I woke up this morning to the nasal whining [audio] of Howard Zinn arguing that grade school teachers must never inculcate in their students that the US is a great nation. Instead of learning to appreciate the exceptional nation we live in, he believes, children must be taught mainly about all the things that are wrong with America (but not necessarily the bad things about other countries). At some point, presumably, he'll demand that the UN Security Council pass a resolution calling for regime change in Washington DC, to be carried out by a coalition led by the French and the Saudis.
And speaking of France, did you know that the French haven't won a single war since 1565?
Bill Clinton is calling on Saddam Hussein to "come to his senses and disarm". Come to his senses? I think it's a stretch to assume that he has any senses. (thanks to Joseph Leitmann for pointing this out)
And speaking of making charitable assumptions about the rationality of insane despots, NPR reports [audio] that North Korea is threatening pre-emptive strikes against American troops in South Korea. NPR's Rob Gifford acknowledges that the North Korean regime is not rational, but also says that the Bush Administration has concluded that the only way to resolve the nuclear weapons situation is to "negotiate", even though that amounts to nuclear blackmail. Perhaps, but as in the case of any other negotiations with a mentally unstable hostage taker, the purpose of the negotiation should be to buy only enough time to get a clear shot at the madman.
FLASH 11:53am PST. Ha'aretz has this bulletin:
Turkish TV: Man claiming to have bomb seizes 2 hostages at Istanbul airport; CNN-Turk TV: No flights to, from IstanbulUPDATE: The situation seems to have been resolved. Turkish police stormed the plane and removed the hijacker, who appeared to have been drunk. There is no indication he had any ties to any radical group.
Why dosn't this sort of thing surprise me anymore?: The Religion of Peace has been caught using a mosque as a place to stash suicide bomber explosive belts.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at February 07, 2003 02:56 PMAs a French reader who usually agrees with your "tempered" yet potent style, I cannot help but react at your "misguided" scud directed at France. I do hope that your 1565 reference is ironic, lest you forget who bankrolled the American Independence/Revolutionary war and Napoleon's victories.... Just to add important historical fact to the mix, remember who provided arms to Israel before 1967... Shimon Peres, who was chief procurer of arms for Israel at the time even maintained an office at the French Prime Minister's residence(Matignon). For all France's faults, let's not forget that France has never been at war with the US (unlike Great Britain 1812 et al, or Spain, Italy, and all the newfound allies...)
Posted by: Frederic Guarino on February 9, 2003 01:01 PMFrederic,
Thanks for reading and I'm sorry to have offended your country with my verbal, uh, "scud". Yes, the French were helpful to the Amercians 200+ years ago. Napoleon of course won many battles, but it's hard to call the Russian winter of 1812 and its aftermath a "victory" for France. France did supply arms to Israel during its early days, but De Gaulle pointedly sat on his hands in the build-up to 1967 when Israel needed his help most. And Osirak -- enough said. At least you're honest enough not to claim that WWI and WWII were victories by France, as opposed to victories for France.
Forgive me if I don't sound sufficiently respectful of French civilization. Paris is a lovely city (dog shit notwithstanding), the food is terrific (if overpriced, but helping to pay for an inefficient dirigiste economy is a good use of one's money, non?) and "The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe" really is a very funny movie
Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on February 9, 2003 02:29 PM