Posted by zeugma on February 15, 2006, at 19:44:50
In reply to Re: historical irony » zeugma, posted by damos on February 15, 2006, at 18:37:52
damos my friend,
collateral damage.
serious phrase.
you know, I am American. A once-great country. I will give you, as an indication of what it means to be an American in 2006, what we must take as serious political discourse in the U.S. 2006:
<<
Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in California who was a congressional fellow for Cheney, warns against drawing conclusions from this "unique" case."I've filled a number of political staff jobs," he says, "and never once did I have a discussion about what do we do if the boss shoots somebody."
>>from USATodayContra Mr. Pitney, it is only too easy to draw conclusions from this 'unique' case.
perhaps Mr. Pitney, as a former staffer of Mr. Cheney's, shares his old boss' fondness for taking his time in letting us know what is on his mind.
And Mr. Cheney's mind works in an unusually elaborate way. I quote his long-awaited statement acknowledging that Mr. Pitney's ex-boss did, indeed, shoot someone:
<<
"We really didn't know until Sunday morning that Harry was probably going to be OK, that it looked like there hadn't been any serious damage to any vital organ," he said. "And that's when we began the process of notifying the press."
>>we BEGAN THE PROCESS of notifying someone?
after Mr. Cheney determined that, as he said, "it looked like there hadn't been any serious damage to any vital organ"?
Then, and only then, did he resolve to call the press?
or rather, have someone else call the local newspaper? Mr. Cheney, we must remember, has been a staunch advocate of war, a quite outspoken advocate of violating the Geneva Convention, and yet he himself can't make the call? Not until he had determined "it looked like there hadn't been any serious damage to any vital organ"?
One must remember, this is a man who has said the Geneva Convention does not apply to the U.S. And who has never served in a war. much unlike John McCain, who spent five years in a POW camp, and who surely would have had the courage to make the call immediately, or at least having a Secret Service agent call, without the need to make such determinations of intact vital organs. Or John Kerry, mocked by Mr. Cheney during the 2004 elections, Mr. Kerry, awarded three Purple Hearts, by definition given as a result of "serious damage" to organs vital or frivolous (the head is an awfully frivolous organ here in the U.S these days).
Damos, Mr. Cheney delayed to ensure that no "collateral damage" had occurred as a result of his hunting trip. I can draw MANY, MANY conclusions from that. And so can you.
.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:610023
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060204/msgs/610044.html