The Iraq invasion was murder on an industrial scale, was counter to our interests, broke the budget, has handicapped our ability to defend ourselves, and remains to this day unjustified on even the crassest of levels.
It's the worst crime of the last decade and a crime against the peace the likes of which politicians and officers have hanged in the past and should hang today. No amount of good works can absolve anyone of such a monstrous crime.
Closing Guantanamo was one of the first things Obama attempted after the election. Needless to say, he was blocked in Congress.
What was obvious from the beginning was that gitmo was a legal and moral nightmare that would ultimately hurt efforts to combat terrorism and would hamper all future presidents until it was closed. Obama needs to get off his butt and close it anyway, just for the sake of his successor.
There were lots of individual decisions during that period that spun America on the wrong track. The study of dynamical systems shows that in a supposedly stable equilibrium there are sometimes moments where a tiny nudge can shift the system into chaos and even towards a completely different region of stability. After 9/11, American society was susceptible to a bit of nudging, but they didn't have to nudge.
Don't absolve Sensenbrenner because his opponents failed to stop him. Circumstances put him in a position of great power and he immediately abused it. He could just as easily have done something great for America.
I think it's mostly just this guy. It's a possible tell that he has not learned his lesson. The PATRIOT act was his love letter to the intelligence services disguised as a response to 9/11. All he's doing is getting the band back together to slide another one by on the back of a catchy name and the latest scare.
Iraq was invaded because they were told they would be invaded? That's some sound logic and some nice passive voice, too. BTW, you may not remember, but they complied with UN inspectors.
My guess it's something everyone does as a matter of course. In the normal course of things, German security finds out, they get egg on their face for letting it go on so long, Angela Merkel yells at Obama and Obama backs off. End of story until the next time and it all happens behind closed doors.
The problem for *both* sides is that this time it got played out in the papers.
Slashdot Mirror
The bit with the ferries is one of the scariest scenes in awhile, IMHO.
Don't forget the video game, also written by Douglas Adams.
Wars of aggression are crimes against the peace, and the sentence is usually life in prison or death. That's as it should be. It's pretty simple.
The Iraq invasion was murder on an industrial scale, was counter to our interests, broke the budget, has handicapped our ability to defend ourselves, and remains to this day unjustified on even the crassest of levels.
It's the worst crime of the last decade and a crime against the peace the likes of which politicians and officers have hanged in the past and should hang today. No amount of good works can absolve anyone of such a monstrous crime.
Closing Guantanamo was one of the first things Obama attempted after the election. Needless to say, he was blocked in Congress.
What was obvious from the beginning was that gitmo was a legal and moral nightmare that would ultimately hurt efforts to combat terrorism and would hamper all future presidents until it was closed. Obama needs to get off his butt and close it anyway, just for the sake of his successor.
Are you just typing your daydreams?
There were lots of individual decisions during that period that spun America on the wrong track. The study of dynamical systems shows that in a supposedly stable equilibrium there are sometimes moments where a tiny nudge can shift the system into chaos and even towards a completely different region of stability. After 9/11, American society was susceptible to a bit of nudging, but they didn't have to nudge.
Don't absolve Sensenbrenner because his opponents failed to stop him. Circumstances put him in a position of great power and he immediately abused it. He could just as easily have done something great for America.
I hope they knew their lives were wasted before the end.
I think it's mostly just this guy. It's a possible tell that he has not learned his lesson. The PATRIOT act was his love letter to the intelligence services disguised as a response to 9/11. All he's doing is getting the band back together to slide another one by on the back of a catchy name and the latest scare.
And at the same time is a huge headache for employers.
OK, basic logic time. Absence of evidence during a three minute slice of a two-week period is not evidence for absence.
Full transcript of his speech only a couple of days after the attack.
I've never read a post quite so lacking in historical awareness.
Iraq was invaded because they were told they would be invaded? That's some sound logic and some nice passive voice, too. BTW, you may not remember, but they complied with UN inspectors.
Do you remember any heads rolling in the admin because of that? I sure don't.
I do remember Bush jokingly looking behind some curtains for the WMDs. Hyuk hyuk. What a kidder.
My guess it's something everyone does as a matter of course. In the normal course of things, German security finds out, they get egg on their face for letting it go on so long, Angela Merkel yells at Obama and Obama backs off. End of story until the next time and it all happens behind closed doors.
The problem for *both* sides is that this time it got played out in the papers.
Which, sadly, is par for the course for recent presidents except for Carter, but most people don't think he was a good president.
Americans on average want a folksy, likeable, confident, dominant, stone-cold killer for president.
There's also just politics. The president isn't a dictator and doesn't get everything he wants. Lastly, sometimes a man changes his minds.
> If you like your doctor you can keep him.
Broken promise.
> If you like your insurance you can keep it.
Broken promise.
> My administration will be the most transparent ever.
Broken promise.
> This is the moment when the rise of the oceans began to stop video [youtube.com]
Vague, too soon to tell.
> Gitmo will close by the end of my first term.
Broken promise. He actually tried and was blocked.
> The average family of four will see their health insurance lower by $2500 a year.
Too soon to tell. (It's true for my family, though)
> If we pass my stimilus the unemployment won't go over 8%.
Broken optimistic promise. Of course, we didn't get the stimulus he initially proposed.
> The US is the country that invented the automobile video [youtube.com]
A lie maybe, but it's probably just a mistake.
> What you are not seeing with the NSA spying is abuses of their abilities.
His cover for the NSA is egregious, though hardly surprising, and I don't think anyone here is in denial about it.
> via Clapper... The NSA is not spying on millions of Americans
More egregious NSA lying, but he isn't Obama.
> I did call the attack on Benghazi a terrorist attack right from the beginning.
This one's not a lie.
I wonder if they're going to try to pull a 'Morsi' on us.
Stiiiiiiilll not following you.
I use the DOS version, mostly, but it's getting harder to find ribbons for my Epson dot matrix. I haven't found any features yet that I miss.
Office 97 was buggy as all hell. Anyone else get the Red X of death on your images? Images in general were an absolute joke.
In other words, TED is stupid. This is known.
Essential services are still operating.
Are suggesting we don't start taxing people until 4 weeks after conception? I think you may be on to a reasonable compromise.
Healthcare is a minor problem compared to developing a viable business plan.
That depends on your situation, don't it?