Comments on: "War costs and costs and costs" http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/03/war-costs-and-costs-and-costs.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:45:03 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Francois http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/03/war-costs-and-costs-and-costs.html#comment-5122 Francois Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:32:00 +0000 http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/03/war-costs-and-costs-and-costs/#comment-5122 And let's not mention the incredibly low number of Iraqi refugees allowed in the US, even among those who HELPED the troops, putting themselves AND THEIR FAMILY at risk of kidnapping, torture and violent death. Great way to express gratitude to your allies; and great way to make sure no one will want to be our allies anytime soon.<br/><br/>As for the treatment of veterans described by Linda Bilmes, don't get me started! It is beyond contempt to see the WH whining that whomever disagree with them refuses "to support the troops" while the VA, the mili brass and the Secretary of Defense actively make things more difficult for those who come back to get what they need.<br/><br/>On the political front, the truly amazing thing about this whole Iraq mess is the utter lack of kahunas displayed by Congress.<br/><br/>Truth be told, the republicans in Congress are STILL going along with Bush (despite his looow approval ratings and stupid policies) on so many nonsensical matters, such as retroactive immunity for the telcos, double veto of SCHIPS, allowing the CIA to use interrogation techniques not permitted in the military etc etc etc etc. <br/><br/>Churchill once quipped: "Usually, the rats leave the proverbial sinking ship. And here, I see my colleagues climbing aboard a sinking ship."<br/><br/>As a country, we are sinking to new lows of indifference, extreme partisanship (a.k.a. dishonesty) and moral cowardice.<br/><br/>It ain't gonna be pretty and we're all going to pay a dear price for that. And let’s not mention the incredibly low number of Iraqi refugees allowed in the US, even among those who HELPED the troops, putting themselves AND THEIR FAMILY at risk of kidnapping, torture and violent death. Great way to express gratitude to your allies; and great way to make sure no one will want to be our allies anytime soon.

As for the treatment of veterans described by Linda Bilmes, don’t get me started! It is beyond contempt to see the WH whining that whomever disagree with them refuses “to support the troops” while the VA, the mili brass and the Secretary of Defense actively make things more difficult for those who come back to get what they need.

On the political front, the truly amazing thing about this whole Iraq mess is the utter lack of kahunas displayed by Congress.

Truth be told, the republicans in Congress are STILL going along with Bush (despite his looow approval ratings and stupid policies) on so many nonsensical matters, such as retroactive immunity for the telcos, double veto of SCHIPS, allowing the CIA to use interrogation techniques not permitted in the military etc etc etc etc.

Churchill once quipped: “Usually, the rats leave the proverbial sinking ship. And here, I see my colleagues climbing aboard a sinking ship.”

As a country, we are sinking to new lows of indifference, extreme partisanship (a.k.a. dishonesty) and moral cowardice.

It ain’t gonna be pretty and we’re all going to pay a dear price for that.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/03/war-costs-and-costs-and-costs.html#comment-5121 Anonymous Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:26:00 +0000 http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/03/war-costs-and-costs-and-costs/#comment-5121 The Bush administration does not need a presidential library; it needs a department of psychiatry. The Bush administration does not need a presidential library; it needs a department of psychiatry.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/03/war-costs-and-costs-and-costs.html#comment-5116 Anonymous Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:20:00 +0000 http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/03/war-costs-and-costs-and-costs/#comment-5116 It's difficult to decide how the Bush Admin will be viewed in history 20+ years from now, but I imagine we will have two easy choices which are the same choices we have today:<br/><br/>Mythomania is a condition involving compulsive lying by a person with no obvious motivation. The affected person might believe their lies to be truth, and may have to create elaborate myths to reconcile them with other facts.<br/>A pathological liar is someone who often embellishes his or her stories in a way that he or she believes will impress people. It may be that a pathological liar is different from a normal liar in that a pathological liar believes the lie he or she is telling to be true—at least in public—and is "playing" the role. He or she sometimes is seen to have a serious mental problem that needs to be rectified. It could also be that pathological liars know precisely what they are doing. "Pathological liar" is a synonym for symptoms. It’s difficult to decide how the Bush Admin will be viewed in history 20+ years from now, but I imagine we will have two easy choices which are the same choices we have today:

Mythomania is a condition involving compulsive lying by a person with no obvious motivation. The affected person might believe their lies to be truth, and may have to create elaborate myths to reconcile them with other facts.
A pathological liar is someone who often embellishes his or her stories in a way that he or she believes will impress people. It may be that a pathological liar is different from a normal liar in that a pathological liar believes the lie he or she is telling to be true—at least in public—and is “playing” the role. He or she sometimes is seen to have a serious mental problem that needs to be rectified. It could also be that pathological liars know precisely what they are doing. “Pathological liar” is a synonym for symptoms.

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