"donate some more money to Howard Dean."
We are. I've just returned from a Dean meet-up this evening (my 3rd and the largest yet--over 50 people). There were a few ex-McCain supporters there who like Dean and I talked to a veteran of Afghanistan (so not exactly flag-burning lefties). The conversation turned to Bush's remark and there was unanimous disgust that an American President would so carelessly invite attacks on American servicemen and women for nothing more than a soundbite or his own macho kicks.
Cheer up, Damien. I'm confident that millions of people still hear Wagner performed in concert every year. But if the average semi-musical man or woman thinks of it at all, "Ride of the Valkyries" probably does remind them of Apocalypse Now. Talk to the 124th Infantry Regiment if you're distressed by this use of Wagner. They chose the soundtrack.
The word has two meanings. You chose one of them to fit your view of things.
Since by choosing the least offensive definition of two, you're guilty of this, too; why should anyone accept your definition over Patrick's? If we must have a constitutional amendment to curb the armies of savage flag-burners that roam this great land, why not write it in language that avoids such ambiguities? Is it because the authors can't or won't? The latter, I'll bet. As usual, this congenitally dishonest administration is relying on semantic quibbling to sell its otherwise intellectually impoverished ideas.
for whom the distinction is frequently of overwhelming importance.
No, not really. :)
why finding WMDs in Iraq is not and never was the sole justification for the war
Perhaps not. But the "imminent threat" of Saddam Hussein's alleged WMDs was the most frequently voiced, indeed even the primary, reason given for the necessity of immediate belligerent action. The Bush League even stated that they knew where some of the WMDs were. Now the world is seeing just how hollow that "imminent threat" was.
But the looting of the museum was not, pace Messrs. Nielsen Hayden and Quiggen, deliberate policy.
The looting of the museum wasn't deliberate policy, except perhaps by a few looters. But no one--neither The Times story, nor Messrs. Nielsen Hayden and Quiggen--ever said it was. The Times story says that commanders urged "local residents to loot buildings belonging to the Iraqi Army and the ruling Baath Party" and it's not farfetched to believe that this encouragement emboldened some Iraqis to loot offices, hospitals, museums, and libraries as well.
That's the deliberate policy. Not encouraging looters to specifically loot museums. It's a fine point, but a pretty clear one.
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| 2003 | 7 |
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