Dr. K

This post is an almost perfect example of what George Orwell called "duckspeak."

great post

Of course both parties are corrupt. But one party has complete control of this government, and its track record on its decisions, foreign and domestic, is so far abysmal. At this point it's not even so much a case of idrology as basic competence. If you think Bush and his administration represent good government, then we don't have much to talk about. Remember when Bush was asked last year if he had ever made a mistake, and could not answer. What kind of leader is that?

January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management. April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level." 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management. March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism. 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery. Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it." June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay." June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.

An article from a year ago from our local (NC) INDEPENDENT WEEKLY that warned about what we are facing today. http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2004-09-22/cover.html

It wasn't a throwback! It was a forward lateral!

I didn't see the game--it wasn't available in Raleigh--but I've followed the talk on the board. Some here say Reed's dropping a TD pass means he should be cut. He may well be cut, I don't know how that will play out. Buthe did catch a pass on the very next play for a first down. Haddad apparently fumbled a punt for a turnover, but a penalty erased that, and on the re-kick he had a good return. So both of them screwed up and then made up for it on the next play. Why more attention to Reed's drop than Haddad's fumble? I'd like to see the Bills keep both of them. But I trust the coaching staff to keep the top six receivers and will accept their conclusion.

Fair enough.

In February of 2003, millions of people were in the streets trying to prevent this war. Many people, myself included, were not convinced that the reports of WMD were credible, and that even if they were a possibility, this war was not the best way to deal with them. For instance, the whole "aluminum tubes" justification was seruiously questioned by scientists in September of 2002, but Bush was still using that as a reason for war in his State of the Union speech in January 2003. I thought--at the time,l not just now--that those democratic politicians who signed onto supporting Bush's war were making a big mistake. I did not flip flop. I paid attention and thought for myself. In response to some of the other postings here: yes, politicians are often hypocrites. Just don't try to convince me that Tom Delay and Rick Santorum and the rest of these Repubs aren't talking out of both sides of their mouth on Iraq.

"You can support the troops but not the president." --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX) "Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's going to happen is they're going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years." --Joe Scarborough (R-FL) "Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?" --Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99 "[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy." --Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) "American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy." --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX) "If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy." --Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush "I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area." --Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) "I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today" --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX) "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." --Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

My point is the dangers of racial profiling. When the first reports of this killing came out, lots of right wing heroes in the U.S. were saying we needed to take a page from the Brits' book and follow suit. "Put seven slugs into the head of these bastards." This Brazilian is dead because he had dark skin and he lived in the same building that some suspect lived in. That's it--and that was enough for his to be shot in the head while his hands were pinned behind his back, and then lied about after the fact.

racial profiling at work: http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/s...1550565,00.html "It has now emerged that Mr de Menezes: · was never properly identified because a police officer was relieving himself at the very moment he was leaving his home; · was unaware he was being followed; · was not wearing a heavy padded jacket or belt as reports at the time suggested; · never ran from the police; · and did not jump the ticket barrier. But the revelation that will prove most uncomfortable for Scotland Yard was that the 27-year-old electrician had already been restrained by a surveillance officer before being shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder."

Here you go: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/...ushprotest.html a quote from this article: "In addition to the two-hour bike ride, Bush's Saturday schedule included an evening Little League Baseball playoff game, a lunch meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a nap, some fishing and some reading."

"I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life ... I think the people want the president to be in a position to make good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy. And part of my being is to be outside exercising. So I'm mindful of what goes on around me. On the other hand, I'm also mindful that I've got a life to live and will do so."

YOu forget that the Bills' offiense under Flutie had beenplaying like crap the second half of that season, showing a painful inability to score, and winning only becasue of the defense. A lot of people thought Floutie had lost whatever surprise benefit he had had in his first season and a half. In the last five games Flutie started that season, the Bills scored 7, 17, 17, 31 (against the Arizon Cardinals, the worst team in theleague, with a kick return giving the final 7 points of that game in the last minute of play) and 13 points, lost two of the five games,and won theother two by seven and three points. So in the last regular season game, after the Bills had clinched a playoff birth, Wade decided to start Rob Johnson against the Colts, who at that point were 14-2 or thereabouts, and fighting with Jacksonville for home field advantage throughout the post season. Rob Johnson, that terrible quarterback, took the moribund Bills offense and completely destroyed the Colts, picking them apart, and the Bills won 31-6. I remember SDS's head exploding after the game. So Wade made the switch and called on Johnson to start the game against Tennessee. The Flutie fanatics were furious. It's only in 20-20 hindsight, after the Forward lateral, and using convenient amnesia of where the Bills were at that point in their season, that everyone said the Bills would do better with Flutie at QB. Please spare me the "We would have scored thirty point if Dougie had started BS."

I'm with you on this. Certain Bills fans have to have a whipping boy, and now that Travis Henry is gone, Josh Reed is the designated vessel for all these fans' disappointment and scorn. I'm not saying he doesn't have to prove himself, but the degree to which he is being written off by most of the posters on this thread and elsewhere strikes me as being excessive and unwarranted, especially when they are hyping guys like Drew Haddad and George Wilson over him.

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Sorry. I was responding to R. Rich, not you.

Dr. Z did not write this article. He is quoted in an article written by the D&C sports writer. He said this in passing in an interview, the way you or I might say something like it in a conversation. Also, as I said I don't KNOW that Dr. Z dislikes Manning for this reason. It's just something I seemed to remember.

I seem to remember Dr. Z saying last season he didn't like the way Manning said before last year's draft that he would refuse to play for San Diego, forcing the trade with the Giants for Philip Rivers.

Always a tragedy to see a child die. I feel for his parents.

It's good old Charlie Kane! (Citizen Kane, 1941)

A heart that's full up like a landfill, a job that slowly kills you, bruises that won't heal. You look so tired-unhappy, bring down the government, they don't, they don't speak for us. I'll take a quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide, with no alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises, no alarms and no surprises, Silent silence.

Yes, that's what I was referring to. Thanks.

Pathetic. Desperate. Laughable.