h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

From a recent videoconference between President Bush and American troops stationed in Iraq, a quote from Bush:

"Bush said that the United States and its allies are facing “an enemy that actually has a philosophy.”

“And the philosophy is so opposite of ours. It is the exact opposite of what America stands for. We stand for religious freedom and freedom to speak and women’s rights and capacity for people to realize their dreams."

And to that, I can only say- "HUH?!"

Religious freedom? Only if your religion is government approved. And if you don't have *any* religion, you're really screwed.

Freedom to speak? Not if you're protesting human rights violations like the war in Iraq. Quite often, it's the truth we're not free to speak.

Women's rights? Perhaps women's right to be treated like chattel or baby factories. Certainly not the right to be treated equally and to make decisions about one's own reproductive system.

The capacity for people to realize their dreams? Sure. So long as they're not women, or poor, or black, or don't have a Green Card, or can't afford decent medical coverage, or...

The man just makes me sick. It blows my mind how effing ignorant and arrogant he, and so many other people, are.

Hear hear

I agree... let me provide you with a link that may help...

http://www.wimp.com/administration/

It's a news clip that I found very entertaining and rational!

This one is about my country...

http://www.wimp.com/canada/

It would be a lot funnier if these people didn't believe what they were saying

I have NEVER been dog sledding!

If you can find a sled, i will provide the, he could really do with some exercise & loves water!

Whoo hoo, where's that glacier???

*Waves at namesake*

As for Bush, hmmf; refer to Moses, some of them got burned didn't they? bad name for a bible basher!

zdt

I's scarily not that different here. They're talking about teaching "intelligent design" in science classes in Australia!!!!. As far as I'm concerned, that's a belief thing and not appropriate.

I just wonder where all this is getting us ... not far, that's for sure. And, apart from that, who does believe that sort of guff??

Maybe they should be teaching free thinking in schools??? No .. too dangerous.

All the world is strange, but thee and me.

Well...as Herr Doktor Goebbels said, 'The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.'

Of course, the US didn't invade Iraq for freedom, religious or otherwise. I suspect, though, that many will have persuaded themselves that this was the case - a psychological phenomenon known as 'cognitive dissonance.'

An even bigger lie, though, is the myth that the US (and the UK - our Tone says the same) are fighting an enemy whose sole aim is to destroy Western values. Of course - their motives are far more complex. The bulk of the resistance comes from former Ba'athists. The Ba'ath party was a secular organisation, quite opposed to Islamism. At present they are in a marriage of convenience with Sunni elements with whose help they believe they can destabilise the country. Their only focussed indigenous opposition is the Shia political parties who, out of sheer necessity, the US are supporting. Thus the US seems to be in the strange position of fighting for the imposition of a religiously-based constitution on a formerly secular country.

And all this from a botched attempt to destabilise the OPEC cartel!

The big question is 'Does Bush believe the nonsense he spouts?' I don't know if the 'God Told Me To Invade Iraq' story last week. Possibly it was less of a story in the US because half the population would see nothing unusual in it. I suspect that Shrub plays to the gallery: Fundaligionism sells! He's not as stupid as he's made out to be.

>The big question is 'Does Bush believe the nonsense he spouts?'<

Honestly, I don't think the man is all that stupid- devious, ignorant, arrogant, but not all that stupid. Stupid people can't be as deceptive, manipulative, and vindictive as Bush seems to be.

>An even bigger lie, though, is the myth that the US (and the UK - our Tone says the same) are fighting an enemy whose sole aim is to destroy Western values.<

Yep, excellent point! And it's a lie that the US government has put forth time and again. Their desire to eradicate communism from small, third-wprld countries for whom communism would be far more beneficial (to *them*) than capitalism (which is more beneficial to *us*), Viet Nam and Cuba for example.

Don't see much sign of Shrub 'n Tone in Zimbabwe; mind, as far as we know, there isn't any oil there.....

Total number of helicopters "The International Community" has sent to Pakistan = 20. Good news for the 42,000 injured, the 23,000 dead don't really matter now; 'cos they are all rotting under the rubble & anyway, they are only Islamic terrorists, yes, honest, even the babies are in training camps.

As for the 2 million homeless, well, s**t, they are peasants, they are genetically programmed to deal with this sort of thing; good grief, if they can't cope with subzero temperatures & a bit of rain out in the open with no food & water; well, it proves Intelligent Design theory doesn't it?

zdt

Recently I rember hearing a well-known US female right-wing radio pundit (I forget her name - but I'd remember in context) snidely sneering at the number of ships that France had sent to help the post-Katrina effort - without any degree of appreciation that this represented a considerable proportion of their currently active fleet.

Re: post 4 Fundamentally Flawed's link to that disgusting cr@p about Canadians . . . that blonde b*tch is first in line on the link in this thread. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/F19585?thread=946825 The woman is obviously sick in the head (too much hair bleach?) - in any case, it's also quite disgusting that people laugh and call her 'funny' when she is in fact spouting hateful diatribes. az

I haven't been able to read FF's link, certain kinds of web sites are blocked while I'm at work. But I think I remember the b*tch in question. And if I do, then she isn't funny in the least bit.

Holy crap, az! Ummm, literally...
That is VERY scary stuff, on that link.

I couldn't get to the 'wimp' link too, but I think I got the gist.






(Though this feels slightly hypocritical, seeing as things in my country aren't much better)

It's not hypocritical to call b/s what it is, Lady P, regardless of the fact that things are bad all kinds of places, and in different ways.

Having had the chance to re-read the page Az linked to, and to watch the video FF linked to, I remember that Coulter woman quite well. What a SICKO.

She's actually written books!

She can't possibly take herself seriously... can she?

Ah! Thanks! It was Coulter I was refering to in Post 10.

She really is Goebbelsesque! The worst aspects of these people is that they spout distortions and half-truths as though they were undeniable facts.

I'm quite prepared to listen to honest, well-argued counter-opinion. We all need to have our views challenged from time to time. I used to like Christopher Hitchens, for example. He came to an entirely different position than me on Iraq, but is prepared to argue his case. I've lost patience with him recently, mind. He still hasn't changed his view even though facts constantly prove him wrong - and he seems to be increasingly throwing his efforts into defending Bush. Still - he's preferable to his fascist a--e wipe of a brother, Peter.