A meeting with the President.

[LA_MERC_Wetzny]

Here is an interesting transcript of a meeting the President held yesterday in the Oval office. It is this kind of information that is most revealing to me.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDE1ZTY5MzEwN2ZmNmQ3ZThiMzM3Yzk0NzkwYWJhZTY=


And here is an article regarding this meeting.


http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDg4M2NlZjdkMWY0M2EyMzUwZDE3OTc1YmQwYTgxNjY=

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

The guy is a joke.....


"I see the threat, and will use American power to protect ourselves, and at the same time, try to create the first victory in this ideological — the first victories — in the ideological war of the 21st century. So, much of the thinking and decision-making that I do now is based upon my belief that we're in this grand ideological struggle. It is a struggle between moderate people, and a struggle between ideologues who are totalitarian and kill to achieve an objective without conscience."

He is an excuse maker. Try realistic measures not idealogical measures. Idealy we would be the f*ck out of Iraq, but...........Idealy we would have captured Bin Laden, but........Idealy people would actually like us more, but...........It takes time to fight the Idealogical war.......How about making it a tangible war we can ACTUALLY fight. Like this is our objective, and lets get 'er done.



Ideology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. The word ideology was coined by Count Destutt de Tracy in the late 18th century to define a "science of ideas." An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things (compare Weltanschauung), as in common sense (see Ideology in everyday society) and several philosophical tendencies (see Political ideologies), or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society. The main purpose behind an ideology is to offer change in society through a normative thought process (what the world ought to be). Ideologies tend to be abstract thoughts applied to reality and thus make this concept unique to politics.

Lets get back to REALITY.

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

"The latest plan to retake the offensive on defining victory is the so-called benchmark. “The idea is to develop with the Iraqi government a series of benchmarks — oil, federalism, constitutional reform, there’s like 20 different things — and have that developed in a way that they’re comfortable with and we’re comfortable with,” Bush said. Progress toward those goals would give the administration new ways to point toward overall progress in Iraq."

If we cannot win the first way.....lets make it look like we are winning another way.......that is convenient. What is next?

I vote for provens and not Ideals. Ideals got us into this war....we need to get out.

[LA_MERC_Wetzny]

I don’t agree with you, leaving Iraq solves nothing. It leaves those Iraqi’s who have cast their lot with us hanging in the wind, to watch their wives raped and children murdered. That’s a dam good way to build good will and create allies.

When Islamic fascists have stopped thirsting for the blood of my wife and children, when the crazed dictators of North Korea, Syria, and Iran along with their followers have been sent to Hell, I’ll be ready to welcome our brave troopers home. Until then I wish him or her Godspeed and hope to God they kill every Rag head terrorist they can find.

Coming home won’t end the war. That’s reality. Killing the enemy and changing regimes will.

David

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

I agree with the above statement Wetz. Right now though all taht we are accomplishing is giving our enemies recruitment material and losing a war. We are providing a breeding ground for anti-american sentiment. If we stay there till everyone loves us then we better just start building bases with really big thick walls. To quote snickers, "Not going anywhere for awhile?" We are spinning our wheels while some blow-hard bible thumper sits over here telling us crap. We are killing the enemy....how many I cannot say though. We are winning the good fight.......how I am not sure to show you. We are accomplishing our goals.....what they are though I cannot say.

I laugh that he brought up WWII though. The irony is astounding. We went there to defeat a leader who wanted everyone to live life within his ideological view. He invaded countries to prove his way was best. Threatened violence to anyone who opposed him. What was his name again.....bush....cough....HITLER. It is time to wake up.

God bless and God speed the men and women this person has put in harms way. They are why I can be free, not George W. Bush.

[LA_MERC_Wetzny]

I’m not going to get in a flame war with you. Your comments referring to Bush as Hitler are outrageous, and insulting to people who serve in our armed forces.

Troops in Iraq are convenient excuses, why the attacks on the WTC in 93, or the bombing of the USS Cole, and the attacks on our embassies in Africa? We didn’t have troops fighting a war in Iraq then? The argument that AMERICA IS THE PROBLEM doesn’t float.

You hate Bush, big deal I don’t care. But I know this, America didn’t start this war, Bush didn’t start it either. No amount of crazed “Bush is Hitler” rhetoric will change that fact.

History will judge whether or not GW was correct in his appraisal of the threat facing America, and it will judge his choice of action. I hope for the sake of my two children he was right. Considering the Jihadists haven’t attacked our shores since 9-11 maybe he was right to take the fight the enemy.

David

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

Why are they insulting to the people who serve. They do not get to pick their leader. He gets to lead them due to the election. They are not at fault. They are doing their jobs. We just need to change that job description a little.

Also, I am not flaming you. You always post Pro-Bush, and I am a frustrated american looking for insight. I am merely pointing out what Mr. President Bush is saying and doing. If you have light to shed on him, do it.

One question I pose is.....What has Bush accomplished in his stint at the oval office?
Only facts that are proven and not intentions, ideals, or assumptions.

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

I didn't see the edit...

Remember Jihadists are patient. It took 8 years between attacks on the world trade center. They are sitting back watching waiting for us to relax and get into a routine, and then they will be back. The problem is we are so tunnel visioned on terrorists that we are ignoring the rest of the world.

Iran, North Korea, China, etc....

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

Placading our time......it will come to bite us in the arse when one of the other countries arm the terrorists with a bomb. It is only time.

[LA_MERC_Nutria]

I was gonna comment, but I would feel dumb. All I do have to say is this: Bush isn't as big of an idiot as the media makes him out to be. Just because he has poor speech skills doesn't mean he is a retard. He is doing what he feels to be the best thing for this country and that is if you keep the terrorist busy there they won't come here. The last thing we need is for someone to turn a blind eye to the rest of the world.

[LA_MERC_Wetzny]

Robby,

My post today is not pro-Bush or anti-Bush. I posted the TRANSCRIPTED NOTES of a meeting involving various parties held with the President. Viewing these notes as a transcript eliminates the bias of an author and an editor. I will read a transcript before I read an article any day. The transcript allows one to see how the question is answered, not just the answer. How the President answers these questions gives a perspective lost in an article.

Do I support the President? Yes I do. I like him; I trust him and I believe in his vision of the Middle East. I believe the world is at a point no different then the world was at prior to WWII. I believe forces are massing bent on the destruction of our civilization. Christian and Jew alike will be targeted, and where possible exterminated. I believe Islamic fascists yearn to destroy our country, along with every other Christian nation on this planet.

Who will stand in our defense? Who defends our liberty? Our freedom? Our wives and our children? The Europeaons? NO ****ING WAY. The UN? There as anti-US as any group could be. North Korea, Iran, Hugo Chavez, and Al Queda. They are one and the same my friend. Each my have a different address but they have one goal. Power and control; each seeks the same end, America destroyed or better yet, impotent, and afraid. Unable or unwilling to confront her enemies and defend her borders. So we stand and defend ourselves. Our friends, our neighbors, brothers, sisters, mom and dads, volunteer and defend us. We went to Iraq to change the equation. Inject a moderate, freestanding government into a wasteland of despotism and oppression. Nation building is never an exact science, but it is a worthy effort and one that deserves all our strength and resolve.

Like I said earlier, history will determine whether or not Bush is a failure. One thing will not be in doubt; he’s sounded the clarion call. He’s seen the threat on the horizon and pointed to it clearly. If he’s right and is ignored who’s to blame? I’m not interested in trying to figure that out, by then it would be too late.


David

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

Well said, David...

I dont like the fact that we are over, however we are. the only real way out, without leaving a vacum for Anti-American havens, is to leave with a stable form of government that can defend itself againts extreamist. The sad part is, Im afraid we may never get there, i think the whole dam lot of them are crazy, they dont have a dam clue what it means to be JUST, FAIR, and CIVILIZED, at least the way we view it. Its a shame we cant leave them to their own device's. I would'nt care what became of these middle eastern countries if they would keep their problems, and hatered to themselves, sadly this is not the case.

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

Now I think that is well said 'Dog.

[LA_MERC_Wetzny]

More on the interview with the President, including an audio transcript.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/baroneblog/archives/061025/an_interview_wi_1.htm

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

Sorry for the tardy response....

"This afternoon I had the privilege of being one of eight columnists interviewing George W. Bush in the Oval Office. The others were Tony Blankley of the Washington Times, Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal, Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post, Lawrence Kudlow of CNBC, Kathleen Parker of the Orlando Sentinel, Mark Steyn of the Chicago Sun-Times, and Byron York of National Review–all conservatives of various stripes."


How convenient. The author himself admits to being a conservative. I am sure there is no bias to his views.

"First of all, Bush started off with a lengthy monologue, trying to put a historical perspective on where we are now. He clearly sees his primary mission as protecting the American people from the terrorists who want to do everything they can to hurt and destroy us and our civilization. He makes the point that we ought to listen to their words when they threaten to kill us–even though our first instinct is to flinch and turn away from threats that, if taken seriously, are extremely disturbing. Later he returned to this theme. The September 11 attacks made it clear, he said, that we're at war, and we're still at war."

9/11 stats: http://www.newyorkmetro.com/news/articles/wtc/1year/numbers.htm
Total killed : 2819 people (not all were American citizens). Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115. So atleast 115 people were not American.
Total Americans assumably killed: 2704.

Iraq war stats: http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm
Total Soldiers(Americans) Killed 2815 as of 10.18.06.

Why would they bring the fight to us? They have already affirmably killed 111 more Americans due to us being there. Doh. They didn't have to work and plan for years to pull off that number. Wouldn't it be easier to just plant the 144,000 troops at our borders and put more stringent guidlines on admittance. Do you think the number of Americans dying would decrease. Just a thought.

"Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq - $9 billion of US taxpayers' money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors."

WTF?

"Bush described his approach to diplomacy, trying to persuade the leaders of other countries to do what America believes is the right thing. It is a slow process, he said, and he understands that people–including some in the room–are impatient with it. "

Nah....really?!?

" and I expect that it will take Churchill's view: that the English-speaking peoples have over the centuries taken up the responsibility of expanding freedom and spreading democracy and the rule of law around the world.

That is Bush's view as well, as I was reminded when I noticed the bust of Churchill as I was leaving the Oval Office."

Isn't that how our country became about. We were tired of the oppressive nature of "You must do it our way cause our way is right."? Freedom is what makes our country great. How has this war and Mr. Bush's reign as President gone along with this view, this idealogy? It hasn't. We have no greater freedoms, but have had some put into grey areas. Some even possibly taken away.

In closing I would like to state that I am American. I am in the belief that all of us can have our different views, which make us unique. I am also under the belief that we should still embrace everyone that agrees and disagrees with our views. I am not under the belief that you are with us or against us. I believe in free speech and the right to question our leaders. I believe that the "checks and balances" do not actually work. I believe that leadership unchecked can sometimes become narrowminded to the leaders views, and lose sight of the views of the people who he/she is leading. I believe that a below 40% aaproval rating means that 60+% of Americans think you suck ( http://www.hist.umn.edu/~ruggles/Approval.htm ). I believe we have the right to be informed of what is going on. No matter where it is going on at, or how gruesome it may be. I believe that we have the right to clear and concise answers to hard and pointed questions. Last and not least, I believe that I live in reality and base my decisions on reality. I do not believe in alot of idealogies that skew the realm of reality.

A few questions in closing:

1. Are we winning the war in Iraq? and how?

2. At what point do we say that all is well and withdraw from Iraq?

3. What freedoms has this war brought us that we could not have achieved in other ways?

4. What does it mean to be American in todays world?

I encourage responses to the questions. I am only trying to understand. I want to be brought to the light. I want to feel better about my country, I really do. Help me in finding peace within our present predicament.

Robby

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

Well, I am not much for long responses, I have a bad feeling about our situation in Iraq, and it seems there may never be a light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t think it’s because we didn’t try, but more to the point that the Native people of Iraq are not trying. They let their religious beliefs get in the way of what needs to be done in order to bring a level of peace to their country. What I mean is no matter how much you prop up a group of people, if all their going to do is hate you and the guy on the other side of the hill because he's from a different Sect then you... what can you do??

I think the world as a whole is better off without SADAM.... However, Im starting to wonder if Iraq is better off with out SADAM. I know he’s a genocidal murderer, and he would continue to let people in his regime murder rape and kill as they saw fit. But without him there, they now have a huge region of the Middle East that is unstable and no one group is strong enough to step up and end all the rock throwing between factions.

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

blah blah blah

oh its so bad in the world everyone hates us because we're americans and insensistive.


BAH

whine about Iraq. How many terrorists are attcking US soil? Whine about the progress in Iraq. I forget how easy it is to build a democracy from scratch, my bad. USofA sucks ass that's why we all live here. our economy sucks, that's why we have the lowest unemplyment in hostory. We are below the level of voluntary empliyment. sheesh.

And if IOraq was better under Sadaam? wtf Ask the hundres of thousands that died under his "peaceful regime." Tough goings over there right now? Damn straight. Do they rgret it? No. Will they survive? Yers, with international help. Anyone notice how we (and a few others) are the only ones helping over there? never mind the pysh-ops from Syria & Iran, or the insurgents looking at this as a chance " to fight America."
\
The plan is good and working. Better tham the Marshall plan in fact.

Refer to history for the best lessons on this type of thing. You will also learn how civil we are in our building of a "hegemony."

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

Hegemony (pronounced he'jem.ə.ni or hə'dʒɛ.mə.ni) (Greek: ηγεμονία hēgemonÃ*a) is the dominance of one group over other groups, with or without the threat of force, to the extent that, for instance, the dominant party can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage; more broadly, cultural perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant group. The cultural control that hegemony asserts affects commonplace patterns of thought: hegemony controls the way new ideas are rejected or become naturalized in a process that subtly alters notions of common sense in a given society.

Hegemony results in the empowerment of certain cultural beliefs, values, and practices to the submersion and partial exclusion of others. Hegemony influences the perspective of mainstream history, as history is written by the victors for a congruent readership. The official history of Communism, re-writing history, erasing people's names and images from official state photos, provides a richly-exampled arena of cultural hegemony.

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

OH.. BTW... SoDamInsain was sentenced to death by hanging today :)

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

hooray for dictionary.com :stick :p

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

WIKIPEDIA......lol.

Do not misunderstand me Dirge. I am not *****ing about the war. I am b!tching about Bush. I hold no value of life to Iraqis. I know that is harsh, but we are at war with them. Also if they hate me that bad because I am American than F*ck 'em all. The war is just one mere reason that Bush is a joke. That is all. I think Bush is stuck in a bad spot and is going to step aside and let the next guy deal with it. Republican or Democrat.

I just asked simple questions and wanted answers to those questions.

"that's why we have the lowest unemplyment in hostory."

http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?request_action=wh&graph_name=LN_cpsbref2 Not quite but close.

I want hard facts not blow hard thumping. What aare the reasons for the war.

So far: Bring the fight to them! More Americans are being killed fighting the fight, than died in the instance that caused the fight.

We are creating an American loving country in the middle of a wasteland of Anti-American sentiment. I am sure it will one day flourish and prosper.....say.....2376?

We are spreading Democracy and freedom. Democracy will NEVER work in Iraq and we are all painfully becoming aware of that. Iraqis don't believe in group counseling, and they HATE each other enough to kill each other. We can't get the bloods and the crypts get along. How are we going to get the Shiet-heads and Sunni-b!tches to give each other group hugs?

What is Bush's economic plan for the USA, not for Dubya's wallet? Where can I read about it?

What is Bush's right hand doing when it is not thumping the bible?

[LA_MERC_Heater]

Robby to better understand the threat the we face you would do yourself good to read the
Jeruselm Count Down Book by John Hagee...It is truth about the reason with Islamic people think and act like they do.Why there will never be peace untill all Jews and gentiles have professed Islamic faith as the one faith.It is not because there is fanatic Islamics,its what there Koran, there Bible commands then to do.To convert all to Islamic faith,or to kill them.There for there will never be a peaceful solution and why we will have to continue to fight on our terms,or they will fight them on theirs.
Call me a Bible thumper if you like...you would be right=)
If you read this book tho it might just help.
This is my message and i approve it.hehe

[LA_MERC_th33_r00k]

Heater I will check out the book, thanks. This whole thing intrigues me though. I am not going to take what any media or peeps tell me is the truth. Hell, even CNN got caught photoshoping didn't they? lol. What a mess.