Bush supporters' aftermath thread

You should consider a career in the theater

Very interesting self-parody.

Levity has its place. But here? About that? The facts are not in dispute.

Did some standup for a bit. That do?

But I'm frankly disgusted by each and every one of you, most particularly those of you who profess convergence with christian values, where you support those who have designed and carried out such a depraved policy as torture.

That's what makes "their" religion so confusing; they talk about good works and christian values, then go ahead and support a president that allows torture of prisoners. Any ten year old child would know this is wrong.

Hey cicerone - He said he was disgusted with each and everyone one of you, that includes you too.

Somehow I'll survive the ill regard of blatham, but I'm worried about you old buddy.

In the first place "torture" is your word, not their description of what may have been done.

In the second, even what is alleged by the critics of the Administration (and it may well be exaggerated) is far less, and involves far fewer people than (say) the political inhabitants of Castro's prisons in Cuba (or the treatment of prisoners in Notrthern Ireland during the '70s and '80s at the hands of the British government). Where is your indignation for that?

Finally your categorical condemnation of all who "support" the Administration and who also profess Christian values prejudges a great deal, revealing a degree of intolerance that should make you ashamed. No one here (to my knowledge) has condoned torture by anyone. If some are found to have generally supported a government that has later been found (if this is indeed the case) to have done such evils that does not make them the authors of the deed (unless you wish also to be disguisted with all Canadians because of the brutal treatment some of their soldiers on "peacekeeping dsuty" inflicted on their prisonmers a fewyears ago.) Moreover, the real world requires judgements about relative evils -- the issue you raise, if it is found to be true, may well not be determinative, given the many other factors involved.

george, Comparing Castro's prisons to US prisons as equivalent is stupid. We're supposed to be the country of laws and equality.

I don't know why you say that. They have existed for years, and they affect far more people, despite Cuba's relatively small size. The UK is certainly "supposed to be" like us. I have heard nothing whatever from Blatham about either of those.

The difference is Cuba is a dictatorship (for many decades), while the US is becoming one under Bush.

Cuba is a country of laws also.
And Cuiba is also,according to themselves,a country of equality also.

Castro's laws. He's a dictator, and their economy has been sinking for most of his citizens.

Here's an excerpt from a piece:

Yes, many viewers who harbor no sympathy for Castro may be drawn by his engaging side and may laugh or smile here and there, which, of course, does not mean that the documentary has changed their hearts and minds. What's important is the dramatic footage of the consummate caudillo in his twilight years, disingenuously invoking the constitutional limits on his power and the ''sense of duty'' that keeps him from stepping aside in favor of someone younger.

Power inevitably imposes a distance between those who wield it and the rest of us. If this is true for freely elected leaders, it is all the more so in the case of a man who has ruled unchecked for 45 years.

At the heart of Looking for Fidel is a most disturbing scene: Eight men who had been arrested for attempting to hijack a plane sit in the same room with Castro while Stone asks them questions. The scene offers a glimpse into the wretched contours of Castro's power. He strikes a pose of fairness, conjures the prospect of U.S. aggression and tells the men that he and Stone simply want to understand the ''psychological mechanisms'' that prompted their actions. The prisoners ascribe economic -- not political -- reasons to their foiled attempt, accept their culpability and plead for 30-year sentences instead of life imprisonment. The helplessness of the men before the Comandante -- whose mere presence constitutes psychological despotism -- sears the heart.

Stone can't possibly take the exchange at face value. He does, it seems, accept Castro's context for the crackdown against the dissidents: the United States' persistent threat to Cuba's sovereignty. In fact, Washington provided a facile excuse for repression last year through its intense outreach to the pro-democracy movement in the island.

The real context was internal. Since 2000, the regime has been paralyzed over what to do about the economy. Most in the leadership probably favor full-fledged reforms such as China's or Vietnam's. Castro, however, is against such gales of capitalism.

Having the United States as backdrop gives him a pretext to maintain a crisis atmosphere that cows reformers into line and diverts sound policymaking.

The reasons why so many Cubans want to emigrate, therefore, are not so easily pigeonholed. Castro's politics preempt the creation of opportunities at home that would likely allay some of the urgency to leave.

mm, Your analogy stinks.

I would like to think that we're all in agreement here that Castro is a communist dictator, but I'm not so sure....

Perhaps, but there are bound to be those among us who believe Castro is a good kind of dictator who only takes drastic steps because the Big Bad USA has been trying to destroy him for decades, and because his people, so sorely need his firm hand.

Contrast him with George W. Bush who is a bad kind of dictator who takes drastic steps just because it makes him feel good.

Shoulda been done long ago... destroy Castro that is. Kennedy must have cut some sort of deal that still stands, or Castro would not...

Blame it on Bush... right Finn....

Go south young man.

Sarcasm cj, try it (or at least try and understand it)

Finn- I am sure that you know that the reasons that the far left cannot condemn the sleazy and vile Castro are mainly two:

l. Some of the far left cannot give up thier conviction that Communism and radical Socialism could have worked if only........

2. Some of the far left are such vicious haters of the present administration that they reflexively defend anyone, no matter how corrupt, who denigrates the Bush Administration.

The Cubans in Florida can tell you what a brutal dictator Castro has been!

The Cubans in Florida are largely economic migrants who are there because the economy of Cuba has been throttled by.....????

I am very much afraid that you don't know a thing about Cubans in Florida, McTag. You never lived there. I have, Before you assume you know the economic circumstances of Cubans in Florida, you should read up--then provide a link. They are, on the whole, I assure you, much better off economically than the average Briton or don't you know the figures?

GDP per capita

USA- $40,010

United Kingdon $29,600

2004 RANK.


Oh yes, the CUBANS under Castro( the wonderful leader) have a GDP per person of $3,000.--2004 rankings


That is at least one reason why Cubans who wanted to find Economic Freedom risked their lives to come to the USA.

Hi there Morty, and a happy holiday to you.

You seem to have completely misunderstood my post, probably deliberately.