Posts from ‘December, 2006’

It’s worthwhile to take a backward look now and then, to better understand where we are and what, if any, progress we’ve made in important matters. New Years seems a particularly suitable time to indulge in this exercise.



We’re enlisting the help of MSNBC, which produced the following review of 2004. It was a year in which The Decider™ managed to win re-election by an extremely modest margin. That was just before President Bush claimed he was the recipient of a big mandate, and so was rolling in political capital . . .

The lack of focus, the absence of any apparent political or military purpose in violence against Iraqi civilians, makes clear how the country has descended into clan and sect warfare.



What we’re seeing now is civil war, with revenge killings piling onto revenge killings. These escalating murders are the bitter fruits of meddling by ignorant outsiders and of a horrendously bungled occupation.

Iraq’s state-run TV and U.S. cable channels are reporting that Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging. CNN just reported that Iraqi TV will show video of the execution.



U.S. cable channels spent much of the day anticipating, publicizing and generally hyperventilating about the impending hanging, creating an atmosphere that can only be described as ghoulish hype.



CNN spent several hours assuring us Saddam could be strung up within the hour.

It appears our new Democratic majority in Congress intends to run corporate America’s GOP gravy train off the track.



This is one derailment that bodes well for most of us . . .

Considering the abuses “monarchial (sic) pretensions” invite — nay, ensure — Ford’s concern hardly seems a misstep. The most spectacular and damaging of those abuses involve committing our armed forces to ill-advised, protracted, no-win wars in faraway places. . .

Ford became president amid unique circumstances in the wake of President Richard Nixon’s aborted second term. It was a moment in the nation’s history when our institutions and constitutional system were under stress because of a protracted, unpopular war and because of scandal arising from Nixon’s extremely serious wrongdoing.



Ford’s good-humored steadiness and understated, common-sense approach kept the government and country on course, reassuring just about everyone the presidency was in good hands. . .

Iraq quagmire milestones keep on coming, all of them accentuating what a maddeningly unnecessary, tragic and wasteful fiasco President Bush’s war has been — and continues to be.



“In a span of a few hours, 2,973 people were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In a span of 45 months, the number of American troops killed in Iraq has exceeded that grim toll.



“The milestone in Iraq came on Christmas, nearly four years after the war began, according to a count by The Associated Press. . . “

It’s been a busy election year, one with an abundance of things to comment on. We’ve enjoyed doing just that in an abundance of posts. Now, it’s time to turn attention to family and friends for a few days.
We’ll be away from the PC and the Net until Tuesday evening, at least, maybe Wednesday.
During these [...]

You’d think an 80-year-old monarch with more than 50 years of public appearances and state ceremonies under her belt, or crown, would be blasé about seeing herself on the telly. But that’s not how it is with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.



“The Daily Express, citing royal sources, said the stoical 80-year-old monarch cannot bear to watch her pre-recorded traditional festive message with her relatives. . . .”

Here’s a handy tip that’s likely to spare you grief at some point. It’s timely, too, with Christmas fast approaching.



If you’re like us, you’ve acquired a bunch of AC adaptors. You know, the usually black bricks and muffinlike modules that let you run electronic gadgets designed for DC battery power on AC from a wall outlet.



Be warned, if it hasn’t happened to you already, there’s an annoying moment in your future. It’s one where you’re combing through your adaptor collection trying to figure out which one goes with some gadget you haven’t used in a while. . .