WERE YOU IN THE SERVICE, SON?
In the cultural milieu of The United States, is past
military service a pre-requisite for the Presidency? An interesting
albeit old article from the Grey Lady examines this issue and brings up
some far-reaching questions.
Is the expectation of past
military service from our candidates an indication of our romantic
obsession with war? Or is it perhaps an insidious, subconscious affirmation
that the military-industrial complex has come to dominate our political
system? Are we afraid to be
led by someone who has not borne arms in defense of our nation? Should we
be? Are we losing
perspective on the importance
of military service?
Duran Duran was neither a “Duran” nor a “Duran”. Discuss.
Lifting Executive Ban on Offshore Drilling and stealing ideas
I wondered why the president lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling when it's the Congressional ban that has to be reversed before any drilling can be done. As the speculation-prevention bill moved through Congress and the price of oil began to drop, the reason became apparent: the right-wing echo chamber bayed that the drop was caused by the president lifting the ban imposed by his father. I guess the Congressional action has no effect.
Also, Rush Limbaugh has stolen the Lionel Show's technique of looping together pause fillers in Bush's conversations for use against Barak Obama, and played the tape of Barak's alleged "ers", "uhs", "ahs" and pauses during his 7/22/08 press conference several times during the Tuesday, 7/22/08 broadcast, with the claim that they added up to 3 minutes. Of course, he did not attribute credit to the originators of the idea.
Keep up the good work, Lionel!
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By rbriggs231July 23, 2008 - 3:26pm