Atrocities happen.
Troops under great pressure do things that they would not under controlled conditions. The alleged massacre at al-Haditha will be investigated and the facts, as they can be determined, will be made public.
My Lai is a fact of the Vietnam era and a massacre of refugees that occurred during the Korean War has only lately come to light. Atrocities happen on all sides. In the case of the United States, such behavior is never sanctioned by policy; the same cannot be said for all combatant states and organizations.
While Nazi, Japanese, and Soviet sanctioned atrocities that occurred before and during W.W. II have come to light, certainly individuals and small groups of American troops did terrible things that will never be made public as the old soldiers pass from the scene. Terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and elsewhere clearly demonstrate that the lives of innocents are put purposely at risk in their deadly attacks.
That someone like me with no combat experience should write about this subject is unusual but something happened in my army tour that makes all of this relevant. As a member of a platoon in a defensive position during a war game situation at Ft. Lewis, WA in the months after the end of the Korean Conflict, we `captured’ several `enemy’ troops trying to infiltrate our position.
As part of the exercise, we were expected to interrogate our `prisoners’. In keeping with army requirements, the `POWs’ had been trained that, in accord with the Geneva Convention, they would not have to provide captors with more than their names, ranks, and serial numbers. As the situation developed, I paid little attention since the `enemy’ troops were actually soldiers from another company in our real battalion whom I knew well by sight.
Suddenly, the situation went explosively out of control; one of our interrogators demanded information about the broader infiltration effort on the part of the `enemy’ and our `POWs’ answered with only their names, ranks, and serial numbers. Before my eyes, one of my platoon mates became extremely agitated and enraged and struck the nearest `prisoner’ very hard in the gut with the butt of his rifle.
Several of us intervened and smoothed the situation over, but this frightening incident has remained vivid in my memory for more than half a century. A review of the My Lai situation showed men under pressure behaving as badly as possible and others rising to the heights of moral courage.
As communication improves, it becomes far more difficult for abominable behavior to be covered up, and the incidence of court martial offenses is far more likely to become public. Today’s troops are of equal moral stock to those who have gone before them, but, sadly, the terrible behavior in abu Grave Prison and the allegations of atrocities in al-Haditha while truly rare are much more likely to come to light in our time.
Last week, the President lamented that the abu Grave situation undercut the American moral position in Iraq and across the Muslim world. If the facts in al-Haditha are as alleged, another black eye is certain.
While America has no choice but to punish the guilty as well as those above in the chain of command who may have covered it up, as Secretary of defense Rumsfeld has stated – and it’s true, “Stuff happens.”
With this in mind, American leaders must be ever mindful how hard they must work to train bad behavior out of the troops, to police the behavior of troops in action, and to bring criminally behaving soldiers to justice.
But even more important, the leaders must not send our troops into harms way except when the vital interest of the United States are threatened. The problems of abhorrent behavior in Iraq cannot be ignored but neither can the strategic decision to intervene in that land without adequate intelligence be forgotten. It has gravely damaged the presidency of George W. Bush and brought the nation to a low state in world opinion. While the motivation behind our intervention may have been based on the best intentions, the nature of war often leads to unintended consequences.
Pray that we may get through this period with the least possible damage to our country and with our national honor intact.
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Still More Things
Driving from my neighborhood the other day, I clicked on to the dulcet tones of el Rushbo; this, of course, is one of the exquisite agonies I endure on behalf of the hundreds of readers of this ethereal paper. Usually I just smile as the master skewers the simple morons who have the gall to call him on the ridiculous content of his ranting or urges the ditto heads to get on with their tired recitations of fealty, but this visit to the Excellence in Broadcasting world was different, far different. The man who performs with half his brain tied behind his back just to make it fair was whining over the unfairness of life itself. Won't someone help that man untie the Gordian knot?
Rush was decrying the end of the conservative movement and slobbering about how the ghost of Nelson Rockefeller and his heirs in today’s corporate headquarters are taking back the Republican Party from the good honest folks of his audience whose only sins are of being Christian Conservatives bent only on doing good and defending the values that we all agree on: hatred of same sex marriage; defending the flag from defilers; stopping would be killers of Terri Schaivo; and other behavior of those intent on taking America over the cliff of decadence.
Rush was urging on his ever diminishing band of faithful to redouble their efforts in pursuit of truth, justice and the American way of intrusion into the nation’s bedrooms and for more tax cuts for the deserving rich. But the poor fellow was almost crying in his lamentation on the race of formerly loyal moderates to exit the conservative tent. Why it was almost as if they would even consider tax increases to pay for what they were willing to spend. Has there ever been such heresy? Why before you know it, they’ll be supporting the notion that same sex partners might even make decent parents. Horrors!
The Decider was back at it over the weekend. At the West Point commencement, he compared himself to Harry Truman who despite loss of poll numbers went on to fight the good fight in Korea in order to defend the free world against the scourge of the day, international communism. Harry’s stock has risen considerably in history, and the Decider expects the same for his junk bonds.
Since the Decider does little reading and is not old enough to remember that the Korean War began with a surprise attack by the communist North Koreans against our ally, South Korea, and that Harry assembled an international coalition under the command of The United Nations to defend the South, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t realize that there is not a valid analogy with his war in Iraq. Would someone write the Decider and explain that a preemptive attack on a nation for reasons that do not pan out is not the same as repelling an attack on an ally. Darn forgot about that reading thing; better make that a call to the White House to `splain’ the difference.
Former Senator and Veep Candidate Lloyd Bentsen of, `I knew Jack Kennedy and believe me Senator (Quayle), you’re no Jack Kennedy,’ fame died this past week Perhaps it would be appropriate to recast his most famous words for the Decider. “I remember Harry Truman, Mr. President, and believe me, you’re no Harry Truman.”
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Rush was decrying the end of the conservative movement and slobbering about how the ghost of Nelson Rockefeller and his heirs in today’s corporate headquarters are taking back the Republican Party from the good honest folks of his audience whose only sins are of being Christian Conservatives bent only on doing good and defending the values that we all agree on: hatred of same sex marriage; defending the flag from defilers; stopping would be killers of Terri Schaivo; and other behavior of those intent on taking America over the cliff of decadence.
Rush was urging on his ever diminishing band of faithful to redouble their efforts in pursuit of truth, justice and the American way of intrusion into the nation’s bedrooms and for more tax cuts for the deserving rich. But the poor fellow was almost crying in his lamentation on the race of formerly loyal moderates to exit the conservative tent. Why it was almost as if they would even consider tax increases to pay for what they were willing to spend. Has there ever been such heresy? Why before you know it, they’ll be supporting the notion that same sex partners might even make decent parents. Horrors!
The Decider was back at it over the weekend. At the West Point commencement, he compared himself to Harry Truman who despite loss of poll numbers went on to fight the good fight in Korea in order to defend the free world against the scourge of the day, international communism. Harry’s stock has risen considerably in history, and the Decider expects the same for his junk bonds.
Since the Decider does little reading and is not old enough to remember that the Korean War began with a surprise attack by the communist North Koreans against our ally, South Korea, and that Harry assembled an international coalition under the command of The United Nations to defend the South, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t realize that there is not a valid analogy with his war in Iraq. Would someone write the Decider and explain that a preemptive attack on a nation for reasons that do not pan out is not the same as repelling an attack on an ally. Darn forgot about that reading thing; better make that a call to the White House to `splain’ the difference.
Former Senator and Veep Candidate Lloyd Bentsen of, `I knew Jack Kennedy and believe me Senator (Quayle), you’re no Jack Kennedy,’ fame died this past week Perhaps it would be appropriate to recast his most famous words for the Decider. “I remember Harry Truman, Mr. President, and believe me, you’re no Harry Truman.”
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Friday, May 26, 2006
Things
We all burnish our records and Tony Blair and George Bush went at the task with a vengeance yesterday. Sadly for them, they failed and no one so much as covered their eyes from the pathetically faint glare. Admissions of mistakes and bad behavior by underlings as well as possible tactical improvements that might have been made in Iraq in no way overcame the great strategic blunder that these men made but cannot admit.
The Prime Minister and the President appeared worn and tired. They’re not empty suits; they simply can no longer fill them out. That Blair is virtually gone is good fortune for the inhabitants of the United Kingdom. Labor leaders are giving their broken man a few months to exit, but Republicans in the U.S. will just have to squirm for the remaining two and half years of the Decider’s term.
You know that I swore that I’d never watch Lou Dobbs rant about illegal immigration on CNN again, but last night under the threat of a lashing from the good wife I was forced to endure his act of righteous indignation as well as the performance art of his nativist Republican Congressional fire breathing guests. Dobbs is a very bright guy, but he’s turning his show into a mirror of FOX’s fair and balanced evening extravaganza.
It’s fair to say that most Americans want the Southern Border with Mexico sealed from the onslaught of illegals crossing into the country. The Senate passed a bill that to some degree does that but which deals humanely with the ten or twelve million illegals that are already in the U.S. The House previously passed its bill that tightens the border more than the Senate’s version but also deals with the illegals in very draconian fashion. There is almost zero chance that a reconciliation of these two bills can be accomplished in conference committee, so there will be no Act for the president to sign this year. And both parties love the prospect of blaming the other.
Dobbs’ nightly scold tells us that the American people want the House bill and that the Senate is giving away the country. While I don’t doubt that a majority of Americans do indeed want the illegals and those who hire them dealt with punitively, a couple of points must be kept in mind. Dobbs is not speaking for all Americans even if those he cites are a larger segment than those not in agreement with him. America is still a Republic and not a pure democracy. We elect the President and the Congress to understand issues and make decisions in the best interest of the nation not to simply take the pulse of the mob and do as directed.
I won’t make a big deal of this, but it is obvious that we expect our representatives to use their best judgment and not just do what we the people say we want at any given moment. Obviously, they face us every two, four or six years, and if they get it wrong too many times, we send them packing to jobs on K Street.
It’s nice to see that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is defending marriage as a contract between one man and one woman and is intent on preventing flag burning as his first priorities in his race for the White House. Thank goodness he’s on the job and not wasting his time with the Iraq War, terrorism, port security, Social Security reform, the trade and budget deficits and all those other minor issues that some of us get diverted by as we read the daily news.
By the way, Al Gore’s doing a great job of rehabilitating himself for a possible presidential run in ’08. I saw the old F. Scott Fitzgerald aphorism about there being no second acts in America somewhere in the last couple of days but after Dick Nixon’s recovery from political death in 1968, I no longer subscribe.
Had enough? Vote Democrat in ’08!
Blog on!
Wild bill
The Prime Minister and the President appeared worn and tired. They’re not empty suits; they simply can no longer fill them out. That Blair is virtually gone is good fortune for the inhabitants of the United Kingdom. Labor leaders are giving their broken man a few months to exit, but Republicans in the U.S. will just have to squirm for the remaining two and half years of the Decider’s term.
You know that I swore that I’d never watch Lou Dobbs rant about illegal immigration on CNN again, but last night under the threat of a lashing from the good wife I was forced to endure his act of righteous indignation as well as the performance art of his nativist Republican Congressional fire breathing guests. Dobbs is a very bright guy, but he’s turning his show into a mirror of FOX’s fair and balanced evening extravaganza.
It’s fair to say that most Americans want the Southern Border with Mexico sealed from the onslaught of illegals crossing into the country. The Senate passed a bill that to some degree does that but which deals humanely with the ten or twelve million illegals that are already in the U.S. The House previously passed its bill that tightens the border more than the Senate’s version but also deals with the illegals in very draconian fashion. There is almost zero chance that a reconciliation of these two bills can be accomplished in conference committee, so there will be no Act for the president to sign this year. And both parties love the prospect of blaming the other.
Dobbs’ nightly scold tells us that the American people want the House bill and that the Senate is giving away the country. While I don’t doubt that a majority of Americans do indeed want the illegals and those who hire them dealt with punitively, a couple of points must be kept in mind. Dobbs is not speaking for all Americans even if those he cites are a larger segment than those not in agreement with him. America is still a Republic and not a pure democracy. We elect the President and the Congress to understand issues and make decisions in the best interest of the nation not to simply take the pulse of the mob and do as directed.
I won’t make a big deal of this, but it is obvious that we expect our representatives to use their best judgment and not just do what we the people say we want at any given moment. Obviously, they face us every two, four or six years, and if they get it wrong too many times, we send them packing to jobs on K Street.
It’s nice to see that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is defending marriage as a contract between one man and one woman and is intent on preventing flag burning as his first priorities in his race for the White House. Thank goodness he’s on the job and not wasting his time with the Iraq War, terrorism, port security, Social Security reform, the trade and budget deficits and all those other minor issues that some of us get diverted by as we read the daily news.
By the way, Al Gore’s doing a great job of rehabilitating himself for a possible presidential run in ’08. I saw the old F. Scott Fitzgerald aphorism about there being no second acts in America somewhere in the last couple of days but after Dick Nixon’s recovery from political death in 1968, I no longer subscribe.
Had enough? Vote Democrat in ’08!
Blog on!
Wild bill
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Murphy's War
As many readers of this digital rag know, my novel, Murphy’s War, is in the process of being published. The book tells the tale of a young man from a public service oriented family who in the years just before W.W.II is inspired to federal service by the acts of his political hero, Franklin Roosevelt, and who becomes entangled in the program to intern Japanese ethnics living in the West Coast of the U.S. at the beginning of the war.
The Internment while well chronicled from the point of view of its victims has never been adequately addressed as an exercise in public policy making, and after more than two years of research and writing I believe that my book will provide readers with some insight into how and why the travesty came about. Naturally, with my usual humility, I recommend it highly and will advise my fans when it is ready.
The other night while at a dinner with old friends, I was asked by my golfing buddy, Paul Royston, why I wrote Murphy’s War? Shockingly, I had no ready answer. Later, in attempting to review my motivation to begin the task, I constructed a reason that I think is accurate and truthful, but I’m not really certain.
Like my protagonist, Thomas Murphy, I was – and remain - an admirer of FDR. I also found everything about the internment to be abhorrent and distasteful. The question naturally arises, how could one of America’s greatest presidents ever authorize a program so shockingly racist?
My mission was perhaps twofold: to mitigate to the extent possible the guilt of an admired president and to condemn those who forced this abominable program upon the nation. I worked as hard and as honestly as I could to find the truth and created a story that I believe succeeds in answering the unanswerable. When the book appears, I hope that many of you will read it and see if you agree.
Blog on!
Wild Bill
The Internment while well chronicled from the point of view of its victims has never been adequately addressed as an exercise in public policy making, and after more than two years of research and writing I believe that my book will provide readers with some insight into how and why the travesty came about. Naturally, with my usual humility, I recommend it highly and will advise my fans when it is ready.
The other night while at a dinner with old friends, I was asked by my golfing buddy, Paul Royston, why I wrote Murphy’s War? Shockingly, I had no ready answer. Later, in attempting to review my motivation to begin the task, I constructed a reason that I think is accurate and truthful, but I’m not really certain.
Like my protagonist, Thomas Murphy, I was – and remain - an admirer of FDR. I also found everything about the internment to be abhorrent and distasteful. The question naturally arises, how could one of America’s greatest presidents ever authorize a program so shockingly racist?
My mission was perhaps twofold: to mitigate to the extent possible the guilt of an admired president and to condemn those who forced this abominable program upon the nation. I worked as hard and as honestly as I could to find the truth and created a story that I believe succeeds in answering the unanswerable. When the book appears, I hope that many of you will read it and see if you agree.
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Me an' Andy
I’m suffering an Andy Rooney moment – or month, or year. Kicking George Bush around isn’t nearly as much fun as it was when he had more defenders than detractors and he was in his `bring ‘em on!’ mode.
It’s so bad that I can’t even write a posting decrying my malaise. Joan Vennochi of the Boston Globe did such a great job of stealing my thunder – or was it my whimper? – that I’m unable to make even an effort at pummeling the president or his men or women.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/05/21/bushed_on_bush_whacking/
Remember the good old days when we rose before dawn and bayed at the dying moon spitting out the names of Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Doug Fieth, George Tenet, Paul Wolfowitz, and Condoleeza Rice like mad werewolves? But not now, they’re all discredited; Iraq is a quagmire and a massive blunder, and everyone just wants these people gone and our troops home and out of harm’s way. They pop onto TV and we simply switch channels without even listening or snarling.
I’m also mad at myself for being the last cheapskate from the Great Depression. My golfing partner, Dick O’Brien and I are unwilling to pay premium prices for green fees at expensive courses and content ourselves with bromides such as, “You still have swing the club on good grass or bad,” as we walk the old muni. Why can’t we be like the young guys who think nothing of springing seventy-five bucks for the privilege of playing on a course with a grand clubhouse? Why do we septuagenarians feel the need to walk the course and actually get exercise while the kids spring another sawbuck for to ride?
Why do I drink Busch Beer instead of its more expensive stable mates, Bud, Mich, and now Rolling Rock? Just because I have such ordinary taste buds that almost all beer tastes alike, shouldn’t I be sloshing some high priced Bavarian brew instead of checking the born on dates of the cheapest beer in town? Young guys who don’t even have jobs are savoring the best of German brews, why can’t I?
Where’s George Bush when you need a good fight? He’s got me feeling sorry for him and myself. Did you ever wonder why that is?
Blog on!
Wild Bill
It’s so bad that I can’t even write a posting decrying my malaise. Joan Vennochi of the Boston Globe did such a great job of stealing my thunder – or was it my whimper? – that I’m unable to make even an effort at pummeling the president or his men or women.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/05/21/bushed_on_bush_whacking/
Remember the good old days when we rose before dawn and bayed at the dying moon spitting out the names of Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Doug Fieth, George Tenet, Paul Wolfowitz, and Condoleeza Rice like mad werewolves? But not now, they’re all discredited; Iraq is a quagmire and a massive blunder, and everyone just wants these people gone and our troops home and out of harm’s way. They pop onto TV and we simply switch channels without even listening or snarling.
I’m also mad at myself for being the last cheapskate from the Great Depression. My golfing partner, Dick O’Brien and I are unwilling to pay premium prices for green fees at expensive courses and content ourselves with bromides such as, “You still have swing the club on good grass or bad,” as we walk the old muni. Why can’t we be like the young guys who think nothing of springing seventy-five bucks for the privilege of playing on a course with a grand clubhouse? Why do we septuagenarians feel the need to walk the course and actually get exercise while the kids spring another sawbuck for to ride?
Why do I drink Busch Beer instead of its more expensive stable mates, Bud, Mich, and now Rolling Rock? Just because I have such ordinary taste buds that almost all beer tastes alike, shouldn’t I be sloshing some high priced Bavarian brew instead of checking the born on dates of the cheapest beer in town? Young guys who don’t even have jobs are savoring the best of German brews, why can’t I?
Where’s George Bush when you need a good fight? He’s got me feeling sorry for him and myself. Did you ever wonder why that is?
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Thursday, May 18, 2006
The Definer
Who says George W. Bush is a divider, not a uniter? Idiots! Look around for goodness sake; can’t you see that the president is quickly working his way towards almost unanimity among the electorate that he has goofed up virtually everything he has touched? While it began with liberal Democrats and spread like wildfire through that party on into the vast number of voters who describe themselves as independents, disaffection with Mr. Bush is now spreading like the bird flu in a hen house through the Grand Old Party, and Republicans are beginning alternative planning for Election Day 2006. Watching The Da Vinci Code appears to be the favorite in colder regions while picnics will probably be the outing of choice in sunnier climes. Not a uniter indeed!
We all know who is the decider, and he has decided to become the definer as well. While Webster – our former source of sources on such matters – indicates that amnesty is the act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals, the definer has taken it upon himself to mandate that millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States will not be granted amnesty under his program because they will be forced to do the hockey pockey before be granted the right to apply for citizenship. Now there!
Poor George has come on hard times. For more than four years, he was able to round up groups of adoring right wing zealots, tell them that black was white, and they would cheer like mad. He then would tell the media that these good folks were just plain citizens, and while more than a few of us would suffer apoplexy, he got away with it every time. No more. Now even his most inbred supporters see through his B.S. and poor George can find solace nowhere, even in Crawford.
Frankly, I don’t come down far from where George and the Senate seem to want to light on the immigration issue. It’s obvious to me that we’re not going to be able to round up, arrest, interrogate, lock up, and deport twelve million people, most of whom are working and providing services for the rest of us, but George has run out credibility and has little or no chance of getting a bill on his desk that will address the problem of immigration before the election. Sadly, both major parties are quite content to let it play out that way and see it as an electoral plus for them.
Like Social Security, the immigration problem will be left to another president and Congress; sadly, both programs require attention, and the American people are the losers, as usual.
Not a uniter? Give me a break!
Blog on!
Wild Bill
We all know who is the decider, and he has decided to become the definer as well. While Webster – our former source of sources on such matters – indicates that amnesty is the act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals, the definer has taken it upon himself to mandate that millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States will not be granted amnesty under his program because they will be forced to do the hockey pockey before be granted the right to apply for citizenship. Now there!
Poor George has come on hard times. For more than four years, he was able to round up groups of adoring right wing zealots, tell them that black was white, and they would cheer like mad. He then would tell the media that these good folks were just plain citizens, and while more than a few of us would suffer apoplexy, he got away with it every time. No more. Now even his most inbred supporters see through his B.S. and poor George can find solace nowhere, even in Crawford.
Frankly, I don’t come down far from where George and the Senate seem to want to light on the immigration issue. It’s obvious to me that we’re not going to be able to round up, arrest, interrogate, lock up, and deport twelve million people, most of whom are working and providing services for the rest of us, but George has run out credibility and has little or no chance of getting a bill on his desk that will address the problem of immigration before the election. Sadly, both major parties are quite content to let it play out that way and see it as an electoral plus for them.
Like Social Security, the immigration problem will be left to another president and Congress; sadly, both programs require attention, and the American people are the losers, as usual.
Not a uniter? Give me a break!
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Thursday, May 11, 2006
My Little Garden
My garden is small. That is as it should be for a place that is cared for by superannuated tenders.
While it is doubtful that my wife and I knew or cared much about how the other felt about gardening when we were courting, to share this passion has been one of the joys of a long marriage. My interest in gardens stemmed from watching my family cultivate its back and side yards when I was a little boy. My wife’s story is similar. But it doesn’t matter; we’re in this together.
Our initial serious effort was in our second suburban back yard. We looked at the lay of the land and thought we could make it into something very special and we did. Dozens of azaleas planted in the understory of our gently rising woodlot coupled with many species of small native trees turned the place into a paradise.
We retired to the coast and moved to a house that was sited on a small knoll and which sported an even larger forest. We spent the next nine years turning our spread into a woodland that would have inspired Winny the Poo and Christopher Robin to many great imaginative adventures. This landscaping effort was a labor of love but as we grew older we realized that we had to downsize.
Our townhouse in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC came with an undeveloped patio garden measuring about twenty-two feet by fifteen feet. This became our great gardening challenge. How to transform a mostly paved patio into a garden so serene, contemplative and consoling as to satisfy ambitious gardeners with a lifetime of experience? First we settled on a design theme: Japanese. We purchased shrubs, trees and garden accessories and planted and placed with great care.
Even in the first year sitting (and drinking) in the late afternoon was a joy. The fact that the garden was on the east side of the house was supposed to take away from our ability to cultivate our plants, but it hasn’t turned out that way at all. Naturally, we had to select shrubs and trees that that did not require full sunshine, but this was not a problem, and the azaleas, rhodies, andromedas, and all the rest are thriving. More important, the east facing is the first to cool when the sun moves, and only on the hottest summer days are we prevented from adding to the fortunes of American brewers and distillers.
Since 1981, my wife has been a humming bird enthusiast, and every year she has been successful in attracting a family to our garden. Even in the first year in our patio garden, she lured a happy band of tiny dive bombers for our summer pleasure. This year's family took possesion about two weeks ago and show little fear of us.
In the last few days, we have become overjoyed at another development. Our wren house has been selected for occupancy and the hard working couple is in the process putting the finishing touches on the place. Already, I have been chewed out by the little groom who challenges my title to the property whenever I venture into his yard. But even on the third day of possession he is growing more tolerant of his gigantic but lumbering and apparently benign co-owner. It appears that our shrubs and trees have grown sufficiently large and full to provide the cover that he and the Mrs. feel is essential for their brood to be.
Over the course of our short tenure in the garden, our strict Japanese design has deteriorated into a more eclectic theme. We have a weakness for terra cotta pots, especially those with fungal growth on the sides that makes them look ancient. So while the original oriental aspect is still easily discerned, it competes with a look more suitable for a Tuscan courtyard.
All of this is to say we’re well into spring and life is good and each day for an hour or two I can sip my lager, count my blessings and forget the war and all that Bush has wrought.
Blog on!
Wild Bill
While it is doubtful that my wife and I knew or cared much about how the other felt about gardening when we were courting, to share this passion has been one of the joys of a long marriage. My interest in gardens stemmed from watching my family cultivate its back and side yards when I was a little boy. My wife’s story is similar. But it doesn’t matter; we’re in this together.
Our initial serious effort was in our second suburban back yard. We looked at the lay of the land and thought we could make it into something very special and we did. Dozens of azaleas planted in the understory of our gently rising woodlot coupled with many species of small native trees turned the place into a paradise.
We retired to the coast and moved to a house that was sited on a small knoll and which sported an even larger forest. We spent the next nine years turning our spread into a woodland that would have inspired Winny the Poo and Christopher Robin to many great imaginative adventures. This landscaping effort was a labor of love but as we grew older we realized that we had to downsize.
Our townhouse in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC came with an undeveloped patio garden measuring about twenty-two feet by fifteen feet. This became our great gardening challenge. How to transform a mostly paved patio into a garden so serene, contemplative and consoling as to satisfy ambitious gardeners with a lifetime of experience? First we settled on a design theme: Japanese. We purchased shrubs, trees and garden accessories and planted and placed with great care.
Even in the first year sitting (and drinking) in the late afternoon was a joy. The fact that the garden was on the east side of the house was supposed to take away from our ability to cultivate our plants, but it hasn’t turned out that way at all. Naturally, we had to select shrubs and trees that that did not require full sunshine, but this was not a problem, and the azaleas, rhodies, andromedas, and all the rest are thriving. More important, the east facing is the first to cool when the sun moves, and only on the hottest summer days are we prevented from adding to the fortunes of American brewers and distillers.
Since 1981, my wife has been a humming bird enthusiast, and every year she has been successful in attracting a family to our garden. Even in the first year in our patio garden, she lured a happy band of tiny dive bombers for our summer pleasure. This year's family took possesion about two weeks ago and show little fear of us.
In the last few days, we have become overjoyed at another development. Our wren house has been selected for occupancy and the hard working couple is in the process putting the finishing touches on the place. Already, I have been chewed out by the little groom who challenges my title to the property whenever I venture into his yard. But even on the third day of possession he is growing more tolerant of his gigantic but lumbering and apparently benign co-owner. It appears that our shrubs and trees have grown sufficiently large and full to provide the cover that he and the Mrs. feel is essential for their brood to be.
Over the course of our short tenure in the garden, our strict Japanese design has deteriorated into a more eclectic theme. We have a weakness for terra cotta pots, especially those with fungal growth on the sides that makes them look ancient. So while the original oriental aspect is still easily discerned, it competes with a look more suitable for a Tuscan courtyard.
All of this is to say we’re well into spring and life is good and each day for an hour or two I can sip my lager, count my blessings and forget the war and all that Bush has wrought.
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Monday, May 08, 2006
Deer in the Headlights
Now that almost everyone’s agreed that George W. Bush is a failed president maybe the worst ever, I’m beginning to feel sorry for him. When in a small minority appalled by our invasion of Iraq, I went at him with a passion that I can no longer muster. At that time I thought that Iraq was going to be Dubya’s Achilles heel and had no clue that everything he touched would reek almost as badly of bovine excrement.
Katrina’s so sad that I can’t even begin to mount anger. The federal, state and local governments were completely unprepared for a storm so big and powerful, and when it came ashore with its category three winds and huge tidal surge there was no chance that anything good would come of it. It wasn’t Bush’s fault, but he implied that he could hold back the sea and went on to appoint Brownie (of heck of a job fame) to head up his response. It’s ironic that Bill Clinton appointed the most competent person he could find to run FEMA and every disaster on his watch turned out as well as could be expected, but be assured that no matter who was president when Katrina landed no president in history would have been up to the task – although many of them would have looked better in failing.
Social Security – holy mackerel; how could anyone have been so insensitive as to think he could take on the sacred cow of the tennis shoe crowd, propose a solution that didn’t even pretend to fix the long term fiscal imbalance, and walk away unscathed? This is the issue that assured that Letterman, Leno, Colbert, O’Brien, and Jon Stewart would have material at least through January 20, 2009.
The Dubai ports sale – Trust me on this? How dumb can one man be?
And so on. Sadly for me, the president’s missteps and gaffs are working to the advantage of the Republican Party. At the moment Dubya reached for the Social Security live third rail the GOP members of Congress began their race away from his embrace. The way the electorate is spread across the country and the nature of the districting in the states assures an uphill struggle for Democrats for at least the next generation so winning even the House of Representatives is going to be a major uphill climb. While the polls show Bush, the Congress, and Republicans in a race to the bottom, the Democrats are going to have to work like crazy to pull off even this mini triumph.
Bush has done everything he can think of to stanch the bleeding. He laughed at his shortcomings at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; he let Andy card fall on his sword; he pushed Porter Goss over the side; he manfully assured that his successor would have to deal with the problems associated with his tax and budget profligacy; he stopped talking about spreading freedom and democracy outside the Green Zone. What’s left? He’s talking about vetoing a pork laden bill that funds the war and Katrina recovery, but the operative words here are `talking about.’
I’ll get over feeling bad for the poor schnook, but his ineptitude makes it difficult.
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Katrina’s so sad that I can’t even begin to mount anger. The federal, state and local governments were completely unprepared for a storm so big and powerful, and when it came ashore with its category three winds and huge tidal surge there was no chance that anything good would come of it. It wasn’t Bush’s fault, but he implied that he could hold back the sea and went on to appoint Brownie (of heck of a job fame) to head up his response. It’s ironic that Bill Clinton appointed the most competent person he could find to run FEMA and every disaster on his watch turned out as well as could be expected, but be assured that no matter who was president when Katrina landed no president in history would have been up to the task – although many of them would have looked better in failing.
Social Security – holy mackerel; how could anyone have been so insensitive as to think he could take on the sacred cow of the tennis shoe crowd, propose a solution that didn’t even pretend to fix the long term fiscal imbalance, and walk away unscathed? This is the issue that assured that Letterman, Leno, Colbert, O’Brien, and Jon Stewart would have material at least through January 20, 2009.
The Dubai ports sale – Trust me on this? How dumb can one man be?
And so on. Sadly for me, the president’s missteps and gaffs are working to the advantage of the Republican Party. At the moment Dubya reached for the Social Security live third rail the GOP members of Congress began their race away from his embrace. The way the electorate is spread across the country and the nature of the districting in the states assures an uphill struggle for Democrats for at least the next generation so winning even the House of Representatives is going to be a major uphill climb. While the polls show Bush, the Congress, and Republicans in a race to the bottom, the Democrats are going to have to work like crazy to pull off even this mini triumph.
Bush has done everything he can think of to stanch the bleeding. He laughed at his shortcomings at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; he let Andy card fall on his sword; he pushed Porter Goss over the side; he manfully assured that his successor would have to deal with the problems associated with his tax and budget profligacy; he stopped talking about spreading freedom and democracy outside the Green Zone. What’s left? He’s talking about vetoing a pork laden bill that funds the war and Katrina recovery, but the operative words here are `talking about.’
I’ll get over feeling bad for the poor schnook, but his ineptitude makes it difficult.
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Friday, May 05, 2006
Scary odds and ends
Charlie Savage’s article, Bush challenges hundreds of laws, on President Bush’s personal interpretations of the Constitution that appeared in the Boston Globe and which I linked for readers last week is being picked up by major media players and deserves another review for those who missed it.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws/
An editorial in today’s New York Times and Michael Kinsley’s op-ed in the Washington Post, Constitutional Cafeteria, cite savage’s piece and drive straight to the heart of this presidency. And it’s scary! Both of these are linked for horror fans:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/opinion/05fri1.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050401459.html
The reaction to Joe Biden’s call for a weak central government in Iraq has been very low key. Biden was a supporter of the war and continues his efforts to bail himself and Bush out of the fiasco. I saw him interviewed last evening and he couched his initial support for the war and for what ultimately went wrong on the `incompetency of the administration thing’ that I’ve railed at repeatedly in many postings. Never the less, I think it offers the only reasonable way out of the mess that we’re in, and clearly the administration is preparing to move in this direction.
David Broder's cloumn in today's Post attempts to put as nice a face as possible on the situation:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/03/AR2006050302201.html
While I hate to give Bush any points for this war, we must let him find a way out or we’ll be spewing blood and treasure for years to come. In the same posting that I initially used to cite Charlie Savage’s article, I linked readers to a hidden article in the Post that described preparations by the military for an outcome that is almost a carbon of that later proposed by Joe Biden. Here it is again so that you can make your own judgments:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/29/AR2006042901142.html
I know this linking goes in lots of different ways, but these are complex subjects and we poor citizens must do our best to keep up with what our leaders are doing, especially when they are loath to have us see through the flimflam.
As you must know by now, Don Rumsfeld ran into the paths of several speeding cars yesterday. There were too many articles on the subject to post, but the bubble of his credibility has been burst. He is now a whining explainer of how he really didn’t lie about the weapons of mass destruction and the link between al Qaeda and Saddam. I’ve read reasonable opinions on the difference between lying and overly optimistic forecasting. It’s hard to feel sorry for such a hard ass old S.O.B. as Don and it really doesn’t make any difference; as I’ve said before Rumsfeld is damaged goods and has to go. The Decider will just have to accept Don’s next offer to fall on his sword.
Well, not the happiest of historical moments, eh?
Blog on!
Wild Bill
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws/
An editorial in today’s New York Times and Michael Kinsley’s op-ed in the Washington Post, Constitutional Cafeteria, cite savage’s piece and drive straight to the heart of this presidency. And it’s scary! Both of these are linked for horror fans:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/opinion/05fri1.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050401459.html
The reaction to Joe Biden’s call for a weak central government in Iraq has been very low key. Biden was a supporter of the war and continues his efforts to bail himself and Bush out of the fiasco. I saw him interviewed last evening and he couched his initial support for the war and for what ultimately went wrong on the `incompetency of the administration thing’ that I’ve railed at repeatedly in many postings. Never the less, I think it offers the only reasonable way out of the mess that we’re in, and clearly the administration is preparing to move in this direction.
David Broder's cloumn in today's Post attempts to put as nice a face as possible on the situation:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/03/AR2006050302201.html
While I hate to give Bush any points for this war, we must let him find a way out or we’ll be spewing blood and treasure for years to come. In the same posting that I initially used to cite Charlie Savage’s article, I linked readers to a hidden article in the Post that described preparations by the military for an outcome that is almost a carbon of that later proposed by Joe Biden. Here it is again so that you can make your own judgments:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/29/AR2006042901142.html
I know this linking goes in lots of different ways, but these are complex subjects and we poor citizens must do our best to keep up with what our leaders are doing, especially when they are loath to have us see through the flimflam.
As you must know by now, Don Rumsfeld ran into the paths of several speeding cars yesterday. There were too many articles on the subject to post, but the bubble of his credibility has been burst. He is now a whining explainer of how he really didn’t lie about the weapons of mass destruction and the link between al Qaeda and Saddam. I’ve read reasonable opinions on the difference between lying and overly optimistic forecasting. It’s hard to feel sorry for such a hard ass old S.O.B. as Don and it really doesn’t make any difference; as I’ve said before Rumsfeld is damaged goods and has to go. The Decider will just have to accept Don’s next offer to fall on his sword.
Well, not the happiest of historical moments, eh?
Blog on!
Wild Bill
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Where's Sancho Panza Now?
Three years ago yesterday, George W. Bush was the happiest and most powerful man on the planet. Standing alone taking the salutes of thousands of happy sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was obviously the high point of his presidency. Weapons of mass destruction would soon be found in the Iraqi sand, and the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda would be established in short order. Like a Roman conqueror, the president would schedule a parade in Baghdad where the happy residents would strew flowers before his motorcade.
But it all blew up on him. No WMDs, no dots were connected between the bad guys, and there would be no flowers.
Resilience had to be the name of the game. The invasion was still good, and the overthrow of Saddam’s government was reason enough for the sacrifice of blood and treasure. Americans had always sacrificed for the long range good, and this great effort would afford us the opportunity to establish a democratic government in Iraq that would stabilize the region and serve as a model for the Muslim world.
But that scheme is crumbling like so many sand castles before the relentless desert wind. Now the administration is beginning to come to grips with reality; a strong democratic central government in Baghdad is looking less likely with each passing day. The dream of a stable Iraq anchoring the region against its powerful neighbor to the east grows dimmer, and Iran has far more influence in the region than when we began the adventure.
Now we must find still another new rationale as the casualties mount and as the fiscal abyss yawns before us. Perhaps a strong central government isn’t really that important; self governing Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis may not be as bad as we originally thought. Maybe we could even live with a completely partitioned Iraq. Why even a civil war to settle this mess once and for all might not be so terrible.
Yesterday, Senator Joe Biden proposed the weak central government option. Even six months ago that would have been labeled a traitorous cowardly end to the war and the sacrifice of our brave troops, but the turd was met by only quiet contemplation by the president, his bellicose number two, and by the former rock star unhappily ensconced in the Pentagon. Where are the calls for Biden’s head by el Rushbo, Hannity and The Great One? Are the swift boats restricted to port for lack of affordable petrol?
Now we look eastward to Tehran with far fewer options and lots less confidence. Trouble brews and our man on horseback looks far less resolute and his steed looks more like a burro. George Bush is a rapidly shrinking president, and we are stuck with him and his Republican cheerleaders on the Hill until January 20, 2009. Well maybe not, there’s an election in November and just maybe there’ll be some oversight accomplished starting in the new year of 2007.
Had enough? Vote Democratic!
Blog on!
Wild Bill
But it all blew up on him. No WMDs, no dots were connected between the bad guys, and there would be no flowers.
Resilience had to be the name of the game. The invasion was still good, and the overthrow of Saddam’s government was reason enough for the sacrifice of blood and treasure. Americans had always sacrificed for the long range good, and this great effort would afford us the opportunity to establish a democratic government in Iraq that would stabilize the region and serve as a model for the Muslim world.
But that scheme is crumbling like so many sand castles before the relentless desert wind. Now the administration is beginning to come to grips with reality; a strong democratic central government in Baghdad is looking less likely with each passing day. The dream of a stable Iraq anchoring the region against its powerful neighbor to the east grows dimmer, and Iran has far more influence in the region than when we began the adventure.
Now we must find still another new rationale as the casualties mount and as the fiscal abyss yawns before us. Perhaps a strong central government isn’t really that important; self governing Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis may not be as bad as we originally thought. Maybe we could even live with a completely partitioned Iraq. Why even a civil war to settle this mess once and for all might not be so terrible.
Yesterday, Senator Joe Biden proposed the weak central government option. Even six months ago that would have been labeled a traitorous cowardly end to the war and the sacrifice of our brave troops, but the turd was met by only quiet contemplation by the president, his bellicose number two, and by the former rock star unhappily ensconced in the Pentagon. Where are the calls for Biden’s head by el Rushbo, Hannity and The Great One? Are the swift boats restricted to port for lack of affordable petrol?
Now we look eastward to Tehran with far fewer options and lots less confidence. Trouble brews and our man on horseback looks far less resolute and his steed looks more like a burro. George Bush is a rapidly shrinking president, and we are stuck with him and his Republican cheerleaders on the Hill until January 20, 2009. Well maybe not, there’s an election in November and just maybe there’ll be some oversight accomplished starting in the new year of 2007.
Had enough? Vote Democratic!
Blog on!
Wild Bill
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