March 28, 2005
Time passesWhen I started this blog I needed to write so badly that words just burst out of me. At blogger parties I would hear about this blogger burnout and wonder -- how can you get sick of writing. It didn't matter how busy I was, I just needed to find time to write. I'm pretty busy these days, but that isn't really an excuse. I could find the time if I really wanted to.
The thing is, politics in't engaging me right now. I still follow the news, but thanks to Instapundit and Tivo, that's really easy to do. But until a topic catches my fancy (or ire) I just can't find it in me to comment. Probably when the next SCOTUS nomination happens, I'll have something to say. Or who knows what news will trigger me?
On the personal side, having QoF living with me has quelled much of my angst. What can I say, as exasperating as teens can be, I just love being a fulltime dad. Not many "Lileks" moments, but it can be very rewarding in different ways.
Speck was here for spring break, so we did a bit of skiing. Now that I'm on the wrong side of 40, I try to be careful for my knees. For the first time, the girls went on a bunch of runs by themselves. ("Hey Daddy, we went on some double blacks. They were really cool.") They're not little kids going on the bunny runs anymore. At least they still enjoy hitting the slopes with the old man. Let's see how long that lasts.
I haven't kept up with my TV watching -- Tivo shows are stacking up, but while QoF was out here I bought the first season of "The OC" on DVD and we did a mini-marathon. She had her best friend over and we had good fun. Turns out that much of the OC is shot in Redondo, MDR and Santa Monica, believe it or not. I recognized some buildings and restaurants, even caught a glimpse of our place...
The girls went to their mom's this week. QoF for the second part of her Spring Break, while Speck is back in school. Such a difference for me. Time just passes differently.
Just thought you'd like to know...
Posted by Martin Devon at 03:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 25, 2005
Life and deathI've stayed out of the Schiavo fray until now, so before I comment let me just say:
-- My heart is with the parents. If there is any chance she could have some sort of life, absent a living will instructing oherwise, why not give it to her?
-- I don't get a good vibe from the husband but...
-- This is a state matter for Florida to sort out.
All that said, isn't starving Terri Schiavo to death the coward's way out? If you're going to kill her, kill her. Don't starve her slowly. Just do it. Or would actually killing her make it ttoo hard to admit what is actually happening?
Posted by Martin Devon at 09:39 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
March 20, 2005
UN to the World: "Look over there"Kofi Annan wants to expand the UN Security Council from 15 to 24 members and proposes cutting down the size of the human rights commision. Trim a little here, add a bit there. Annan is trying the classic bureaucrat's ploy -- shift things around and call it reform.
Does the UN Security Council make decisions too quickly? If so, then Annan's idea is terrific. But that's not the problem with the security council. The problem isn't that it is too small, but that it is too big, and has the wrong countires on it. If Europe is serious about the EU, then the EU should have one seat, and the France, Germany and the UK should be represented that way. Perhaps India and or Japan should get a seat. But all that is a sideshow, a magician's misdirection.
What we need from Kofi Annan and the UN is for them to come clean about the scandals -- Oil for Food and all the rest. If the UN has ideas about restructuring, they can talk about how member countires like the US can oversee their budget, and hold them accountable. If they want to be relevent, the have to perform.
Posted by Martin Devon at 11:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 16, 2005
PerspectiveI wish I had the time to write the 1000 words rattling around my brain on this topic, but between 2 demanding jobs and being a full-time dad...blogging is suffering. You'll have to settle for the "Reader's Digest" version. Sorry about that...
Point of view is a powerful force in shaping our world. This time last year I was going to Starbucks every day, sometimes twice a day. I had to have Internet access wherever I travelled, so I glommed on to Starbucks, knowing that wherever I was I'd be able to get wireless access to the web, a latte and a maple nut scone.
I have sophisticated tastes, and I knew that there was better tasting coffee out there, but I didnt have the time to find the best coffee in each neighborhood I was in. And even if I did, would they have Internet access? The strange thing was that even though I *knew* I could get a better cup of coffee somewhere, Starbucks coffee tasted great to me.
As my work profile changed my needs shifted. I don't travel nearly as much as I used to. Now I am more likley to need to stay for at the same coffee shop for two hours between meetings, and I no longer need to find web access in brand new neighborhoods very often.
I wound up sticking to one or two coffee shops with good atmosphere. I switched to Kona coffee at the Velocity Cafe and Italian Blend at the Rumormill. I allow myself to enjoy my fancy shmancy coffee. The funny thing is that when I do find myself at Starbucks I don't enjoy it anymore -- the same exact latte that I drank and enjoyed every day for two years now tastes a bit bitter to me.
Why is that? What happened? The coffee didn't change. The taste is exactly the same. But my perspective did.
Posted by Martin Devon at 11:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 11, 2005
To click or not to clickI'd forgotten about pop-up ads since I mostly use just browsers that block them. About six weeks ago I noticed that Drudge inplemented new popups that defeat the blockers. Like most people, I want Internet forms to work, so I only block popups that come up unrequested. But Drudge's popups key off of your clicks. If I like a link of his and click on it, it will spawn a popup.
Well, it is his site, he can do what he wants. But I haven' been visiting Drudge much lately, and when I do, I rarely follow a link. I wonder if others feel as I do, and if Drudge's numbers have fallen.
Posted by Martin Devon at 01:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Villaraigosa's second at batMy Los Angeles mayoral karma is as bad as my presidential karma is good. My preffered candidates never even make the runoff. I was hoping that Bob Hertzberg would be the next mayor, but now that Antonio Villaraigosa is in the runoff, I find myself praying that Jim Hahn pulls an upset and gets himself re-elected.
With Villaraigosa, the only hope is that he doesn' mean what he says and would never implement his policy ideas. But LA is pretty blue, and Villaraigosa's "vision" sounds expensive, but not too expensive for the city council. I can see taxes rising already...
Posted by Martin Devon at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 08, 2005
"Like Steinbrener taking over the Red Sox"John Bolton isn't Wolfowitz, but I'm thrilled that he is going to be the next UN Ambassador. The Center for American Progress? Not so much... Here's part of an email I got from them:
Unilateralism PersonifiedPresident Bush yesterday named neoconservative, unilateralist hawk John Bolton as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The appointment of Bolton, whose loathing for the United Nations is unmatched even within the Bush administration, is a gift to the most caustic isolationists on the right. Chas Freeman, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia under the first President Bush, said naming Bolton to the U.N. job was "the equivalent of dropping a neutron bomb on the organization." Some prominent conservatives in Congress, including Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), have also expressed reservations, signaling a difficult confirmation process. Still, like the right-wing effort to twist the oil-for-food corruption scandal into an anti-U.N. smear campaign, the selection of Bolton reflects one of the Bush administration's fundamental foreign policy goals: to restrain, undermine, and delegitimize the world's most valuable institution for multilateral problem solving.
Excellent. I can see Hagel and Lugar's faces changing colors even now...
Posted by Martin Devon at 01:35 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
March 05, 2005
Male, Female or OtherI'm pro Gay Marriage and generally try to avoid the culture wars (other than where the GWOT is concerned), but as I was reading the New York Times yesterday one article stopped me short. I did a double take -- am I reading The Onion? Is this a Jon Stewart like "fake news" item. You tell me:
Ms. Dennis is one of 250 or so members of People in Search of Safe Restrooms, a group founded here three years ago. It reflects a small but active movement, mostly on college campuses but also in a few cities, in which the bathroom, that prosaic fixture of past battles against racial segregation and for the rights of the disabled, has become an emotional and at times deeply personal symbol of a cultural and political divide.In fact, bathrooms have become a cultural "fault line," said Mary Anne Case, a law professor at the University of Chicago, where the Queer Action Campaign for Gender-Neutral Bathrooms recently got 10 single-use restrooms on campus designated gender neutral.
"Very few spaces in our society remain divided by sex," Professor Case said. "There's marriage and there's toilets, and very little else."
To young transgender people, especially college students, the issue has particular resonance.
"Students are looking hard at the right to express their gender, a painful rite of passage for every young adult," said Riki Wilchins, executive director of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit group in Washington that fights discrimination and violence based on gender stereotypes. "These kids are demanding the right to be who they are and what they are 24/7. They're tired of being harassed or hassled when they simply need to use a public facility."
Say what? There are more than two genders now? The GLBT "community" thinks that it will be less stressfull for them to mandate "neutral" bathrooms than it will to pick one of the two categories (male and female) and just go there? Really?
I am really starting to feel old. To my way of thinking, bathroom selection is pretty simple. Here's the process:
1. Take a peek in your pants.
2. Do a quick inventory.
3. If you have an "inny", go to the Ladies Room.
4. If you have an "outy", go to the Mens Room.
This process works even if you have been surgically switched from an inny to an outy or vice-versa. I mean, what is the point of getting sex-change if you don't fel comfortable going to the bathroom reserved for your new gender?
I understand that getting a sex-change is not an easy process, and that there are many inolerant people out there who will give transgendered people a hard time. But you can't ask society to add a whole new class of bathrooms for you. I guess that the NYT feels otherwise.
Posted by Martin Devon at 03:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 03, 2005
OC/LA
You can't get away from Hollywood when you're in LA. I had a business dinner at the pier in Redondo Beach. When I first moved to LA I used to love to go to the beach there, but that was long before they built the pier. This ws the first time I'd actually been out there in years.
I was gobsmacked to discover that Redondo is where they actually film the pier shots for The OC. So much for Orange County. The picture above is of the structure that serves as the exterior for the club at which that hot bisexual girl tends bar on the show. OK, that story sounded better in my head than it does written down.
Posted by Martin Devon at 11:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
March 01, 2005
At the 2008 starting gateCharlie Cook thinks that the race for the 2008 GOP nomination is wide open.
Notwithstanding the far-fetched talk of Vice President Dick Cheney or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice deciding to run, there is still a large field of wannabes and highly touted possibilities. Among those mentioned most prominently are Sens. George Allen of Virginia, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, John McCain of Arizona, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Majority Leader Bill Frist; Govs. George Pataki of New York, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Mark Sanford of South Carolina; former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Speaker Newt Gingrich.
While there are a number of strong candidates, the strongest candidates for the general election would have a hard time winning the nomination. If any pro-choice, anti-gun rights pol could win the GOP nod, it is Rudy, but that is still a tall order. I could see voting for him, but his gun control stances are highly problematic for me.
McCain is a longer shot. He's more conservative than Rudy, but not nearly as beloved by the right. Where I can kind of squint and see Rudy nominated, I can't really see McCain sneaking in. But who else can? Maybe Romney, maybe Allen.
Condi should run for the good of the party, don't you think?
Posted by Martin Devon at 09:27 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
February 27, 2005
Slice of life updateQoF turned 16 this weekend.
Thursday night....
Martin:
QoF:
Martin: Sorry I took so long. Your grandparents had me give you this gift early. But there's no way I can sneak it past you -- it is too heavy. It took me half an hour to shlep it up here.
QoF: Looks at it dubiously Hmm. Is it a bookcase? No gift-wrapping?
Martin: I was supposed to wrap it, but first I had to sneak it in. I thought I could get it by you. Now that you see it, could you help me get it inside?
QoF: Okay.....Man this is heavy. How did you get it this far?
Martin: Just Push!
QoF: Yikes! It moved! It moved! What the hell is it?
Martin: Aah. Just go ahead and open it...
QoF: Are you sure?
Martin: Yeah. Why not...
QoF: Okaaay. Pulls off the top part to reveal...
Speck: Surprise! Happy Birthday!
Speck flew in from Indiana to surprise her sister for her 16th birthday. It has been a terrific weekend -- too short, but good fun
Posted by Martin Devon at 07:16 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
February 23, 2005
Un-OscarsWent to an LA Press Club/blogger party. I've been posting so seldom I felt guilty attending. There was vodka, and much discussion of bad movies. I suppose that I should say for the record that Jill Stewart is really hot. I can be awkward in social situations and thus opaque from time to time. Also, her boyfriend was there.
What else? I expected Hollywood to be nicer than it was. It has been almost 15 years since I worked there but it looks the same. Yeah, I've been back in 15 years, but it just struck me tonight.
Oh yeah, I should tell you that I've seen all 5 nominees for Best Picture. I rank the films:
5. Finding Neverland
4. The Aviator
3. Ray
2. Sideways
1. Million Dollar Baby
Upon further refection, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind may be better than them all.
Posted by Martin Devon at 11:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
February 18, 2005
Can Gretzky and Mario help 'W' ?Is the hockey season over? The two best hockey players that ever lived, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, performed any number of on-ice miracles, but can they deliver an overtime Hail Mary off the ice? Since the duo have one foot in each camp, owner and player, perhaps they can succeed where others have failed:
Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have re-entered the picture in an attempt to get the 2004-05 NHL season back on track, sources told The Hockey News."I was told Gretzky and Lemieux got involved, to try to talk some sense into the (union) executive committee," a source said.
However, Gretzky downplayed his involvement during a radio interview with The Fan 590 in Toronto. "To say Mario and I had a conversation to stir up the conversations and talks again, that's just not true," Gretzky said.
Late yesterday, rumors swirled that maybe there was still a chance to save the season, with a small group of players attempting to formulate a new proposal, though the season was canceled Wednesday.
Negotiations can be tricky, but hockey players are the most humble of professional athletes. They know that they don’t have star power that basketball players have, let alone baseball or football stars. The flip side is that hockey owners are so stupid that they make their baseball brethren look like geniuses. As I understand it, the player’s union agreed to a salary cap in principle. That was the huge stumbling block, and the players gave in.
Apparently the negotiations broke down because the players want $5 million or so more than the owners wanted. But the players made the big concession. So why couldn’t the owners make the final concession? After all, breaking the continuity of the Stanley Cup will cost the league far more than $5 million. Perhaps Gretzky and Lemieux can bridge that gap.
As a hockey fan and somewhat detached observer I find it frustrating that the two parties have to cancel the season to start a serious negotiation. What is it about human nature that doesn’t allow us to deal with problems until they are right upon us? I have the same affliction – in similar situations I’ll wait to until the last minute to solve a problem. Why do I do that?
If you look at the social security debate and wonder why you see such contradictory poll data I think you’ll see the same dynamic at work. While most people wouldn’t characterize social security as a crisis, they agree with President Bush that it is an urgent problem, and they give him props for trying to solve it. But when it comes to the possible solutions, you don’t see wide agreement about how to solve it, which gives Democrats quite a bit of traction in obstructing him. Perhaps that’s why ‘W’ started using the T-word. He’s trying to show that he is serious.
We really do have to look at the problem in a new way. Fifteen years ago we had the PC vs. Mainframe shift that shook the foundational assumptions IT was built upon. In the 60’s computing power was ten to twenty-five times more expensive than programmer’s time was. With the PC revolution, the numbers flipped, and software development time (people’s time) became much more expensive than computing power.
Procedures that were developed to maximize computer cycles on a precious Mainframe running 24 X 7 gave way to programmers who have multiple desktops and laptops that collaborate over the Internet. You wouldn’t be able to identify all the hardware that Firefox was developed on, let alone assign a financial value to it. Hardware is irrelevant to that project beyond making sure that the product works in each targeted platform. If you tried to build Firefox using the waterfallsoftware development methodologies of the mainframe days, you’d still be in the design phase. As we know, Firefox is in production, used by millions of happy people.
So why do we want to keep using FDR’s methodology to run today’s social security? In his day we had lots of workers supporting relatively few retirees who conveniently dropped dead promptly after receiving a few checks. Today we have different advantages – we may have fewer workers per retiree, but people live longer in decent health and are far more productive before they retire. Our economy is many times larger, and our financial instruments are more robust and much more sophisticated.
‘W’ is trying to leverage those advantages to build social security 2.0. Does he want to use it to win support for the GOP? Sure! Didn’t FDR build the Democratic Party on his programs? The Dems have two ways that they can respond to Bush – they can obstruct him or they can use the realities of 2005 and construct a rational alternative of their own. Bush has already chosen a wise path for the Republicans. Dems can respond with a wise alternative of their own and compete for voters or they can put their heads in the sand and wait for the demographic steamroller o run them over. I urge them to learn from hockey’s mistakes.
Posted by Martin Devon at 10:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 15, 2005
The other JoeSen. Joe Biden is what passes for a hawk in the Democratic party. Hearing him speak reminds me of how happy I am that Condi Rice is the Secretary of State, not not Biden. Here is the distinguished senator on Fox News Sunday:
BIDEN: I think it's a long-term threat. It's not a near-term threat. There is no evidence they have the capacity right now. They have not tested.And the fact of the matter is, this is a case where we're remaining to sit on the sidelines. The Europeans, the three European countries that are negotiating with the Iranians, are saying, "Look, we've got to get in the deal with them. We can't just sit on the sidelines."
We acknowledge nothing can happen without the Europeans participating and again being ready to use sanctions and/or, as we say, sticks. And we acknowledge, and most people know, nothing they're going to be able to do is going to be involved with us unless we're willing to get into some kind of an agreement that results in a verifiable arms control agreement.
Look, Dr. Rice, when asked if they forswore their missile capability and their nuclear weapons and we could verify that, would we make a deal, and she implied we wouldn't, even under those circumstances.
So we're at odds with our European friends, and it doesn't leave many options.
WALLACE: Do you believe honestly that diplomatic efforts can work, whether its this European effort to offer economic incentives or eventually U.N. tough sanctions? Do you believe that diplomatic efforts can actually get the mullahs to give up their nuclear ambitions? Or, in the end, are we going to have to accept Iran as a nuclear power?
BIDEN: The answer is, I don't know, Chris. The U.N. is no part of this.
If, in fact, France, England and Germany were willing, in the face of obstruction by Iran, which is the case right now, if they were willing to engage in sanctions, including not purchasing their oil, which would be a big deal for them, and cutting off economic relations, I believe it has the possibility of having an effect.
Conversely, if we were willing to sign on to a genuine nonaggression pact in the states of a verifiable regime, that's the only other possibility.
If neither of those work, and I'm not at all sure they would, then you're left with one of two options: You accept them as a nuclear power, which I'm disinclined to do, or you invade, which we are not really particularly capable of doing right now.
I don't understand why he thinks that there is a possibility of a deal. Bush hasn't "solved the problem" of North Korea, but at least he hasn't signed a sham treaty that would pretend to solve it without accomplishing anything. At least we know we have a problem.
Posted by Martin Devon at 06:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 14, 2005
Site newsAt some point soon I'll start blogging more regularly again. I've been swamped with work the past couple of months... and with QoF living with me, there's always chauffeur duty. I'm thinking of writing a 750 word piece each week, with a few smaller posts here and there. QoF thinks I ought to write about the Great Cream Cheese Crisis, which lasted all of last week, until she went to Noah's today. Also, I really ought to do a site freshening too. Now that I've put it out there, let' see if I can deliver...
Posted by Martin Devon at 12:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 09, 2005
Bumped off next year's listIt is often hard to figure out what is going on at major corporations. I remember back when Computerworld had a cover about how great the Citibank CIO was. Publication deadlines back then meant that the issue hit the newstands at about the same time that the Wall Street Journal was reporting that the guy was fired.
So why am I surprised that HP fired Carly? She was a marketing leader of a technical company. If anything she lasted longer than I should have expected, especially after the Compaq acquisition:
HP Wednesday announced that its board of directors has dismissed Carly Fiorina as the company's chairman and CEO.Fiorina, who has been HP's CEO for the past six years, is to be replaced on an interim basis by HP's current CFO, Robert P. Wayman, the company said in a statement. Wayman, who has been with HP for 36 years, will also continue to fill his role as CFO. HP has already begun its search for a new CEO, the Palo Alto company said.
HP also named Patricia Dunn as its non-executive chairman of the board. Dunn has been an HP director since 1998.
HP said it does not plan to make any additional structural changes or executive leadership changes for the time being.
"Carly Fiorina came to HP to revitalize and reinvigorate the company," Dunn said in a telephone press conference. "She had a strategic vision and put in place a plan that has given HP the capabilities to compete and win. We thank Carly for her significant leadership over the past six years as we look forward to accelerating execution of the company's strategy."
The company statement indicated that Fiorina's departure stems from disagreements on company strategy.
"While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision," Fiorina is quoted as saying in the statement.
According to Dunn, the board's decision to replace its CEO did not signal a change of strategy, but rather a desire to accelerate that strategy. Wayman, who was also made a member of the HP board on Wednesday, added that no changes in the company's product portfolio were expected.
Dunn declined to give specific reasons for Fiorina's dismissal. "We thought a new set of abilities was called for," Dunn said. "We are looking to accelerate the growth of the company and we think that requires hands-on execution."
The wheel turns again.
Posted by Martin Devon at 02:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 06, 2005
Go Dolphins!
Happy Holidays Y'all!
Posted by Martin Devon at 12:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 04, 2005
When in Rome...I'm working from one of my new favorite cafe's -- The Rumor Mill (look under Culver City). LA is such an interesting place. This morning a nice architect at the next table asked me about my Mac. He was using a Sony. He had tried to convert to a Mac when his Dell crashed last year, but didn't have the time. He lives in Rome, and is back in town for a little while. We had a pleasant chat abou Europe, LA and culture in general...and thn we both went back to work.
A while later I noticed a soldier in line. When after he got his coffee the achitect asked him how Iraq was ("tough -- it's a war"). So then my new Roman friend asked him how he felt about being sent to war by Bush under false pretenses so that Haliburton could reap the rewards. The soldier said that he couldn't comment while he was in uniform, though he would otherwise. The architect kept pressing him and generally spouting the Michael Moore line, so I chimed in:
"Look, he's not allowed to comment -- it is a chain of command thing. For what it is worth I'm on the other side." Then, to the soldier I said, "Whatever it is you believe, I want to thank you for your service." The soldier thanked me and got the hell out of there.
After that, I had a 45 minute argument with this same guy that I had exchanged pleasantries with earlier. He spouted the BBC, European opinion, France and Germany, Abu Graib, the "looted" museums etc. I cam back at him with the usual counter-arguments. After 5 minutes it became obvious that the argument was pointless -- but we kept going. I feel badly for the other cafe patrons.
I understand why many people were against the war and still are, but this guy seemed like the left's equivalent of the "black helicopter" crowd. He railed on about how I was under the spell of the right wing. I told him that h had it backwards -- I *am* a right winger!
So he asked if I was Jewish.... he is too. And we started arguing about Israel. God help me. It was 45 minutes of this. But usually, in these parts, there's no one holding up the other end of the agument. Sometimes I just have to speak up, no matter what the barristas may think of me. Hopefully they won't spit in my coffee from now on...
Posted by Martin Devon at 11:42 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
February 02, 2005
SOTU 2005
I'm digging the SOTU. Stronger than the inaugural address, which I liked too. The domestic arguments are good, social security etc. The global items are terrific:
The government of Saudi Arabia can demonstrate its leadership in the region by expanding the role of its people in determining their future. And the great and proud nation of Egypt, which showed the way toward peace in the Middle East, can now show the way toward democracy in the Middle East.
And when the Iraqi woman embraced the parents of the fallen marine? Man! Great speech.
Posted by Martin Devon at 06:47 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
January 31, 2005
Religious IraqPerhaps I'm hopelessly naive, but as I was watching the MSM coverage of the Iraqi elections on bit of CW became clear to me -- finally. There is a train of thought that goes, "what if the Iraqis elect a Shi'ite slate and you get another Iran?" That paricular reasoning always seemed wrong to me, and I could never quite catch where it was coming from. I don't know why, but yesterday it clicked for me. The same MSM pundits and reporters misread GOP Christians, or even Orthodox Jews, so they don't undrstand religion at all.
To me it is obvious -- religion and politics are seperate. You can have religious despots and secular despots. Bashar Asaad isn't a mullah, but he's pretty dangerous. And Sistani is a mullah, but I don't fear him. The theocracy in Iran is a failure in religious terms, no just secular terms. There are more young women trying to feed their families as prostitutes in the mullah's Iran than there ever were under the Shah. The religious leaders in Iraq know well what a failure Iran is, and hae no intention of repeating it.
Our goal in Iraq is not to gain a friend, it is to get rid of an enemy and sow the seeds of freedom in the Arab world. If the Iraqi people can build a decent country where Arabs can live in peace and enjoy freedom from tyranny, that will be more than enough. They don't need to love us, just to lead the Arab world by example. Yesterday was a terrific start.
Posted by Martin Devon at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
