THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

MCCAIN IS A HAWK ON IRAQ -- I'M THINKING "ISRAEL" | 2002-09-21

The most opportunistic senator of our decade --- and that's a hell of distinction -- is backing Bush for immediate military action against Iraq. Normally McCain gets the liberal media to love him by backing Democratic initiatives, so why is he such a loyal Administration Republican on this one?

In other words, what would be the most obvious thing an opportunist would be thinking about in relation to Iraq?

I'm thinking "Israel." Am I too cynical?

Remember that motto: "The path to peace in the Middle East lies through Baghdad."

Absolutely nobody in Washington is worried about peace in the Middle East for the sake of Arabs. Nor do Americans ever demand that anybody in Washington worry about the Middle East for the sake of "We the People of the United States of America."

There is only one group of people who always demand that their people get something out of the Middle East and that is the supporters of Israel.

No doubt a lot of people know McCain's real motivation, but nobody else will say what we all know but Yours Truly.

REMINDER: THE ONLY REAL FIGHT IS HERE | 2012-01-15

No matter how endlessly the paper hats get others to praise their bravery and modestly deny it, not one of the endless number I have met ever said that he had anything to do with the OUTCOME of the conflict he was part of.

Someone who walks around with a paper hat saying World War II Veteran is saying that he fought in a war whose only real result was turning one third of the human race over to the Communists.

To repeat, this is true of ALL paper hats. Korea ended up exactly where it started, Vietnam was lost as soon as the left turned to back their fellow Marxists. Vietnam was a replay of World War II, because it was decided at the desks of leftists.

And so on.

Even the old text on world military history at West Point made it a major point that one side is defeated when it DECIDES it is defeated. All the slaughters and artillery and medals are devoted to the same thing other propaganda is aimed at: CONVINCING.

All real wars are decided before the first shot is fired.

Paper hats are concerned only about themselves, how brave they were and how they can't be cowards because the government said so. But not ONE of the paper hats claims he had anything to do with historical, human RESULTS.,

Paper hats are useful -- to those who know how to use them -- as hostages. So Hitler was really really bad and Comrade Stalin had his points, if you don't agree you are condemning all those brave men and women who fought against Hitler, and, incidentally, as allies of Stalin.

But when it comes to the real war, it is fought here, in convincing people.

No ten thousand medal winners even claim to have the effect that well-placed and disciplined words have on the real world

DR. DUKE REPORTS THAT EUROPE NOW HAS A CHAMPION OF FREE SPEECH! | 2006-10-29

"Switzerland's justice minister has called on the Swiss government to reverse a law which makes historical revisionism illegal.

Minister Christoph Blocher is on a campaign to change the law, according to the Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) newspaper – even if it will impinge upon the sensitivities of minority groups, including the country's Jewish communities.

Blocher claims that freedom of _expression is more important than protecting the sensibilities of minority groups, NZZ wrote.

Blocher just returned from a trip to Turkey where a public discussion of the Armenian genocide is de facto punishable by a court of law. Upon his return home, Blocher said that he believes that Swiss laws needs to be a beacon for other nations.

As far as the minister is concerned, a ban on free speech in Turkey has made an effective public discussion of the Armenian genocide and Kurdish issues there impossible. In effect, he claims that widening the possibilities for freedom of speech in Switzerland might entice other countries to do the same.

EXCELLENT DISCIPLINARY REMINDER FROM CL | 2007-09-16

Inresponse to the articlebelow, Flanking Arguments, CL brings me up short:

The corollary to this is when you abandon what works.

One of the great banes of baseball managers everywhere is the pitcher who is throwing one pitch the opposing player/line-up can't hit, but who inexplicably decides to "diversify" to his less stellar stuff. He's often seen looking over his shoulder 2 to 3 seconds after making the change.

It's called being "cute," and it invariably kills the perpetrator in sports, business, and war.

The mantra is the unhittable fastball. Your curveball is crap. Don't be cute.