Sunday, April 08, 2007

Quick Takes on the News

It's almost getting depressing reading the news lately. There are so many crazy stories, all treated by the media the exact opposite as they should be. The world has turned upside down.

Some quick takes on last weeks stories:

1. Nancy Pelosi's trip to visit the President of Syria was disgraceful, pure and simple. Syria is a sponsor of terrorists, flat out. To give them a photo op PR victory, as Pelosi did last week, is absolutely harmful to the national security of the United States. For failing to heed the President's request that she not go, she should be brought up on charges for violating the Logan Act immediately. It's a law on the books. It prohibits American citizens from meeting with foreign leaders to try to conduct a separate foreign policy. She violated it, egregiously. Charge her. Or, some Republican congressman with courage should introduce a censure resolution. Or both.

2. The non-scandal of the firing of the U.S. Attorneys continues on. I'm torn on this one. On one hand, if the President allows his AG to go down due to absurd partisan attacks he loses a lot of authority. On the other hand, he needs to fire Gonzales for handling this so ineptly. Bush should take this on directly. He should hold a press conference and remind everyone that he has the right to fire anyone on his staff for any cause. Including the U.S. Attorneys and including the AG, who is fired.

3. More tricky is the story of the 15 captured British marines. 3 thoughts:

a. I don't know the circumstances of their capture. I assume they were overwhelmed by force and surrendered. No shame in that. It happens.

b. The response of the western governments - other than the U.S. - and the international organizations (UN, EU, etc.) to an act of international piracy was disgraceful and further demonstrates the uselesness of the transnational bodies. They are anti-west debating societies, of no use in a crisis.

c. The behavior of the 15 marines in captivity was, sad to say, deplorable. To be on TV within a day renouncing the actions of your government should be anathema to soldiers in uniform. To do so in so short of period of time, and without evidence of physical abuse or torture, is shamefully weak.

Worse yet were the scenes of them looking giddy as the accepted "goody bags" from a smiling captor, President Ahmadinaded of Iran. Are you kidding me? You've been captured in uniform by a tyrant in a war zone, and you act on TV as if you're on a reality TV show shopping spree?

Woe is apparently the state of training in the British military. Disgraceful.

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