I was browsing through the WWW today looking for funny quotes. This has been a hobby of mine for several year now and has always kept me entertained during the slow times at work. Oddly enough, I decided to search for "political contradictions" and came across these.
I found it striking how impressively hypocritical these statements are. Especially since the present administration has been facing the same questions they posed some years ago and, as one would imagine, been just as bad at providing answers. These quotes relate to President Clinton's decision to send troops to Bosnia in the 1990's. Pay close attention to the very last quote, that's my favorite. Enjoy!
"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)
Quotes coutesy of:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/8/17/144732/740
Friday, March 9, 2007
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
The Pro-Life Hypocrisy
I was driving behind a car the other day when I noticed something very peculiar about it. It had a bumper sticker that said "Smile, Your mother chose life". Generally I would not pay much attention to this, but the hypocrisy of the statement just struck a chord. In order for my mother to chose life, she had to be able to make a choice, something the Pro-Life movement seems to forget.
When people ask me which side of this debate I'm on, I always give the same answer; "it depends". As I see it, when you are talking about something so loaded as abortion, being over simplistic as to think that one answer fits all situations is idiotic and irresponsible. I will explain my answer.
- I do not agree with abortion as a form of birth control whereby the pregnancy came about through the parents irresponsibility. If you got drunk, forgot the condom and got pregnant, deal with it. You knew this was a possibility before you had sex.
- Along the same line, I disagree with abortion when the reason for it is "it will interfere with my career/school/life/plans". Again, you should have take this into account before having sex.
Now, before my conservative friends start cheering, there are situations when I do agree with abortion:
- When a woman has been raped. The last thing she needs is to spend the rest of her life being reminded of it and the child does not need to grow up being resented by his mother and without a father. It's funny that the same people that want a single woman to raise the child of a rapist on their own are the ones that are against gay adoption because "a child needs parents from both sexes" which implies having both parents present (more on this later).
- When there are SEVERE medical complications that threaten the life of the mother, the child or both. I am not including Down Syndrome or CF in this category. These conditions are compatible with life and are not a health risk for the mother.
There may be other situations where I may be in favor or against abortion, depending on what the case is. The most important thing here is this. It is about a choice.
Pro-Choice, as I understand it, is not in favor or against abortion. It is about HAVING THE CHOICE. I do agree that the choice must be limited, but this has to be taken on a case by case basis. Morality aside, there are the physical and medical aspects to be considered.
It would be interesting to see what would happen if the 14 year old daughter of a pro-lifer would get pregnant. Would this make them think differently? And what if that same child was told by the doctor that carrying the pregnancy to term would result in the death of both mother and child? Would her mother still be as passionately against abortion?
I guess you could say I am Pro-Choice. I believe that life is precious and worth living. I don't know when life begins or ends. Being a man, I will never go through this impossible situation.
I do know that our country is great because we have the ability to chose. Take that away and you might as well bow to a king. Yes, my mother chose life, but that's because she was able to chose.
When people ask me which side of this debate I'm on, I always give the same answer; "it depends". As I see it, when you are talking about something so loaded as abortion, being over simplistic as to think that one answer fits all situations is idiotic and irresponsible. I will explain my answer.
- I do not agree with abortion as a form of birth control whereby the pregnancy came about through the parents irresponsibility. If you got drunk, forgot the condom and got pregnant, deal with it. You knew this was a possibility before you had sex.
- Along the same line, I disagree with abortion when the reason for it is "it will interfere with my career/school/life/plans". Again, you should have take this into account before having sex.
Now, before my conservative friends start cheering, there are situations when I do agree with abortion:
- When a woman has been raped. The last thing she needs is to spend the rest of her life being reminded of it and the child does not need to grow up being resented by his mother and without a father. It's funny that the same people that want a single woman to raise the child of a rapist on their own are the ones that are against gay adoption because "a child needs parents from both sexes" which implies having both parents present (more on this later).
- When there are SEVERE medical complications that threaten the life of the mother, the child or both. I am not including Down Syndrome or CF in this category. These conditions are compatible with life and are not a health risk for the mother.
There may be other situations where I may be in favor or against abortion, depending on what the case is. The most important thing here is this. It is about a choice.
Pro-Choice, as I understand it, is not in favor or against abortion. It is about HAVING THE CHOICE. I do agree that the choice must be limited, but this has to be taken on a case by case basis. Morality aside, there are the physical and medical aspects to be considered.
It would be interesting to see what would happen if the 14 year old daughter of a pro-lifer would get pregnant. Would this make them think differently? And what if that same child was told by the doctor that carrying the pregnancy to term would result in the death of both mother and child? Would her mother still be as passionately against abortion?
I guess you could say I am Pro-Choice. I believe that life is precious and worth living. I don't know when life begins or ends. Being a man, I will never go through this impossible situation.
I do know that our country is great because we have the ability to chose. Take that away and you might as well bow to a king. Yes, my mother chose life, but that's because she was able to chose.
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