YES, THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE WAS THE MAIN REASON I VOTED IN 2006

BY MICHAEL LINN JONES

There are those who condemn the Democrats for not ending the Iraq War upon assumption of Congressional power after the 2006 elections. I've always felt that, as unpleasant as it may be, we must be realistic about what Congress can actually do. A presidency without oversight for years is a dangerous thing. Restoring some semblance of that is constitutionally justified; an absolutely necessary.

Now we're being given a lesson in Congressional irresponsibility. Take your pick among the different stories, but I found this one by Brian Knowlton of the International Herald Tribune: U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER VOWS DEBATE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION.

WASHINGTON: The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives insisted Sunday that she would bring to the full chamber a resolution condemning the killings of Armenians nearly a century ago as genocide, even as a Turkish general warned that this could lastingly damage a military relationship crucial to American forces in Iraq.

A House committee Wednesday passed a nonbinding resolution declaring the killings, which began in 1915 in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, to be genocide, and the speaker, Representative Nancy Pelosi, said Sunday that "I've said if it passed the committee that we would bring it to the floor."

SNIP,

If Pelosi does bring the matter to the full House, probably late this month or next month, it would be "the most irresponsible thing" to come from Congress this year, said Representative John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, the House minority leader.

"There's no question that the suffering of the Armenian people some 90 years ago was extreme," he said on Fox-Television. But that chapter in Turkey's past, Boehner added, "ought to be a subject for historians to sort out, not politicians."

An ABC-TV interviewer put to Pelosi the tough question at the core of the debate: What if forcing a vote on the resolution were to endanger the security of American troops in Iraq?

"Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values - Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, torture," said the California congresswoman, whose district includes thousands of Armenian-Americans. "Our troops are well-served when we declare who we are as a country and increase the respect people have for us as a nation."

SNIP,

Representative Steny Hoyer , Democrat of Maryland, the House majority leader, said he hoped Turks would understand that the resolution was not aimed at modern-day Turkey or its people. But he seemed to imply that the economic and political costs to Turkey of cutting off U.S. access might be so great that it might ultimately back down.

"Turkey's help to us is vital," he said on Fox TV, but "more vital is the United States' help to Turkey."

Eight former U.S. secretaries of state oppose the resolution, and on Sunday, former President Jimmy Carter joined them.

"I think if I was in Congress I would not vote for it," he said on CNN.

It's a strange day when I find myself in agreement with John Boehner, eight former secretaries of state, and former President Jimmy Carter. There are many definitions of maturity, one of them being the process of anticipating the consequences of our actions before we actually take such actions.

As someone with an avid interest in history, I am always saddened and outraged by man's inhumanity to man. Josef Stalin once said that killing one man is murder; killing a million is a statistic. Stalin was right and wrong; when the numbers of victims reach into the millions it is impossible to grasp the true horror of mass deaths.

But let me say that I am horrified by the needless deaths of millions of Irish during the great hunger of the 19th century. The Irish "Famine" as it's known is not accurate because while people were literally collapsing and dying from hunger, wheat was being exported from that country. The Holocaust, the systematic extermination of Jews, the millions murdered by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the millions slaugtered by Stalin BEFORE World War II, the millions who died under the tutelage of that moron Mao Tse Tung, the suffering of Native Americans......I could go on for pages and never finish listing all the atrocities.

The suffering of the Armenians at the beginning of the 20th century was no less nor no more horrible than other instances of the callous application of power. For the Congress to take up a resolution NOW, aimed at what is purported to be an important ally which just happens to be a NEIGHBOR OF IRAQ, is one of the more bone-headed things I've ever heard of.

Like it or not, foreign policy is determined by the president. It is not wise, or mature, for Congress to alienate a nation that the president is trying to work with during combat operations. For this I voted for Democrats in 2006? I don't think so.

One comedian said that Congress was issuing a strong warning to the Ottoman Empire. But it's true, that's exactly what they're doing. How stupid would it appear if Congress passed a resolution condemning Britain for what happened in Ireland between 1854 and 1865? What purpose would it serve other than to unnecessarilly anger and alienate a nation that only shares the name of those who caused such suffering?

For once in his life John Boehner is right: it is a matter for historians, not politicians to debate. Nancy Pelosi is illustrating Harry Truman's point about a "do nothing Congress."

More precisely, this Congress is turning out to be more of a "do something worse than nothing."

Is there such a thing as a voter's refund?
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Cross posted at Michael Linn Jones.com

This post kindly featured at MemeOrandum

9/11 FATIGUE, OR 9/11 FRUSTRATION?

Picture courtesy of Terrorism Victims.org

By Michael Linn Jones

I refer you to FREEDOM EDEN and its post, 9/11 TRIBUTE FATIGUE. I believe the article quoted by Freedom Eden is from a Sept. 2, piece written by N.R. Kleinfield of the New York Times.

Again it comes, for the sixth time now — 2,191 days after that awful morning — falling for the first time on a Tuesday, the same day of the week.

Again there will be the public tributes, the tightly scripted memorial events, the reflex news coverage, the souvenir peddlers.

Is all of it necessary, at the same decibel level — still?

Each year, murmuring about Sept. 11 fatigue arises, a weariness of reliving a day that everyone wishes had never happened. It began before the first anniversary of the terrorist attack. By now, though, many people feel that the collective commemorations, publicly staged, are excessive and vacant, even annoying.

“I may sound callous, but doesn’t grieving have a shelf life?” said Charlene Correia, 57, a nursing supervisor from Acushnet, Mass. “We’re very sorry and mournful that people died, but there are living people. Let’s wind it down.”

Some people prefer to see things condensed to perhaps a moment of silence that morning and an end to the rituals like the long recitation of the names of the dead at ground zero.

I don't agree with the above sentiments. There is history, and then there is our own personal history. The world doesn't share the grief of someone losing a loved one to disease or accident. There are, though, certain intersections where an historical event becomes part of our own personal history.

There are many to choose from aside from 9/11, and I recall quite vividly the death of John F. Kennedy. I was 10 years old. School was dismissed and I'll never forget one of my fellow students hopping and skipping down the sidewalk saying, "He got shot in the head; he got shot in the head" over and over while pointing a finger gun at his own skull. Even at that age I was astounded that anyone could feel such joy at the death of another.

I cannot watch anything about November 22, 1963 without a strong sense of despair and frustration. If only this had happened; if only someone had been looking at the buildings instead of the motorcade...and on and on. This feeling I will carry to my grave. It is also frustrating to accept that one man; one loser like Lee Harvey Oswald changed our nation so much.

Frustrating also is to accept that 19 fanatics managed to alter the course of our nation, along with murdering over 3,000 innocent human beings. The use of airliners to inflict such damage will probably never happen again. Osama Bin Laden and his band of losers will constantly seek a new approach, one that will be overlooked by U.S. authorities. Like any terrorist organization, their credo says that we have to be lucky all the time, while they only have to get lucky once.

In our fractured and selfish society, 9/11 was a rare common experience. For those who lost loved ones on that day, I say ring the bell and read the names. The least I can do is respect their grief. Of course, those who died in Afghanistan and Iraq also have grieving families, and they too should be honored and remembered. I only hope that they will not have to wait and fight for recognition of their struggle as did those who fought in Vietnam or those who to this day grieve for the loss of their boys four decades ago.

No, scars heal but slowly for the human heart. One can't seriously dismiss the healing process. It's slow....very slow. Be patient with the suffering as you, too, may someday know what it feels like. I hope you never do. But that 'ole Golden Rule may not be a bad one to apply to any remembrance of 9/11.

Compare 9/11 with Pearl Harbor for a moment. The lives lost are roughly equal. But, unlike Pearl Harbor, 9/11 provided no nation to direct anger towards. True, the Taliban in Afghanistan had it coming, so to speak. Iraq we invaded, yet as brutal as Saddam Hussein was, his dictatorship was as close to being secular as any in the Middle East.

The true supporters of the attack on 9/11 are still out there. They are scattered among differing nation states. They claim to share the same faith, resulting in the idiocy of Bin Laden recommending America become Muslim, or the rank insensitivity of a Saudi prince telling Rudy Giuliani that the attack was due to American support of Israel.

So, convert to Islam; throw the Jews onto the fire, and the world will return to peace. Failing those disgusting goals, terrorism is a convenient tool for nations to take advantage of; it changes the life of the target population. And for those inside certain nations rooting them on (silently, of course) there is the option of claiming outrage over acts that they privately endorse and support.

If I have to strip down to my BVD's to see the National Archives, or the National Air & Space Museum, or the Smithsonian...then why should not those who, to this day, applaud my having to live like this be allowed the luxury of innocence?

Rather than punish an entire nation, or an entire religion, why not have a policy evolve that would make these financiers and faceless bureaucrats live in fear for their own lives?

I think on 9/11 the names of the murdered should be read while watching the film of the thousands of Palestinians cheering the deaths of those innocents on that day.

Those who supported 9/11 then, and rejoice at this anniversary, should not be allowed to have their cake and eat it, too.
*************************
Cross posted at MICHAEL LINN JONES.COM

Stupid is as Stupid Does…

Picture Courtesy of the Worcester Telegram

One of the things that tick me off the most is the desecration that our nation’s youth seem to forever perpetrate on our cemeteries. Final resting places for many loved ones that have passed become a play yard of abuse and disrespect for teens and young adults. Knocking over head stones or defacing mausoleums for a few laughs after a very much over indulgence on substances they should not have partaken has become the thing to do. Over at the Worcester Telegram and Gazette they have this latest piece on defiling the respect of our loved ones...

Thursday, May 3, 2007 Cemetery headstones toppled; video cameras to be installed

Chief said 2 girls may be vandals

By Brian Lee

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

SOUTHBRIDGE— Two more headstones at Oak Ridge Cemetery last weekend were toppled, allegedly by juveniles, bringing the recent vandalism count to 34 as of yesterday, town officials said. Authorities were following up on an eyewitness report that two girls between the ages of 12 and 14 were possibly responsible for the most recent acts, Police Chief Daniel R. Charette said yesterday. The Department of Public Works, which manages the town-owned cemetery on Oak Ridge Avenue that has about 4,000 headstones, is working with police to install surveillance cameras at the cemetery.

The first camera, which had been used for traffic enforcement, will be installed soon, Chief Charette said.

Thirty-two stones were toppled the weekend of April 21-22, he said. The vandalism has occurred throughout the cemetery, but most was observed on a hill near the rear of the Tri-Community YMCA. Oak Ridge Cemetery opened in 1801, according to the town’s Web site. It is open during daylight hours. The oldest damaged headstones had been snapped in half and could not be repaired, DPW workers noted yesterday. - Worcester Telegram and Gazette

Somehow it never seems that there is enough legal punishment for this kind of crime against society. We are a nation that respects our dead and for many of us that are left behind that family grave site is the one true place that we can speak our thoughts to the loved ones lost and somehow discover some form of comfort. Call it a sense of well being when you can cry for your passed child, sibling, wife, husband, parent or grand parent and not care who sees you wipe a tear or two.

How do you find that peace of mind when ignorance of what true respect is and your family’s final resting place is destroyed by idiots and vandals?

It is with sheer pleasure that I’m able to point this story out from the Houston Chronicle…

May 8, 2007, 9:49AM
Man trapped under tombstone charged with vandalism
Associated Press

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. — A man found trapped unconscious beneath a 1,000-pound tombstone in a cemetery faces charges and might have to pay for damages, police said.

Michael David Schreiber's legs were broken by the stone, and the family name on the gravestone left the letter "V" imprinted on his thigh, Merrillville Officer Ray Smith said.

He said it took five officers to remove the headstone from Schreiber's body Sunday morning at Calumet Park Cemetery.

Schreiber, 22, of Merrillville faces charges of criminal trespassing, criminal mischief and public intoxication, police said. He also might be ordered to pay for damage to 14 headstones, Police Chief Nicholas Bravos said. Estimated damage totaled about $8,400, Bravos said.

Schreiber told police he and a companion had been drinking before going to the cemetery. – Houston Chronicle

One of the things that also bother me about this sort of crime is that it is so prevalent across our nation. There is not one city across America that has not been touched by this form of youthful aggression against our society. I’m pretty sure that they are not teaching grave stone toppling 101 in our High Schools. Where does the idea to pop a few drinks or smoke some dope and do such a thing begin? That answer I do not have but I do have a suggestion on how to stop it.

In every city across this land there are many cemeteries and in those cemeteries is our individual cities history. Educating our younger generations on the past and the history of our towns and cities is very important. Class trips to the local burial grounds could point out that the big lake that they swim in wasn’t always named “The Big Lake”. It was named after this person buried here that did x y z for our town or city. Then it could be pointed out that the park in your town or city was named after this person buried here because they did x y z for the town or city. This lesson on a lifetime of achievement could be pointed out as to why certain streets in town are named what they are and where those names and people are buried.

Respect for the dead comes from many points of view and various religions but for me it is ultimately a respect for our nation’s achievers, be they great or small. Without the many trials of life that our buried dead faced, dealt with and accomplished in their life time then we would not be the people and society we are today.

Cross Posted at Bring IT ON!

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