I'm back from my trip, and so while I'm catching up, here's some random thoughts on the news of the day and maybe what it means...
Why do many on the left keep claiming that Iraq is this horrible failure? Consider this, from today's headlines:
"Candidates in this month's provincial elections are answering questions from voters and debating issues ranging from Baghdad's housing shortage to the need to attract foreign investment. This is the new style of campaigning in Iraq, where candidates feel safe enough to stump for votes and focus on grass-roots issues instead of the religious divisions and violence that overshadowed earlier elections held after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in 2003."
There sure is a lot of hype building for Barack Obama's inauguration.
I can't remember a time when there was this much buildup for such an event.
I really wonder whether Obama can live up to all the expectations.
Americans need to remember--your government can't save you, or make your life for you.
Don't you have to feel good for the Arizona Cardinals? They're going to the Super Bowl.
When this NFL season began, who woulda thunk it? Certainly not me. But you have to feel good for their players, their fans, everyone...who obviously suffered through a lot of losing seasons, but never gave up. Yes, we can, indeed...
Meanwhile, why on earth are there still people out there facilitating dogfighting?
It's cruel and disgusting. I'm glad the cops keep cracking down on it.
Today of course is a holiday in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King. I can certainly see why President-elect Obama would choose to honor Dr. King today by doing some volunteer work--surely King would have approved. But it's important too to remember today that Dr. King was not a god; he was a man. And he was a man who made mistakes. In criticizing America's military efforts in Vietnam, King once likened our operations there to the actions of Adolf Hitler. At the end of his life, King was proposing to use civil disobedience to literally shut down the nation's capital and the government, all because he argued that government wasn't doing enough for the poor. Such incendiary language and undemocratic means of seeking change did not do the man justice, especially when many of King's earlier actions, such as opposing legalized segregation and racism, were so justified and he showed such tremendous leadership. So it's important to remember all the nuances, both of our founding fathers (such as Washington or Lincoln), as Dr. King's supporters would have us do, and of Dr. King himself.
