Let the Bodies Hit the Floor
"President" Bush finally gave us some answers. Since the American public isn't allowed to see flag covered boxes flown in, Bush finally updated us on what we were missing—2,140 coffins. You see, giving us the number rather than showing us isn't such a downer after all, a simple case of when telling is actually better than showing. As for those other folks, he mentioned another number, more rounded: 30,000. Of course, the way it was said, "I would say 30,000, more or less," you know, give or take a corpse here and there.
This 32,140 is not that big of a deal because sacrifices have to be made during a government's transition. The United States had to go through its own rough patch too in "the eight years that passed between the end of the Revolutionary War and the establishment of a permanent government [which] were chaotic, Bush said, and included a failed military coup, an assault on Congress, rejection of the Articles of Confederation, and years of argument and debate over the terms of the Constitution." (We now know Bush at least attended his history class at Yale or his speech writer did.)
On another note, Bush was extremely admirable when honestly stating, "I recognize we got an image issue [in Iraq.]"
We must get through this, though; it is all necessary. America is "a safer country." We're safer because we went in there, took out the evil dictator (how'd he get into power anyway? hmm), and proved there weren't any weapons of mass destruction. We had to be sure and found the proof that they didn't have the technology to hit us with a missile unless they shipped it to the Eastern coast before launching it. We are safe indeed, especially since it's rumored the majority of the above five-digit number is from over there. It would suck if people are being killed off here in the name of "liberty and justice for all."
Speaking of which, the Governator of California decided not to grant O.G. Tookie Williams clemency. For the first time in real life, Arnold gets the opportunity to actually say, "Hasta la vista, baby" before a fatal blow. That'll teach that murdering Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
It's nice to know that American leaders don't just help spread freedom, democracy, and liberty to other countries. We, too, practice it in our own backyard. Otherwise, we'd be hypocrites, and we can never be that.
This 32,140 is not that big of a deal because sacrifices have to be made during a government's transition. The United States had to go through its own rough patch too in "the eight years that passed between the end of the Revolutionary War and the establishment of a permanent government [which] were chaotic, Bush said, and included a failed military coup, an assault on Congress, rejection of the Articles of Confederation, and years of argument and debate over the terms of the Constitution." (We now know Bush at least attended his history class at Yale or his speech writer did.)
On another note, Bush was extremely admirable when honestly stating, "I recognize we got an image issue [in Iraq.]"
We must get through this, though; it is all necessary. America is "a safer country." We're safer because we went in there, took out the evil dictator (how'd he get into power anyway? hmm), and proved there weren't any weapons of mass destruction. We had to be sure and found the proof that they didn't have the technology to hit us with a missile unless they shipped it to the Eastern coast before launching it. We are safe indeed, especially since it's rumored the majority of the above five-digit number is from over there. It would suck if people are being killed off here in the name of "liberty and justice for all."
Speaking of which, the Governator of California decided not to grant O.G. Tookie Williams clemency. For the first time in real life, Arnold gets the opportunity to actually say, "Hasta la vista, baby" before a fatal blow. That'll teach that murdering Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
It's nice to know that American leaders don't just help spread freedom, democracy, and liberty to other countries. We, too, practice it in our own backyard. Otherwise, we'd be hypocrites, and we can never be that.
posted by matty at 6:12 PM
1 Comments:
I see that figure of Iraqis killed, and I bet it's an underestimate. About two years ago a British group estimated that 21,000 to 55,000 Iraqis had been killed during the war and the aftermath. I don't think we'll ever know the real number. Still, even 30,000 figure gives me a sort of perspective on things: that was about the population of the town I grew up in.
I love that the first thing he attributed the "image issue" to wasn't anything to do with our policies and actions but to how the U.S. is portrayed by Arabic television stations.
All the arguments about not executing Tookie Williams because he's reformed and has done so much drive me up the wall. How about not killing him because it's wrong to kill. State-sponsored murder pisses me off.
Gah. Whenever I give blood, the phlebotomists give me a worried look after taking my blood pressure, because they think it's awfully low. Maybe next time I'll try reading the newspaper just before.
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