Short Notes – May 2008
THE NATION OBSERVES THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH’S PROCLAMATION THAT MILITARY OPERATIONS IN IRAQ HAD ENDED
The anniversary was another occasion to renew the controversy regarding the “Mission Accomplished” banner that served as a backdrop for the President’s speech. Sadly, not everyone believes to this day that military operations in Iraq have ever ceased. Coincidentally, many of these people live in Iraq!
Thirty-five Iraqis celebrated the anniversary by getting themselves killed in a pair of suicide bombings. Why are they still dying? Didn’t they hear the President’s speech five years ago? It was in all the papers! The nerve of these people!
How dare they make the President look like a liar by dying in conditions that he maintains no longer exists! Didn’t they get the memo, “Hey, the war is over. Go live your normal lives again?" In actuality, no one in this country got that memo either. As for making the President out to be a liar, well, all of us probably need to take up a more challenging hobby.
BARACK OBAMA CONTINUES TO DENOUNCE HIS FORMER PASTOR'S VIEWS ON RACE RELATIONS IN AMERICA
Obama spent another chunk of time last week distancing himself from the words of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The pastor, who recently embarked on a media blitz named “The Farewell Say Something Stupid Tour”, voiced his belief that the United States government invented AIDS to wipe out the African-American community. This isn’t true: the United States government did not invent AIDS for this purpose. They might have acted indifferently, which allowed the disease to proliferate and make the government look more self-righteous to its core constituency (i.e., the Christian right), but we haven’t found the smoking gun to prove Wright’s accusation...yet.
In any case, Obama still has problems shaking off Wright’s outrageous remarks. He tried taking the high road with a far-reaching speech that opened up a new dialogue on race relations in America, but obviously this wasn’t good enough for some members of the media. By some members, I am of course referring to George Stephanopoulos, Charles Gibson, and the entire Fox News Network.
I hate to suggest that Obama would have been better off by pandering to these critics, but maybe it would have shut them up if he had adopted another tactic. For instance, he could have responded to Wright’s first round of YouTube exposure by saying something like, “Man, what’s that cat been smoking?” Or perhaps, “He was my pastor for many years, but we always thought he was just a crazy old fool.”
MAY 5, CINCO DE MAYO! STEVEN CELEBRATES HIS SECOND YEAR WITH US!
Steven will probably celebrate this milestone by raising his head, yawning, stretching, turning over and starting another catnap. Ah, how sweet life can be for a cat! Happy Birthday, Steven!
The anniversary was another occasion to renew the controversy regarding the “Mission Accomplished” banner that served as a backdrop for the President’s speech. Sadly, not everyone believes to this day that military operations in Iraq have ever ceased. Coincidentally, many of these people live in Iraq!
Thirty-five Iraqis celebrated the anniversary by getting themselves killed in a pair of suicide bombings. Why are they still dying? Didn’t they hear the President’s speech five years ago? It was in all the papers! The nerve of these people!
How dare they make the President look like a liar by dying in conditions that he maintains no longer exists! Didn’t they get the memo, “Hey, the war is over. Go live your normal lives again?" In actuality, no one in this country got that memo either. As for making the President out to be a liar, well, all of us probably need to take up a more challenging hobby.
BARACK OBAMA CONTINUES TO DENOUNCE HIS FORMER PASTOR'S VIEWS ON RACE RELATIONS IN AMERICA
Obama spent another chunk of time last week distancing himself from the words of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The pastor, who recently embarked on a media blitz named “The Farewell Say Something Stupid Tour”, voiced his belief that the United States government invented AIDS to wipe out the African-American community. This isn’t true: the United States government did not invent AIDS for this purpose. They might have acted indifferently, which allowed the disease to proliferate and make the government look more self-righteous to its core constituency (i.e., the Christian right), but we haven’t found the smoking gun to prove Wright’s accusation...yet.
In any case, Obama still has problems shaking off Wright’s outrageous remarks. He tried taking the high road with a far-reaching speech that opened up a new dialogue on race relations in America, but obviously this wasn’t good enough for some members of the media. By some members, I am of course referring to George Stephanopoulos, Charles Gibson, and the entire Fox News Network.
I hate to suggest that Obama would have been better off by pandering to these critics, but maybe it would have shut them up if he had adopted another tactic. For instance, he could have responded to Wright’s first round of YouTube exposure by saying something like, “Man, what’s that cat been smoking?” Or perhaps, “He was my pastor for many years, but we always thought he was just a crazy old fool.”
MAY 5, CINCO DE MAYO! STEVEN CELEBRATES HIS SECOND YEAR WITH US!
Steven will probably celebrate this milestone by raising his head, yawning, stretching, turning over and starting another catnap. Ah, how sweet life can be for a cat! Happy Birthday, Steven!
posted by todd gunther | 5:53 PM
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