I missed the original post but that's an impressive refutation, thank you. I have developed a sort of left-handed affection for Sam because he does process information well when he tries -- the problem is the stuff he feeds his brain imho.
It's a shame we don't hear from you more often. I found this witty and informative. Dana On 12/2/05, Paul Vernon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Sam [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: 02 December 2005 22:32 > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: fun weekend reading > > Ok, I'll bite. I don't comment on this subject very often but this article > is supreme in its inaccuracies, as it blithely repaints world history in a > way that suits the author. Hello? Biased article anyone? > > > There is no doubt President Bush is now a captive of the > > press, which loudly proclaims he "is on the ropes." > > No doubt. I'm sure. > > > Katrina was supposedly mishandled; his choice of Harriet > > Miers for the Supreme Court failed to win support; his Social > > Security plan for personal accounts has been shelved; a > > senior staffer has been indicted for perjury; even his > > liberal plan for Medicare drug benefits is ridiculed. > > > > His personal popularity is quite low, at least according to the polls. > > And perhaps most important, our soldiers continue dying in > > Iraq. But except for the latter, these ranklings are petty > > partisan attacks traditional for second-term administrations. > > I can't really comment on these items as they are internal American > affairs > and I believe we don't get half as much coverage of this as we should to > be > able to form an informed opinion of this in the UK. > > That said, I lived in Jacksonville, FL and Lexington, KY for a while so I > did get a better insight into the American psyche than most Europeans > have. > My personal opinion FWIW is that President Bush, even before he was > President scared me, I thought he was a man with an itchy trigger > finger... > > Although provoked by the terrivble acts of 9/11, I believe that the > response > that America and her allies has taken since then has been misjudged, > misguided and poorly executed. This is not to say that the forces of the > countries involved are doing a poor job. In fact I believe they are > performing an exemplary job (and coping with a few bad apples does not > help > the task that they have). It's just a shame that the respective > administrations of the forces that are deployed are making such a hash of > the politics. > > > But the important aspect of these attacks is that, in > > coordination with left-wing Democrats, including former > > President Clinton, the media have created a maniacal > > Bush-bashing aimed at having America lose the war, and with > > it our traditional ability to guide the world toward a better future. > > Wow, that is one of the most arrogant statements I have ever read. I hate > to > say it but the "American way" is not always the "best" way, and before > anyone starts, no I am not America or Bush bashing..... Have we not learnt > anything from history??? > > We have to be so careful that we as the western world do not get mired > down > in the sort of infighting and agenda promoting behaviour that > retrospectively lead to both World War 1 and World War 2. Lets face it, > none > of the problems were solved that caused either war, and at the end of > both, > the "victors" got to dictate the terms on which half of Europe and quite a > lot of the rest of the world got to live. > > In Europe, we are still recovering from the effects of these two major > wars > especially in areas like the balkan states which after the breakdown of > the > dictatorship that held several of these together during the cold war fell > back into the same race/religion based fighting that initially started > WW1. > > We as the western world are still making the same mistakes and whilst we > are > reading and producing documents that have the attitude that is so > blatantly > on display in this single paragragh, we are doomed to carry on making > them. > This is why hundreds, thousands and eventually 10's of thousands of our > soldiers will die in Iraq. > > As far as I can remember from my history lessons and from what I see > today, > we have made very little progress in the way our world has developed in > the > last century. Some of these political cartoons from 100 years ago wouldn't > look out of place in the major national press of today. It's sad, but > true. > > http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/redscare/IMAGES_LG/Old_Channel.gif > > http://history.acusd.edu/cdr2/WW1Pics/83831.jpg > > http://history.acusd.edu/cdr2/WW1Pics/81477.GIF > > > http://dev.contactdesigns.com/teachushistory.com/htdocs/uploaded/tiedup.jpg > > > http://www.authentichistory.com/images/ww1/cartoons/league_of_nations_11.jpg > > > Fortunately, history isn't written by typically impatient, > > unwise and biased journalists. If history is a guide, their > > opinions are nearly perfect contrary indicators of eventual reality. > > It's seems to me that history gets written by impatient, unwise and biased > polititians. Looking back at the articles of their times that survive, > they > are insightful, accurate and generally unbiased. Afterall, an unbiased > view > of history is is what the historians try to preserve isn't it? It's > certainly what I was taught to do in my document research and writings. > > > The reality is that America - and specifically President Bush > > - is winning one of the great contests of all time, World War > > IV, the fight by the civilized secular world against Muslim > > extremism, the last repository of fascism. > > Come off it! This is a joke right? Have you not seen the carnage that is > being wrought out there? Do you not see how much of a joke the rest of the > world see's America as right now. It's not because America and her allies > are in Iraq, it's because of the underhand way in which America, the UK > and > a handful of other countries forced this war through and the damn poor way > in which it is being handled by the powers that be. The fallout from this > whole debacle has yet to begin. > > > History continues to prove contemporary journalism always > > wrong. It rated Harry S. Truman as a boorish Missourian > > living in the shadow of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won World > > War II. Truman, hopelessly unpopular when he left office, has > > since been re-evaluated by history into the upper tier of > > presidents, having stopped the communists in Korea, and > > created NATO and the Marshall Plan that saved Europe. > > I don't recall America doing this all by itself.... What mention of the > Allied Invasion force that began the reclamation of Europe on D-Day? Or > maybe the Royal Air Force that kept Britain free from German invasion when > they were vastly outmanned and outgunned? Without this particular act, > there > would have been no "foothold" in Europe, no springboard from which to > launch > such a massive counter attack on D-Day. My Grandfather was a British > paratrooper throughout the war. He was there on D-Day and within 3 months, > he was fighting in Arnhem. I think it's fair to say that he played his > part > in the liberation of Europe without being a soldier in the US Army. > > > Ronald Reagan was another whipping boy of the press, > > caricatured as an actor of no substance who slept at Cabinet > > meetings. He even left office under the cloud of Iran-Contra. > > > > The historical reality? Reagan spread the word of democratic > > capitalism and the free market, today the golden standard for > > nation behavior, throughout the globe. And, of course, he won > > the Cold War, actually Word War III. Today, Reagan already > > resides alongside Truman in the pantheon of the greats and > > near-greats of the American presidency. > > Ok, so who actually started the talking between the Soviets and the US? Oh > yeah, Margaret Thatcher! She met with President Gorbachev > (http://www.mikhailgorbachev.org/) and is famously quoted as saying "We > can > do business with this man" > (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/26/sun.04.html). The British > involvement in this process was crucial and fundamental in brokering a > relationship between the east and west. > > Please don't kid yourself that Ronald Reagan and the American policy > brought > about the end of the Soviet Union. President Gorbachev knew the economic > engine of the communist regime had been plundered over the years by > corrupt > officials. He knew that there wasn't much time to save his nation and > those > that made up the Soviet block. He knew it could all fall into civil > unrest, > civil war and eventually a continental war across Europe. He was the one > that initiated the process of communication. No matter how much you > believe > that American policy, CIA and other organisational involvement were > instrumental in the fall of the Soviet block it is not true. The greed of > the Soviet elite is the main factor in the fall of the Soviet block. End > of > story. > > > World War IV is the final worldwide conflict that must be > > resolved in the West's favor, with America - unfortunately - > > forced to carry the major burden while Europe sleeps. > > Hello? What about the Polish, British, Italian, Ukranian, Georgian, > Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian troops? And lets face it, France can't > fight > for toffee and even Google had a swipe at them > > http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blpic-frenchmilitaryvictories > ..htm, so do you really want their help? > > As for points 1 though 9 and the use of "World War IV" thoughout the > article > - quite simply, all I have to say about that is ..... What a load of old > b0ll0x! > > Paul > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:185615 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
