Sachin... I concur on your Chocolate City assessment, but all you need do is examine DC's Public School System to see the corruption bold face. From the mayor's office on done is a municipality built on corruption and patronage. Nobody in Virginia, Maryland, or DC itself would object to statehood if the District Government addressed their corruption but as is, I would never grant them statehood.
Originally the District extended into Virginia, but in c. 1841 the land west of the Potomac was returned to the Old Dominion. Almost all of DC with the exception of the area around the Mall could be returned to Maryland, but the Democrats don't want that because they woudn't pick up two Senate seats, plus a House seat. The irony of all this is that the "free DC" movement goes back a long time. The Democrats could have pushed through a solution back in the 1930s or 40s when they controlled just about everything. But one reason it didn't happen was because the Southern bloc in Congress (all Democrats) didn't want to enfranchise a city that was substantially black. I don't have a link to the numbers but I'm pretty sure DC has the highest ratio of public employees per citizen of any city in the US, but the schools, the police, and other public services are uniformally terrible. Making DC a state will not make any difference. If anything it would only add another layer of bureaucracy and its associated corruption.
You bet- support the sacrifice of American lives for the right of Iraqis to vote and complain about U.S. citizens wanting the same. Noise polution=disenfranchisement. I think I got it now. You guys check back in with me in November- ya hear?
Sure- a year-long avatar bet that Dems gain control of the House.... Except that you're living off the largess of my membership and can't have an avatar.
I'd just like to point out that feeling bad for the poor people of Lebanon stuck in the middle (and wishing Israel was slightly more tempered) is hardly being supportive of Hezbollah scumbags. Besides, weren't you guys all hard over the Cedar Revolution last year? Where's your support for the people of Lebanon now?
No one feels good about the people of Lebanon being stuck in the middle. It's just that some people blame Hezbollah and not Israel. Israel washed their hands of the place in 2000 and Hezbollah kept provoking them time and time again.
What would be a "proportionate" response to Hizballah's act? Remembering that this is not the first time Hizballah has does this sort of thing. Sachin
I don't disagree, but Hezbollah aren't the ones dropping bombs on the Lebanese. Israel owns it's own actions.
I have a hard time sympathizing with the poor slobs in Lebanon. If you want to start a war with Israel, this is what you get. That's a lesson they learned long ago. They clearly prefer this fate to doing what's necessary to become a peaceful, civilized country. Hezbollah isn't a military juggernaut. They could be disarmed and disbanded if they didn't have the sympathy of the Lebanese.
Uh Foos... http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14067210/ And remember, Hizballah is targeting civillians deliberately, even though there are only a few soliders in Haifa. While they hide among the Lebanese civilians and UN soliders. Sachin
I understand that this might well be viewed as "the straw that broke the camel's back", but I think it's undeniable that - even if Hezbollah is wiped off the face of the planet - this probably won't have a net positive effect on the whole Israel/Palestine conflict. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and all that.
Where does the Palestinian conflict apply in all of this? Hizballah's a Lebanese/Syrian/Iranian group. I fail to see the connection. Sachin
I think you underestimate the amount of control the government has over their own country. And, if anything, this kind of military action by Israel is likely to grow support/sympathy for Hezbollah more than anything else. Oh, I understand that. Believe me, I've got no love lost for Hezbollah. But the rockets came in response to an Israeli assault (which was in response to the raid that captured 2 soldiers and killed 8 other soldiers). When you escalate, you can't act surprised if the other guy responds in kind. All I'm saying is, these conflicts never end until one side pulls back and says "hey, we need to find a real solution to this problem".
The Israelis have been down that road. Unilateral withdrawls, concessions in peace talks. Look what it has gotten them. Palestinians cross the Gaza border and kidnap an Israeli soldier and Hizballah does the same in the north. These groups have the stated goal of eliminating Israel. How do you negotiate with that?
I understand that, but you don't think that public opinion of all parties involved won't be affected by this? You don't think groups like Hezbollah don't point at the Palestine conflict and use that for fanning anti-Semitic feelings and recruiting? All this shit is interconnected. Our ability to deal with Iran and South Korea is affected by how we chose to deal with Iraq, despite the fact that those three countries don't have a heck of a lot in common. Israel could well be killing whatever goodwill their settlement rollbacks might have earned them. The entire middle east is one of the biggest cluster********s on the planet, and the whole thing could be solved if everyone would just chill the ******** out for a minute. Drives me crazy.
Mon frer, how do you propose to negotiate with someone who has sworn to kill you? If their one demand is that you die, what do you have to offer them other than your life? And this is not the first time Hizballah has fired rockets at Israel: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/security/printer_2122580.shtml http://www.isracast.com/Transcripts/150505b_trans.htm I can't find the link, but I remember a Reuters article where the head of Hizballah was complaning that they didn't anticipate the Israeli response. Sachin
You don't - but you can make them irrelevant. Killing innocents doesn't really help in that goal. Look, I never said it was easy for Israel. They are in a tough spot, and we should help them. But, IMO, they aren't really helping themselves very much with this.
Look man, all I'm saying is that violence is not the solution to every problem. If Israel were to respond in kind rather than with overwhelming force, they'd probably do a lot more for building public support with moderate Arabs. Use more surgical precision - special forces - rather than the blunt force of a normal military action. Again, I don't really feel any sympathy for those ********ers. But I do for the average Lebanese who were just trying to live their lives.
Maybe that's true, if you love your towns flattened, you'll love those lovable Hezbollah guys. Lots of love going around in Lebanon right now.
By that, I meant it'll grow anti-Israeli sentiment. I'm sure lots of Lebanese aren't happy that Hezbollah poked Israel with a sharp stick, but there is bound to be some resentment of the Israelis for the ferocity of their response. And - since it doesn't seem to be clear - I do support Israel's attempts to destroy Hezbollah's rocket capability, since that same capability is now being leveraged against Israeli civilians. Some of you seem to think that I think Israel should stand around with their thumbs up their bums while Hezbollah rains rockets down upon them, and that's not the case. I just wish they had selected a more measured response to the kidnapping that didn't result in this escalation of violence.
I just think that being an armchair general second-guessing the Israelis is being a little presumptuous. I suspect that they've decided that they are at the point of diminishing returns as far as sympathy for Hezbollah goes, and so they might as well just try to do as much damage as they can and wait for the next time it's required. And they are in a much better position to make that determination than we are. And I hope that we don't get involved like Reagan did. Going into that viper's nest is a fool's errand, much like trying to civilize Iraq.
Maybe. Maybe. I don't think we've got the credibility or political capital to get involved. Not anymore. I think a UN force with a large Turkish presense might be the best we can hope for. Somebody needs to exercise control over Lebanon, and I'd rather it not be Syria, and the Arab world would rather it not be Israel or the US.