October 11, 2004

• U.S. officials point out that there have been no direct orders to commanders in the field to pause operations in the weeks before the Nov. 2 election. Top administration officials in Washington are simply reluctant to sign off on a major offensive in Iraq at the height of the political season.

  Sounds reasonable to me. I'd rather have Kerry handle it. Bush should sit down before his back-brace breaks and his earpieces confuse him even more.
• wait wait wait . . . are you implying that George W. Bush has been less than honest and forthright with the American people? I say goodday to you sir!
• The Bush administration will delay major assaults on rebel-held cities in Iraq until after U.S. elections in November, say administration officials, the only shocking part of that sentence is the last three words. When you're doing something incredibly sleazy, dont you traditionally NOT admit it to the media, especially in an election year?
• Bush is like a little machine. He just blurts out the same sentences over and over. just end all this already!
• Puhleeze. This is politics, not sleaze. Unless you consider them one and the same. ANY incumbent would do the same. This holier-than-thou attitude coming from some of you is...well, it's pretty sickening.
• Squirrels are definitely my favourite small, furry mammals. I briefly moved over to ocelots, but now I'm right back to squirrels.
• Really, fx? Can you provide me with list of past US Presidents who did this?
• Rock, meet Hard Place. If Bush were to undertake a major offensive, many who dislike him would cry "wag the dog" and the like. The fact that he's not ordered an offensive, the very same people are still crying foul. And, f8x, I hate to say it, but there are plenty of powerful people on both sides (Karl Rove, anyone?) who practice the politics of sleaze. Neither side is immune, but any major choice taken or deferred near an election by an incumbent is going to leave the other side calling foul.
• "Puhleeze. This is politics, not sleaze. Unless you consider them one and the same" Bingo!
• chimaera: that's my whole point. This is simply being used as ammunition for knee-jerkers to piss and moan some more. Frankly, it's very tiresome to see countless FPP's whining about some action or inaction by the administration.
• John Adams didn't go to war with France. Truman didn't drop the bomb in Korea. He also fired MacArthur. To name a few. (gotta love David McCullough)
• oh really. on a completely unrelated note, i learned yesterday that my brother is supposed to be coming home, almost 6 months early, and gee just in time for him to drive over to the polling station, wife in tow, and vote for the dear leader who sent him to iraq in the first place (yeah, i highly doubt he still loves ol' george). but that of course is unrelated to the FPP. i only bring it up 'cause it makes me happy. it must not have a single thing to do with republicans worrying about their re-election chances, no not at all. my prediction? if bush gets a second term, my brother will be rapidly re-deployed. this political manipulation of the iraq war must end, folks. this is some major class bullshit. and i bet the republican core constituency will lap it up.
• No offense, caution, but your bro signed on freely, knowing he might get sent into battle. My brother just got back from a year-long stint in Ramadi, and he expects to get sent back over at some point - it's kind of his job now. Is that politics? Only in the sense that politics is war and war is politics. Am I "worried" about Bush getting reelected? Nope. Frankly, part of me hopes Kerry wins so I don't have to listen to a bunch of monkeys whinging so much. But that's my base nature coming to light. How is your bro, by the way? I hope he's doing well.
• f8mulder, as you know, you don't have to read what we write. No one is forcing you. Also, I often don't agree with your point of view, but I also don't call your comments "whinging".
• That's because he's usually speaking in support of something, squid.
• what is 'whinging'?
• squid, when 20-30% of MoFi FPPs are some derivation of "Bush sucks", it just gets frustrating wading through them all. I am not calling all comments here whinging, but many of them are. There's nothing even necessarily wrong with whinging, but 99% of the online population here is anti-Bush. That makes for a lot of anti-Bush comments. A fair percentage of those comments are, quite simply, repeating ad nauseum the same tripe. Love ya'll though, immensely. Truly.
• whinging
• I actually agree with f8x's first comment. It is politics. That doesn't make it right. I do think though that were Kerry the sitting president and Bush the challenger, the same thing would be taking place, with the same results. That is, the right would be calling for Kerry to do something, and the left would be saying that of course he's not going to do anything before the election. All that said, if I were a rebel/terrorist/word du jour for the opposition in Iraq, I'd be looking at the time between now and the elections as a really good chance to grab what I could.
• I'm in support of squirrels. Especially red ones. Grey ones are okay, but I wish they would stop pushing the red ones out of their habitat. But, of course, everyone knows the black ones are the best. (This is not a metaphor or allusion - I really like squirrels, and am worried about the red squirrel's survival.)
• I concur.
• Isn't that whingeing?
• I think that Mr. Red Squirrel is very happy to see you, flashboy.
• These squirrels...they have internets?
• They have wood.
• chimaera: You could be right. Though it may be an alternate spelling. Wolof: and gonads and strife.
• And internuts.
• I was at the Woodland Park Zoo yesterday, those squirrels had a lot of wood. Seriously.
• The only person I see whining or whinging in this thread is f8xmulder. Perhaps, f8x, you are so very sensitive to the tone you perceive in others' comments because you express it yourself so freely. As for your claim that those who oppose Bush would attack his policies no matter what action was taken (or not taken), you might want to consider that nearly every (if not, indeed, every) action and inaction committed by Bush has been in error, and many have been backed by outright lies. So, please stop whining about those who bring up his errors, as they are expressing valid criticism of the worst president in history.
• Did some fark? I think someone farked. This place stinks.
• someone
• ...the worst president in history. Truly.
• Okay - Thing is, that when people disagree, being really adament doesn't help. We've actually had some nice discussions (I thought), that have gone to the big archive in the sky, but they only work when both sides are willing to make reasonable points and do no snarking. You try to present the reasons why you belief in X, not why someone else should. And then you have to listen to what they say, and take that on board. It sounds all touchy-feely, therapy in the woods-like, but it really does make for a better discussion. Most of all, we should never decide that the end all and be all of an entire person's existence is their political choice. We are all so much more than that. And sometimes we just have to agree to disagree. Just because someone doesn't agree with you, that doesn't make them a bad person. Sometimes they have different values, but you have to understand them. We all have different values. If I were always looking to enforce my beliefs on other people, no car thread would ever go by without me denouncing all demons who even think about sitting behind a steering wheel, muderous bastards just looking to run me down and crush my broken body into the pavement, just because I jay walk and wander out into traffic without warning.* This is just based on the last couple of threads. Controversial topics, even when they generate intense discusion, can be good when approached with care and politeness. But this constant bickering is horrible. When I come to monkeyfilter in the middle of my night, stressed to the wazoo, I need bananas, people! And sometimes intelligent discussion. And sometimes silly flash games. or puppies. /off my chest. feeling better now. *The above snark is for demonstrative purposes only. No actual snarking is intended, nor is any liability accepted by the snarker.
• I'm going to go abuse some Sims now.
• Thank you jb.
• Whut jb sez.
• I disagree, jb. I think disagreements - especially in areas as important as politics - can be serious enough to result in justifiable loss of respect for, and even hatred of, another person. For example, I honestly believe that those who still support Bush, after all his blatant lies and murderous crimes, are either wicked or stupid or some infernal combination of the two. I think they are 'bad people'. Feel free to disagree, of course...
• Well.....while I deeply question Bush supporters' intellect and understanding of the administration, I cannot go so far as to call them 'bad people'. Well, maybe some of them.
• Well, I've talked to many Bush supporters—one of the benefits of living in a battleground state—and they have been for the most part sensible people. It is possible, I think, to have perfectly rational reasons to support Bush. I only meet rabid Bush supporters (or Kerry supporters) on the internets.
• I honestly believe that those who still support Bush, after all his blatant lies and murderous crimes, are either wicked or stupid or some infernal combination of the two. I think they are 'bad people'. I could choose to be offended by this statement, but thankfully I'm more tolerant ;-)
• F8x is so bad he's good. Just check out his pimp roll. And I can name one good thing that Bush did: he gave us 'internets.' Thank you, Mr. President.
• Mmmmmm...pimp roll...
• I blame the loss of the Daisy Mae thread. That, and the fact that all you ignorant assholes don't know how to shut the fuck up and listen to your betters.
• < sopranos > Ohhhh! Show some fockin' rispek! < / sopranos >
• fuyugare - I wonder whether it is the internet actually makes people become a little rabid in their suppport, particularly the loss of all the social signals we are used to.
• particularly the loss of all the social signals we are used to. It's definitely a disinhibitor. And people can only punch you in the face rhetorically, which means your teeth last longer.