Songs and Poems are Needed Again

We need to bring back some of the poems and songs of previous wars - lest we forget the awfulness of what has gone on before - and is going on now. "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it" - like shrubs who do not read history and those who think they can do better than real warriors and military strategists.

I was doing the NYT puzzle and one clue led me to this poem - the Latin title is from Horace and can be translated as "it is sweet and appropriate to die for your country." Let those who agree with Horace trade places with our children in Iraq.

Dulce et Decorum Est
by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! —An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, —
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Owning up to responsibility

We have a government where seemingly the worse you do your job - the higher the praise and maybe you even get a medal of "honor." Hmmm. Rice now admits to making "thousands" of errors in Iraq. Will anyone be held responsible? Nope - not unless we vote them out.

Is this administration creating a national culture of irresponsibility? A world-wide culture of irresponsibility? I think so. Add to that this new power of "pre-emptive" war....and we have a new world/country concept of "get them first and get away with it!"

Recently I was hit by a hot/run driver. My dog and I are okay - the car is not. It gave me pause for thought. Have we seen an increase in this kind of crime since the invasion of Iraq? Are there more "senseless" murders since the invasion of Iraq?

I think I shall start doing some research. When the alleged head of the country goes on a PR spree telling the world he was correct to invade Iraq, spy on Americans and ruin the economy - all in the name of "get em first" I think he is setting a very bad example - and one that WILL be emulated by others - by people here and by other countries. Why? He has done all this without taking any responsibility for it's aftermath. He sees himself as above any law and he will keep acting like this.

So he will continue to be an example of "get em first and take no responsibility for the aftermath" and he will act surprised that others copy this new format of behavior - afterall in his mind he is the only one allowed to act this way....

Off to do some research.

Silly me

Can anyone tell me who we are killing in Iraq right now? Do the our children there [aka troops] know who is an "enemy?" Or do they just shoot who they are ordered to shoot?

From today's news: "Politicians from Iraq's Shi'ite majority accused U.S. troops of massacring 20 worshippers at a Baghdad mosque on Sunday but police and residents said many died in clashes between Shi'ite militia fighters and Americans."

From my point of view we seem to be killing Iraqis at will who happen to be in a place we want. Or in a place the Iraqis in power want?

We did what we said we were going to do [WMD] ...even did the follow up lies [capture Hussein] ... so now we need to get out - you can't force a democracy at gunpoint and you certainly can't say you are promoting democracy "there" when you undermine it here by lying, cheating. stealing and tramping on constitutional rights....

Censure the shrub - impeach the shrub - but as the bumper sticker notes - impeach cheney first

You gotta be kidding! Right?

These statements from the deluded person in the W.H. My comments in []

"We're making progress because we've got a strategy for victory." [Huh? Not even a logical statement.]

"And we're making progress, because the men and women of the United States military are showing magnificent courage." [So courage of the troops is the definition of progress?]

"And no question that the enemy has tried to spread sectarian violence." [Yes shrub - you- the enemy are spreading violence.]

"They use violence as a tool to do that. You know, they're willing to kill innocent people." [Yes shrub you are willing to kill innocent people - so YOU are the enemy.]

"This [Iran] is a country that is walking away from international accords. They're not heading toward the international accords. They're not welcoming the international inspections or safeguard measures that they had agreed to." [and under shrub so have we- watch for more lies about Iran]

[Still lying]: "And the world said, "Disarm, disclose or face serious consequences." And therefore, we worked with the world. We worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world." [Hello shrub- he did disarm -remember no WMD were found!]

"And when he chose to deny the inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did. And the world is safer for it.: [again DUH- the inspectors WERE THERE - until shrub had them removed and the world is NOT safer- look at the statistics]

"I say that I'm talking realistically to people." [and I say you are a deluded - in my profession people who have a "different" reality get a psychiatric diagnosis from the DSM IV]

"We have a plan for victory, and it's important we achieve that plan ... First of all, this is a global war on terror, and Iraq is a part of the war on terror." [give me a break - if you have a plan it's invisible - like Nixon's]

"Mr. Zarqawi and al Qaeda, the very same people that attacked the United States, have made it clear that they want to drive us out of Iraq so they can plan, plot and attack America again." [Uh Mr shrub- they weren't in Iraq until you invited them to go there. And if this is your criteria why don't you bomb Saudi Arabia?]

"That's what they have said. That's their objective." [Well Osama said he wanted to bankrupt us - and you know what? You are doing just that!]

"I think it is very important to have a president who's realistic and listens to what the enemy says." [ I agree with this and that's why you must NOT be the president- you are deluded and you do not listen.]

"Democracies don't war." [well he's getting more truthful - since we are at war we can not then be a democracy - and he's working very hard to turn us away from democracy - and unfortunately the congress is helping him]

What king shrub hath wrought : (

King shrub, in his infinite assininity and desire to bomb the hell out of anyone he does not like, has created a world where anger, killing and disregard for life are now becoming the norms.

If you were Iran or North Korea and you see what chaos he has created in Iraq - well you would worry and stockpile weapons - and be very ready to use them. Fighting back and beating up on them are the only behaviors bullies understand. And if others get hurt in this mess - well the shrub calls it "unfortunate." And if it creates more terrorists - well he'll just go bomb the hell out of them - except if they are in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the UAE or Saudi Arabia. ["can't make our friends mad when we go after terrists."]

Now we have pre-emption as a good idea. Does that mean anyone with a gun or weapon who feels "threatened" can go attack? Seems so. Why not - if it's a good enough policy for the king - it must be good for all else.

I'm so glad shrub worships a different god than I - his gods are greed, corporations and corruption. Anyone following this person and saying he is religious is deluded. They are also dangerous cultists and they are 36% of our population. They do not read - they do not think and they are becoming more dangerous as they keep supporting their cult leader and blindly following his dictates.