Ant Elephant Nonsense Jokes
I’d almost forgotten how funny these things are.... Guaranteed to brighten up all but the shittiest of days…
Archive for August 2004
What if Bush is right?
Bush hating is reconsidered by an anti-Bushie.
The Trial Attorney Party
What has happened to the party that my Irish and Jewish ancestors supported because it was the only one that cared about immigrants?
“HUMAN EVENTS has obtained a copy of a letter (see below) which lawyers for the Democratic National Committee and John Kerry have sent to television station managers attempting to suppress the blistering anti-Kerry TV spot created by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.”
A unexemplary candidate. A trial lawyer VP - so what’s the first thing the DNC does? It lets the lawyers out. It doesn’t fight back with facts or counter charges: it threatens with lawyers.
They probably don’t even have a clue as to how this makes them look.
The Logic of Failure Applied to Anti-Bushies
I am a big fan of the book, The Logic of Failure by Dietrich Dorner. I have read it several times, pulled it off the shelf to lend to my boss, and now I am reading it again. It is for anyone who deals with complex problems on a regular basis – which is just about everyone, but especially those in the information technology (IT) field.
One of the ways we fail, according to Dorner, is by refusing to give up on an idea we have even when it has been proven wrong. In order to succeed, we need to remain as objective as possible and reevaluate our assumptions continually based on the evidence we have at any given time.
I was thinking about this after visiting a few blogs this morning that discussed the tenacity of those who push the “Bush Lied” myth. Since the invasion of Iraq the evidence has pointed to a large-scale intelligence “mistake” of a global scale: everyone from the Russians, French, Germans, UN, British and even lowly Canadian intelligence services believed that Saddam’s WMD programs existed and constituted a threat. So far this intelligence has proven misguided at best, flat-out wrong at worst.
Bush acted based on this knowledge, and acted reasonably given the circumstances. To test this, reverse the situation and imagine that Al Gore was president, had been presented with intelligence from numerous independent agencies that Iraq had WMDs and planned to use them. Imagine that Gore didn’t act, and something terrible happened – like a nuke or chemical attack on Tel Aviv or Riyadh. Would the Democrats and anti-Bushies be able to remain firmly behind their man?
It’s unlikely. Truth isn’t easy sometimes, especially when it goes against our assumptions. In this case the truth is that no matter how much you hate Bush, he didn’t lie. Yet people continue to believe that Bush lied. They cannot change or let go of their assumption.
This is a classic example that proves Dorner’s point about the logic of Failure. It is a logic that leads me to suspect the anti-Bushies will fail in November – although 3 months is a long time in politics. Still, it shows a structural problem that will make success even harder to achieve on the anti-Bush side.
Again, read Dorner’s book. Now.
Alcoholism Part 2
I went to my first Al-Anon meeting last night with the wife. Since I’ve had my share of AA meetings, it felt kind of strange being on the other side of the disease. However it did emphasize to me that alchoholism is like a nuclear bomb on a family. It wipes out those closest to Ground Zero, but leaves radiation that poisons a family for generations.
Whereas AA is about survival of the alcoholic, Al-Anon is about survival of the innocents surrounding him or her. I can’t say much after going to one meeting, but I get the impression that Al-Anon’s message is how to love the alcoholic without allowing him or her to immolate you. To use another metaphor, one Al-Anon member said it was like staying on the ground while a tornado swirls around you.
What saddens me is that I don’t hold out much hope for the wife’s sister. I’m afraid that our small family is going to get smaller soon, and my duty is to help prevent my wife from being burned up or swirled up.
