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Peculiar Irony

02 Apr 03 - 10:21 PM (#924956)
Subject: Peculiar Irony
From: Mr. Green Genes

I would hazard to wager that, if all the anti-war demonstrators would have voted in the last presidential election, the war on terror would today be the responsibility of Al Gore, "the man who invented the internet."


02 Apr 03 - 10:32 PM (#924961)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Ebbie

Green Genes, before you begin this, how about getting your facts in order? The man did NOT say that. And YES. I venture to say that if Al Gore were in the White House we would not be where we are today.


02 Apr 03 - 10:36 PM (#924965)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Bobert

Mr. Green Geans,

I'm guilty! Well, not exactly in that I brokered my vote and voted for Al Gore.... as a Greenie.

But, looks like the Greens aren't the only ones responsible for the current mess that the world finds itseld in. Looks very much like Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris broke the law. They hired some Repub. hit men to eliminate 57,700 black people from the voter roles in Florida. That is what did in Al Gore.

It's amazing what a couple crooks can do...

Bobert


02 Apr 03 - 11:09 PM (#924979)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Mr. Green Genes

Ebbie,
You are correct. I heard that speech and the way I remember it, I believe he credited the administration for the initiative which led to the invention of the internet. Is that close ?

I think if Bill Clinton had seen the pornography potential of the internet he would have been all over it and we would be able to give him some partial credit.


02 Apr 03 - 11:43 PM (#924996)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: katlaughing

We most likely would not have a war on terrorism with Al Gore in the White House. BUT, this kind of speculation is pointless.


02 Apr 03 - 11:49 PM (#925000)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: NicoleC

Actual quote from a March 1999 interview with Al Gore, "Well, I will -- I'll be offering my vision when my campaign begins, and it'll be comprehensive and sweeping, and I hope that it'll be compelling enough to draw people toward it. I feel that it will be. But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

FACT: The technology for the internet was originally created by the Dept of Defense in the 70's for military purposes only. The technology has been, of course, eclipsed in recent years, but the original concept of loosely networked computers is the same.

FACT: Al Gore never said he "invented" the internet.

FACT: Al Gore consistently supported legislation to broaden the use of telecommunications and computer equipment starting in the 70's, and even worked to get computers into Congress itself. Most of his legislation did not pass.

FACT: Despite years and even decades of technological research, the internet, as we think of it today, was launched in 1983. It was the realm of obscure internet newsgroups and their geeky college users (remember when you had to have a USENET client? and strap the phone handset into a big modem cradle?)

FACT: Gore sponsored the 1986 Supercomputer Network Study Act, designed to figure out how to get all this new technology working
to increase public information needs.

FACT: Senator Gore wrote and sponsored the 1991 High Performance Computing and Communications Act (introduce originally in 1988) which provided over $1 billion in research & development grants to technology companies like MCI, plus universities, schools, and other public groups. Funding for Mosaic, the original web browser standard, came from this Act. That investment made propietary online services like Prodigy, Compuserve and Delphi obsolete, and moved the internet into a common format widely accessible to the public. The vision: provide for teleconferencing, link your computer to millions of computers around the country, give you access to huge 'digital libraries' of information, and deliver services we cannot yet imagine."

Did Gore "invent" the internet? No. And he didn't say he did. But if it weren't for him (or some other guy down the line who did the same thing), the internet would probably still be an obscure military project.

It was a stupid way to phrase it, but he does deserve a lot of the credit (or blame) for bring the internet into private homes and it's huge success today.


02 Apr 03 - 11:50 PM (#925001)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Mr. Green Genes

Yea, those terrorist really got busy when Bush moved into the whitehouse! Or are you implying we just continue to die without reply.


03 Apr 03 - 12:01 AM (#925006)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: katlaughing

As I said...pointless speculation.

Thanks, Nicole for the real deal.


03 Apr 03 - 01:31 AM (#925034)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: CarolC

And thank you, Al Gore, for your contribution to bringing this amazing technology to people like me.

Here's an even bigger irony than the one that opens this thread (in my opinion). Remember GW Bush's famous catch phrase during his presidential campaign?

"I'm a uniter, not a divider".

;-)


03 Apr 03 - 01:45 AM (#925037)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Troll

Does anyone think that 9/11 would not have happened if Bush had not been elected?

troll


03 Apr 03 - 08:25 AM (#925178)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: alanabit

Can't say, can you? However, there were US presidents who would have led their people rather than followed them after such an awful disaster. Posturing and gesturing will only guarantee that terrorism stays with us for longer.


03 Apr 03 - 09:06 AM (#925209)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Sam L

I the legislative sense, Gore did invent the internet. Ask Colin Powell's son Michael, who heads the FCC. And besides, why do you think they call them AlGorythms?

But it's a good point. I hope everyone will be sure to vote next time around.


03 Apr 03 - 09:24 AM (#925219)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: jimmyt

seems pretty obvious that G Bush is leading and not following. At this point in time it would have been far easier to have given in to the emotional posturing and "followed" Right or wrong, I can't see how anyone can say that George W Bush doesn't have the courage of his convictions and is pressing ahead to do what he feels is the right thing.


03 Apr 03 - 09:25 AM (#925221)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: TIA

Great thread title. I could add hundreds, but let's just start with this one:

"I don't want to try to put our troops in all places at all times. I don't want to be the world's policeman."








George W. Bush
Presidential Debate
Boston, MA
October 3, 2000


03 Apr 03 - 09:36 AM (#925226)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Little Hawk

Looks to me like 911 had to be in the works for a long time before Bush was ever elected, so I doubt it has anything to do with Bush, per se...except that he has since used it to launch two illegal wars, so it's proven convenient from the point of view of his advisors...Karl Rove, Wolfowitz, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and so on. They wanted a good excuse to set the US military loose in the World, and they got it.

Osama has also gotten what he wanted...the imminent (probable) destruction of Saddam's hated anti-religious Baath regime, the further driving of a wedge of hatred between Islamic peoples and the USA, the further cause for greater terrorism upon the USA and upon the Arabs and Israelis too. A holy war par excellence.

Pass the champagne for the Republican Deep Thinkers and Osama Bin Laden, the big winners of 911. Glasses all around.

- LH


03 Apr 03 - 09:37 AM (#925227)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Bee-dubya-ell

Just a reminder that more people did vote for Gore than Bush. Too many of them just happen to live in the wrong states. The Bush presidency is the result of an out of date system in which the vote of a person living in a populous state like California counts for more than that of a person living in North Dakota. It's high time to abolish the Electoral College and provide for direct popular election of the President. Now, if we can only convince the Republican-controlled Congress that the system whose flaws put their man in office needs changing....

Bruce


03 Apr 03 - 09:52 AM (#925236)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,Casual Observer

Bobert, could you please present evidence for your claim about Katherine Harris and Jeb Bush? You're assuming that all of those people "eliminated" from the rolls would have voted for Al Gore. How do you know that?


03 Apr 03 - 09:58 AM (#925242)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Mrrzy

New title for Operation Iraqi Freedom: Operation Thanks A Lot Ralph Nader!


03 Apr 03 - 10:14 AM (#925250)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST

I wonder why they didn't call it Operation Iraqi Liberation....


03 Apr 03 - 10:19 AM (#925251)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: TIA

Help, we are drowning in peculiar irony! This is too much fun:

"...once {a U.S.-led coalition} starts meddling in the internal affairs of sovereign nations, where does it stop?"

"...we are starting to resemble a power-hungry imperialist army creating an occupation by foreigners."

"International respect and trust for America has diminished every time we casually let the bombs fly."

"...it is unfair and unrealistic of the United States to demand that {a dictator} agree to allow foreign troops to have free rein over the entire country. This is like asking him to slit his throat with his own people... no wonder {the dictator} refused."





Current House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
on the floor of the House
May 6, 1999

{the U.S.-led coalition was NATO}
{the dictator was Milosevic}


03 Apr 03 - 11:26 AM (#925291)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Bill D

now, now...don't hold them boys to their earlier statements. How can they be successful politicians if you demand consistency?


03 Apr 03 - 12:00 PM (#925324)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: An Pluiméir Ceolmhar

[quote:]

Does anyone think that 9/11 would not have happened if Bush had not been elected? [unquote]

Yes. Me (aside from the question whether he was duly elected or not).

Undoubtedly the planning for what became 9/11 had already been done, but it might not have been implemented in September 2001 if there were a US president who looked serious about tackling the Israel/Palestine problem rather than one who seems to give Likud and those to its right free rein. Military operations staff develop the plans and capacity for all sorts of operations which are never implemented. And 9/11 was a very professional operation that demonstrated considerable planning and execution capability, whatever you think of its perpetrators.

From the time that the Bush administration took office, it took a succession of initiatives which demonstrated contempt for international order and the rule of law, not to mention the rights of the Palestinians. Any vestige of an indication that it might apply even a modicum of pressure to the Sharon regime to go some way towards respecting countless UN resolutions and peace initiatives could have encouraged Al Qaeda to stay its hand. But the Arbustitist Machtergreifung may have been the event which convinced the people who had made this particular plan that they might as well implement it then rather than hope for a peaceful settlement. If the Middle East were at peace, there would be no "need" for the intrusive US military presence in Saudi Arabia which was the stated grievance of Al Qaeda. And if the US hadn't interfered as much as it has in so many countries in the region, Saudi Arabia might not be in the hands of anti-democratic fundamentalists who are financing the seedbeds of resentful fundamentalism both there and in other countries including many European countries. And if Saudi Arabia wasn't a powderkeg waiting to explode, the US mightn't feel the need to invade Iraq (which has nothing whatsoever to do with Al Qaeda, apart from the "Q" in its name) in order to secure future oil supplies. And so on.


03 Apr 03 - 12:31 PM (#925343)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Ebbie

Green Genes: Ebbie,
You are correct. I heard that speech and the way I remember it, I believe he credited the administration for the initiative which led to the invention of the internet. Is that close ?


Yes. Close. So why did you say this? "Al Gore, "the man who invented the internet."

Every time someone repeats the lie, another person believes it.


03 Apr 03 - 12:33 PM (#925346)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: jimmyt

"Now I want you to listen to me, I did not have sexual relations with that woman" Yeah, I can see where repeating lies gets us all in trouble


03 Apr 03 - 12:52 PM (#925359)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,Casual Observer

I guess technically he didn't have relations with her, since they aren't presumably related... that must be what he meant.


03 Apr 03 - 12:57 PM (#925366)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: TIA

I know, I'm becoming annoying now...just one more:

"We had oral sex. He prefers that modus operandi because then he can say, 'I never slept with her.'"






Anne Manning
Campaign Worker for Newt Gingrich in 1976
(speaking about her candidate)


03 Apr 03 - 01:06 PM (#925378)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: jimmyt

Hell, Tia, YOu got a point. Fact of it is, they are all a bunch of sorry lying politicians, Let's get behind my new idea.

LITTLE HAWK for President, of the new Coalition of UNITEDSTATES and CANADA REPUBLIC

What do you all think? CLinton Hammond will think it is a good idea as it will make those pesky border crossings easier There have to be other benefits as well


03 Apr 03 - 01:21 PM (#925391)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Rick Fielding

Good idea Jimmy, except for one thing. Little Hawk and Clinton are the same person. It's the perfect example of a split personality....although Little Hawk IS quite a bit taller.

Rick


03 Apr 03 - 01:27 PM (#925396)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: TIA

I'm in. I'd like to see a Tim Hortons in my town.


03 Apr 03 - 01:53 PM (#925412)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: jimmyt

is that the joint that sells fish and donuts? great consolidation of use for hot grease!


03 Apr 03 - 02:28 PM (#925432)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST, heric

I think it depends on what the definition of "that woman" is. I think he was referring to a woman off camera at the taping. Or to Marlo Thomas, perhaps.


03 Apr 03 - 03:43 PM (#925466)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Thomas the Rhymer

As gayly we go off to war, for reasons sure unknown
To get a taste of blood and gore, with billions in bombs thrown
Our president, the resident, T'will think on nothing else
Persistant gent, not hesitant, nor guilesome with his stealth

Betwixt and t'ween, with peaceful lean, does Europe wish conclusions
Our standard mean, a deviant dean, ignores allied collusions
This road is clear, both far and near, of happy resolutions
Instead we've fear, all in one ear, deriding constitutions.
ttr

PS. Make peace, people!


03 Apr 03 - 03:46 PM (#925468)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Ebbie

Thanks for the surprised guffaw, Rick!


04 Apr 03 - 12:00 AM (#925809)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,pdc

It's quite funny (and sad) that the entire country was in an uproar about Clinton's sexual behaviour in the White House, and yet when Bush commits his military masturbation, the people are divided on the issue.

What is worse, illicit sex or illicit war?


04 Apr 03 - 12:03 AM (#925811)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,pdc

Me again. For a really funny take on the FIRST Gulf War, read "George Carlin on the Bush War," available at

http://www.the-broadside.com/satire.htm


04 Apr 03 - 06:42 AM (#925929)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Alasdair

Illicit sex is both fun and natural. Illicit war, well, I guess that depends on your perspective


04 Apr 03 - 09:49 AM (#926030)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: kendall

It's common practice for the opposition to mis quote their "enemy" and, the republicans are very good at that! They are downright paranoid about a democrat getting elected.

A classic case, in Florida, Claude Pepper was running for re election, and his republican opponent had people going around telling the truth about Pepper. Problem was, the people had no clue what the words meant; all they knew was, they sounded bad. The statement was:

When Claude Pepper's wife lived up north, she "matriculated with thespians."

We all know about Nixon and his dirty tricks dept.
He came in promising us law and order and to uphold the constitution. He gave us,
Breaking and entering
Perjury
Lies
extreme paranoia.
Reagan came in with a promise of balance the budget. He never even SUBMITTED one.
Iran- Contra
Arms for hostages
He left with a 5 trillion dollar debt.

Clinton came in with a promise to end welfare as we know it. He did it. He left with a huge surplus, which "resident Bush" spent along with every bit of goodwill we had after 9 11
Clinton gets a little nooky on the side, Reagan lies to us on TV, yet Clinton gets tarred and featherd while "the actor" gets an airport named after him.
Can someone explain how our priorities got so screwed up?


04 Apr 03 - 12:51 PM (#926163)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Little Hawk

It's politics, baby. Politics is a game some people play to WIN, not to render service to the public. There may be a certain crew in charge now who literally believe they are rendering service to Almighty God in launching a war in the Middle East, however, and if so, that is very dangerous. In any case, whatever way you look at it, they are playing to "win" (on their terms). That means most of us lose.

- LH


04 Apr 03 - 02:07 PM (#926228)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: katlaughing

LH, the shrub certainly thinks his mission is Divine. Commerce Secretary Evans was quoted as saying this about him: He understands that he is the one person in the country, in this case really the one person in the world, who has a responsibility to protect and defend freedom.

One person in the whole wide world...wow...how does he sleep at night?!


04 Apr 03 - 04:17 PM (#926317)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Thomas the Rhymer

He's not sleeping as well as he used to, kat... seems the war dead are starting to pay him nightly visits, as they will for the rest of eternity... sad for him... the only thing that can redeem his soul at this point is Saddam's head on a stick. Not much redemption there...

Clinton didn't just have 'elicit' sex, he was 'set up' and persued by an informant prostitute, a self fulfilling prophecy directed by entrapment oriented right wing fledgelings...

I have had a taste of that nonsense myself... girls decide to nail you... get you hot... when you're not... ttr


04 Apr 03 - 08:16 PM (#926445)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: NicoleC

But haven't you heard? There will be no Saddam on a stick -- it's been declared that we don't have to get Saddam to "win."

Which is a good thing, after all, since we've been having a little trouble actually finding those pesky enemies lately. And no doubt 40 years from now, people will be reporting the saw Saddam or bin Laden living in Brazil -- roomies in the house Hitler used to live in in *his* ninties :)


04 Apr 03 - 09:10 PM (#926464)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Troll

How Clinton managed to get that surplus with a Republican dominated Congress has always puzzled me, Kendall. How'd he do it? And where did Bush spend the money?
Or is the whole thing just smoke and mirrors; the surplus only existed on paper and it wasn't spent, the Govt. just changed bookkeepers.

troll


04 Apr 03 - 10:10 PM (#926487)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,Cliint Keller

Well, I understand GWB himself said there was a surplus, so we could lower (some) taxes and keep spending. Would George deceive us?

clint.


05 Apr 03 - 01:14 AM (#926536)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Sam L

Troll,

Well, I'm not an economist, but I never saw the boom of the Clinton economy in the people around me. And I've read that the US gnp was and is counted in a different way than elsewhere, and formerly. The basic idea is if you're a baker, how many loaves of bread can you bake in a work day. But in the US we count the value, the idea that the bread is enhanced, is just better. Also, many tech advances used to be in the area of work reduction, now they are mostly work-expansion. You can work at home, in the car, on a boat, on a plane. It's hard to count the baker's hours, baking those loaves, anymore. And the added values especially in the computer and digital industry are hard to account for in terms of real value to anyone. How many of the things your computer could do do you ever get around to using?

    If we have to have tv presidents--they're all repulsive, Clinton biting his lower lip, acting EARNEST as HELL, or Bush wrinkling his brow, acting like he's Thinking--if we must, I suppose Clinton did the right thing in cheerleading the economy. Because that can add up, actually, I suppose.

   I think Saddam deposed is important in and of itself. The means is a question. But it's odd how it's been the thing to call him by his first name, as Bush does, in posing questions about how nations feel about "Saddam". Substitute any familiar-sounding name and it sounds like one is discussing how to kill a playground bully. Even Hitler was "Mr.Hitler" in the news back then.


05 Apr 03 - 02:12 AM (#926552)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Troll

The average worker in the US now works more hours per week than any others in the industrialized world, for fewer benefits and less time off. On the other hand, we have the lowest taxes.
JFK was the first TV President and it's been downhill from there ever since.
Like I said, it's all creative accounting; smoke and mirrors.
Do you know how to tell when you are a success as an accountant?
When they name a loophole after you.
Do you know why people go into accounting?
They don't have the personality and charisma to be a Funeral Director.
Ba-dum-bum....ching!

troll


06 Apr 03 - 01:03 AM (#927064)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Ebbie

I've been wondering about that myself, Fred. I don't like calling him 'Saddam', sounds too chummy. On the other hand, did you see the Iraqi airport that's named after him? That's right- it's called Saddam Airport. Is it possible that Saddam is part of his surname? And his first name is something like Willie?


06 Apr 03 - 02:48 PM (#927352)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Sam L

I don't know, it may actually be a matter of Iraqi ettiquette that I'm unaware of, like gender endings of surnames in russian. Anybody know?


06 Apr 03 - 03:16 PM (#927369)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: NicoleC

Some middle eastern countries use family surnames in the last place, like Western names. Although this is a recent convention; it isn't historical. Historically, surnames from most of the middle east referred to a placename, much like the origins of surname in Europe.

"Saddam" is not a name, it's a title. Hussein al-Takriti is his given name (i.e. Hussein of the town of Takrit). Saddam was adopted as kind of a political name, and it means, roughly "the Destroyer."

Technically, we should use the full "Saddam Hussein" ala Ivan the Terrible or Richard the Lionheart.


07 Apr 03 - 07:06 AM (#927728)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Mark Cohen

Or Bullwinkle the Moose.

Aloha,
Mark


07 Apr 03 - 12:49 PM (#927942)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: DougR

It seems to me that during the 1991 war, George Bush's using "Saddam" when referring to the dictator was considered an insult, as reported by news sources. Not so?

DougR


07 Apr 03 - 01:10 PM (#927964)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: NicoleC

During the 1991 war, most of the news sources couldn't figure out what to call him at all -- and many of them were slinging arrows at each other while doing it wrong themselves :) There were any number of Muslim clery or linguists or college professors that could have pointed them in the right direction, but the only "specialists" the news channels hire are retired generals.

Bush the Elder MAY have meant it as an insult ('yeah, "the Destroyer" ha-ha'), but it seems more likely that a) no one looked up his name and told the president what to say, or b) Saddam is just easier to say -- which I have a hunch is why most of us use it.


07 Apr 03 - 01:24 PM (#927974)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Ebbie

Nicole, I haven't been able to find anything to corroborate your thesis that 'Saddam' is a title. (Could it be that Saddam means 'the Destroyer', the same way that Michael (or David) means 'Beloved of God'?)

The earliest accounts of Hussein's life that I have read call him Saddam. Today he appears to be called President Saddam Hussein.

Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks.


07 Apr 03 - 01:53 PM (#927995)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Forum Lurker

Troll-Do you think maybe our hours and benefits might be related to our tax rate?


07 Apr 03 - 01:59 PM (#927997)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: NicoleC

Here's an article from several years ago on Slate:

What's the Name of Saddam Hussein?

Although it doesn't go into detail on Iraqi names (for example, it ignores the Arab tradition of the name including the father and grandfather's names), it does give the fundamentals.


07 Apr 03 - 04:32 PM (#928069)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: katlaughing

My apologies if this has already been posted, but my Find function didn't, well...find it, so:

"We should not march into Baghdad . . . . To occupy Iraq would
instantly shatter our coalition, turning the whole Arab world against
us, And make a broken tyrant into a latter-day Arab hero . . . assigning young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerrilla war. It could only plunge that part of the world into even greater instability."

Former President, George Bush, in his 1998 book "A World Transformed", co-authored with his National Security Advisor, Brent Scowcroft

Looks like little Dubya didn't pay attention.


07 Apr 03 - 04:39 PM (#928076)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Thomas the Rhymer

That was an ominous find, kat...


07 Apr 03 - 04:55 PM (#928093)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Don Firth

George W. Bush has the courage of Paul Wolfowitz's convictions.

Don Firth


07 Apr 03 - 05:57 PM (#928141)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: MAG

check out Zeke Hoskin's companyhalt.com website for a take on this ..


07 Apr 03 - 07:43 PM (#928224)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: robomatic

I think there's multiple levels of irony involved in this affair, from multiple points of view. Whatever his faults, what W. has assessed correctly is that while technology has changed drastically, human nature has not.


07 Apr 03 - 11:03 PM (#928354)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Troll

Our armed forces have technology that was not available five years ago and was certainly not available in '91. Also, our intel is better now, so, while what Bush 41 wrote in '98 about Gulf War I was accurate, it does not necessarily apply in '03.
Events on the ground seem to bear this out.

troll


08 Apr 03 - 12:08 AM (#928390)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Forum Lurker

Troll-The possibility of winning the guerilla war may have changed; on the other hand, the Israelis in Palestine have equipment of the same quality, and soldiers with much more experience in urban fighting, and they haven't had much luck. I don't think the political problems, "turning the whole Arab world against
us, And mak(ing) a broken tyrant into a latter-day Arab hero" are any different.


08 Apr 03 - 02:57 AM (#928462)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: DougR

kat: that was then, this is now. Er...ah...you do remember 9/11, right? A lot of terrorist activities against the U. S. have happened since 1991.

You may say, "But Saddam was not involved!" I will say, "Wait and see."

DougR


08 Apr 03 - 03:37 AM (#928472)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Sam L

I don't know if Bush Sr.'s use of Saddam was meant ironically, but I do remember his pronunciation of it was unique, like Adam, with an S. As in the parody "The only thing this ruthless dictator understands is the clear and consistent mis-pronunciation of his name. Saddam."

It's a bit ironic and very troubling when a nation's military is so much more effective than their diplomacy.


08 Apr 03 - 05:55 AM (#928519)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: katlaughing

Doug, don't put words into my mouth. I was offering the quote as another bit of irony. As to 9/11, you say there have been many terrorist attacks on the US since 1991...I hope you haven't forgotten that one of the major ones was OK City, perpetrated by one of the US's very own. But, then you are "scared to death" so I guess that won't matter.


25 Apr 03 - 08:31 AM (#939849)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: TIA

Had to resurrect this thread, 'cause here is a beautiful example of peculiar irony:

regarding protests associated with the war in Iraq, who just said
"...there's discussion, debate, protest -- all the hallmarks of liberty."













George W. Bush (April 24, 2003)

when asked by a reporter in Ohio whether he was concerned about the massive Shiite protests against US troops in Iraq, he responded:
"In Iraq, there's discussion, debate, protest -- all the hallmarks of liberty..."

So, it's okay for Shiites, but not for Americans?
The right wing talk show bullies are all calling for American protestors to apologize.
Will they demand that the Shiites apologize?


25 Apr 03 - 08:33 AM (#939850)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: MMario

regarding Bush Sr.'s pronunciation of Saddam - I have heard the same pronunciation used by several Iraqi's being interviewed.


25 Apr 03 - 08:43 AM (#939853)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: TIA

Hey, me too. I heard somewhere that the Bush Sr. pronunciation was purposeful - that it meant something like "the guy who cleans your shoes", and that Sr. was doing it to piss him off. Is this true or another urban myth? If true, maybe the Iraqis are gettin' in some licks now that he's dead and/or gone.


25 Apr 03 - 12:12 PM (#940013)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: DougR

TIA: I heard the same thing at the time of the first Gulf War. Bush, Sr. was intentionally insulting Saddam.

DougR


14 May 04 - 08:21 AM (#1185583)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,TIA

I'm resurrecting this one (again). This irony is not just peculiar. It's shameful and disgusting. Hypocritical, hyperpolitical, inhuman. No, I'm not a Bush-Hater, but go ahead and call me a DeLay-Hater.

"I am outraged at the inhumane treatment of American POWs by Saddam Hussein's brutal regime," said Tom DeLay. "I am fighting to hold down a deep anger at these purveyors and practitioners of torture and terror who've been wickedly exhibiting their captives over the last few days. One thing is certain – this is an immoral regime.
[April 12, 2003]

"Democracies do not starve their citizens, nor torture their dissidents"
[Tom Delay, July 30, 2003]

"Ted Kennedy said there was 'no compelling reason for war.' There are 25 million Iraqis no longer threatened by torture chambers who might disagree."
[Tom Delay, January 14, 2004]


[May 12, 2004]
After viewing pictures of Iraqi prisoners undergoing torture by US Service personnel (including one of a man being sodomized with a broomstick and bleeding) House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said he thought "some people are overreacting. The people who are against the war are using this to their political ends."


14 May 04 - 09:40 PM (#1185945)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Ebbie

On the senate floor, Senator Inhofe contended that the incidents were no more than college pranks. John McCain left the room.


28 Jun 05 - 02:19 PM (#1511798)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,TIA

Resurrected again because...

"I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn."

G.W. Bush on the subject of Kosovo, June 5, 1999.



"It doesn't make any sense to have a timetable. You know, if you give a timetable, you're — you're conceding too much to the enemy."

G.W. Bush on the subject of Iraq, June 25, 2005.


17 Oct 05 - 07:42 AM (#1584540)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,TIA

Hear tstopping irony/hypocrisy:

Newt Gingrich moments ago on Fox News... he was saying ..."there is good evidence that Ambassador Wilson outed his own wife, and the investigation of Rove and Libby has become THE WASHINGTON GAME OF 'DID THEY BREAK THE LAW DURING THE TIME THAT AN INVESTIGATION FOUND THAT THEY DID NOT BREAK THE LAW'..."

Emphasis mine of course.

Does he remember the Clinton impeachment? Does he remember how that played out? Does he remember that he instigated and goaded it? Do you Fox News viewers remember any of this? Can you see through this? Or, do you just not care as long as it's your team in power?


17 Oct 05 - 06:38 PM (#1584925)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: robomatic

In the election of '00, Al Gore did not win his own state.


17 Oct 05 - 07:08 PM (#1584949)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: McGrath of Harlow

These old threads where the sequence of the posts have got all jumbled up are really strange to read, like being stuck in some kind of time machine that is on the blink.

It's actually oddly appropriate with some topics, such as when discussing the antics of political leaders...


17 Oct 05 - 08:30 PM (#1584977)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Metchosin

a peculiar irony.....so to speak.


10 Nov 06 - 11:03 AM (#1882223)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,TIA

Just had to resurrect for this one....

George Bush had lunch with Nancy Pelosi to discuss.....wait for it...





"the importance of working together"


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


09 Oct 09 - 09:07 AM (#2741955)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,TIA

Some local irony...

Gun-toting soccer mom shot dead


16 Nov 10 - 06:15 PM (#3033892)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,TIA

The best one ever...

An incoming Republican Congressman is pissed that he cannot get his government health care right away.....

After campaigning on repeal of government health care!!!!!!!!

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/11/16/gop_congressman_healthcare

click


17 Nov 10 - 01:11 AM (#3034070)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: Donuel

I saw a FOX news channel panel of experts discussing the new Sarah Palin SHow on open mics during a commercial break.

One guy said her show should be on the cartoon network. Another quoted the TImes quip regarding the bear being scared of the Palin family while the Post said "the Sarah Palin Alaska Show is like the Sound of Music except there are no Nazis, no romance and no music.


17 Nov 10 - 10:50 AM (#3034367)
Subject: RE: Peculiar Irony
From: GUEST,TIA

Show suits her perfectly.

Beautiful scenery, no actual substance.