Rumor has it that AG John Ashcroft is planning on resigning in a few days. While Ashcroft has been effective, he’s been turned into a moonbat whipping boy, and the man has absolutely no sense of public relations. I always thought Frank Keating would have been the better choice for Bush in 2000, but history will judge Ashcroft far more gently than the vicious slurs that have been leveled against him. Ashcroft’s record on civil liberties is in many ways far less odious than Janet Reno’s (Elian, sneak-and-peak-warrants, Ruby Ridge, Waco, etc…) or the terrible Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-Disney). It’s unknown just how many major terrorist attacks have been foiled under his watch, but it’s more than one, which is why Ashcroft for all the controversy did his job and did it well.
Now, if Bush can get Guiliani to replace him, that would be perfect. Guiliani has a background in law enforcement (he was a prosecutor for many years), he’s got the guts to make some serious changes in our nation’s anti-terrorism programs, and he’s got sky-high approval ratings from both sides of the aisle. If he’d take the job, he’d be a natural for the position.
Here’s another good bet, the moderate (rational) conservative Colin Powell will leave early next year and be replaced by a neocon. According to an anonymous source inside the State Department, Condi Rice is likely to take Powell’s place and Wolfowitz will become National Security Advisor. It’s no secret that the driving forces in the Iraq war hate Powell, and Powell didn’t appreciate making a fool of himself in front of the UN when he showed all the WMDs Iraq supposedly had.
Jay, didn’t you say a few weeks ago that you thought conventional wisdom might be wrong and we’d invade Fallujah before the election? Hmmm…what a surprise we waited until after the election to take on such a risky mission.
You young, male pro-Bush people better hope the neocons don’t get their way and we go after Iran ’cause you’ll all become instant Liberals once the draft comes back. Either that or you’ll be learning the lyrics to “O Canada”.
Jay, What a great idea. You shoud e-mail your post to some decision makers! Isn’t it funny how the left has trouble with the concept of resolve. When Bush said “whatever it takes”, America cheered and validated his anti-terrorism doctrines on Tuesday. I for one hope and pray Iran is next, then Syria. Thankfully 51% of Americans knows what it takes to rid our world of terrorism.
Great Post.
Kelli, I hope you feel the same when you get your draft notice in the mail. Keep in mind, women are now eligible for the draft as well as men, and if we were to try to colonialize Iran and Syria as currently failing miserably at doing in Iraq, we would certainly need to institute the draft. It sure easy for armchair warriors to shout at the kid across the tracks that he needs to “defend America” by engaging in military operations designed to instill U.S. empire throughout the globe. It’ll be interesting to see if the shouters can offer more than just tough talk when Uncle Cheney, er Sam, calls on them.
I would just like to point out that while women are eligible for the draft, we do not have register for the selective service when we turn 18, also our country’s antiquated perceptions of sexuality still pervade places like the Department of Defense and the White House; so Mark, don’t hold your breath for women to be called up for the draft. Bush has spent too much time and money attempting to protect the Womenfolk from themselves to allow them to go to war and die. No, when the Iran war comes, and it will come, the men will go fight and die, and the women will all be at home, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, waiting for the men to return.
>> And Reality, I can personally assure you that Jay already knows all the words to “Oh, Canada”, and has sung that song proudly countless times.
Kari, there simply aren’t enough young males in America today to provide the troop support necessary for establishing American colonies throughout the Middle East. Women may not be registered for Selective Service, but don’t kid yourself, if more soldiers were required, all women between age 18-35 would be getting Selective Service cards in the mail in a matter of weeks. We could get away with an all-male military in Vietnam, thanks to their parents fertility. However, global domination will require far more soldiers that what our current military is prepared for, and more than could be filled by drafting only males between age 18 and 27. Women who are counting on walking around the house barefoot and pregnant while their men engage in bloody street fighting in Damascus will be in for an unpleasant surprise if current trends continue.
The only thing I can see putting the brakes on neocon imperialism is when it starts to seriously detract from the GOP’s corporate constituency. Sure, huge profits will continue to be made by war profiteers, but how about the Republican business owners losing their workforce to the imperialist cause? Expect one of two things to happen. Our itch to turn the Muslim world into America-lite will take too many workers away from their 60-hour-per-week, no-benefit, no-overtime, no-health care, non-union jobs and result in a ferocious outcry from their bosses to bring the cheap labor, er troops, home. Or the second scenario, which is probably more likely….the lack of young males (and probably females) able to work at home will help justify outsourcing more jobs to the Third World. I can hear it already…”We wanted to keep our plant here in Birmingham, but we just can’t find enough workers with our so many of our boys so courageously fighting overseas. So, regretably, we have to move our operations to China…” Oh well….when the soldiers return home wounded and permanently underemployed, at least they made their statement in the voting booth in 2004 that they hate gays. That’s the important thing!
Forgive Mark, he’s been reading too much Chomsky again. In fact, if I were to write a script to generate a torrent of lefty bullshit, it would look something like that.
By this time next year there will be enough Iraqi troops trained that they’ll be able to defend themselves. We’re going to take Fallujah, and probably soon. Once that’s done, the terrorists are going to start realizing this is a losing battle. Zarqawi is a dead man.
The whole problem with your analysis is that it’s based on pure bullshit. We don’t want to occupy Iraq any more than we wanted to occupy Germany or Japan. We’re already not occupying Iraq, we’re at the behest of Prime Minister Allawi and his sovereign government.
Iran will be free because of the student revolution there. The only way in which we might intervene is to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities before they can produce a weapon. That can be done in such a way as to generate plausible deniability.
The left completely missed the fall of Communism, and they’re missing the fall of Islamism as well…
Mark, I may not currently be in the military, but I would not exactly call myself an “armchair warrior”. My husband just spent 4 years in the Airforce, where he spent some time in Kuwait. My sister-in-law is currently flying in and out of Baghdad international transporting our wounded to Germany. Her husband has been over as a navigator many times the past 18 months. My brother fought in the infamous battle at the Kuwaiti airport in Gulf War I. My mother tried desperately to volunteer during the Kuwaiti War. And I can assure you, if the military came to me and said they desperately needed my expertise, I would gladly serve my country. For I will do anything now to finish this war on terrorism to its completion so that my 5 and 3 year old sons won’t have to face this challenge in 15-20 years. See that’s what parents do….We fight the hard fight now to secure our children’s future.
Thanks for asking.
“We’re already not occupying Iraq, we’re at the behest of Prime Minister Allawi and his sovereign government.”
Thanks for that line, Jay. I really needed a good laugh today.