One great lesson of American history is that one does good in this world because it is right to do good, not because the recipients will be grateful. We Americans must therefore never judge the rightness of our actions on how much gratitude or censure we receive. So long as we remain the most blessed country on earth, it is our duty to do as much good as we can. In fact, if we don't, we will cease to be blessed.
Thumping both sides of the aisle
Meet Michael Moore: hypocrite extraordinaire. He was roundly boo-ed at the Convention last night when John McCain called him a “disingenuous filmmaker.. who portrayed Saddam’s Iraq” as a peaceful utopia. And now, the Empress is out to show you, faithful reader where both he is a big liar and asking the wrong questions… and that his questions are all about the pursuit of power.
I asked one man who told me he was a "proud Republican," "Do you think we need strong laws to protect our air and water?"
"Well, sure," he said. "Who doesn't?"
At the protest this past weekend, several of those on the other side chanted something about Halliburton and high gas prices. The lady I was paired with said "And the 40 cents a gallon we pay in taxes due to state and federal regulation has nothing to do with high gas prices. " They looked like they were smacked with a 2-by-4 and went back to chanting Halliburton was evil.
Misplaced anger to be sure...
When accounting for age, education and experience, men and women make virtually the same. I believe its between 90 and 95 cents on the dollar. Michael Moore, later in his article, pulls out the 75 cents on the dollar statistic they feminists have been using since the 1970's. That study was faulty. It compared waitresses with corporate managers. Of course, waitresses make less than white-collar workers. Different industries. Yeesh.I asked whether women should have equal rights, including the same pay as men.
"Absolutely," he replied.
Also, does Mr. Moore account for the fact that many women choose - yes I said CHOOSE - jobs that offer more flexibility, but usually go along with a lower salary? Somehow I doubt it.
Women in America have more rights than men. Just visit any family court in this country and you will see that the woman is overwhelmingly given custody, child support - almost no matter what the circumstances are.
"Would you discriminate against someone because he or she is gay?"Even the most ardent of religious conservatives do not want to legally discriminate against gays. I think the question that should be asked "Are you in favor of gay clergy?" or "Do you support gay marriage?" Mr. Moore find that those RINO's he talked to are more conservative because those questions conflict with their religious beliefs. Should gay people be denied jobs in the public or private sector? Of course not. But should churches (or student groups at universities) be forced to accept leaders that are openly defiant of scripture?
"Um, no." The pause — I get that a lot when I ask this question — is usually because the average good-hearted person instantly thinks about a gay family member or friend.
I've often found that if I go down the list of "liberal" issues with people who say they're Republican, they are quite liberal and not in sync with the Republicans who run the country. Most don't want America to be the world's police officer and prefer peace to war.
But they don't want the UN to be the world's police officer. The UN is about as effective as a kleenex is at stopping Hurricane Francis. It ain't going to happen. Why have we turned into the world's police officer? Bill Clinton.Did he forget that it was Clinton who sent troops to Somalia? To Kosovo? Both because UN and Europeans efforts failed or didn't materialize. And we are still in Kosovo because the UN took over things and there is no stable government. Whereas Iraqis have said "we don't want the UN here and want the US out as soon as possible" and are on their way to creating a stable government. And I can safely say that I want our troops out of there too but until the Iraqis can defend and protect themselves, we do need to be there.
They are going to try Saddam - not the World Court where the show-trial of Milosovic is dragging on into its... what year is it now?
Yes, I prefer peace to war but I am a realist. We live in a post 9/11 world where we are finally aware of the fact there are groups out there who want to destroy Western Civilizations (both foreign and domestic).
Going way way back, it was another Democrat, Woodrow Wilson who involved us when we didn't need to be. Were our interests at stake during WWI? I don't seem to recall. Then the creation of the League of Nations? And another, Franklin Roosevelt. We were attacked by Japan and needed to defend ourselves (sound like a recent story?). Our troops are still in Japan... 60 years later. They are still in Korea 50 years later - I will be glad when they leave the latter. Let the South Koreans and Chinese keep Kim Jong-Ill contained. US troops do not need to be the canaries in the cave for South Korea anymore.
They applaud civil rights...What have we been doing in Iraq and Afghanistan? Women have more civil rights than ever. In our own country, we've made everything a right. A right to sneeze.. a right to not be offended.. a right to park in a handicapped space if you are inconveniced by walking 15 feet..
believe all Americans should have health insurance
Not at my expense. Sorry. TennCare is dying the horrible death it deserves. There are major hospitals who are refusing to accept patients because they can't afford the financial losses anymore. The state should NOT be in the business of health care.and think assault weapons should be banned.
The ban was a joke. It was cosmetic. I'm glad its expiring soon. Guns don't kill people. People kill people. The next time someone uses a hammer to murder someone, call on the government to ban hammers.Though they may personally oppose abortion, they usually don't think the government has the right to tell a women what to do with her body.
I agree. Those that are pro-life should make their case on moral/spiritual grounds and help these women understand the alternative to abortion, services available to assist them, and make them aware of the long-term consequences of abortion. Most importantly, we should not judge them or condemn them to Hell. That is the job of our Creator. He will judge us as well.The government should stay out of the mess altogether and stop funding Planned Parenthood. Let them raise their own money - those t-shirts were a start.
To sum up: politics is the pursuit of power. If you don't have it, you want more of it. If you have it, you want to keep it and take it from the other guy. That is human nature. From the local PTA meetings to the UN - the dynamics are the same. I think if Michael Moore also asked questions about safety and security, he might find some different answers. His interview subjects are probably not fans of Nader or Kerry either. Given that, they may just stay home.
USATODAY.com - The GOP doesn't reflect America
The abduction shook the notion that France's opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq gave some safety to French citizens amid the rash of kidnappings in Iraq. Some Iraqi militants have previously spared French passport holders — even freeing one man in April after he was able to prove his citizenship by showing his knowledge of French geography.I pray that the men abducted will be returned safely (even if they are French) but I hope that this is a lesson to the Spains and Phillipeans of the world:
The demand to end the head scarf ban was the first time hostage-takers sought to reverse a nation's domestic law. Insurgents in Iraq have kidnapped dozens of people, but until know their demands have focused on pushing nations' troop or companies out of Iraq.
Even French Muslim leaders who opposed the law on head scarves urged the government Sunday not to capitulate and condemned the kidnapping.Yahoo! News - France Will Not Repeal Head Scarf Law
"We must not negotiate. It is blackmail which the Muslims of France reject," said Lhaj Thami Breze, president of the powerful Union of Islamic Organizations of France. France's Muslim community of 5 million is western Europe's biggest.
The Setting: Empress Kitty’s throne room. She is seated in her magnificent throne, scepter in hand to whack those that need it. (As is often said around the court – “They need to be beaten with a stick.” And the scepter will do just fine.)
Her fingers tap the arm of the throne as she listens to the ‘explanation’ from the editors of the major media outlets as to why they’ve neglected to report on the obvious errors in Democratic Party nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam Service as a part of the PGHA.
Empress Kitty: We are not amused by this turn of events. You have been charged with distorting the truth, lying to the uneducated masses, being a general nuisance and less fun to read than some of the random blogs that one may now find with the “next blog” feature on blogspot.com. Defend yourself!
Washington Post: Empress, if you will give us a chance to explain…. For the record, registration is required to read our article. We will force you into giving us your email address and then refuse to recognize it later.
EK: Hello? What do you think I’m doing? I could scrap this whole hearing and send you to Emperor Misha’s – though we do NOT share the same Empire – dungeon game room. I believe in outsourcing to the best possible company and he’s the man. Now answer the charges before I hit you with a stick!
New York Times: Registration required - we will collect your information and send you junk in return. Join today! We decided that it wasn’t very newsworthy. John Kerry’s record in Vietnam is clear. He served with distinction along side many brave men and women…
EK: Most Veterans do not make a public show of their service outside of the annual parades. In fact, most won’t talk about their service if you asked. What does it say about a veteran who goes back to re-enact a scene to use for his political aspirations? That he can’t remember where he was on Christmas 1968 – something seared, SEARED into his memory - or the fact that Nixon wasn’t President at the time doesn’t bother you?
Both: No.
EK: Have you taken a gander at what the Swift Boat Vets had to say? One of them has been campaigning since 1971 to have Kerry’s medals taken away from him. They feel betrayed by Kerry who testified before the Senate Foreign Relations committee. The candidate said that they were, in effect, baby killers and guilty of war crimes.
WP: But they are against John Kerry. We can’t report that. That would be biased. We can only critique what President Bush and his supporters have to say. The only legitimate critique can be levied against those that are in power.
EK: Biased? But you didn't too much critiquing of Bill Clinton while he was in power. Did he really have power or was it truncated by the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy?
Both: Yes. Biased. We love Bill Clinton. We would never say anything bad about him. He is our friend. *zombie like stares and tones of voice*
EK: Riiiiggggt. *waving her scepter back and forth, contemplating beating them silly but waits to finish the interrogation * OK… NYT, how do you explain that you just now, after 4 months since the first press release by the Swift Boat Vets, decide to run an editorial? And when you do finally decide to say something about it, you tell them to stop because it’s outlandish for such a group to say anything at all? And your one article is dedicated to disproving what they said instead of being fair and balanced (copyright FoxNews Corp.)
NYT: Um… uh… well, we thought that it wasn’t newsworthy… We wanted to talk about Halliburton, aborting twins in a multiples pregnancy, and the attacks in Najaf and the oppression of the Palestinians and how great John Kerry will be for this country. Washington Post was doing stories on Jessica Culter!
WP: You are telling on me! Moooooommm!!!
EK: Wrong answer, try again! Stop trying to change the subject. You aren’t calling on groups like MoveOn and Common Cause to stop attacking George Bush. Fahrenheit 9/11 plays up a connection that was denied in the Commission hearings by Richard Clarke – the darling of the movie. You write about the connections to Karl Rove through 527 groups on the Bush side yet TOTALLY ignore the web of leftist leaning 527’s tied to Kerry/Edwards. And you call yourselves journalists. I should shoot you on principle. *reaches forward and bops the NYT editor squarely on the head and sits back down in a huff*
NYT: OW!!!! Your Excellency, the New York Times has faced tough times in the last year. We lost Jayson Blair, one of our rising stars… and our editors quit. All of the controversy about our reporting – that we made things up and hired un-talented hacks for the sake of “diversity” have been a distraction.
EK: Mm-hmm. So, you pinning your lack of paying attention to the controversy over Kerry’s military record on something that happened last year and is completely un-related? Or is it a lack of resources?
NYT: Yes! That’s it! Lack of resources! Really good, Empress.
WP: And for us, Empress, we are in Washington - Jessica Culter was such a... distraction. She met us in the back alley. We gave her a toaster for her services.
EK: *raises her hand* Enough. That explains it. I do not need to deliberate. You’ve been found guilty. I sentence you to Emperor Misha’s dungeon game room (outsourcing again. The Empress spent all of her money on new fall clothes.) and then to a Protest Warrior event where you have to hold a sign that announces that John Kerry is a traitor.
Nothing the "sleazoids" [M. Dowd's term used in the New York Times for the Swift Vets] say about Kerry is as bad as what he said about them 33 years ago in his testimony to Congress, when he informed the world that his comrades – his "band of brothers" – had "personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads" etc, throughout their time in Vietnam.and this one...
How cocooned from reality do you have to be to think you can transform one of the most divisive periods in American history – in which you were largely responsible for much of the divisiveness – into a sappy, happy-clappy, soft-focus patriotic blur without anybody objecting? Most Vietnam veterans of my acquaintance loathe John Kerry, and, if he wasn't aware of that, he's too out of it to be President.and...
If this campaign were any more inept, Michael Moore would be making a documentary claiming Kerry's a Republican plant secretly controlled by Karl Rove and the House of Saud.
