Jim Ridout: Silly, Stupid, Ignorant, and Hopeful
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 11:07am. Reader ContributionA BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Jim Ridout
"Mandela is dead"
These words spoken by a silly, stupid, and ignorant man contrast in a remarkable and ironic way with words spoken by Nelson Mandela, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Who really knows what George W. Bush actually meant when he uttered his jaw-dropping announcement regarding President Mandela or his discovery of who killed him.... Saddam Hussein. It was one of those moments where you feel the world sort of feeling embarrassed that we have such a man leading this nation, and at the same time you laugh out loud.
Nelson Mandela publicly opposed our invasion of Iraq. Nelson Mandela questioned President Bush's ability to think and reason, which makes the silly, stupid, and ignorant remark of George W. Bush sort of beautiful in a poetic sort of way.
George Bush lied and misled us into war. George Bush spared the life of the man who attacked us and left his promise unfulfilled. Through the deceptions of George Bush, a cauldron of hatred has been created in Iraq, thousands of our soldiers killed, tens of thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis killed, and million of Iraqis fleeing their country fearing for their lives and surviving as beggars or prostitutes.
If what George W. Bush meant to say is that there are no Mandela "like" figures left in Iraq, then he should consider his own actions in killing the next Mandela or driving him or her out of their home country as a result of his invasion of a sovereign nation. The carnage he has brought to Iraq equals that brought over the decades by Saddam Hussein.
As another world leader said, "How fortunate for leaders that men do not think." The same man claimed he went to war as a "last resort" and "God" was on his side.
How fortunate for us to know we are not alone in the world: others have stupid, silly, ignorant leaders as well, as this past week showed when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at Columbia University. I believe that the greatest evidence for not invading Iran was revealed in the statements of this silly, stupid, ignorant man. That and we should take comfort that the Iranians themselves like us have had it with their moron. As a good host, we should say something nice about President Ahmadinejad, so I do agree with his concern of the Palestinian people, they are oppressed and yes their land has been under Israeli occupation for 60 years. But the Holocaust??? And No Gays in Iran???? Senator Larry Craig should be appointed our Ambassador to Iran as they have no gays there either, just men who enjoy having sex with other men, and as the Good Senator has made clear, taking a good wide stance in a men's room and peering into the stalls does not make you gay, it just makes you want to tap your feet and sing. George Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, never the twain shall meet.
Now along with these events to showcase silly, stupid, and ignorant men, we did have news of other silly, stupid, and ignorant men. Our State Department Inspector General Howard J. Krongard (which in his native language means guarding cronies) has been accused of interfering with investigations of corruption and fraud. A couple of examples are the use of "slave labor" to build our embassy in Iraq, and of the wrong doings of those that ran our Public Broadcasting System. The revelations of Acting U.S. Attorney General Peter Keisler, who replaced "I don't remember" Gonzales, and his involvement in still more coverups of fraud and corruption in Iraq. Perhaps it was just a week of irony but it was President Lincoln (Republican) who established the "False Claims Act" to punish those who engaged in fraud and war profiteering, and this act is being so blatantly ignored by members of the Bush team. Last but not least of these men (in the Biblical sense) is Condoleezza Rice, as she shows the world just how "sovereign Iraq" really is with the slaughter brought about by Blackwater of Iraqi citizens, and the Iraqi government then demanding their departure. Rice stepped in and squashed any notion they may have had about freedom and democracy and Blackwater, those gun smuggling, murdering thugs, is back on the job.
But there is hope. There is hope that as we elect a Democrat for President, we can begin to envision an end to this war. We can bring an end to fraud and corruption, and we can bring sanity back to our government and the principles on which it was founded. We can provide healthcare for all Americans, we can rebuild bridges and levees, we can build better schools and invest in clean renewable energy. There is hope that if we the people provide them with the sufficient majority they need, Congress will be able to do the work of the people and not waste time assaulting freedom of speech or illegal wire taps, and who knows we may just take action to save the planet. And finally there is hope that in the country of Bolivia, they elected a farmer as President, an indigenous man, whose own mother was not allowed to show herself in the streets because of racism. President Evo Morales speaks of a millennium of life and of saving mankind. President Morales kept his campaign promises and has bettered the lives of his people. Sometimes I think we need to see that. One must not forget that silly, stupid, ignorant men threaten to take healthcare away from 10 million children, when others are anxious to provide it to all.
Albuquerque, NM
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The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.
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