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____________________________________ CHUCK MUTH�S NEWS & VIEWS May 5, 2004 To view the HTML version of today�s News & Views, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsandviews/nv.cfm _____________________________________ THE O�SPONGE-BOB FACTOR �(W)hile (Fox News�) �O'Reilly Factor� is the highest rated news program on cable, it averages 2.2 million viewers per episode��SpongeBob SquarePants� doubled that in a recent episode with more than 4.1 million viewers.� - The American Survey, 5/4/04 CARTOONIST UNPLUGGED & UNGLUED �...Mr. Tillman served an evil president and an evil cause. Anyone with an open mind after 9/11 could easily have learned the truth, that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq occured instead of a war on terror, not as part of one. A person who planned to risk his life in combat should reasonably be expected to dig a little deeper rather than to fall for Bush's transparent lies. We all judge each other, and while Tillman's decision to sacrifice millions of dollars for his beliefs is admirable, his belief that killing the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan had something to do with defending America was not. At best, Tillman was foolish and misguided. �Finally, it's time for troops who signed up post-9/11 to take a little personal responsibility. It's one thing for a career soldier to go where the politicians tell him or her to go, but quite another to join the military when the �president� is an illegal usurper occupying the White House, he's an out-of-control warmonger using the deaths in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania to promote a partisan political agenda and his wars are nothing more than grabs for control of oil and gas resources and pipeline routes.� - Ted Rall�s response to public outrage over his cartoon depicting Army Ranger Pat Tillman as an idiot, 5/3/04 (Editor�s Note: No, I�m not going to give out this jerk�s email address. He�s not worth the trouble...and it will only encourage him. But you can pretty easily find it with a simple google search.) MEASURED RESPONSE? �Shi�ite militiamen yesterday launched their most intense attacks to date on U.S. forces in Najaf, prompting a measured response from Americans who feared angering the nation�s Shi-ite majority.� - Associated Press, 5/4/04 MAJOR LEAGUE SNAFU IN FALLUJAH �U.S. military commanders think senior foreign fighters in Fallujah have escaped during the Marines' month-long siege that has produced an inconsistent allied war policy. Meanwhile, in southern Iraq, the U.S.-led coalition continues to come under deadly attacks from black-clad militiamen loyal to radical cleric Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr. Despite vowing to �capture or kill� the renegade sheik, the United States has refrained from using force against him or to launch an all-out assault on his Mahdi's Army. �...The U.S. mission around Fallujah has been marked by inconsistencies since early April, when the ambush and mutilation of four American contractors there spurred the Marines to begin an offensive to clear the town of militants. . . . The Marines had launched a full-bore operation to kill or capture the insurgents, only to see political pressure from the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council force Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top commander in Iraq, to stop the mission.� - Washington Times, 5/4/04 STARTING TO LOOK LIKE �NAM AFTER ALL? �As outrageous as it is...the abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war has not done half the damage to the allied cause as American dithering in Fallujah. . . . (W)hat has all the marks of debacle at Fallujah will have a more lasting effect because it suggests to the Iraqis and the Arab world beyond Iraq that the Americans may not be the tough guys everyone thought they were. This is a slander on the courage and competence of the U.S. military, but perception is reality in the Middle East as well as inside the Beltway. �The Iraqi perception of American resolve in Fallujah will inevitably be that when the going got tough, the Americans got going: Under the pressure of an approaching election, the Bush administration surrendered the city� �(Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers) and his men on the ground are not at fault for SNAFU in Fallujah. This Vietnamization of the Iraqi strategy...is a war strategy that could only have been born in a Republican White House. Richard Nixon's Christmas bombing of Haiphong put the North Vietnamese on the run in 1969. And then, in a fit of deadly compassion, the White House stopped it. The rest is shameful history. �...The soldiers and Marines in Iraq, and the cause they were sent 10,000 miles from home to fight for, deserve better than a SNAFU like this. Much better. George W. Bush can be grateful to the gods, if not to God, that he's running for re-election against John Kerry. A credible Democratic alternative might ride the Fallujah foul-up right up Pennsylvania Avenue.� - Wesley Pruden, Pruden On Politics, 5/4/04 SURVEY SAYS! Do you think U.S. actions in Iraq are still going in the right direction? * Yes * No * I�m a Kerry Democrat...Yes AND No Cast your vote by clicking the �Survey Says!� tab at www.citizenoutreach.com WHY NO ONE TAKES LIBERTARIANS SERIOUSLY As you can see, all�s not quiet on the Iraqi front. Things aren�t looking good right now. But the solution isn�t to hoist the French battle flag (the white one), tuck our tails between our legs and skedaddle on home. The solution - and I can�t believe this nation�s political leaders STILL haven�t figured this out since Vietnam - is to WIN by CRUSHING the enemy...period. Our military knows how to do it; it�s what they�re trained to do and they�re the best in the business. If this is war - and it is - then cut the dogs loose; �international opinion� be damned. Or we can follow the advice of the Libertarian Party: �The growing turmoil over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners has demonized the United States and doomed the U.S. mission to failure and the best solution is to bring American troops home as soon as possible,� the LP says in a press release on Tuesday. "It's time for U.S. politicians to pull the plug on their latest Frankenstein-like experiment in nation-building," said Joseph Seehusen, Libertarian Party executive director. As long as the LP sounds like a Howard Dean/Jacque Chirac echo, Americans who understand that the federal government has a legitimate responsibility for national defense - which includes killing bad guys before they kill us - no one will give their otherwise laudable positions on domestic issues the time of day. And rightfully so. Surrender, retreat and appeasement are not rational policy positions for the United States of America. It�s no wonder Libertarians can�t get their candidates elected. CALYPSO LOUIE CHIRPS UP Black racist Louis Farrakhan tried to excuse Saddam Hussein�s mass graves at a National Press Club audience yesterday, saying �there is no leader who has not at some time killed some members of his own country.� To buttress his claim, he pointed to Janet Reno�s storming of a church in Waco, Texas, which left dozens of Americans incinerated. As inexcusable as Clinton/Reno�s actions were, they hardly equate to the atrocities systematically committed by Hussein. Farrakhan is a jackass. MORAN�S GUN GRAB Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) - the guy who beat up an 8-year black kid in a parking lot a couple years ago - has introduced a new gun control bill, calling for a ban on .50-caliber rifles, saying terrorists are obtaining them as his excuse du jour. Our response would be, if terrorists have .50-caliber weapons (legally or not) to use against ordinary Americans, shouldn�t ordinary Americans be allowed to have them in self-defense? Duh. BE IT RESOLVED� �A resolution that will be considered by the Southern Baptist Convention next month calls on the millions of members of the denomination to pull their kids out of government schools and either homeschool them or send them to Christian schools.� - WorldNetDaily.com, 5/4/04 TOLD YOU SO... �There are always two sides to a story and one should not be overly zealous to prejudge,� Sharyland Assistant Superintendent Rene Reyna wrote to me in an email shortly after yesterday�s Brushfire Alert hit the �net. �You can't always believe what you read in the newspaper.� Remember newspaper companies are there to sell papers.� Unfortunately, sometimes at the expense of the innocent.� She then sent a follow-up email which read: �Apparently, you only know half the story. Open link below and read The Monitor's retraction story. Apparently you didn't do the research before you acted.� See. Didn�t I tell you this was EXACTLY what was going to happen? These bureaucrats are SO predictable. By the way, I never saw the Monitor story...nor its retraction. We picked up the story from the Associated Press. And the retraction was supposedly over Ms. Reyna saying the school was banning brown-bag lunches...which is NOT what we said. We only reported on the ban on SHARING snacks and sandwiches with other kids. Which is true. It was taken directly from the letter the superintendent sent home to parents. Boy, these people sure hate getting caught with their pants down, don�t they? Way to stir �em up, gang. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chuck Muth�s News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a non-partisan, 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. 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