Conservative Corner (my brother, Dan)
Naked and Unashamed (my brother, Scott)
Crazy Aunt Purl
(my friend Laurie)
There's Pie In the Lunchroom
(my friend Chuck)
Too Fat For Ponies
(my friend Sam)
I'm back at the old homestead and it's good to be home. I've included a comments section at the bottom, so use it or lose it, people.
I'll be shuffling things around as I get my archives back online, so mind the dust and thanks for reading.
President Bush gave what was hyped by the White House as a major new address on the war in Iraq and a strategy for victory. I didn't hear very much in the speech that was new.
One thing I did hear was his admission that the majority of the insurgency aren't terrorists, but are Iraqis that want us out of their country. That, while not a major revelation, is still a giant step forward in the president's rhetoric.
One thing he said that struck me as . . . well. . . let's say unintentionally truthful was that our soldiers deserve a strategy. Well, yeah. They deserved a strategy three years ago. It's a little late to be coming to the table with a strategy, don't you think?
Also, Bush made some assertions which aren't backed up by facts. For example, when he spoke about the different groups in the insurgency, he said they don't have popular support in the country. That's not true. They do have popular support. They've also got the support of the Iraqi government who, at the recent meeting of the League of Arab Nations, said that the actions of insurgents against our troops was justified because we're an occupying power.
Bush pointed out that there were 120 Iraqi battalions ready to fight. But just last September, military leaders told the senate that there was only one battalion ready to fight. That's quite an amazing leap forward in just six weeks. It leads me to believe that he's just making numbers up.
Christmas is coming and I have to say I'm not feeling this whole "war on Christmas" thing that Bill O'Reilly's got everyone so hot and bothered about. Maybe I'm just not overly sensitive to it.
Media Matters points out that, until very recently, the Fox News web site store were selling O'Reilly Factor Holiday Ornaments. The site has been changed to read "Christmas" ornaments now.
Wallgreens put four pharmacists on unpaid leave in St. Louis, Ill. because they refused to distribute emergency contraception to someone with a prescription. The governor established a rule last April requiring pharmacists who stock contraceptives to distribute them.
Good for Wallgreens. These pharmacists need to decide if they want to continue being pharmacists. If I need moral guidance, I'll look to a minister (you can't swing a dead cat in my family without hitting one). If I'm looking for medicine, I'll see a pharmacist. And never the twain shall meet.
If we draw the line here, where will it end? I don't want to go off on a slippery slope rant here, but why is this even an issue?
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