Wow, when you think it can't get any stupider. Bush strikes again

Can't really tell, LJB. I'm not a mind-reader. Your real name isn't Kreskin, is it? ;D

 

I'm not sure why I'm posting on this thread, because every one of these political threads is a pointless exercise.

However, I'd just like to point out an inconsistency in our right-wing friends here... When a Democrat holds up Bill Clinton as an example of a good President, by your measure, he's living in the distant past. But when someone says that Bush did something stupid, Lyman and company immediately start out with the, "Well, it's not as bad as what Clinton did."

Do you see the hypocrisy there?

Now, I don't have a dog in this fight, but unless Americans learn how to discuss politics with a measure of civility, you guys are going to make the Roman Empire look like a fender bender.

For instance, on the point of Bush's neck massage here... Is it the start of World War III? No. Was it the right thing for him to do? No.

Diplomacy dictates that you don't feel up foreign leaders. There was a big fuss a few years ago when the Prime Minister of Australia put a hand on the Queen's back to guide her through a crowd. This German chick ain't the Queen, but she is a big deal, and what Bush did was inappropriate. If Tony Blair patted the top of Bush's head in a patronizing way, Americans would be up in arms about the disrespect shown. I imagine many Germans are saying the same thing about Bush and his choke hold. They aren't going to shit a brick over it, but they aren't going to be all that happy either.

That's not hard to admit, is it? That there's a middle ground here, somewhere between hysteria and non-chalance?

Jesus, some of you guys make party lines look like nooses.

 

You do realize there's a whole set of protocol standards about the queen, most of which I think are bullshit. But it's their queen, so I guess they can make the rules.

Again, you don't know what kind of relationship they have. Neither do I. But it certainly gives the Bush Derangement Syndrome sufferers just one more thing to bitch about.

And Jones, you didn't catch me talking about "living in the past" in regards to Clinton. I never liked the guy to begin with. And there was no "immediate" rationalization about this vis-a-vis Clinton, but when people started calling this a case of sexual harrassment, what logical parallel in recent presidential history do you think of?

The horrified talk from some on this board about how this is "undignified" -- considering some of the things their hero, the previous occupant of the Oval Office did -- is so ludicrous it isn't even funny. Not to mention hypocritical, to bring this back full circle.

 

Did Clinton make mistakes? Absolutely. Do his mistakes have anything to with Bush giving an unsolicited massage in Germany? Not that I can see.

And you're right, the protocols for the Queen are excessive, but they also exist to some degree for other heads of state. But I also think if you're being honest that you can see on her face that this wasn't something she either expected or wanted. It's a demeaning move. Admitting that doesn't make you weak. In fact, it makes people more inclined to listen to your defences of Bush when they might be more warranted.

Anyway, that's it from me here. Just trying to say that what goes on here is a microcosm of American society, and it's been sad to watch -- from the outside looking in -- such a great country tearing itself apart.

 

That Bush eats with his mouth open says plenty about the man

 

It has nothing to do with making anybody weak, Jones. I have my differences with Bush, too, mostly on immigration and the budget. But the vast, left-wing Greek chorus here rides Bush on EVERYTHING -- every single fucking thing. When you ask them to name something Bush has done with which they agree, they can't give an answer or perhaps say one thing, then qualify it by saying "he managed to screw that up, too." I guess you can't help but sound like a knee-jerk Bush defender when so many here are knee-jerk Bush detractors.

Maybe you should be addressing these points to some of those people. Why don't you?

 

Amen, amen, amen.

 

Lyman, just read Jones' Esquire cover story on John McCain and you'll find that many of your fellow right wingers are off the Bush Bandwagon.

 

Oh, and Jones, the "tearing itself apart" comment is a bit misguided. There's nothing wrong with vigorous debate. After all, it's not as if one of our states threatens to secede from the union every few years, like the situation in another North American country. (Is a smugness gene part of Canadian DNA?)

 

What more can I say
Everyone is gay
-- Kurt Cobain

 

Peace? More like a false sense of security. Clinton destroyed the military during his disastrous eight years. He did nothing but close his eyes for eight years, something that we are all paying for now.

 

And this has to do with ... what?