was probably the best move our president could have made. I know it sounds as if I'm talking about sacrificing one people for another but...Well...I AM. I'll say it too Mr. Koch: It's better for us to be over there killing them, than for them to be over here killing us.
Update: Ed Koch, the Democrat, will be speaking at the RNC and voting for Bush! He also stated that after this election all bets are off and he'll be looking for his new Republican contacts to convert.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Iraqis have added a brand new, built from scratch, 28 Megawatt generator that can power 84,000 homes in and around the Nasiriya Power Station near Al Amarah. If you've ever been to Riverbend's Blog I'm sure you've heard her whine and complain about crappy electricity. Well guess what, America was listening and is doing something about it. As the report from Centcom states (which you will probably never see in the REAL news) the Iraqi power grid can now service 15.6 million homes with 5,200 Megawatts.
If you would like to know what else the Corps is doing in Iraq you can go here. Please be patient as the pictures take a while to load.
This was e-mailed to me from Michael over at Whine & Jeez (love the title). He adds a bit more perspective to black and white issues. With age comes wisdom.
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Jeremy,
I tried to post a comment to that entry but my character length was too great. Here's my response:
Black man: "Hey white boy!" (completely fine)
I don't think it's fine. It's meant as a term of denigration. You know it. They know it. Don't allow someone to characterize you that way. It's wrong.
I'm somewhat older than you and it gives me longer perspective since I've watched the situation evolve since I was a child in the sixties.
The term 'boy' was originally applied by whites toward black men. It was meant as an emasculating slight. You can actually hear it in many old movies, including classics like Casablanca. It's current manifestation, white boy, began in the late sixties, if I remember right - though it may go back farther than that, and was meant to return the disrespect.
The use of the term 'nigger' by blacks toward other blacks is also an older phenomenon than you might think. It was originally used by them toward each other because that's how white people referred to them. They simply picked up the term and used it. By the 50's and 60's is was being used as a term of defiant self definition; we niggers versus those whites. In a sense, it's never lost its defiant cache. Similar to the term brother or brotha.
Lately, say the last ten years or so, there's been controversy within the black community regarding its use. It's seen - rightly so, IMAO - as a throwback, racist term. Something that needs to be eliminated.
Coming from the longer perspective, I'm actually impressed with how far the black community has come in this country considering the baggage they started with. When I was a child there essentially no integration of the races in our society. There was a black community and a white community. The two only mixed when absolutely necessary. They certainly did not share neighborhoods. They never socialized with one another. The disparity in income and education was enormous. I remember it clearly.
I also agree completely that Jesse Jackson and others often play the race card and race baiting game unfairly and do a lot of damage when they do it. I also think it's just as transparent to many blacks as it is to us, especially the middle class blacks. I also think as better education and economic gains spread throughout the black community it's going to slowly fade away. The younger generation of black leaders, Barack Obama for instance, sound just like any other politician these days and are often implicitly critical of those playing the race card unfairly.
It's going to take to time to heal the deep wounds and overcome the deep and very real damage done to the black community in the US, but it's happening. Slowly. But it's happening.
~Mike
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For a bit of reference, I ranted here because of a thoughtless post here. (scroll down to "Neglecting the bigot vote".) One note I'd like to add to the "homophobe" claim is the popularity of Jeff over at Beautiful Atrocities. He says he feels left out by Republicans because he's gay but feels left out by Gays because he's Republican. I think he feels left out because he hasn't been invited by Homespun Bloggers yet (joke). I'm proud of Jeff for coming out of the closet and admitting to being both gay and Republican! If you haven't read him you should.
I am the sole bread winner for my family. When I was in the military I really disliked how much Uncle Sam was taking from single people with no dependents. It felt like I was being gang raped by the IRS. I was barely making enough as it was, but what they took from me was just too much. It was at that point I knew that there were two things guaranteed for me: death and taxes.
A short while later I found love, got married and had a kid. Okay, now what? I'm barely making enough for ME to survive and I now have two dependents, neither of which are working. In order for me to survive in the world I realized that it was time for me to do something about it. Yes, since I had a wife and a son I was paying a bit less on my taxes (I was also promoted so that helped a bit too.) but it still wasn't enough to live comfortably. (I believe squalor is the term most often used.)
Ever since then I have been busting my butt to try and get ahead, not for me but for my family. I have been working a full job as the sole bread winner, going to school as much as possible (only taking two classes this semester, usually three), and doing what I can to maintain a happy family. My wife, by the way, has chosen to stay at home with our son because we would like to raise our child instead of having day care providers and babysitters do it for us.
When I see someone come out and say how horrible their life is and that they pay too much in taxes so that they can't afford to buy bread, or formula, or whatever it irritates me. Here I am, working for everything that I've earned, paying 15% in taxes. (thanks to Bush or it would have been 20%) When I hear them whine about what they haven't got I usually see them just sitting around, talking about how they can't get a job. I rarely ever see one of them with a book or at the library trying to get a better education for a better job.
One thing to note for people who say that there's no college opportunity for them: Pehl grants are given to people like me who are making enough to get by. They will definitely give them to someone less fortunate than myself. In fact, if the people that the Pehl program was created for were using it then people of my wealth (not that I'm rich) would not be able to get these grants. Cash is not the problem when you're talking about schooling, the problem is reaching for a hand-out when you should be reaching for a hand-up.
I used to work with this girl that was a single mother. She was a third class (E-4) and I was a second (E-5). I have the utmost respect for what she was doing. When tax time rolled around we looked at each others returns. She was taking out almost exactly what I was taking in! She was working no harder than me. She was even doing the same job as me. Yet she was taking out while I was putting in because she had her child in day care while mine was at home with my domestically employed wife. (Caveat: If you even think about calling me some sort of chauvinist for having my wife at home while I work you are dead wrong. If my wife told me she wanted to go get a job you would be hard pressed to find someone work harder to make it happen and accommodate those needs than me.) This was my first major hit against Democrats. It felt like they were saying "We prefer for you to be a single parent and have the system raise your kids".
After about two full years (summers included) I finally got my associates degree and managed to cram in a couple of Microsoft certifications. I had already decided that even though the military had given me a lot it was time for me to move on (not .org). I had come to a point in my professional career that I either stay for a full 20 year career or get out and get what some people would call "a real job". So, with 9 1/2 years in and a full belt of fresh new education I made my transition into civilian life. Luckily, there have been many get out before me to pave the way so my transition was not too difficult. My boss, which is still my boss today, had been my Master Chief when I was in. Everything was going great until we hit tax time this year. Like I said before, I paid 15% for taxes that I would have paid 20% for had Bush not given us a tax break. Hallelujah! It was like a ray of light had hit me. If I work hard then the Republican ideal is to reward me. If I don't then I should hope for a Democrat to be president. My new political credo had arrived: The harder I work the more Republican I become!