Bob's Place

The Democrats are denying our troops the funds they need to finish their job by playing games like Friday's, when they tried to tie $50 billion in funding to massive troop withdrawals, beginning almost immediately.

The measure failed in the Senate by seven votes. But the question remains: Why would they do such a thing in a war America is on the verge of winning?

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 8:33 AM |

Is "waterboarding" torture? A vexing debate has raged over the question for several years now, but here's an Associated Press report from Monday that ought to settle the question once and for all:

Anti-war protesters are hoping a demonstration of waterboarding will convince a Senate committee to reject Attorney General-nominee Michael Mukasey (myoo-KAY'-zee).

Mukasey has repeatedly refused to say whether he considers the interrogation technique that simulates drowning a form of torture.

About 25 protesters set up the demonstration outside the Justice Department's headquarters. They poured water over the face of a volunteer as he lay on his back; he was reduced to retching coughs and tears in less than four minutes.

By the time of this demonstration, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein had already announced their support for Mukasey, which means his confirmation was assured. It is preposterous to call this procedure "torture" when people are willing to undergo it merely in order to make a futile political gesture.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 5:25 PM |

Legislation similar to this has come up repeatedly in Congress, yet it's always been defeated - in 2000, because of pressure from the Clinton administration. But if the resolution passes the House and Senate now, the Turks plan to evict us from Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey, to halt our military over-flight privileges and to shut down the supply routes into northern Iraq.

That's what the Democrats are aiming at. This resolution isn't about justice for the Armenians. Not this time. It's a stunningly devious attempt to impede our war effort in Iraq and force premature troop withdrawals.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 9:26 AM |

To take another example, on CNN the other night Anderson Cooper was worrying about the homicide rate in Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love is the murder capital of the nation, and CNN had dispatched a reporter to interview the grieving mother of a young black boy killed while riding his bicycle in the street. Apparently, a couple of cars had got backed up behind him, and an impatient passenger in one of them pulled out a gun and shot the kid. Anderson Cooper then went to commercials and, when he returned, introduced a report on how easy it is to buy guns in Philadelphia and how local politicians are reluctant to do anything about it. This is, again, an argument only the expert class could make. In the 1990s, the number of guns in America went up by 40 million, but the murder rate fell dramatically. If firearms availability were the determining factor, Vermont and Switzerland would have high murder rates. Yet in Montpelier or Geneva the solution to a boy carelessly bicycling in front of you down a city street when you're in a hurry is not to grab your gun and blow him away. It's the culture, not the technology.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 8:54 AM |

You can make 30 times as much money as doctors by becoming a trial lawyer suing doctors. You need no skills, no superior board scores, no decade of training and no sleepless residency. But you must have the morals of a drug dealer. (And the bank wire transfer number to the Democratic National Committee.)

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 8:03 AM |

Israel attacks a facility in Syria rumored to be a nuclear research facility and destroys it. Israel isn't talking much about this, but they've leaked just enough to start everyone else talking. Syria is denying that there was any such attack possibly because they don't want to lose face in the Mideast. But anyone who believes that country of peace, as Nancy Pelosi thinks of it, is too gullible to be commenting on foreign affairs.

# posted by Bob Taylor @ 8:31 AM |