7/2/2008 - General Wes Clark and Food Prices |
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Two things are bugging me this morning. First off, General Wes Clark (ret.) is being mauled by the press for saying about John McCain, "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president." Well, that seems pretty unpolitical and it kinda pissed me off because I have always really liked Wes Clark and admire him greatly. He's well-known for not having the best political instincts in the world but when it comes to saying things as they are, I like him. And, let's face it, what he said is right. Getting shot down and being a POW are NOT things that necessarily qualify you to be president. But when you read it, it doesn't seem like the best approach, politically-speaking, if you're supporting Barack Obama.
But then I watched transcript of the CBS show where he said this and it turns out he was fed that line by the interviewer, Bob Shieffer. When you watch the video of the interview and put Clark's comment in context, you realize it wasn't this horrible nasty thing to say, it was a response to a direct question where he repeated part of the question in his answer. More good analysis on the complete over-reaction on this thing along with the vid HERE. Another thing that's got me cranky is all the blaming of high food prices on biofuels. If you believe the rhetoric being thrown around you'd think that the biodiesel and bioethanol makers were coming to your house and removing the corn and soy beans from your mouth and then sending you a bill. I have contended all along that high food prices are due mainly to the fact that gas costs so goddam much. We ship EVERYTHING in this country by diesel trucks. Have you seen the price of diesel lately???! Turns out I was right. Not only that, there's been smear campaign revealed where the Grocery Manufacturers Association was found to be intentionally spreading this lie around. More HERE. Big Oil is getting in on the act, too. More about that HERE. I understand being against biofuels (actually I don't but...) but at least play fair and don't twist the facts. Argue the thing on its merits and quit making shit up. I'm just rantin'... |
7/2/2008 - LadyVisine Said... |
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Isn't it a crying shame that the majority does not realize that when one points the finger of blame at someone/something, there are 4 fingers pointing right back at the "pointer"?
*returns to weeding garden* |
7/3/2008 - Eclectablog Said... |
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Interesting point, Kimmi :D |
7/3/2008 - LadyVisine Said... |
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I'm glad you didn't think that was pointless. :p |
7/3/2008 - OgreJehosephatt Said... |
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"there are 4 fingers pointing right back at the "pointer"?"
Your thumb must be unsettlingly double jointed. |
7/3/2008 - texican Said... |
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I think that McCain's people are looking for any little thing to jump on. General Clark said nothing to disparage McCain's service record.
As we've discussed on one of your previous posts, I'm all for bio-fuels. I'd just prefer that they use something cheaper, more efficient, and a non-food source. |
Eclectablog
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Name: Mr. E (get it?) Location: Ann Arbor-ish, Michigan, USA, Earth EFx2Blogger since: September 19, 2007 |
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Some folks sleep on a problem, but you can camp on one as well. Camping is for the mind what a high-speed run on the highway is for a car. It tends to blow out all the sludge that accumulates in the type of urban driving most of us are forced to do in order to earn a living.-- Tim Cahill
To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.
-- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and wasteful.
-- Wendell Berry
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