It's not so much envy of our freedom but a dislike of it. They know that freedom is contagious. Once someone experiences it, they're less likely to accept a system of rule that many of the hardcore fundamentals want to install. They see America as a place filled with sex and a lack of morals. They believe that if our freedoms are allowed to spread then their lands may become like America. It may not be so much the freedom they don't like but what the freedom would lead to. So yes, saying they don't like us for our freedom would be an accurate statement.
You've been a lawyer for just a little too long! I get what you're saying, but this just an expressed sentiment whether written under a legal signature or wholly made up. It doesn't really matter; it is still an expressed sentiment which probably has strengths and weaknesses, accuracies and inaccuracies which can be described and debated without being ridiculed for the nature of its origin. I am not entering this into evidence in an effort to convict anyone.
OK, I'll play. A few points... 1. Any time you see somebody going out of their way to claim that what they are saying is non-political, you can be sure it is very political. 2. The whole thing reads like it came out of the RNC with the targeted email audience of rabid homeschoolers and Rushbo followers with the aim of inflaming people's passions and getting them to vote for Bush... notice the reference to the election? 3. If he's talking about anything other than Bush subverting the Constitution, this is laughable. Nothing about the WOT is remotely as threatening as WWII, save for our own misguided actions. 4. A Bush talking point... "They hate us for our freedoms." 5. Another right-wing canard that has been rebuked many times already. Spain is not finished. The Bush-bot lost the election because he lied to to the people. 6. Population Demographics of France from the CIA World Fact Book... Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% 7. This no patriot. "Give me Liberty or Give me Death." I'm not cowering because of violence, I don't expect my kids to, and I don't expect my country to. Why are the people who are so adamant about the war so cowardly at home? The ideas of America and democracy and freedom are the greatest weapons we have in this "war." Why surrender? 8. WWII had a goal... the unconditional surrender of Germany and Japan. What's the goal in the WOT? How will we know when victory is achieved? This thing could go on forever. 9. Ugh. It's not they're disloyal, it's just that any criticism of the current administration emboldens the enemy and furthers their goal of seeing us lose. This is pathetic and unAmerican. 10. The discussion of toture is revolting and there have already been enough threads about that... and I'm sick of the topic. 11. This seems to conflict with #7. Is he advocating that we give away our freedoms in #7 so we are no longer a democracy? It doesn't make sense to me. 12. He has a thing about "peaceful Muslims" and looks for any chance to dump on Muslims who are not actively trying to kill people. Seems a misguided approach to me.
So, it doesn't matter that this chain letter wasn't written by the General who it is attributed to????? Wow! It's true! Everyone, including Giddyup, needs 2 or 3 juicy rationalizations to make it through the day! And for some people, like President Bush, it's up to 9 or 10 rationalizations a day!
What a load of horse****. Do people really buy into this stuff as legitimate talking points? I think even Hayes would say this is useless tripe.
Any bets that if Gore got elected in 2000 and fuc*edup as bad Bush has wrt Iraq, these conservative astroturf letter would be making the rounds? The point of the letter is to tell the gentle reader to support the Republican President or STFU as you relocate to Francis. Partisan dribble masquareding as honest political debate. My open letter to my son ... "Open your eyes and figure it out for yourself."
Do you hear about the IRA bombing anymore? No? why not? Eventually it will end....the English do it best, keep living your life, and take them out whenever you can.... DD
giddy- do you actually think this letter is good? Like, containing well-made, substantiated points? This thing is so full of tripe, I don't know where to begin. Spain has been overthrown by The Muslims. France is next. I.... I'm just staggered here. The dirty ghetto dwelling Muslims of France will keep reproducing and reproducing, just like those ******* Mexicans. This is just so... asinine. This is mouth-breathing redneck jibberish. By the way, he keeps using the phrase "the Muslims." The author stopped bothering to hide his xenophobic tendnecies after paying lip service to being open minded about other religions. Whatever. "The Muslims" pose a greater threat than the Cuban Missle Crisis, or WWII? This is so lame, I don't know how to respond. He has supported all presidents in all international conflicts over the past 50 years... well, there's a ringing endorsement. He's not a political hack (cough cough) he just can't help supporting any war that America plays part in. Is that patriotic? How, exactly, is America suddenly going to be overthrown by The Muslims? I'd say a worst-case scenario is AQ gets a hold of a nuke and flattens New York or DC. Even in that case, how will America be overthrown? And how is the Iraq war helping us nail AQ? If he thinks we'll win the WOT, how exactly is that going to happen? And this is golden: A) We have to give up some civil liberties plus B) We will win by never giving up on American Principles equals Hypocrisy. Oh, and the "they attacked us because they are jealous." Man. Again, I don't know how to respond. Is anyone who is educated on this matter actually thinking this? Giddy? Anyone? This letter posted by giddy is mostly trash.
My remarks were intended for the letter I posted which was attributed to someone who remained anonymous.
In every Democracy, there's the temptation to let the government go unchecked so the people can pay more attention to their peaceful lives. A good argument could be made that we don't deserve freedom if we easily give our hard fought powers to the military and the government. Our country is an idea. We should fight for its principles rather than sustain the notion that the idea has to be preserved at all costs. Countries change. Germany has had kings, prime ministers, and elected dictators. The only difference between us and the Germans is the action we're willing to take or not take.
I hear the letter has inspired Toby Keith and he is putting the Bedwetter Manifesto to music. Expect a big music video with lots of flags, guns and GOP signs.
I liked his paragraph about Nazi Germany, we either forget, or are simply not told as students, that these guys were Christians through and through. But, frankly, I tuned this guy out once I heard the term "politically correct," and the claim that they only hate us for our freedom (even though this is partly true, I think a lawyer would have a better grasp of history then that), and this last part triggered the wise-ass in me (and I'll admit upfront that I omitted the less disputable part about oppressing women): Hmmm.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebra#History "The word "algebra" is named after the Arabic word "al-jabr" from the title of the book al-Kitāb al-mutaar fī isāb al-ğabr wa-l-muqābala, meaning The book of Summary Concerning Calculating by Transposition and Reduction, a book written by the Persian Muslim mathematician Muammad ibn Mūsā al-wārizmī in 820. The word al-jabr means "reunion". Al-Khwarizmi is often considered the "father of algebra" (though that title is also given to Diophantus), as much of his works on reduction are still in use today. Another Persian mathematician Omar Khayyam developed algebraic geometry and found the general geometric solution of the cubic equation." Huh.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numbers "Arabic numerals, known formally as Hindu-Arabic numerals, and also known as Indian numerals, Hindu numerals, European numerals, and Western numerals, are the most common symbolic representation of numbers around the world. They are considered an important milestone in the development of mathematics. One may distinguish between the decimal system involved, also known as the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, and the precise glyphs used. The glyphs most commonly in conjunction with the Latin alphabet since Early Modern times are 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. The numbers were developed in India by the Hindus around 400 BCE. However, because it was Arabs who relayed this system to the West after the Hindu numerical system found its way to Persia, the numeral system became mis-identified as "Arabic" in the eyes of the Europeans. Arabs themselves call the Eastern Arabic numerals "Indian numerals," أرقام هندية, (arqam hindiyyah) and use a different set of Arabic symbols as numerals."
