I've started a second job in the morning, so my posting has not been as frequent, but my commenting at other blogs hasn't slowed a bit. Here are a few of the choicer bits...


At "Shadow of the Hegemon"

Post: "Easier Response"

I believe your perceptions as to who is flailing and who has credibility issues is at 180 degree odds with reality.

Dems are completely out of touch with the American people... the bread and butter folks.

--Locke
01.04.06 - 3:51 pm

To understand my use of "Locke" as handle you have to have read Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game", as expressed in the "About Me" section of Demosthenes' blog.


Post: IMPEACH

To what purpose? Tit for Tat? Retaliation? Settling a Score? Hatred of Conservatism? Hatred of Republicans? Hatred of Bush?

Those are not good enough reasons.

Clinton deserved his impeachment. Plain and Simple. He did not, however, deserve to be removed from office, and the Senate agreed. We are better for it.

This "Insanity of Rage", of which the Left currently suffers, is more damaging to the Left than the Right. But this "Insanity" prevents recognition of that simple truth.

----

I always felt pity for Peter. It was not his fault that he was found wanting by Government breeders. That he lacked compassion-- or rather, didn't understand it --was his only weakness. But it was enough. [Personal] Inadequacy is a cruel lesson to learn, let alone overcome. Peter tried, and found some measure of success. Will Dems?

I found your blog quite by accident; searching "Demosthenes" and "Locke" --of all things, trying to understand why Card used those two as foils for Peter and Valentine.

I've enjoyed what I've read.

Peace.

Locke
01.02.06 - 4:11 pm

I especially like the "Darkened Alley in the Reality Based Community" bit. It's definitely dark. But that's not a bad thing. I was toying with the term "Locke-step" -- deliberately misspelled -- as a double entendre... But chose to tack away from those waters.


At "Opinionated Voice"

Post: "Threatening the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque"

"...Also bear in mind that the Zionists will destroy, slaughter and kill whether the palestinians sit around or not, and when they are unable to even do this, they will destroy religious buildings instead! Maybe though it may 'disapear in a puff of smoke'” at some stage… if Iran gets their way anyhow!"

Am I to infer from the above statement that you approve of Iran's potential to "“wipe Israel off the map?"” Isn'’t that what'’s commonly called a '’scorched-earth'’ policy? Your disdain, or hatred, or antipathy for all things Israel, or "Zionist", seems to be clouding your judgement! Apologies... I mean no disrespect, but Israel has shown restraint in that depite possessing nukes (though they've never admitted to such) they'’ve never used them. Unlike my country. Can you assure me and everyone here at this forum that Iran will show the same measure of restraint? Will they promise to not use them themselves? Will they promise to not sell them to terrorist groups?

I'’ll readily admit I don't understand the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as does one who lives in the midst of it, but I'd also point out that you don't live in its midst either... You do live in England, don't you? Can you not understand the West's fear of even the idea that Iran may soon possess Nuclear Weapons? Would you dismiss that very real fear as baseless? And if so, on what grounds? Iran has not shown itself to be, shall we say... particularly nice to it's neighbors. Forget Israel's so-called atrocities and think real hard about whether you want nukes in the hands of a Regime (one of your favorite words) who publicly admits its desire to see another Nation, irrespective of who, wiped off the face of the earth? This is VERY dangerous rhetoric.

If the United States declared its intention to wipe Canada off the map I'd look into moving to, say, Puerto Rico. I'd be very worried of living in a country that would soon see "Retaliation of Biblical Proportions"” levied upon it. How can any civilized nation [listen to the things Iran has said] and not be alarmed? This is not an anti-Islam issue, its a credibility issue... Will Ahmadinejad make good on his statements? Does anyone really know the answer to that? That uncertainty is at the heart of the West's very real fear of an Iran in possession of nukes.

You're walking a lethally sharp edge on this one, Jamal.

Jamal is a British Muslim. A well-meaning Muslim, who I believe is on the verge of-- or at least flirting with --the idea that "something" needs to change. It doesn't appear he has yet grasped that Islam needs to change... Attitudes toward Israel and Jews need to change. He seems to genuinely want peace. But he made a joke of Iran perhaps soon "wiping the slate clean" [my words, not his] implying the use of nukes and I had to call him on it, even though I recognized it as rhetoric. Destructive rhetoric at that!


At "Liberty Files"

Post: "Prosecutions and Wiretapping"

I couldn't agree more. These folks need to be hung out to dry. It would be especially nice if the NYT's and assorted other media outlets could be nailed to the same tree. Something should at least be done to take them over the knee and give them a public spanking.

I'm all for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but there are lines-- limits --that shouldn't be crossed. I feel it's a safe assumption to say Caesar would have avoided the knives of Brutus and the other senators if he hadn't crossed the Rubicon. Every action we make comes with a price, be it benign or malignant.

Today's media is beginning to take on that Cancerous look.

I've been facsinated with the term "Crossing the Rubicon" since the moment I first learned in in High School-- Way long ago. There are a lot of different ways to say it. In fact, one of my favorite war films is "A Bridge Too Far". See the similarity? HBO has a new series called, simply, "Rome". A graphic drama centered around two roman soldiers from the same regiment who are caught up in the politics of Julius Caesar, Brutus, Cisero and Pompey. The season finale showed Brutus and the Senate murdering Caesar. I kept watching, waiting for Caesar to utter those famous words... "You too, Brutus?" But all I was rewarded with was a gurgling messy death. But then, those famous last words were the invention of Shakespeare, were they not? How else were we to know the doomed mans dying thoughts unless dear William used a little creative license?

Crossing the Rubicon, however, it seems we do this every single day. Ever decision we make-- as individuals, communities, or nations --closes doors, or specific possibilities, while opening new doors-- new possibilities. It's the nature of change. Human choice. The Law of Consequences.