Here is the original version of the editorial that ran on Op-Ed News. They had an exclusive for at least 48 hours on the pithier version – and it ran five days ago. Note the current status of the situation: 1. There is now a video that shows that Blackwater USA guards opened fire against civilians without provocation. 2. Blackwater is denying charges of arms smuggling. 3. Blackwater is back up and running in Iraq. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~…
Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld, Ms. Rice: We are America’s citizens. We are not defeatists. We are not pessimists. We are not appeasers. I don’t hear anyone arguing that the militant anti-USA movements in the middle east are not a threat. Not “Dean democrats,” not anyone. Many of us simply have come to believe that you back-alley players are the last people in America who should be making decisions on how to deal with that threat. You seem to escalate the…
I am very impressed with the Brits. Thank you, Lionheart, for protecting all those who fly between the U.K. and the U.S. Thank goodness there are still good minds working somewhere. Here’s an odd thing, though. I was out of town and I just happened to catch the President reacting to this situation by saying that we are “at war with Islamic Fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation.”…
The Christian Paradox (Harpers.org) Check out this excellent excerpt from Bill McKibben’s article in the August 2005 edition of Harper’s Magazine. The basic point is that although the overwhelming majority of Americans profess to be Christian, the USA is the least Christian in its behavior (compared to other “developed” nations). A few nuggets: “In 2004, as a share of our economy, we ranked second to last, after Italy, among developed countries in government foreign aid. Per capita we each provide…