The Guild 11-9-2003 Thoughts Of Finding A Penny

[BigWaveBetty]

Let's hope Liz is wrong as usual.

Oops, make that Cindy Adams.

[mountaineer]

Clinton Praises Chinese Government
BEIJING - Former President Clinton praised the Chinese government on Monday for its decision to help poor AIDS patients receive treatment and said the SARS epidemic demonstrated how countries and companies must collaborate to fight disease. ...

"The Chinese are famous for good planning," he said, adding: "AIDS kills more people in two hours than SARS killed in total." full story

He's right, of course - without good planning, how could they have slaughtered so many millions of people in the 1960s?

Listen, Huang, you Chinese haven't been sending the money to my offshore account quite as regularly as you did a few years ago, and I'm starting to get really annoyed!

[BigWaveBetty]

A very long history of Wesley Clark. I snipped some info I thought was interesting. Read the entire piece at your own peril.

GENERAL CLARK’S BATTLES
by PETER J. BOYER
The candidate’s celebrated—and controversial—military career.

[snip] Clark was welcomed into the campaign by many Democrats as the triumphant commander of Kosovo, and he uses the lessons of Kosovo to explain his criticism of the Iraq war. In a speech at the University of Iowa College of Law, on September 19th, Clark had declared that chief among America’s mistakes was that it had gone to war in Iraq without “the mantle of authority” bestowed by United Nations approval. But hadn’t the Kosovo war also been conducted without the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council? Yes, Clark allowed, and in that regard the Kosovo war was “technically illegal.” He went on, “The Russians and the Chinese said they would both veto it. There was never a chance that it would be authorized.” That situation did not seem entirely dissimilar from the prewar maneuverings regarding Iraq, when France and Germany said that they would oppose any Security Council resolution authorizing an immediate war; Bush bypassed the U.N. and resorted to an alliance with Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Britain and sundry lesser members of the “coalition of the willing.” But there was one more important difference, Clark said: the war against Serbia was waged to stop the imminent threat of ethnic cleansing in the disputed province of Kosovo; the war in Iraq, he said, was waged under false pretenses. He then told me—as he has told others—how he came to learn of a secret war scheme within the Bush Administration, of which Iraq was just one piece. [snip]

[snip] The next day’s headlines in American newspapers interpreted Clark’s statement as a concession that the air war was failing. Cohen was furious. That night, Clark wrote in his memoir, he was at a retirement dinner for a colleague when he received a call from Shelton. “Wes, at the White House meeting today there was a lot of discussion about your press conference,” Shelton said. “The Secretary of Defense asked me to give you some verbatim guidance, so here it is: ‘Get your fucking face off the TV. No more briefings, period. That’s it.’ I just wanted to give it to you like he said it. Do you have any questions?” NewYorker

[Teacup]

Good morning Guild. I want to stop by to say HI. I've been lurking almost everyday. You all, are so funny. I enjoy you very much.

Yes, I heard Al Gore's comments. I also see the Clinton's slowly slithering back into the news. After Howard dean's comments about the south, maybe the leaders of the DNC feel they need to stop the bleeding. Hey Howard! "I live in the south. I'm from California and I don't have a Confederate flag." What a Maroon.

About the bra and how to put it on...............I was thinking maybe suction? But glue/sticky stuff makes more sense.

[Teacup]

Hot off the Drudge Report.

Caption: "I want to be president!"I want to be president! WA!"

[lodwick]

Good stuff from the Drudgester - thanks for bringing it here.

Cheers back there, T...it's good to see'ya.

[Iowa Granny]

Nice to see you Teacup. We miss you.

[daisyscarlett]

I like to look at the penny because Abe is on it. I do shudder at the thought of Doris Kearns Goodwin doing his bio, though. More liberal revisionist history I am sure.

[lodwick]

Kathleen Parker nails it:

Earth to Dean: If you want to convert the Martians, don't make fun of their cheese.


Howard Dean seems like a nice guy. Direct, passionate, unpretentious. But he's got this one little problem: he cannot keep his foot away from his mouth.


First it was the "Confederate trucks" comment that he wanted "to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in (sic) their trucks." No, no, no, Dr. Dean, the flag is ON the truck.


Then a few days later he told a Tallahassee crowd that Southerners have to quit basing their votes on "race, guns, G-d and gays."


And this was all in the spirit of attracting the white-boy, Nascar, vote.


Poor Dean. I'm 100 percent certain he's trying to say the right thing, trying to be inclusive, to take back the Southern states from the GOP because, yes, the South is home to people who, whatever their peculiarities, need jobs, health care and better schools.


If Candidate Dean can offer improvements in those areas, then surely Southerners need to hear about them. But for some reason, Dean cannot seem to say what he means.





I feel for the guy, but please don't change on my account. Columnists can only be grateful for politicians who utter things like "race, guns, G-d and gays" in one breath.


Dean now has compounded his problems by allowing himself to be bullied by his political foes into apologizing for something he didn't really mean, thus squandering what he seemed to have over the other Democratic presidential candidates: candor and conviction.


Instead of shrugging and refusing to dignify the accusations of racism and pandering from a dais-ful of opportunistic hissing kettles, he bowed to their intimidation and apologized for, oh yes, causing pain to anyone offended by the existence of Confederate flags anywhere in the world. He also apologized for stereotyping.


Bad call. Dean made a critical error by the Bubba Boy Code. He made himself look weak to the very people he was trying to attract. Southern rednecks can take insults; they're used to them. But one thing they can't stand is a wuss. Say what you mean and mean what you say, but don't adjust your tune to satisfy, of all people, your opponents.


Dean should have followed his original instincts to not back down when he was attacked at a debate in Boston last week. He's the dog with the view, after all, and should have said:


"Look, you guys know what I meant, and probably the boys with Confederate flags ON their trucks know what I meant. I want to invite them to the party. I understand that the flag is controversial; I also know it means different things to different people. I exclude no one."


Dean's tone deafness, presumably made worse by his consultation with Jimmy Carter, is severe to politically disabling. Not only does he condescend to potential constituents, but his message is all wrong. When it comes to race, G-d, gays and guns, it's the Democrats, and specifically Dean, who can't stop talking about them.


Permit me to offer a little advice: If you're courting the area of America known as The Bible Belt, don't dis' G-d. If you're addressing a demographic group that sets its calendar by the start of dove season, try not to imply that there's anything wrong with guns or gun racks in the back of trucks.


As for gays and race, the South seems reasonably relaxed. A majority of Southerners (especially blacks, according to a recent Pew poll) may prefer the one man-one woman marriage formula, but that hardly constitutes regional homophobia.


Meanwhile, blacks are returning to the South in droves because, one might reasonably infer, they feel welcome and at home. According to 2002 figures, South Carolina alone had more than 30 black mayors, a dozen black sheriffs, 31 black members of the General Assembly and hundreds of black officials in local and school governments.


In 2000, the South accounted for eight of the top 10 states in numbers of black elected officials, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank that focuses on issues related to blacks.


Trying to lasso the South with one rope is, in other words, tricky, especially when a state like South Carolina is home to, for instance, Gays for G-d. A politician's best bet is to speak his convictions and stick to them. Good ol' boys love that.

[mountaineer]

A politician's best bet is to speak his convictions and stick to them.

Like that's going to happen with the amazing waffling nine dwarves!

[daisyscarlett]

Hi there Teacup... Big Al is not looking so good. I thought he got his teeth fixed during the campaign (musta been the uppers). Needs to color his gray and 86 the lip gloss and go on the diet that Slick is on.

[daisyscarlett]

Newly crowned Mr. Universe Rene Zimmermann from Switzerland displays his physique, at the Mr. Universe contest in Bombay, November 9, 2003. Some 190 body builders from 54 countries participated in the contest. REUTERS/Roy Madhur

[lodwick]

Lord, those are scary pics.

Cheers out there, DS.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Yes, it was the one with Jacques Chirac and Rumsfeld. Next week: Enlisted to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, Evans gets strong-armed into producing Kim's romantic comedy instead.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

This Swiss dude looked like he dipped himself in chocolate.

[MaeWest]

Hi Tea, what a funny pic of Mr. Turtlehead.

Re: the Nubra....
...............I was thinking maybe suction? But glue/sticky stuff makes more sense.

Thought they were made of silcone...don't you think they would be a bit, uh, sticky and, as BWB so elegantly phrased it, "glisten" inducing.

[MaeWest]

...Big Al is not looking so good.

It's tough being an aging metrosexual.

[Iowa Granny]

I wonder where the gun in #75 buys his jeans and slax? His thighs are huge and the waist is small.

Someone must have told him this is an attractive look. I find it grotesque.

[Carolina]

I recall hearing or reading, at the time of the rescue, about them digging the dead up with their bare hands because they had no shovel.

Didn't they say something about "racing the sun?"

[Aggie Mama]

It looks like they rated his genital area. I'd give it about a 3.