BS: Beause they could...

Subject: BS: Beause they could...
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 03:33 AM

I've been afraid something like this was true, but I haven't wanted to believe it. But I see more signs all the time, & here's Maureen Dowd coming right out with it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/opinion/20DOWD.html?th

(I just found out M. Dowd is a Pulitzer prize winner. I didn't know that.)

clint

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: Sorcha
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 01:45 PM

Can't get in without registering.

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: Ed.
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 03:21 PM

Ditto what Sorcha says.

Copy and pasting of long articles, is (quite rightly) frowned upon here. A brief précis of what you're afraid of would be useful.

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: Amos
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 03:49 PM

Maureen puts her finger on the core of the problem.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: Peace
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 03:52 PM

And that would be . . .?

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: open mike
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 04:00 PM

is this about apples?

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: mack/misophist
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 04:04 PM

Registration is free. My cookie for doing the crossword puzzle got me in.

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: jimmyt
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 04:06 PM

the suspense is killing me

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 04:31 PM

Ok---

Because They Could
By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: June 20, 2004

WASHINGTON

In his "60 Minutes" interview, Bill Clinton calls his intern idyll "a terrible moral error," illuminating "the darkest part of his inner life." Not to mention the hardest part on his back since, astonishingly, he says he spent months sleeping on the couch. (Was the Lincoln bedroom always occupied by donors?)

"I did something for the worst possible reason," he told Dan Rather about his march of folly with Monica. "Just because I could. I think that's just about the most morally indefensible reason anybody could have for doing anything."

Just because he could. What a world of meaning is packed into that simple phrase. His "could" reflects a selfish "Who's gonna stop me?" power move, stemming from a droit du seigneur attitude, as opposed to "should," signifying obligation, or "must," indicating compulsion.

The former president engaged in a relationship of choice, not necessity.

As a friend of mine explains: "It's a guy thing. We're not likely to get up off the couch if we don't have to. We might cheat with a chick who just happens to be there if we feel we could get away with it."

In his memoirs, Mr. Clinton complains about Republican droit du seigneur, writing that impeachment was driven neither by "morality" nor "the rule of law" but, as Newt Gingrich said: "Because we can."

The Clinton alpha instinct on Monica, fueled by a heady cocktail of testosterone and opportunism, was the same one that led W. into his march of folly with Iraq. After 9/11, the president, vice president and secretary of defense wanted to go to the Middle East and knock the stuffing out of somebody bad — because it would feel good, because it would put our enemies on notice, and because it would make the president look strong.

The folks at 1600 Pennsylvania didn't have Osama's address. They couldn't go after Iran or North Korea because those countries could defend themselves and retaliate, maybe with nukes. They couldn't invade Pakistan or Saudi Arabia because they're our "allies." But the Bush team knew that it wouldn't be hard to get rid of the second-rate dictator and romance novelist who posed no real threat.

They went after Saddam just because they could. Last week, the 9/11 commission debunked the White House attempt to suggest an axis of evil between Saddam and Osama.

Like Mr. Clinton, the president engaged in an enterprise of choice, not necessity. John Kerry's biggest applause line now is: "The United States should never go to war because we want to. We should only go to war because we have to."

Huffing and puffing Dick Cheney comes across as barking mad when he keeps lassoing Saddam and Al Qaeda. Tricky Dick may actually believe in his concocted connection, but he must also realize that the administration can't lose the terrorist-linkage argument for war, having already lost the W.M.D. argument.

If our leaders didn't lead us there, why did 69 percent of Americans, in a Washington Post poll last September, believe that Saddam was involved in the attacks? And a University of Maryland study last October showed that 80 percent of those who mostly watched Fox believed at least one of three misconceptions: that W.M.D. had been found; that Al Qaeda and Iraq were tied; or that the world had approved of U.S. intervention in Iraq.

Osama, suffering from what one C.I.A. shrink termed "a narcissistic explosion," also struck America because he could. It was a jihad of choice, not necessity.

Thursday's 9/11 commission report cited the dissent among Al Qaeda leaders who were worried about Pakistan's reaction or U.S. retaliation. Osama overruled the doubters, arguing that it would reap a bonanza in Al Qaeda fund-raising and recruiting.

So far, partly because of the Bush crowd's solipsistic fixation on Saddam, Osama has gotten away with his heinous power play — and reaped a bonanza in recruiting.

Mr. Clinton, though he was vilified by the right, tittered at by the world and dolled up in pink-and-black suede shoes as a toddler by his mom, is selling a zillion books.

As Republicans keep saying, with fingers crossed, W. has stayed even with John Kerry despite the litany on Iraq, terrorism and domestic affairs that has turned out quite differently than promised.

But one thing you can say for Bill Clinton: His "Who's gonna stop me?" Oval Office power surge produced a much lower body count.  

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: GUEST,The Omnipotent Krill
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 06:14 PM

Well, obviously! They did it because they could. That is why power-hungry entities do everything they do. Because they CAN! Naked self-interest is what drives the Cosmos, as you wretched human beings will soon find out when my unstoppable legions of Arcturus and Thoth take over your miserable speck of cosmic dust, called Earth, and turn it into an intergalactic rest stop.

We will slice, dice, whoosh, and squoosh the lot of you. You will be liquidated. And we will enjoy it too. Immensely.

Where we differ from your corrupt political leaders is in this: We are totally honest about our ruthless self-interest. They are not. They pretend to be "nice". They pretend to be democratically inclined. Ha! We have never pretended anything of the sort. The nice are sheep for the slaughter. Only the strong and merciless   survive. Predators rule! Others drool!

The Omnipotent Krill has spoken!

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: Amos
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 06:16 PM

GOK, go suck an egg.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: greg stephens
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 06:22 PM

The story is told that Earl Scruggs was asked why he played so fast, and replied "Because I can". It's an old excuse.

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 07:49 PM

It used to be a joke when I was at school:

Why do dogs lick their balls?
Because thay can.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 07:55 PM

It evokes a pretty vision, doesn't it?

Clinton, Bush and Scruggs all lying about leaning on their elbows, licking their balls, because they can.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Because they could...
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 08:57 PM

I had hoped it was only greed and stupidity.

Well, it is stupidity, and I've never been comfortable with the idea that it's all over oil, and I hear things like " But Iraq has lots of targets" and "Every once in a while the US has to grab some little country and slam it up against the wall on general principles" but I still hate to think it's only because we are led by bullies. but the thought does occur to me from time to time.

Like a bad '30's gangster movie: "Take dat, punk! Dat's fer nuttin'!"

clint

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: Hrothgar
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 06:21 AM

Saturday's Brisbane "Courier-Mail" had a xartoon with two panels.

First panel was Bill Clinton in the presidential chair, looking across the desk at Monica, and thinking "Because I can."

Second panel was George Bush in the presidential chair, looking across the desk at Australian Prime Minister John Howard, and thinking "Because I can."

Not really funny at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 07:25 AM

As with climbing Mount Everest "because it's there", this isn't an explanation, it's a refusal to give an explanation.

"Because I can", "because it's there" - that is merely stating a necessary condition. If a mountain isn't there, you can't climb it.

So we are just left to add in the missing explanation for ourselves. Normally it's as simple as "because I wanted to". Of course then you can start dredging for reasons why this particular person would want to do anything so stupid. But why bother?

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: greg stephens
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 10:07 AM

Searching for explanations why a randy middle-aged man might want to have a frolic with a pretty girl.....well, it's not a very difficult question, is it?

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: Amos
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 10:16 AM

As with climbing Mount Everest "because it's there", this isn't an explanation, it's a refusal to give an explanation.



Kevin, for once I must demur. It is an indication of an explanation that outreaches words to describe it -- the experience of the mountain itself.

In my opinion it is as close to a Zen Koan as ever a Brit spoke...


A

Subject: RE: BS: Beause they could...
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 23 Jun 04 - 01:51 AM

I think this is what Miz Dowd meant by "Because they could."

"After 9/11, the president, vice president and secretary of defense wanted to go to the Middle East and knock the stuffing out of somebody bad — because it would feel good, because it would put our enemies on notice, and because it would make the president look strong.

"The folks at 1600 Pennsylvania didn't have Osama's address. They couldn't go after Iran or North Korea because those countries could defend themselves and retaliate, maybe with nukes. They couldn't invade Pakistan or Saudi Arabia because they're our "allies." But the Bush team knew that it wouldn't be hard to get rid of the second-rate dictator and romance novelist who posed no real threat.

"They went after Saddam just because they could."

In short, they wanted to whup on somebody, and they could whup on Saddam. So they did.

clint

Subject: RE: BS: Because they could...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Jun 04 - 07:07 AM

Well, for me it'd be: "Why don't you climb Mount Everest?" "Because it's there!" (Last week I saw a pretty good film about mountain-climbing called "Touching the Void" - confirming me in my resolution that they aren't getting me up on one of those things. High hills you can go rambling across are one thing, but vertical mountains with crevasses and that are quite another. I'm keeping my feet on the ground.)
.................

True, greg - "because I was a randy middle-aged man" is indeed the missing bit from Bill Clinton's answer. (Or at least part of it - just because you like a drink it doesn't mean you steal them when the bartender's not looking.)