Oct 18 2005

Fly By 10/16/05

Published by at 9:36 am under All General Discussions

Starting off with an interesting twist on the Miers subject, The Anchoress is wondering if this was all one big head faking, rope-a-doping dodge by Bush. The way the left and right pundits are salivating over all our challenges and ignoring our successes, while tearing apart good Americans with personal, unsubstantiated attacks – I doubt it. My guess is Janice Rogers Brown (my choice too) was fed up after the first round and said no thanks to another. Which is why we need new pundits and pols. The ones we have now are tiresome to the nth degree.

For those going through Able Danger withdrawl QTMonster has excerpts of Curt Weldon on Rush Limbaugh in September. And there is this news which explains why Able Danger is now a silent issue – money speaks.

I am looking forward to some more good news on Iraq,…..but…, OK, where is?it?…..

I go to the Washington Post and they have a silly article about how Cheney’s now the focus of the Plame Game (debunked here), the relief aid to the victims of the earth quake (don’t forget to try and give a donation if possible), the inflation spike from the gas and oil prices, Ohio lawmaker probed, FEMA in disarray (until a democrat President is elected)…

Where is the news on the Iraq election? There is an article on Iraqi (insurgent?) claims that we attacked civilians when we went after the insurgents – like we have never heard that one before. But nothing else.

Ugh… No savoring the fruits of our 2.5 years of struggle and sacrifice?

Then they had this on abortion options:

The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have
Prenatal testing is making your right to abort a disabled child more like “your duty” to abort a disabled child.

If it’s unacceptable for William Bennett to link abortion even conversationally with a whole class of people (and, of course, it is), why then do we as a society view abortion as justified and unremarkable in the case of another class of people: children with disabilities?

I have struggled with this question almost since our daughter Margaret was born, since she opened her big blue eyes and we got our first inkling that there was a full-fledged person behind them.

Whenever I am out with Margaret, I’m conscious that she represents a group whose ranks are shrinking because of the wide availability of prenatal testing and abortion. I don’t know how many pregnancies are terminated because of prenatal diagnoses of Down syndrome, but some studies estimate 80 to 90 percent.

This is a very worthy discussion to have. As a parent of twins – or more generally ‘mulitiples’ – you would be surprised the pressure on parents of multiples to abort any of the children who show signs of trouble. We had that with on of our twins, who are thankfully identical so the ‘reduction’ option was not available. But doctors and care practitioners can put a lot of pressure on you to abort ‘imperfect’ children. Been there, heard that. Pure BS.

To them, Margaret falls into the category of avoidable human suffering. At best, a tragic mistake. At worst, a living embodiment of the pro-life movement. Less than human. A drain on society. That someone I love is regarded this way is unspeakably painful to me.

Amazingly, all the new laws on abortion do not discuss health of the child or siblings – which they need to address. This is a serious topic.

The NY Times at least discusses the start of the trial of Hussein, which will be a long revisit of all the evil he has done in his life. There’s an upper for you.

If you are into blogger bloviating (is that redundant?) Powerline points to a list of bloggers collated by the NY Times discussing the Miller/Plame Game (but only if you have ‘Times’ or ‘Miller’ in the subject of your post – which I did not do on my posts). It has to be pretty deep in there, bring your waders.

Mugabe calls Bush and Blair Hitler and Mussolini…Why is anyone reporting this stuff?

Finally a commentary on the Iraq vote and its positive implications for the future (anyone can nit pick).

Sorry folks, but I think the press is in a funk today and I have no desire to wallow in it with them! Maybe we should all just let them be alone for a while. Have a great day. Possibly more later.

UPDATE:

Michelle has another story from one of the soldiers who participated in the conference call with President Bush. Personally I think the media simply felt that they know better how to stage the news than what they saw. And I agree with them, the media is the best on staging the news.

UPDATE II:

Your tax dollars at work for ‘those in need’ [hat tip Drudge]:

Hurricane Katrina evacuees hastily handed $2,000 in federal relief money last month have been living it up on Cape Cod, blowing cash on booze and strippers, a Herald investigation has found.

Herald reporters witnessed blatant public drinking at a Falmouth strip mall by Katrina victims living at taxpayer expense at Camp Edwards on Otis Air Force Base. And strippers at Zachary’s nightclub in Mashpee, a few miles from the Bourne base, report giving lap dances to several evacuees.

OK, give back the money.

3 responses so far

3 Responses to “Fly By 10/16/05”

  1. […] Also, I like this thoughtful piece by AJ Strata which brings many topics in – the segue into abortion is particularly good – and sort of weaves them all together. […]

  2. granitroc says:

    After all the hoopla over Able Danger, I should have not been surprised it left the stage with a whimper. While the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were unexpected and the Roberts / Miers / Bennets brouhahas were inconvenient, I had expected this story to maintain its legs.

    Stupid me, yes money talks. Every possible mirror has been added to reduce this story to just a memory. Indeed a “Wilderness of Mirrors” has been constructed to obfuscate the truth. Ah, where is James Jesus Angleton now that we need him?

    I say stupid me, because after having worked in government, I forgot the principal dictum in any great travail, the guilty will go free and the innocent will be the scapegoat. Anyone want to classify Philpotts, Shaffer, and Gorelick?

  3. TOPDOG08.COM says:

    Details emerge for Able Danger’s second act

    Four years after 9/11, we are finally rebuilding Able Danger. Someone must have realized that if we were actually struck again – by a chemical, biological, or nuclear attack this time – and did not have something like this is…