Things Come Undone @ 201

Malkin doesn’t think Terry Schiavo was brain dead because Michelle herself is proof that you can function without a brain, or a soul, or a shred of human decency.

80% of Malkin’s brain is unadulterated vampire bat’s urine.

that one should have come with a spew warning!

Malkin doesn’t think Terry Schiavo was brain dead because Michelle herself is proof that you can function without a brain, or a soul, or a shred of human decency.

80% of Malkin’s brain is unadulterated vampire bat’s urine.

cinnamonape @ 222

Just for the record, it is possible to understand the world, and different cultures when you grow up in the suburbs. I get what your saying about living in a different culture gives you a wider perspective, however I don’t think that alone qualifies you as a foreign policy expert. People change, the world has changed signicantly since Obama was 10, and I’d be more comfortable with his statement if he lived abroad as an adult when you have more insight into the human condition.

I never said that growing up in the suburbs denied one the capability of learning about he world…just as growing up in a wealthy household would not prevent one from experiencing something about and sympathising with the poor.

And living in a multicultural American community can also allow one to empathise and sympathise with the people who grow up within those conditions. It’s not just travelling abroad. [BTW Obama also attended a multiracial HS in Hawaii, and went on to major in International Relations at Harvard].

I’m just saying that such experiences OFTEN carry over into ones adult life and choice of careers, and way one looks at America in the world. As I stated, perhaps not clearly enough, the early experience makes the individual want to learn more and to understand their childhood experiences as an adult. And it makes the person want to travel.

It’s one reason why Europeans are constantly appalled at the low frequency of Americans with passports. They pretty much know that their foreign travel has made them more aware of the world. They think the converse of Americans, and they regard those who acquire their “foreign policy” experience from what they read in a newspaper or even a University classroom as remarkably limited.

And, while Obama is often criticized for not being “black enough” (since his experience wasn’t standard for most African-Americans) he still faced many of those same issues when he went to HS and college. And he acquired quite a lot of experience with those communities as a voter-outreach and community organizer, and a lawyer for South Side Community Organizations.

Ackkk! Last night I was being accused as a covert agent for Hillary, now I’m gonna get hit as a mole for Obama, Edwards and Dodd ;-)

One more thing about why I’m so impressed with Shuster [and it’s almost as important who the emerging leaders are in media as in those they cover] — he’s obviously a voracious consumer of news information, intellectually curious, not afraid to show a healthy dose of cynicism, solid in his facts…and not a narcissistic steno bone in his body.

That guy is great (though his delivery is a bit robotic).

cinnamonape @ 222

Just for the record, it is possible to understand the world, and different cultures when you grow up in the suburbs. I get what your saying about living in a different culture gives you a wider perspective, however I don’t think that alone qualifies you as a foreign policy expert. People change, the world has changed signicantly since Obama was 10, and I’d be more comfortable with his statement if he lived abroad as an adult when you have more insight into the human condition.

it’s not about foreign policy or the current state of the world. it’s about how i see the world – and especially the human condition.

i only spent 2 years on a military base overseas (age 12-14), and i can tell you it was a culture shock that still informs my world view (including the human condition) more than 30 years later.

not to say it would affect everyone the way it did me or that wiser people couldn’t get it from reading…. but if i have any sense of what it is like to live at the other end of american power – i credit those two 2 years.

and all things being equal (which they are not), i think it’s a plus to have that experience.

selise @ 244

i’d cheer him myself if that’s all it took.

ticker tapeworm parade

HAHAHAHA!

wigwam @ 236

Perhaps, if we give full credit to the Decider and promise him an ticker-tape parade, he’ll withdraw with yet another claim of victory.

i’d cheer him myself if that’s all it took.

ticker tapeworm parade

Marion in Savannah @ 219

Good morning, pups. It’s MoDo and Friedman in the NYT. MoDo hasn’t sharpened her claws on Hillary for a while, but she remedies that today. She says getting ahead through connections is common in life. But Hillary Clinton cloaks her nepotism in feminism. Mr. Friedman says it’s clear that the surge by U.S. troops has dampened violence in Iraq. Don’t we now need a surge in diplomacy to finish the job? Well, actually, if you look at Basra where violence is down 90% after the British left, maybe that could be a plan for us too??? Just thinking…

http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and the biscuits are out of the oven. A 3-day work week! I’m REALLY ready for a long, long weekend. Have a good day.

There’s a logical fallacy called post hoc ergo propeter hoc, latin for “after this, therefore because of this.” It’s amazing the number of things that get cited as the cause of the recent decline in violence:
* Completion of ethnic cleansing
* Iran honoring its informal pledge to stem the flow of arms into Iraq
* Petraeus buying off the Sunni insurgents
* The Brits leaving
* Weariness on all sides
* Success of the brilliant Bush/Petraeus surge strategy.

Perhaps, if we give full credit to the Decider and promise him an ticker-tape parade, he’ll withdraw with yet another claim of victory.

just a quick hit after delaying leaving for work well beyond the ‘reasonable’ limit:

let’s not forget the 6 month ‘cessation of hostilities by the Sadr militia as he purges and reorganizes…’

that might also affect the level of violence.
‘corporate restructuring’ in order to come back with a new improved product?