Deep Thoughts

"It takes a big man to cry. It takes a bigger man to laugh at that man."

March 19, 2003 9:30 PM EST

The (dis)information is coming thick and fast, but not fast enough for the news junkies like us with Fox News on two TVs in the house. Since everyone is wondering what will be happening over the next few hours, we thought we would take a look at what won't be happening.

- No more "hide the anthrax" with Blix and crew ("Schultz!!!" - see first comments below)

- No more crap from Sen Thom Daschell (D - France) or the short & homely Dixie Chick.

- No more playing with chipper-shredders for Oday and Qusay - unless they get a thrill from being fed into one themselves

- No more crap supposedly from the Pontiff but most likely from the pederasts surrounding him and propping him up

Things to look forward to:

- A Free Iraq

- The phrase "our allies the Iraqis" or "our friends in Baghdad" (useful to fill the gap once taken by the French)

- PJ O'Rourke articles in Rolling Stone about the war

- Thom Daschell scrambling to get his hands on one of those pamphlets being dropped in Iraq telling him how to surrender

- Jacque Chirac explaining to his people the illegal trade in arms to the former Iraqi regime

- Chancellor Schroder explaining to his people how Germany supplied poison gas to the former Iraqi regime

- Saddam's dead body strung up with piano wire on a lamppost in Tikrit

March 17, 2003

President Bush has given his ultimatum, and it is clear that the bombs will begin to fall and the armies will clash unless Saddam Hussein suddenly realizes that the game he has been playing with Fate for the last 30 years is finally over. As a member of the so-called "Warblogger" community, I have spent weeks fearing this day as much as wishing for it to come. But contrary to what those on the other side of the debate would have it, there is no rejoicing in my heart.

I am fucking scared. I can be sure about is that there are 250,000 men and women on the other side of the planet who believe in our country who no doubt feel the same. It's just that the difference between us is that they are fighting for a cause they believe in with their lives, while all I can do is write my little essays, participate in the democratic process and speak to anyone who will listen.

The fearless do not experience courage. Courage is for those who are scared yet do what needs to be done. I saw it on the faces in the video taken during September 11. Seeing grown men, tough men, brave men so obviously scared yet doing their jobs - for some with their last breath...

That is courage. And I know that soon those young people in the Middle East are going to wake up, be scared yet do their jobs nontheless. The call to war, the horn that has echoed down through the ages, is ready to sound. For some it will be one of the last sounds they hear.

There is no glory to be had in Iraq just like there is no glory to be had in putting out a fire or hauling hoses up the smoke filled stairs of the World Trade Center. In a sense Iraq is a fire, and the debate over the past few years has been how big a fire it is. France thinks that it is a containable fire; the "protesters" think that the fire is candle light and are drawn to it like moths. However the United States and its allies recognize the fire for what it truly is, an inferno that threatens to burn down its neighborhood and ours as well. It must be dealt with now while we still can put it out - or it will have to be put out later, at greater cost in lives.

Just because we want to act now doesn't mean that we enjoy war and killing. It's quite the opposite really. I believe that all people have a right to freedom and that no one deserves to be oppressed. I also believe that not every one believes as I do, and recognize that there are some men who attain power who believe that everyone exists to serve them and will kill anyone who dares to stand in the way of the fulfillment of that belief. I believe that these men must be removed from power by any and all means. Saddam, the worst tyrant of recent history will soon join Pol Pot in Hell or Idi Amin in exile. Kim il-sung should watch carefully how this is done - as should any one who threatens the people of the United States.

March 12, 2003

I was going to write something extremely nasty about Chrissie Hynde over her recent traitorous remark until I mentioned it to an extremely young colleague of mine:

"Didn't she sing 'Hey Mickey!'?" he asked.

Out of the mouths of babes...

March 11, 2003

Headline Fun strikes back!

You gotta love those French. They're preparing to veto the US resolution while we're soliciting bids for Iraqi reconstruction. One country lives in the past, another prepares for the future. Is it any wonder why France hasn't been a superpower in close to 200 years?

It appears I was right about Blix. He tried Blixing the Security Council by burying the discovery of an undeclared un-manned chemical weapons "crop duster" in the 173 page addendum to his speech. "Those stupid Americans will never read it," he must have thought. Pity the poor bastard whose task it was to do so. But s/he discovered something truly amazing: see the Fox News headline from yesterday's post.

It has been clear for years to many that the United Nations has been subverted to be used as a tool against the United States. It should now be clear to everyone. Hans Blix and the inspectors do not intend on disarming Saddam; they intend to restrain the United States. They're actions place American soldiers at risk in Kuwait, and since these weapons may be used by terrorists in the USA, place Americans at risk in their homes. One is left with the following conclusion:

The United States should leave the United Nations immediately.

March 10, 2003

More headline fun.... These headlines were being reported at the same time...

CNN:

vs...

Fox News:

Note how Fox lists the veto as a "related story" while CNN makes no mention of the illegal chemical weapons munitions story. Liberal bias in the media anyone?

March 7, 2003

Karma News:

Headline 1: US Mulls Troop Withdrawal From Korea

Headline 2 (in Korea): PM Requests Delay of USFK Relocation

This could inspire a commercial:

"Internet connection... $20...

Reading the Chosun Ilbo in English... $0...

Watching an anti-American "ally" shit their pants?... Priceless"

March 6, 2003

My feeling is that war is about a week away - give or take a day or two. But if you scroll down to the bottom of this page you'll see I've been wrong before...

Meanwhile, this works for me:

March 3, 2003

Welcome to the Spring Edition of The Razor. We have survived February without ousting Saddam, nuking Paris, or deporting Jeanine Garafolo for mediocre acting and limited knowledge of the Middle East. To help rectify the latter, we have introduced the Pop Quiz: Middle East. We have selected 24 questions that we believe one should know whenever opening one's "pie-hole" about the politics of the region.

Well the weekend was a mixed bag. Turkey refused to host US troops - which is good news for the Kurds but bad news for Pentagon planners. This refusal probably means the beginning of an independent Kurdistan - something that this journal supports. The best news was the capture and handover of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed - the mastermind of the September 11 attacks. Kudos to our Pakistani allies for netting this fish and throwing him into our boat.

It seems our expectations of war being imminent were wrong for reasons explained here. However regimes and the press are focusing more on a post-Saddam Iraq, thereby making it harder for them to oppose military action to oust him. While various war scenarios have been floating around for several years, we at The Razor are wondering if the regime change envisioned will be more along the lines of the ousting of Noriega in Panama in 1989. If so, should Saddam take up residence in the Papal Nuncio or French embassy (for the actual playlist click here), here are some suggestions for songs to blast at him:

The first song was inspired by Saddam's chemical attack on Halabjah in 1988. The rest are self explanatory.

Meanwhile, here's a cartoon worth checking out:

February 16, 2003

I notice that there are many "Media Echoes" listed. As the Chinese curse has it, "May you live in interesting times." Well times are interesting, if not excruciatingly painful as we await our fates as well as that of our nation's. There is lots of good material out there but even more awful stuff and it isn't exactly easy to sort the former from the latter. By maintaining copies of the good stuff here I am hoping to make it easier for all of us to do our best to understand events and develop sensible strategies in the defence of Truth.

Tony Blair's speech yesterday is amazing. I've cut the best bits and placed them in a media echo here. Here is the money quote:

February 14, 2003

Today was a dark day for those of us who hoped to salvage some kind of shred of dignity from the United Nations. But as Andrew Sullivan wrote today, the UN hasn't become like the League of Nations, it IS the League of Nations. For those of us who weren't around at the time, read the Media Echo of Alistair Cooke's Letter to America for a first-hand account of that institution.

What is more of a concern is how rotten the state of Europe is these days. Check out this article at the National Review written by General Ion Mihai Pacepa, highest-ranking intelligence officer ever to have defected from the former Soviet bloc. According to him, Joschka Fischer did more than beat up a policeman in 1973: he actively supported the Red Army and provided weapons for an attack in Austria in 1975 by "Carlos the Jackal". In a related development, Richard Perle, has accused France of striking a deal with Saddam Hussein to oppose military action in return for a lucrative oil contract. This story appeared on Instapundit and can be viewed here. This seems to support Steven Den Beste and Andrew Sullivan's assertions that France has been engaging in duplicitous behavior with the Iraqis in complete disregard of United Nations sanctions and American interests. From the American perspective, this could be viewed as a casus belli, an act of war.

Bush must act soon. The longer the wait, the worse the damage to American credibility and the harder the path will be to the liberation of Baghdad.

February 12, 2003

I can't shake the feeling that all the pieces are in place, all the actors on stage, the bows of the violinists in the orchestra pit hovering expectantly over the strings... The curtain is going to rise and the farce that has played out over the last few months will become riveting drama. Life. Death. Everything will change. Everything will begin again. Welcome to the real New World Order

February 6, 2003

- Yesterday's UN speech by Colin Powell was unprecedented yet I can't help but feel that it's the death knell for the institution. Perhaps this thought shouldn't be as scary as it may seem to some, since the UN was born in the Cold War and shaped by its politics and rivalries. In effect the Cold War died in 1992 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, so I don't think it's a coincidence that since then the institution has had serious trouble. It proved ineffective in Somalia in 1993. It ignored the pleas of its own peacekeepers to intervene to stop the genocide in Rwanda. It completely abetted the atrocities in Sbrenica in Bosnia-Herzogovina. The current head of the UN Human Rights Commission is Libya, and the only nation that voted against the appointment was the US (Europe "courageously" abstained). And in May Iraq is set to chair the UN Disarmament Commission.

Is there a need for a transnational entity of some type ? Yes. Is it the United Nations? Absolutely not.

February 4, 2003

- Since Columbia I've been thinking about heroes. The result can be viewed here. Don't forget to check out the Media Echoes for Christopher Hitchens' piece on Mandela. Hitchen's once referred to the death of Mother Theresa as "... the old bird finally fell from her perch..." and he's been a favorite of mine ever since. Not many reporters had the guts to point out her affinity for dictators like the Docs (Papa & Baby) Duvalier. Hitchens revs up his chainsaw and applies it to Mandela. As a former devotee of the man, it sickens me to say that it is indeed well deserved.

Mandela has clearly lost it. I could be politically correct and make excuses for him - that those surrounding him have been filtering the news he receives or something to that effect - but the truth must be laid bare. Mandela is a racist. Perhaps all those years spent in prison developing a statesman-like persona was a ruse - but I shudder to think so. It's a shame, but from the perspective of the Iraqi people, his voice against change in Iraq is a crime. I guess only black autocrats like Robert Mugabe or Arab dictators like Saddam have human rights in Mandela's eyes. In two years the man has called into question 35 years of his own history.

January 29, 2003

- I voted for Al Gore, hated George Bush sr, cursed the US Supreme court's ruling that gave Florida to the Republicans - and here I was stunned by George W. Bush's State of the Union speech. Highlights: $15 Billion over 5 years in aid to Africa for AIDS. I still can't believe that one. Plus his description of how we were fighting the war on terror and why we were going after Iraq. Frat boy turned president turned damned good president I'd vote for in a New York minute. God how wrong I was about him 1 1/2 years ago. But I still don't buy the line that making rich people richer is good for the economy.

- Anyone notice how much Tom Ridge is looking like J. Edgar Hoover these days?

- No Lenny Skutnik moment or did I miss something? After 20 years - no wave at the balcony to salute some hero. Guess they'll have to revise the State of the Union Drinking Game...

- Hillary sure looked friendly with Senator Lieberman. They even stood/sat in sync. Bill had better watch it.

- No democrats clapped for a ban on partial birth abortion. Even suburban pro-choicers cringe at the brutal procedure. Come on, guys, you're out of the mainstream enough all ready.

- Was I too hard on Blix? Andrew Sullivan thinks so. Yes his report was middle of the road and wasn't quite as tepid as the French would like. Rest assured that if I discover that Blix bites, it will be duly noted here.

January 28, 2003

- Is there room in the Blogosphere vocabulary to "verb" Blix. It could be a synonym for the idiom "turn a blind eye" to obvious transgressions. I've always imagined Sargeant Schultz from Hogan's Heroes saying "I see nothing! I hear nothing!" whenever I used that one. Hey, maybe Hollywood could cast Hans for that role in the upcoming Hogan's Heroes movie.

I see nothing! I hear nothing!

We could say that the UN inspectors are blixing the Security Council, or that the SEC is blixing investors on shareholder reforms. I wouldn't mind waking up one morning and hearing NPR report, "President Bush, tired of the blixing of the UN inspectors, said the hell with it and pulverized each one of Saddam Hussein's thirty-eight lavish palaces. Of course NPR would report it as if Bush had carpet-bombed an orphanage...

- Speaking of Blix, feel free to visit the "Ultimate Hans Blix Fansite" for all things Blix. And kids, teach your parents how to use the term blix - after all, you too can have weapons of mass destruction hidden safely away in your room if your parents conduct inspections as well as the UN does.

January 27, 2003

After thinking about it I've decided to maintain Deep Thoughts as a blog within a blog. While the rest of the website will retain its article-based look, this section will follow a more "traditional blog format" with lines of rants arranged chronologically.

January 22, 2003

- "NO WAR" is like saying "NO CRIME" - It is a self-evident phrase that is beyond idealistic to become ludicrous. Blaming Bush for the war in Iraq is like citizens of a neighborhood blaming the police for crime. "If they didn't actually arrest people, then the crime rate would go down." Talk it over with your kindergartener. She'll understand the apparent logic.

- What do the initials NPR stand for?

a) National Palestinian Radio.

b) Naturally Pacifistic Radio

c) Nerdy Pinko Recidivists

d) all of the above

Hmm... That's a toughie

- Does one have to beg Glenn Reynolds to get mentioned on Instapundit? If so, my knees are shot after 15 years of marriage. Could someone mention this journal to him? (Ed Note: Thanks for the plug on Jan 23, Glenn!)

- The United Nations is dead and the last corpse of the Cold War is left rotting in New York. Did a body that was partially run by France having a majority of members with unelected governments ever make sense in the first place?

- South Korea should be allowed its "love fest" with North Korea and US troops should be withdrawn. It will be interesting to watch - from a distance safely out of NoDong missile range. Now is the time to start buying stock in Chinese chip makers.

- You know you live in interesting times when Republicans become the standard bearers for free expression, women's rights and human rights in general. One does not see the Left Wing energized by women drivers in Afghanistan, the first batch of which just got their licenses recently, or growing Islamic fundamentalism courtesy of Hamas in the so-called "Occupied Territories".

- Is Dell taking over the PC market singlehandedly? I'm seeing the things everywhere, and every other commercial seems to have the "Dell Dude" on it.

-The French have shown that they are a bunch of pussies - not that it's a surprise or anything (see pic below)

- And the Germans. Well the Germans are just returning to form. One cannot expect too much from a people that spent the better part of the past two-hundred years being on the opposite side of our cannons. Pretty soon they'll be back to their own tricks - hopefully starting with their traditional prey the French.

- Why do the British continue to stick by us even though we have joined the Jews as being the scapegoats of the moment? It's pretty amazing how far a Labor leader, Tony Blair, has gone with us on Iraq and the War on Terrorism. Why? Beats me but I'm glad they - and our best friends Down Under are with us. We can do it alone, but it's more fun to do it with friends.

- I expect this will be one of the few posts before the War. May it end quickly and decisively.