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Technorati'He Kept Us Safe' - Unless You Count the Dead People
After attending a cheery little GOP Christmas party, and in the charitable spirit of the season, Wall Street Journal columnist and Republican stalwart Peggy Noonan reflected on the Bush years Friday. (You can read the full column by clicking here.) She declares that when historians look back on Bush and try to sum it all up, they will most likely say something like: "At least he kept us safe." Merry Christmas President Bush. Ms. Noonan then advises the Democrats to pay proper attention to the warnings contained in national security studies. Darn good advice.
But strangely, her column avoids any mention at all of the rather strongly worded security warning that was contained in the Presidential Daily Briefing delivered to President Bush one month before the 9-11 attacks. Titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US," the warning contained the rather prescient observation that: "FBI information...indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York." Sadly, that warning to Bush gained little traction with Republicans and 2,973 people died on 9-11. There was no mention of those dead in the column.
Ms. Noonan also avoids any mention of the 4,209 US service men and women who have been killed in Iraq, where the terrorists could simply walk to work. No mention of the 30,000 wounded. No mention of the 445 US contractors killed in Iraq. No acknowledgment that many of these men and women were in the National Guard and were called away from their useful civilian jobs in America as firemen, policemen, doctors and lawyers, and sent to die in a reckless and needless war in Iraq.
There was no mention of how the "safety" theme played out as a feckless FEMA responded to a predictable Katrina. There was not a word about the Americans civilians who have been killed by terrorists in such far flung spots as Bali and Mumbai. All the dead and the maimed, the wounded and the wasted must feel better knowing that at least they are safe.
There was also no mention of the negative effects on our national security caused by the Great Meltdown of '08. No mention of the failure to provide adequate care to our returning wounded heroes. Not a peep about the crippling effects the trillion dollar cost of the war will have on future generations.
And this is what Ms. Noonan declares to be "keeping us safe." Her failure to note the true cost of the Bush Administration's arrogant incompetence and mindless belligerence suggests that Ms. Noonan, and many others at her cheery little Republican Christmas party, spent far too long at the punch bowl drinking the neo-con kool-aid. Me, I still see dead people. Merry Christmas Ms. Noonan.
48 Comments so far
Show AllThis article has inspired an interesting side-bar going on if you scroll down a bit. This side-bar started because I used the word "Nazi" in reference to our foreign policy. There is a historical parallel between what it happening now and what the Nazis did. History is history. Let's not try to clean it up by denying the truth.
The comments are about the exact number of Iraqi deaths. No one has an exact count. Barbara Bush is quoted as saying why should she bother her head with something like that. Magdalene Albright has said that the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children was worth it.
The point is this - most body counts start with 'Shock and Awe' and ignore the slaughter that has been the result of constant bombing since 1991. Which country slaughtered the most - Germany or the USA. I don't know. Maybe it's a tie.
Let me make sure I've got this right.....
If between now and the moment Barack Obama raises his hand, takes the oath of office, and begins his inaugeral address some international terrorist outfit successfully attacks a civilian target inside the United States, this constitutes proof that George W. Bush failed to keep America safe.
On the other hand, once Barack Obama has been sworn in next month and his "watch" officially commences, then a successful terrorist attack on US soil proves President Obama's incompetence. No doubt many pundits like Peggy Noonan will note that the timing of this post-inaugural act of terrorism is motivated by a desire to test the manly mettle of the new Commander-in-chief, a sucker punch that the evil doers never would have dared to throw if only George W. were still in charge, or if McCain/Palin had won.
Dick Cheney for one has been mouthing variations on this bullshit theme for a couple of years, talking about how the absence of another terrorist attack since 9/11 essentially proves that the Bush doctrine of preemptive militarism abroad is actually a rousing success - rather like claiming that since the sun still sets in the west and arises in the east the next morning, this is proof positive that somebody, somewhere, must be doing something right. To me, the fallacy behind this facile, self serving logic is painfully self evident.
Yes, in all likelihood there very possibly will be another awful terrorist attack upon the United States (possibly with something like a suitcase nuke or biological pathogen) during Obama's first four year term. Rush, Faux News, and the Peggy Noonans of the world already sit poised to proclaim this tragic loss of innocent life is all the fault of those appeasement-prone, soft-on-terrorism Democrats.
After all, the winter flu season is upon us. Time to go inoculate the body politic against the dreaded threat of blowback.
Heaven forbid that anyone should dare even speculate about how there might be a cause and effect relationship between multiplying and radicalizing America's potential ememies throughout the world, and creating a long term increase in the nation's vulnerability and risk of future terrorist attack.
Bill from Saginaw
No, she didn't drink the kool-aid, she's just a whore of the empire
Rich without earning it, successful without working for it, Bush will be receiving payola from all those whose funds he kept safe long after he has left office.
This has helped me get through some tough moments:
http://filmstripinternational.com/
Nolan is correct, Noonan is lying like crazy. In her defense, however, she is the one who reported that Bush thought 9/11/2001 was not too bad a day, because for him it ended up with a joke.
He kept us safe except when he didn't keep us safe. I guess makes sense.
Dafoe
He sure did keeps everyone safe, mostly! Concealed weapons in national parks, guns in churches and other public places all to keep one safe in ones own country besides the mess of poleese, stae troopers, FBI Cia Homeland security bods, and prisons and on and on, everyone armed and ready to die for you, mostly.
Bush is a liar and a buffoon, ill equipped to do much of anything and he was elected twice which says heaps about the people who voted for him Deibold not withstanding. One weeps for a good idea that disappeared around 1900 and even then its flaws should with its emphasis on property right and no human rights. It appears that while "patriots" thru out George III , George the Bush and Reagan the Ron instituted the draconian Georgian Code of "justice", all to keep you safe_ behind bars.
I like this way of thinking and wonder why Republicans could so long keep up the myth that they are 'keeping everybody safe'.
They showed footage of 9-11 before elections as if this somehow showed that they are 'strong and tough' towards foreign enemies.
Pardon ?
Terrorist plots are constantly being thought out by crazy extremists, but at least during the Clinton years, THEY NEVER MATERIALIZED !
Somehow Bush is a hero for overseeing a disaster and an enemy attack on 'the Homeland', but in my view he failed to protect the American people, JUST BECAUSE 9-11 HAPPENED. His failure was there for everybody to see, just one year into his presidency, but everybody started to worship him as some sort of a hero. His response to Katrina in 2005 shouldn't have come as a surprise, except to those people who believed all that bull that the Republicans spout about 9-11. The fact is that Republicans are weak on National Security and they don't care about your safety.
Suppose that Bush would have done the right things before the attacks happened and would have listened to all these FBI and foreign intelligence warnings, stopped the terrorists in their tracks and started to interrogate the Bin Ladens and other high-profile Saudis staying in America to roll up the entire network of Al-Qaida (that his own colleagues helped to establish in the eighties during the war in Afghanistan). Would then still people be talking about how Bush was strong on terrorism and that 'only Bush and the Republicans' can keep us safe ? No, because this solution wouldn't have made good television, people would have continued business as usual and forgotten all about how terribly fragile they are and how they need somebody to protect them. In any case, this solution sounds more like the way those wimpy Democrats would do it, but at least those 3000 people who died that day would still be alive.
No matter which conspiracy theory about 9-11 you believe in (I don't blame you, there still hasn't been a credible and thorough investigation into these attacks, so people are still left in the dark, free to make up their own theories), one thing stands out and always has left me to wonder. Republicans always 'celebrate' 9-11 as something that shows how heroic they are. In my eyes they are just feeding on the corpses of the people who died on that day, without even bothering to find out why they had to die. It is completely disgusting. Yes, they really did lay out the red carpet for the terrorists to attack the U.S. 9-11 was made possible because of Republican incompetence and instead people got into a frenzy and started to worship the people who failed to protect them.
Well I guess this is once again a good example of Naomi Klein's 'Shock doctrine' in practice.
The biggest flaw in the statement that W "kept us safe" is that he didn't. 9/11/01 happened on W's watch. It happened, and he wasn't paying attention as the plot unfolded, as he was being desperately warned by the intelligence community, as he was warned in the PDB that was titled "Bin Laden determined to strike in US". So Noonan's statement is wrong from the outset. It is wrong because there was a 9/11.
How about the million or more Afghan and Iraqi civilians who've been slaughtered, the millions more maimed, traumatized, raped, left destitute or forced into exile?
OK, sure, I know, they're not white or Republican, and very few are Christians. Still, shouldn't they count for something with Ms Noonan and her kind? Isn't this a manifestation of the very us/them dichotomy that continues to tear the world apart? Maybe if we could enlarge our circles of concern to include all of humanity, as people like the often-cited but rarely-quoted Jesus, the Buddha, Gandhi and King taught us, the world would be a much better place.
Alex
Hasn't kept Appalachia safe, we are Third World America thanks to Presidebt Bush and THE COAL INDUSTRY ! http://www.wisecountyissues.com We live in a toxic waste dump...
Yep, George W. Bush has kept us safe from the terrorists - he didn't want anyone butting into his fun. He wanted to be the DESTROYER-IN-CHIEF and destroy us all by himself.
What other terrorists ?
Name even one proven to have attacked US citizens ( who is is not a contractor of neoCONer bu$h!t ) ?
It's the shrub's and Company's WAR OF TERROR on all the world, to pursue extreme profit, manipulation, and control.
Where's the proof of a Muslim war against the West ?
Ms. Noonan meant to say, "Kept us, the lice at the head of government,safe."
"He kept us safe"...inna PIG'$ Aye! --he CRACKED our Safe...
http://flickr.com/photos/videolux/2844506193/
Great comments so far. I have nothing to add except to remind Mordechai we aren't bankrupt yet and don't bet your house on our sinking. But you are so right about Bush. And elainem is right, we are about to take a whupping. Though America even now is better positioned than most to recover.
Why does the hackery of Peggy Noonan not surprise me? She was, after all, a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan,so we know she drank that kool-aid a long time ago. What is surprising is that she has any credibility at all, anywhere. This is the same woman who, caught offguard by a live mic, described Sarah Palin's inclusion on the G.O.P. presidential ticket as, "b.s." and lamented that the race was "over." She then went on to urge support for the ticket and to backpeddle unconvincingly from her off-air comments. Thanks, Barry, for a terrific column rebutting Noonan's latest "b.s."
Sioux Rose
What she means is HER job was kept safe by staying within the permissable limits of "reasonable" discourse, always deferential to the regime in power.
If I were a "terrorist" and had a full realization of what George Wanker Bush did to the United States and the rest of the world, I would also realize there is no need for furher attacks against the USA. Bush did the terrorists work for them. The U.S. is bankrupt and sinking like a stone.
"...I would also realize there is no need for furher attacks against the USA. Bush did the terrorists work for them."
Well, yeah, but while we're feeling the effects of domestic terrorism, the rest of the world is feeling the effects of our military's bayonets and economic shock doctrine. They could care less that we're already down, they're going to kick us again.
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
If I were a State-Terrorist, and had a full realization of what I was doing to my own State and the rest of the world, then I would realize that training and funding warlords and extremists in the art of terrorism creates a "business-friendly" climate for my private military contractor and factory-owning friends, ensuring continued "false-flag" and "blow-back" attacks against the USA and their allies. Bush's handlers know the terrorists work for them. Bankrupting the U.S. is necessary to create a "business-friendly" climate here at home.
"Bush did the terrorists work for them" -Exactly
Don't forget the rising crime rates, rising prison inmate population, the rise in homelessness and mental illness (especially among children), the rise in alcohol and drug abuse as well as obesity, just to name a few.
Anyone who enjoys the humiliation of an entire country must be loving this. In a way I can't say that I'd blame them. Americans have been so cocky and arrogant with their "we're number one" fingers up for so long, it would be like seeing that unbeaten football team finally take a whuppin'.
Too bad the ones taking the whuppin' in America are the ones who don't deserve it. And it's even harder when you know that the ones who deserve it won't get it.
Sioux Rose
Mordechai: That is the absolute, ugly truth. A modern Biblical depiction of the Book of Job taken as vexation to a nation led by the mantra of "That which I feared hath come upon me." And so a legion of martial forces aimed at the illusory enemy out there, while the entire economy and domestic infrastructure everywhere came tumbling down like the 911 towers...
Is this Nazi territory or what??? Does anyone care about the dead Iraqis - some estimates have been as high as 3 million. We have been bombing them since 1991. Why is a USA life any more valuable than an Iraqi life?
Thank You, RJ.
Mass murder is nothing to be "civil" about.
No, this is not Nazi territory. Commondreams is a left-wing website, and of course the people who participate in its discussions in good faith care about the dead Iraqis. But Mr. Nolan's article is not about whether Bush kept Iraqis safe, and surely no sane person would argue that he kept Iraqis safe. Mr. Nolan's article is about whether he kept "us" safe. That is what I was responding to.
If you want to talk about Nazis: it would have been equally legitimate for a German in 1944 to ask whether Hitler had kept the German people safe. That would not necessarily mean that the person who raised the question was indifferent to the sufferings of the Jews and other victims of German aggression.
It is legitimate to disagree with postings you read on this website, but please try to keep the tone civil. There is no need to invoke the Nazis every time you disagree with someone.
Mark Marshall
Toronto
Excellent comment.
"It is legitimate to disagree with postings you read on this website, but please try to keep the tone civil. There is no need to invoke the Nazis every time you disagree with someone."
Beat me to it.
I did NOT mean to imply that Common Dreams is Nazi - I was referring to the death culture of the USA. I agree that the focus of the article was not the Iraqi death count - that was the point that I was trying to make. When 2 people are killed in an auto accident, would it be OK to comment only on the death of one of them? I apologize if you think my tone was not civil but, I have refused to participate in protests or vigils that ignore the dead Iraqis. I believe that by placing a higher value on 'our' dead it implies a condonation of what we have done in Iraq and so many other places around the globe.
I would add that the 3 million figure is highly inflated. I don't know what a more accurate figure is (only time will tell) but it is considerably less 3 million, probably less than 1 million total (see Wikipedia). For example, The World Health Organization estimates that from March 2003 through June 2006, there were only 151,000 violence-related Iraqi deaths in Iraq. And let's not forget that it's Iraqi terrorists blowing up car bombs and attacking crowded marketplaces who are to blame for most of that body count, not our troops.
I'm glad we are discussing whether it was 1 million or 3 million Iraqis killed. If the figure is only 1 million, I feel so much better about the War on Terror.
"Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more then ten to twenty million killed, tops. Depending on the breaks." - General "Buck" Turgidson.
… you had me at " I don't know "
Namaste
Yes, that's exactly right.
I don't know, you don't know, nobody knows.
There hasn't been a proper census done in Iraq for the past 30 years. The Lancet study wasn't based on hard data, it was based on a projection of survey results. The data their projections were based on was of "limited precision" because the quality of the information depended on the accuracy of the household interviews used for the study. Never mind that it is impossible to achieve that level of accuracy under wartime conditions.
Then in 2007, Opinion Research Business claimed that 1.2 million Iraqis had died since the war began. But what did they use as their source? The Lancet study. The guess that over a million Iraqis have died is nothing more than an extrapolation of a projection. I wouldn't trust it.
What certain people want to ignore is that the largest, most recent, and most comprehensive study was done by the WHO and Iraqi Health Ministry. And that study found that only 151,000 violence-related Iraqi deaths occurred between March 2003 through June 2006. But then again, nobody knows for sure. Maybe we never will.
Same with the sanctions. Yes, some people died as a result of the policy, as well as from Saddam intentionally aggravating their harmful effects on the populace. But the scale of it has been dramatically exaggerated. Matt Welch wrote a wonderful article for Reason Magazine in 2002 explaining why the real number of Iraqis killed by by the sanctions was more likely to be @ 100,000.
So if the sanctions killed @ 100,000 people, and the IBC documents that between 89,600 - 97,828 people have been killed since 2003, then it seems to me that over twenty years our policies have possibly killed @200,000 Iraqis, not 3 million. Maybe even as high as 300,000, but no way is it 3 million. Think about it, that would be half the number killed in the Holocaust, or more than 10% Iraq's population. No sane minded person would claim that we are are not responsible for killing 1 in 10 people in Iraq.
And certainly, it should go without saying, but it's absurd to hold the US accountable for any of the deaths resulting from the Iran/Iraq war.
Namaste
"And certainly, it should go without saying, but it's absurd to hold the US accountable for any of the deaths resulting from the Iran/Iraq war."
Wha?
"The 20th century made Gettysburg and Waterloo seem almost quaint. As British historians Martin Gilbert and John Keegan note in their respective chronicles of World War I (both called The First World War ), once Germans began killing Belgian civilians in the war's first few weeks, all the old rules were relegated to history's dustbin. From Belgium in 1914 to Kosovo in 1999, nations calling themselves civilized freely, even wantonly, made war on defenseless civilians-not by accident, but as part of a deliberate strategy known as total war." http://www.observer.com/node/42411
And Iraq should be viewed differently than all other wars in the last century...why?
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
When I read the title of the article, I thought the number of Iraqi dead would be mentioned and was disappointed that it wasn't.
P.S. He did keep Peggy Noonan and her friends safe, however. That cannot be denied. He kept them safe from paying taxes. Safe from wearing Hamilton watches instead of Cartiers. Safe from driving Lexuses instead of Mercedes-Benzes. Safe from living in 10-room houses instead of mansions.
Mark Marshall
Toronto
And the tens of thousands of Usanians who died in Korea and Vietnam and Lebanon and Somalia and Afghanistan as well as Iraq? How safe were they? And the hundreds of thousands more who were maimed, wounded and driven insane by those wars? How safe were they? It is at least arguable that Usania's participation in World War II was necessary. That is not the case about any wars it has had since 1945.
And the hundreds of thousands of Usanians who have died in vehicle accidents as a result of the government policy of eliminating public transportation and transferring the majority of the population to automobile suburbs connected to workplaces by highways? How safe were they?
And the millions who are homeless as a result of the government's policy of impoverishing the working class in the name of "competitiveness"? How safe are they?
And the millions of Usanians who have no health insurance as a direct result of the government's policy of not providing health care - how safe are they?
Mark Marshall
Toronto
Sioux Rose
MARK: You definitely broaden the net on the concept of safety, and your examples are apt. These bankrupt priorities which result in such incomprehensible suffering are all tributes to Mammon and Mars, and until OTHER values/gods are equally honored, the rape of lives & resources will go on. I do believe we have come to the rupture of the paradigm, so much for the Christians who backed the politicians who engineered these policies and their Rapture. I think there was a misprint... it should have read the great RUPTURE!
S I O U X R O S E,
Perhaps we too easily brand the followers of "Mammon and Mars", and delude ourselves that we are so much more, different and morally beneficent ?
Perhaps in creating a deeper contrast of what choices we have to make, we fail to enable those caught in the flood or herd ( profit besting life ) to become aware of their own parts in all of this ?
I know you care and desire the greatest possible hope and equable solution to our travails, so is it not more empowering to denounce the "tributes to Mammon and Mars", while also concretely reaching a hand out for those willing to join us ?
Namaste
Sioux Rose
NSPIRE: Here's my take. During Europe's phase of monarchies largely it was the rich elite, if not the king/queen, who relied on the services of the court astrologer. I still have Republican clients. This past week a supernaturally beautiful woman, (I could explain how this particular attribute came to her using the language of astrology, our legacy as written into the firmaments) took me around her home and we entered a room with probably 30 different animal heads preserved and fastened to the walls. She bragged to me about getting her first kill, about learning to arrive at this "goal" with a bow and arrow. Naturally I mentioned Palin and she said she adored her.
I realize some of these people are simple-minded. Their selfishness in a claim to ownership is unbelievable, but I try to bring to them a more inclusive spiritual understanding even if the majority of people prefer to misuse the LOGOS in their wish to know when they will get laid or make money. Alas, the great work (of lifting minds & souls) takes all the time we mortals are allotted.
As for differentiation, the stomach doesn't try to take on the function intended for the heart. There are specifications for a reason... different levels of evolution. Personally, I'm no queen of tolerance and don't suffer fools with any abundance of patience, but then, we're all working on different lessons. An average fool who isn't doing any harm to anyone doesn't raise my ire like someone in a high political office routinely crafting policies that KILL or murder that which should never be easily toyed with in our souls.
S I O U X R O S E,
You'll likely love reading this article, which details centuries of ruling class thievery with the demise of England's "The commons", which was engineered to throw displaced farmers ( and common folk ) into the maw of the industrial machinery age.
Period economic slavery in England, is well described such that we begin to understand that wage slavery in Europe was actually more egregious than "real" slavery in America.
Why else so many dead starving Irish, and such a groundswell of migration to the USA ?
We are rushing head ( dead ) long into the moral choice between Serving of Self ( SOS, selfishness ) and that of Serving for Others ( SFO, altruism ). We can either choose to be right in our ego's dominion enslaving others, or to be kind in deference to the greater good for all.
Namaste
Sioux Rose
NP, like an oracle, man of many names: What you share is of course true; however, you are hearing my emotions and GRAVE lament that for all the Masters that have lent their lives and teachings to persons on this plane, for all the revolutions that taught that sharing of the daily bread would keep the peace, for all the education of how many countless million... that the same tragic outcomes are NURTURED and taken for inevitable, that is what hurts my soul. And why I write books, movie scripts, articles, stories to TRY to help turn the tide against these awfully redundant outcomes. Eternity is a long time, and it seems to me wise to fill it with creative acts and enterprises. VENUS style.
Incidentally, there is a very auspicious planetary line-up in Aquarius that reaches its acme in late January-Feb that would be IDEAL for "well wish" circles, that is, 2 or more sitting together to reinforce the VISION of an already manifested positive outcome. Whether this is done en masse towards necessary changes in global policies or for personal necessities, it IS a potent force. I am going to try to master the technology to upload a 3-5 minute astrological explanation on U tube for the new year. Wish me luck. I am NOT techno-savvy. It's time to get this message out to those who may use it for good intent/ions.
S I O U X R O S E,
A most sumptuous treat awaits you and ALL others, to follow this link, to my message of timestamp :
npwr.luv December 8th, 2008 1:50 pm
For me to be almost w/o words about this, might illuminate its utmost power to transform our subtle experiences.
I'm relentless and unperturbed by CD's clownish attempts to silence me, and perennially
__ " I'll be BACK " __.
I will contact you about you-tubing, which although as yet of little experience, the promise of your message is auspicious and ( to me ) demanding assistance. I will provide beyond mere luck, to your project -- all the way to whatever it takes …
Namaste
Sioux Rose
NP, my friend, not to borrow from the mafia, but honey, that's an offer I can't refuse! And for any born at the juncture between late Capricorn and the onset of the next sign in succession, Aquarius, THIS is a power-hour... there is promise for novel interfacing, unusual solutions, serendipitous discoveries, and the mystical understanding that wherever 2 or more gather in harmony, and ask in the name of Spirit, their needs will be answered. I look forward to the Utube initiative. Mainstream media has done a good job keeping astrology in the closet, letting the public only know its most superficial aspects; but the LOGOS is a powerful way to recognize our place(s)in time and move with the cosmic flow, the Tao, the unified field of Creation. Thank you so much.
NP: "A most sumptuous treat awaits you and ALL others, to follow this link, to my message of timestamp :
npwr.luv December 8th, 2008 1:50 pm
For me to be almost w/o words about this, might illuminate its utmost power to transform our subtle experiences."
+++++++++++++
Alissa Rosenbaum's Dagney Taggart lives, transformed by the earth and the trees.
The perfect angle of her arms as she inserts the perfectly seasoned beech log into the perfectly efficient, home-made, double-barrel wood stove evokes the characteristic Mona Lisa smile to her lips. As the blaze of orange flame rises, caressing her cheeks with soft, sweet warmth, she thinks of wizened old Alan, The Wizard, The Magician, who really did not know, but he was big enough to admit error and risk scorn. He did it and maintained his integrity after-all. Alissa Rosenbaum would be so pleased.
OH, BRAVE NEW WORLD, perhaps Alan Greenspan will rediscover the earth and the trees, and he and John will plant a seedling, a particle of the mighty oak it someday will be, and eventually a plaque will be embedded in its bark: Dedicated to Alan Greenspan and John Gault Who Broke New Ground.
Ya' never know.
namaste /cm
That is an excellent link on the "Theft of the Commons".
"Alas, the great work (of lifting minds & souls) takes all the time we mortals are allotted."
Seems we're running out of quality time, Sioux Rose. But we're likely right on schedule. That part is out of our hands. Who rises, who falls, who advances, who has to do it all over again ... The tides of the ocean; just the waves ... and Yuga after Yuga after Yuga ... all the time in the world actually ...
But that lady client of yours, oh, my ... you are more patient than I.
As long as there is Mozart somewhere in one of the universes ... ;-)
What an adventure in this incarnation, eh?
peace /cm
Sioux Rose
CEE MIRACLES: Very lyrical, and about them thar yugas, I think we both would admit that significant turning points occur in every long cycle ofo time; and that the keepers of the Light have an extraordinary obligation to do all that is mortally possible to TRY to lift minds to avert disastrous outcomes to so many.
I also wish to add that I agree with others in this thread who pointed out the glaring omission of the countless dead in Iraq. Even if the paranthetical discussion surrounded American safety, the weave of humanity has lost far too many stitches from this act of barbarism enabled by our supposed representatives of both houses.
The brilliant article by Parenti on the roots that led to the breakdown of civilized society in Afghanistan remind us of the immutable FACT of karmic blowback. I think even our military is starting to get a grip on this blowback thing, but it's still too ensconced in the sports-team mentality that attaches the word WIN to situations where there ARE no winners, just losers, depending on the way an accounting is rendered.
But this is a "culture of life".
A horse's ass is too generous a description of Peggy Noonan.
And the band played on as the Titanic sank.