SHOULD I EXPECT A CALL FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

I'm on the Muni and there are three crazies on here. This is true. All three of them are talking in a galaxy that the rest of us don't share. One has a beard down to his waist that he keeps stroking and is whispering to someone that we can't see. I think it could be mohammed (oh no, I've spelled mohammed with a small "c" and they might be angry and it is going to possibly cause rioting and they might come after me) or the Gujew or BuJew.

Then there is a woman screaming obscenities. It could be "tourets", and should I arrange stoning since the person might not be perfect but we can't take any chances, less we offend the radical Muslims. At the very least, we should contact the Secdef, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Centcom Command, and Gen Petreaus as this could hurt the troops. Then, there's a black, sometimes called, African American, staring menacingly at us. Quick, alert the press and the president as I definitely see anti Muslim potential. Our only hope is a crafty "eyetalion

DIALOGUE ON RELIGION, BIGOTRY, PATRIOTISM

Immo, I don't know if anybody has told you lately but this is America which means that anybody can be stupid and a certifiable nut if they choose. Any American can get on the rooftops and call the prez or anybody most anything and if they don't threaten, no sweat. Everyday in this City I see nutsos of various sorts. They would be happy to burn a Koran if they knew what it was. Every time some nut decides to anger the Muslims, we are suppose to lock them up. Bullshit, they didn't like the cartoons, they rioted. Then this radical Muslim killed Theo Van Gogh because his movie bad mouthed Mohammed. What is next? And, the idea that some unhinged preacher in Forida with 50 members of a church can spark this outcry should make us all take notice. Are these people like Petraeus, Gates, the Canadians. Even Sarah Palin, what have they been smoking? What and who is next. It might be you because you say some pretty outrageous things which border on bad mouthing America but thus far you have stayed clear of the Muslims which is pretty smart as they would be after your ass. This is f...ing crazy.

moi, bad mouthing america? where and when? not in my last email. i know that this is america where everyone can say pretty much what they want. i did not say that the lunatic should be stopped. i just remarked on the fact that nobody from the teaparty seems to be upset about it or taking a stand about it, much less calling the preacher unamerican. no, that sort of name-calling they reserve for others.
also, i am not defending radical muslims or radical anythings, just the opposite.
finally, your last sentence, this is fucking crazy, seems to have no target. what is crazy?
please clarify
immo


There is a big differece between burning some books beCuase you find them "ungodly" and murdering people because they do not agree with you.
Radical muslims are NOT the same as us. They do NOT countenance dissent. They do NOT believe in free speech. And if you turn the other cheek they will break your jaw. They believe thet the penalty of apostasy is death. The penalty of insulting the prophet is death. The penalty for adultery is death (oh..only if you are a woman). For these reasons we should NOT treat radical muslims (if we know they are radical muslims) the same as us. We should NOT assume that thay have the same values and are just misunderstood. Worst of all we should not allow double standards to prevail and freely allow any insult to the Christian religion while suppressing the same behavior directed at Islam. This is pure hypocrisy. At some point we have to stand up for what we believe in and not be ashamed of being a Christian-based nation with judeo-Christian ethics - or more importantly New Testament ethics. We should not be ashamed or afraid of wanting to keep our society the way it is and wanting to live in a society that we understand with people who think the same way. I am sick to death of moral relativism. At some point you have to grow a pair of balls and stand up for your own people, your own society and your own values.

I have seen what happens when you do not stick up for your values - even in this wonderfully even tempered country of England. There is a difference between tolerance and total capitulation to another culture - a culture that does not have your welfare at heart, but wishes to destroy it. Yes. destroy it. Sharia is not our law, neither is Leviticus. The old world - the books of Abraham etc - these are not the basis of the world we have created and that we want to live in. The New Testamant laid down the principles for a world where compassion tempered the rod of absolute power and the merciless application of religious law. If we do not stand up for these principles we could end up, by default, with a system of governments and laws that very few prople in the Western world would be happy with.

And it starts with little things. Here is a very small exmaple - hallal meals all round (and do you know how 'hallal' animals are killed?...) :



New Testament Christianity may be a flawed system but it is better than islam. So if it's them and us - then I vote for us!


Immo, I don't know if anybody has told you lately but this is America which means that anybody can be stupid and a certifiable nut if they choose. Any American can get on the rooftops and call the prez or anybody most anything and if they don't threaten, no sweat. Everyday in this City I see nutsos of various sorts. They would be happy to burn a Koran if they knew what it was. Every time some nut decides to anger the Muslims, we are suppose to lock them up. Bullshit, they didn't like the cartoons, they rioted. Then this radical Muslim killed Theo Van Gogh because his movie bad mouthed Mohammed. What is next? And, the idea that some unhinged preacher in Fl with 50 members of a church can spark this outcry should make us all take notice. Are these people like Petraeus, Gates, the Canadians. Even Sarah Palin, what have they been smoking? What and who is next. It might be you because you say some pretty outrageous things which border on bad mouthing America but thus far you have stayed clear of the Muslims which is pretty smart as they would be after your ass. This is f...ing crazy.

Sent from my iPhone




Preach,
I'll be with you. Do we have to go to Pats'? Why not Mama's? Besides, aren't there Chinese cooks at Pats? Why not La Rocca's Corner? We could just drink shots for breakfast and talk about what a German/Floridian Nut is going to do and why is the Media giving Nuts so much prime time. There in lies the problem: nut threatens outrageous act; semi-nuts express outrage; wider community whines and whines that it is offensive to (fill in blank); Generals, Presidents, etc. take the bait and comment. We live in the theater of the absurd. Do you think the EYETALIANS give a rusty fuck about Islam and Ben Laden? I doubt it.

Since you guys are already up, why not join me at 0645 at the firehouse on Stockton to commemorate those lost on Sat, 9-11. After breakfast on me at my favorite place, Pat's on Powell.

If any takers, will send directions. You can sleep when you are dead. Gary, Ray and I did it at his old firehouse one year. We could hardly meet the minimal requirements: where two or three are gathered together in my name. {{{LP}}}

If we can't have a victory parade, we at least ought to be able to draw some definitive conclusions. And, it just doesn't seem that we are going to do so. We want to just move on, sadly.

Andrew Bacevich, who lost a son in Iraq and has authored a book, Washington Rules: America's Path To Permanent War


Where are these people? What Country are they in? This fascinates me. Government officials, to even include, on occasion, the military, when they talk about our wars, etc, I think "what galaxy are these people in." Terrorists have blown up half of Baghdad, figuratively speaking and the government spokesperson says something like, "We have secured the country, given the Iraqis democracy, life is good here, God is in his heavens and all is right with the world. But, the lights are out, about four hours of electricity a day, generally living conditions spotty at best. I would hate to do a big time survey of Iraqis and asked, "Would you like to have Saddam back?"

We really haven't left Iraq: 50,000 American soldiers still present for duty. Mission accomplished? The military has done its job but Mission Accomplished? We've been here before. Hmmmm!!!!!

LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE ECONOMIST

The following is the complete letter to the Economist. They only printed a portion.

"A losing cause doesn't automatically have to become a lost cause. Iraq showed that." So says my favorite magazine, The Economist. While I am far from convinced that we'll get out of Iraq cleanly, it is absolutely absurd to keep comparing and talking about the surge. It has become some kind of formula for success. Nothing could be further from the truth. All we did in Iraq is separate the factions and pay off the insurgents.


By any objective opinion, Afghanistan is not Iraq and a "fast train to nowhere." I basically think the counter insurgency strategy could possibly work but it would take us years. I mean years, like 20. And, McChrystal as a Special Forces trained officer knew it better than any man on the planet.


General Petraeus is surely equal and maybe better than McChrystal. He is certainly more media saavy. However, he is no magic bullit for Afghanistan. If we think such, we might as well believe Afghanie corruption is ended, Karzai is a credible leader, his brother is the epitome of honesty, drug Lords have beaten their swords into plow shares, and women are now full partners in the country.

RUTH'S VIEW

Ruth Lakkari's brother was killed in Vietnam. She and some others are authors of a wonderful coffee table book, The Names Behind The Faces. It tells the story of every soldier from MN killed in that useless war. A few comments from Ruth.

I had to run some errands today and while I was sitting in my car at a stop sign I noticed the truck in front of me was from Florida but had a Purple Heart on his license plate. I honked my horn at him a couple of times and he stuck his head out of his truck window. I yelled at him "Thank You For Being a Vietnam Vet!" He then waved me to pull over in the parking lot. He got out of his truck and walked over to me. He told me he appreciated my thank you. We got to talking and he told me he did two tours in Vietnam. He got shot in the leg and also shot in the back. He told me he was in terrible health and suffered from agent orange. He also had several other illnesses. He was wearing a hat that had Vietnam Veteran on it and when he was shopping he accidentally bumped into a lady with her son. He said he was sorry and hoped the little boy was okay. The lady looked at his hat and said "hummm...Vietnam Veteran....baby killer." I apologized for that lady's ignorance and there are many of us out there who are indebted for what he did for his country. He started telling me about the nightmares he has and how he has buried too many Vietnam veterans friends. He told me he was 67 years old and knew he didn't have much longer on this earth but he didn't care as he wanted out of this world as it has become so ugly. I told him about Tim and he told me he was sorry but that he was in a much better world. We both sat there talking and crying and feeling the affects of how ugly war really is. We talked about how no one cares about our troops over seas fighting a war we didn't need to be a part of. He gave me his business card and is the Post Adjutant of American Legion Post 255 but after talking some more he asked me for his business card back and wrote on the back of it his personal email address and gave it back to me. We ended our conversation with saying "Peace."
There are a ton of war veterans walking out there and the last talley of suicide from our soldiers fighting over in Iraq and Afganastan was in the year 2005 and the total was over 6000!! It is a sad world when it is more important to hear about Lindsey Lohan then it is to hear of our troops fighting over seas. Before you close you eyes at night please think of our troops fighting over seas and pray for them to come back unharmed and to be able to find peace in their minds and hearts so they may lead a normal life after war.
Thanks
Ruth

JOBS

Really sad, talking about jobs. Sad, people unemployed. One guy said that he lost his job in 2001, had sent out thousands of resumes, finally started his own business. Said, do whatever he needed to do to make a buck. And, frankly he said, "he was tired of all this whining." Then this other guy comes on and he goes on and on and on mainly blaming the government for everything. This guy is very inconsistent, blames the government for sending jobs overseas, not approving unemployment benefits.

Why can't he buy shoes his daughter's asked him. Listening, it is more the frustration than anything.

PAT TILLMAN

I feel so badly for Pat Tillman's Mom in her grief. However, it is time to let this go. From the very beginning and this is about the third time I've written about it: in Vietnam, we would sit around and talk about what we would want said if we got hit by friendly fire. To a man, the answer: killed by the enemy. I am the last one in the world to defend the Army as the bureaucracy can often screw up a two car funeral procession but my suspicion is that Pat Tillman's buddies were merely trying to make him look like a hero. The fact that he was Pat Tillman was beside the point. And, now we have a movie. Damned if it isn't time to be "at ease" with this and let the poor guy rest. In anybody's view with one eye and half sense, the guy is an extraordinary hero: giving up a NFL career and millions of dollars to fight for his country. Any combat soldier would have been proud to serve with him. And, trust me on this, that is the highest compliment.

Two times in Vietnam, I remember friendly fire. One happened with a Lieutenant, an artillery FO (forward observer) who literally had a short round drop on him and blew him away. The other was a young cherry, (soldier who was brand new to war) who was pulling guard duty and heard noises and panicked and fired his weapon, killing his squad leader who had come out to check on him. How were both of these incidents reported by soldiers? Killed by the enemy. Any soldier and I have talked to several of my buddies and all sing the same chorus, rather be thought to have been killed by the enemy than by my buds in arms. So, come on, it's time to let Corporal Tillman rest. And, a last thing, unless you've been in combat, you don't know shit about what goes on. Combat ain't no day at the beach and it doesn't help the loved ones of soldiers to keep thinking that some reporter or movie maker knows what happens out on the battlefield, whether it be in WW ll or Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan. As my departed poet soldier buddy, Phil Woodall, use to say, They may have died in vain (what he was referring to was the sorry war of Vietnam and we'd now add, Iraq and Afghanistan) but they lived in honor.

STUPIDITY

Two things are an absolute scourge to me. Stupidity and Obesity. The latter is simply sad to see someone let themselves go. Getting back is hard but can be done. Stupidity on the other hand is often self inflicted. Afghanistan's President is a typical example. As I have said before, he is corrupt and doesn't even try to hide it. His latest thing is apparently firing one of the few honest people in his government. The now fired prosecutor who has been investigating at least two dozen of Karzai's senior officials. Earlier this month Karzai blocked prosecution of the 72 year old prosecutor who has opened cases on 25 current Karzai officials, including 17 members of Karzai's cabinet, five provential governments, and at least three ambassadors. Awash in US taxpayer dollars, Karzai's government is believed to be utterly corrupt. This makes the Taliban a viable alternative. What in the f... Is wrong with us, specifically the Congress. Are we simply idiots? How can we be this f...ing asleep at the wheel. The next thing we hear is Gen Petreus telling what good progress we are making. How many more years are we going to be this stupid?