Posted on 03/30/2003 5:45:11 PM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
Saddam Hussein is as strange as he is evil.
"I was expecting the 'Butcher of Baghdad,'" French filmmaker Joel Soler told us after returning from the Middle East, where he filmed a documentary on the Iraqi dictator. Instead, he found a wacko. In the movie, "Uncle Saddam," to be released on DVD on Wednesday, Soler uncovered various quirks, including:
On toiletries, "Saddam likes the smell of hygiene. His cologne would be a baby smell, not Christian Dior. He likes his hair shiny, and dyes his mustache black."
For clothing, "He likes Pierre Cardin suits and white ties." Soler claims he viewed footage in which Saddam's "tight military pants" suggested his thoughts weren't on politics.
"He has a paranoia for cleanliness. He says, 'A man should shower once a day. Women should shower twice a day because they have a noticeable smell.' [Note: In Iraq, showering once a day is considered fanaticism!]
"In his bedroom, he likes everything pure and white. Before he goes to sleep, a doctor checks the temperature of the room."
As far as his hobbies go, "Saddam loves fishing with grenades. After the explosion, he has scuba divers go in for" the fish.
"He has a collection of bulletproof hats, and he collects all types of guns."
... Before he began ducking U.S. bombs, Saddam was planning to "build the biggest mosque in the world," which would have included an island in the shape of his thumb. Ny Daily News
The event was officially closed to the media, although a reporter, perhaps unnoticed, was able to hear the speech. Clinton's staff ordered a photographer for The Record out of the building. The senator left without taking any questions. story here
I demand equal time for mens pants!
How very clinton. Soon the name clinton will be used in lieu of opportunist and or charlatan.
Field Day?! I love field day! Have fun and good luck to DS!
Let me explain my milieu, and context. Government officials, particularly at the most senior level, frequently seek advice from outside the departments they superintend. The perspective of knowledgeable outsiders is often a needed corrective to an institutional view that may have come to dominate the department's thinking. Sometimes senior officials face vexing questions for which their staffs provide unsatisfying answers, or they want a longer-term view. It is only natural that an intellectually curious cabinet officer will reach out to peers who have occupied similar positions, in the hope that their experience will help avoid mistakes or point the way to new ideas. When he does so, he must have confidence that the advice he receives is candid, that it is the product of serious deliberation, and that it is free from advocacy reflecting private interests. The relationship between official and adviser is ultimately one of trust. [snip]
The Times story about my work for Global Crossing gave the impression that I had been retained to use influence stemming from my chairmanship, my "close ties to current officials," to obtain a favorable ruling on the acquisition of Global Crossing by a joint venture including a Hong Kong company. This is incorrect. (When I asked the Times to publish a letter in reply, I was told that they would not unless I dropped the word "incorrect." Thus I learned that the Times censors letters to the editor.)
In truth, I was retained to advise Global Crossing on how it could meet the government's security concerns about the transaction, not to "help overcome Defense Department resistance" to it. To do this I had to persuade Global Crossing to accept some far-reaching safeguards, which it has now done. My task was to make intelligible to Global Crossing the government's concerns, not to use influence to get the government to set those concerns aside--the precise opposite of the Times' characterization.
The New Yorker piece by Seymour Hersh is a masterpiece--of falsehood and innuendo. He describes a lunch I had with two Saudi businessmen, during which the situation in Iraq was the sole topic of discussion, as a "cover story" for another purpose--eliciting a private Saudi investment in a fund in which I am a partner. And he quotes Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar to the effect that "if we get in business," I would "back off on Saudi Arabia." Sprinkled in the article are references to conflicts of interest, although the incoherence of the piece reflects Mr. Hersh's Houdini-like twists and turns, intended to question my integrity. Complete story
Stop wasting your money on videos.
Betcha Saddam is going to have a heck of a late fee at Blockbuster racked up after the war. ;-)
OPPORTUNIST CLINTON: Universal health care. Rebuilding the nation's schools. Repair of the road and rail networks. Sounds like a Democratic domestic agenda, right? Actually, it's the Bush administration's plan for the re-construction of Iraq. Now, I'm all for rebuilding Iraq when Saddam's gone. But it's ironic that Republicans don't have plans to stop the rise of Americans without health care. They're not funding the "leave-no-child-behind" education bill. They want to cut 500,000 kids out of after-school programs. They've already eliminated school-repair funding and the program to put 100,000 more teachers in our schools. Let's invest in Iraq and America. We can't be strong abroad if we're not strong at home.
SENATOR DOLE: As far as I am concerned, Mr. President, the one who should be worried about his health care is Saddam Hussein. It amazes me that at the very time the country is uniting behind our troops overseas, you are suggesting ways to divide us at home. You can't have it both ways. This week, you say President Bush is not spending enough on domestic programs. Next week you'll be all over him on the deficit. There will be plenty of time this year to debate Medicare reform, tax cuts, and our energy strategy that your friends in Congress continue to block. For the moment though, our country's focus should be on Iraq, not Amtrak, on POWs, not HMOs. The education Americans care about most right now is how fast we can educate Iraqi soldiers to say I surrender. Hey, maybe there is a role for the French after all.
OPPORTUNIST CLINTON: Senator, unlike some of your Republican friends during Kosovo, I support our troops in Iraq and our President. [Oh french you, you scum.] But your party is for better schools for Iraqi children and kicking half a million poor American children out of after-school programs. They even want to eliminate the program to put more police on the streets, our first responders in the war against terror. Debate on domestic issues isn't divisive. It's democracy.
SENATOR DOLE: Democracy is about choices, and playing politics now is the wrong choice. Mr. President, this is a real war. We have troops on the ground. While we're talking, they're fighting. They need our patience and our prayers.
Well said Senator Dole.
And btw Mr. Opportunist, we know exactly what you were up to when you were spouting that you'd be astonished if this war last longer than a week. Before long everyone will understand how you seek to undermine our president.
That should put a dent in your 'Legacy Rehabilitation Tour'.
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