“...I look up Molly’s latest and feel at least a little bit better, knowing that someone has the courage to tell it like it is…”

really?

when was the last time you heard her mention oil and the real reason we are occupying Iraq?

have you EVER heard her mention coveting, lying, murdering, and stealing as related to the Bush administration?

No; and you won’t. She might have a lot of courage, but when it comes to risking big bucks for book contracts, she is no heroine; no dummy either . . . she gets rich and doesn’t ever have to risk anything because she never tells the truth about it, just nitpicks and never gets to the real issues, which are about what happens if we DON’T steal Iraq’s oil.

This is tragic, especially in light of the fact that we’re doing this secretly under the strong influence of Israel.  If we’re going to commit ourselves to a long war in the Middle East, we should at least allow the American people to evaluate the reasons honestly and determine whether it’s something we want to undertake, rather than masking it under fear and terror-mongering.

Sam, have you stopped to consider that the reason a terrorist attack is likely when, not if, is because we’re so busy stomping our big feet around in the Middle East?  I might suggest you check out a recent working paper from Harvard called “Israel and U.S. Foreign Policy” (PDF warning)—lengthy but good analysis of what our real interests in the Middle East are. 

Maybe if we minded our own business and let the Arabs and Israelis work out their struggle on their own, the Arab hatred of our policies would simmer down and we’d not be in this mess.

And to answer your question, the part of the Democratic Party platform that would help protect us against terrorism is DIPLOMACY, not unilateralism.

Bush keeps talking about staying the course which would be more acceptable if on the fron lines we actually saw Bushes,Cheneys,Rummys,Perles,Kristols,Wolfowitzs and members the whole neo con families

Well I don’t know how one wages a 10 year war when their term is up in 3, republican led congress might be out then too and I think it probably will.  If we were to fix this let’s start by not threatening to invade without at least a popular vote, people fear that this will escalate into a 3rd world conventional war.  The president exercises these emergency powers intended to aid the country in dealing with crises, he has to be ready to give those up to preserve the seperation of powers which makes our country work, been three years.  I hope Bush doesn’t declare the next election postphoned for reasons of terrorism.

“Kook Conspiricist”? Okay buthole. We will see. “Open, honest debate” is not possible in the current political enviorment. People have screamed their heads off in protest. Newspapers coast to coast are sounding the alarm. Nada! No one is listening. Crap just keeps right on a’rolling along. People say they take “Full Responsibility” for one underhanded screw-up after another. What does that mean? What responsibility? Our elected democratic congresspersons have their heads up their over-compensated asses. We put them there to hold our ground and speak our minds. I don’t hear one damned thing, save Sen. Russ Feingold, who bravely stands alone. But he’s standing!!!
There has not been honest debate in Washington for over 5 years and counting. You are no doubt one of the “33%” so there probably isn’t much point in having any kind of debate.

Molly,

And let’s remember what it takes to have a democracy—an educated electorate. America itself is rather poorly educated, never mind an Arab country, which will not educate half of its children (the girls). TJ got it right. We keep forgetting his wisdom. Doing democracy is darned hard. It simply doesn’t work for a herd mentality.—Vivian

# 5417 - yes .. the radical frenzied muslims are trying to carry out the evil plan you speak of ...oh wait .. were you talking about Americans(the RNC/Bush)?  ... Is it any wonder there is so little meaningful discussion between people with opposing ideas in this country? So little honest debate, so many kook conspiracy theorists ...

EVERYTHING YOU WRITE IS A MUST READ. THANK GOD FOR AN OASIS OF COMMON SENSE IN TEXAS. THAT WE BOTH WENT TO COLUMBIA’S SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM MAKES ME ESPECIALLY PROUD. DON’T EVER, EVER LET UP.

Does anyone else strongly suspect there is a larger, more ominous, more evil plan at work here? That the actions and fear of the last five years have been completely orchestrated? I am deeply worried that the goal of these bastards is complete domination…..of everything. I also fear that this objective is well under way and must be stopped dead in it’s tracks through whatever means are necessary to return America to Americans. It doesn’t require being blind to miss this insidious evil creeping up to our doorsteps. Just open your eyes and ears and look and listen.
This gaggle of thieves, blackmailers, murderers and fraudmasters must go. Period! Anyway it has to happen. But it must happen!

Good is bad and bad is good…Doublespeak. repeat something enough and shazam it’s true. Best I can make of it is America has demensia and a crippling attention deficit disorder. She can’t remember much fer long. Kinda like the Gipper. How can you talk to the insane? The demented? the religious fundamentalist? Dubya is telling us he’s gonna attack Iran…and there’s no way to git thru…he’s too far gone. Newt? Wasn’t his nickname Nitwit?

“... I don’t think they have the sense God gave a duck.”

You WILL be hearing from our lawyers.  To compare us to that bunch of brainless bumbling butthead bureaucrats is an OUTRAGE so fowl we cannot tolerate it!

Thomas L. Mallard
Interim President
WFADL (Water Fowl Anti-Defamation League)

I have a lot of friends who are scared and I wonder why they think Bush & Co. can protect them.  These idiots only think about power and control.  They don’t care about people

Molly Ivins will you marry me?!

  Once again you have hit the proverbial nail on its legendary head!  The “Fear Factor” has been alive and well for the past 50+ years(Since Mr. Truman frightened us about those mean old Russians—Who were forever coming!!). 

  Mr. Gerbner was 100% correct about the ease of manipulation of fearful people—Just look how effective organized religion has managed to keep us spooked about ending up in Hell if we anger a cranky God.  This administration does the fear thing real proud—Almost an art form!

  I’m with you on another front:  When is someone in this government going to get the guts to stand up and start impeachment proceedings—CENSURE MY ASS—We’ve got to get George W. “DumbAss” permanently installed back in Crawford,Tx (Preferrably Kinnebunkport, if I had my way!)!!    Your loyal servant, Jim Slater (Oak Point, Texas)

To 5362:

The Democrats as a whole don’t have a plan, at least not one that they’ve articulated, but starting from nothing still puts them a leg up on the Bush Administration, who are starting from a very negative, less than nothing position.

Cheers Mollie from a Texas expatriot.  Your writing hits the pallate like good Scotch.

If you belive the experts that a major terrorist
attack is not a question of if but when, what part of the Democratic party platform that prevents this do you agree with?

The Truth is out there.

It is reported every day, it is also distorted every day to serve those in power.

In the end, no one listens, or cares, enough to do anything about the destruction of Truth.

When was the last time, no, the first time, that any reporter called President Bush a LIAR during any Press conference in regards to his statements.

Alas, TRUTH requires: STRENGTH, COURAGE, and WISDOM.—- Qualities that are lacking by all…

When I am at my lowest point of despair over this God-awful administration, I look up Molly’s latest and feel at least a little bit better, knowing that someone has the courage to tell it like it is!  I love the George Gerber quote. It is soooo appropriate. This Bush crew uses fear with the finesse of a surgeon and the effect of a thousand chain saws.

When did the President and his advisors become above the Constitution?  What happened to checks and balances?  Is the average American too busy or too lazy to be bothered with paying attention? WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE, THE PROTESTS IN THE STREET?

I just loves’ Molly.  She articulates Texan speak, and since I’m from there, I understand the colloquialism well.

Even with the different distinct dialects of Tejas, I think the term is; “I don’t think they have the -Good Sence that God gave a goose-”

But hey, the message in this piece that stands out to me, is Molly’s quote by George Gerbner about -fearful people- and the fact that they want, and need to be controlled.

Now when you mix that theory with Gore Vidal’s piece on this site, “President Jonah (Redux)” which reveals the extent to which American curiosity about how our government is supposed to work has eroded, anyone sociologist major can craft a recipe for a government to achieve the means to do whatever it wants.

Think about it.  It’s scary if folks didn’t understand the concept of serperation of powers, and oversite; how they evolved, and why their in place.

Hell, that could pave the way for a government to spy on you, lock you up indefinately, and torture you in the mix.  That would so suck!

Wait.  Isn’t that what is going on in…

Hell, I’m going back to bed.  Wake me up when it’s all over.

You summed it up perfectly, Molly, as usual! The bush motto should be: “War Ad Infinitum - good for business, good for America - coming to a Moslem nation near you!”

“What he meant, of course, was that there would always be wars, that they were as easy to stop as glaciers.” - Kurt Vonnegut

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