how to win friends and allies

Exactly, Bill . . . let me refer you back to this:

Rats, did I forget to take a breath before I made my last statement. Setanta, does that negate my tought forever - or do I need someone to now come in and make it for me? I guess we could come up with a candidate - hee, hee, hee!

I'll call Rove . . . breathe normally, Bill, but don't let the press catch you doin' it, 'k?

'k, gotch ya boss! No press down these dark allies!

The Bush Administration Worldview:

The U.N. is irrelevant, Germany's irrelevant, France is irrelevant,

Russia's irrelevant, China's irrelevant, Indonesia's irrelevant,

Spain's irrelevant, Italy's irrelevant, NATO's irrelevant, Japan's

irrelevant, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark are irrelevant,

Ireland's irrelevant, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and all

mediterranean countries are irrelevant, The Balkans are irrelevant,

the Arab league and all Arab countries are irrelevant, Malaysia,

Singapore, Cambodia, Viet Nam, and all adjacent countries are

irrelevant, all them African countries are irrelevant, all them

Carribean Islands and itty bitty countries are irrelevant,

Argentina's irrelevant, Brazil's irrelevant, Mexico's irrelevant,

all them other Spanish-speaking banana countries are irrelevant

any of those other little countries here and there are all irrelevant.

North and South Korea aren't relevant (not right now, we're too busy)

Texas is relevant
Israel is relevant
England, Canada, and Australia are relevant (sometimes)

Democrats - irrelevant

them what agrees with me is relevant, them what don't is stupid.

Poets are irrelevant

BillW: I can't let those dark allies go by. Inspired!

Maybe Rummy got pleasantly used to his brief moment as a star, but public figures are not private figures. They are an should be treated as public. Wasn't it caesar's wife who should be above reproach? I can't remember why, though.

perception is often myopic

mama j: you do know that Rummy has oftened been refered to as Dr StrangeLove.

"Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)

Dr. Strangelove (an eccentric, wheel-chair bound German scientist, a Presidential advisor - similar to real-life Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger, who has an uncontrollable mechanical hand that involuntarily makes Nazi salutes and threatens homicide)" - Peter Sellers

http://www.filmsite.org/drst.html

Secretary Rumsfeld's actual remarks on both the draft and on the recent objections of France & Germany, as they were quoted in the press, are neither inaccurate nor offensive to anyone who is not actively looking for a reason to be offended.

He did not say that he was "profoundly vexed" with France as did the French Foreign Minister in regards to the United States. He said the positions taken by France and Germany are a problem for us. Is that not self-evident? The reference to the center of gravity in Europe and NATO shifting eastwards is likewise obvious and reflective of the actual state of ongoing relationships within NATO and in regards to Iraq. Describing France & Germany as "Old Europe" did not appear to be necessary, but I will leave it to him to determine if it was justified in view of the other communications that no doubt preceeded it.

The issues surrounding Iraq are serious indeed as are the evident preparations of the United States for war. The continued trouble-making of France and germany on this matter do not (at least to me) appear to be justified by any commensurate values or principles). This is no time for vacillation in the face of the anxiety and posturing of self-serving and duplicitous allies. Rumsfelt was most likely entirely justified in his remarks.

george - of course, that is your opinion - which of course, I sincerely disagree with in almost their entirety. There will be a considerable amount of fence mending to be started in two years and it will take a long time to fix; but unfortunately, not as long as it will take to fix an economy that will be left in a shamble so servere it will be compared to the Great Depression, IMHO!

You got yours, I got mine!

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20030110-014110-7787r.htm


"We're not going to re-implement a draft," he said Tuesday. "There is no need for it at all."
He spoke of the fact that many of those who were drafted were trained, served for a short time and then left the service.
Rumsfeld first referred to the many exemptions issued to certain men in the draft and then said, "what was left was sucked into the intake, trained for a period of months, and then went out, adding no value, no advantage, really, to the United States armed services over any sustained period of time, because the churning that took place, it took enormous amount of effort in terms of training, and then they were gone."
-An awfully insensitive and cheeky comment about men who fought and died in Vietnam, from our Secretary of Defense. I don't think I'm as upset about what he said, as I am that his mentality didn't just naturally edit such an asinine remark.

Insensitive and cheeky? Arrogance is what's been showing up more and more. Arrogance is when you think you are better than anyone else, and no one else matters. And arrogance is connected with hubris.

BillW - and Slim Pickens riding down on that bomb!

And why are France and Germany self-serving and duplicitous? Because they don't go along with the single-minded George? Apparently there are many who feel the same way, but France and Germany have spoken out. Georgeob, you say that Rumsfeld was most likely entirely justified in his remarks? Why? Based on what definite and clear evidence? Rumsfeld's sayso doesn't make it any more true than those who argue another side. And then. too, we have an occasional (although getting rarer) differing view from Colin Powell, whose saysos are just as valid.

The view on this undeclared war is getting murkier, not clearer.

mama j-slim pickens on the bomb, I looked all over for that picture to post here. We're just repeating history, going nowhere and getting there fast!

Excellent point, Boss, the pressures of the current situation are revealing a good deal more about the current administration than we might normally have been shown.

"How to Lose Friends and Influence Nobody":

"Basing world policy on one well-contained potential prolifieration hotspot is not 'doing something for world peace' any more than attacking affirmative action is 'doing something about race relations' or than giving tax breaks to rich friends is 'doing something about the economy,' or than rounding up Muslims is 'doing something about terrorism.' .... The transparency of their thinly disguised motives would be laughable if they weren't so dangerous."

Democratic Underground

**Partisan Alert** (click at the risk of experiencing pungent opinion without apology...consider yourself warned...)

Read in today's paper (NYT) that Bush personally has begun to be a thorn - particularly his habit of jabbing his finger.

It does seem that it you are in a posiion of being a world leader, the world should rightly expect that you are a leader, versed in things of the world. And that is more and more what is openly appearing. Never mind the verbal gaffes, or the cowboy boots - what is clearer and clearer is that there is almost a schoolboy disdain for whatever does not affect the closed Bush coterie - either here or abroad. A lack of experience and just plain international courtesy is showing up. These are not endearing traits, nor are they leadership ones.

Here's the article you cite, ma, and an excerpt:

"Terrorists are a hundred times more likely to obtain a weapon of mass destruction from Pakistan than from Iraq," one senior European official said, not permitting a reporter to identify even his nationality because tensions with Washington are so high. "North Korea is far more likely to sell whatever it's got. But can we say this in public? Can we have a real debate about priorities? Not with George Bush."

To Some in Europe, the Major Problem Is Bush the Cowboy