'debate' my ass...
So, as per yesterday's "debate"...
Ok, I need to backtrack. My dad met with Sheehan on Sunday to 'prepare' them both for yesterday. After chatting with my dad a bit, she 'confessed' she was being pressured into this, nay 'made' to do it, and didn't want to, so it wouldn't be a real debate, which it wasn't. They each spoke for 10 minutes, took a lot of questions, and then spoke for 5 minutes each. Guess someone pussied out when she realized it's impossible to talk circles around my dad- especially when all your arguements are straw men.
Needless to say, I was not impressed. And I really tried to go in there and listen to what Cindy Sheehan had to say (though it was hard with my catty mother whispering in my ear that even though she's from Texas, Sheehan looks like an ugly, weathered, yankee woman.... heh, my mom's so entertaining). I teared up a little, when she talked about picking up her son's body from the airport. It is sad. I have every sympathy for her.
It doesn't change the fact that all she did was spout rhetoric and play for peace from a purely emotional standpoint. When she tried to use any real evidence against the war, it didn't make sense. She tried to say Katrina has proven our invulnerability because "all the soldiers who could have helped were in Iraq, and so is all the levee building equipment". WHOA. Ok, in the days/weeks after the hurricane, they started turning helpers, volunteers, what have you, out of New Orleans, because there were too many of them. The only thing we lacked was someone with central authority to tell all those people what the fuck to do. Levee building equipment in Iraq? What the fuck? That is such a dumb statement, I don't even know if it's worth pointing out that we haven't shipped every piece of heavy equipment in the states here to Iraq. Why the fuck would we? Does she think this is WWII, where they ration out butter, sugar, and aluminum, because it's all going to the war effort? Did she do any real research?
On an aesthetic note, Daddy showed up in a suit and tie while she wore what resembled a cross between jeans and pajama pants, and a t-shirt. (As Adam said, when I pointed that out: you can take the trash out of the trailer, but you can't take the trailer out the trash.) Moreover, while my dad listened attentively to everything she said, she didn't have any qualms about putting on lip balm or text messaging while my dad was talking.
The fact of the matter remains that the U.S. government will not bring our troops home because Sheehan wants them to. Hell, they won't bring them home right now if the majority of Americans want them to. Why? Because to do so would be irresponsible. Iraq would fall into chaos. Warlords would rise up to tear apart the fledgeling government there. As for the poll saying 80% of Iraqis want our troops out of Iraq..... No one mentions the second question on that poll. A simple "When?" The answer? "When we have a stable government and are able to take over for ourselves."
I will say this... They passed out index cards so we could write questions to address the speakers. Someone sent one up intenting to antagonize Ms. Sheehan, after she'd claimed she was a gold-star mother. For anyone who doesn't know, a blue star mother or family has a soldier in service overseas. We flew a blue star in a front window while my dad was in Iraq, and I'll fly one when my Parrain goes, and later, when my brother probably goes. A gold star family, or, specifically, a gold star mother, has lost a soldier. Someone sent up asking the question "You claim to be a gold-star mother, but have you joined the Gold Star Mothers of America?" She was taken aback and said, no, but she'd had one pinned on her at her son's funeral. Man, daddy got pissed. As soon as she got done talking, he got up, and sternly informed the audience that you do not have to join an organization to be a gold star mother. It's just a support and political group. ANY mother who has lost a child to service to the country overseas is a gold star mother, and she deserves the same respect, as such, that one would give to any gold star mother, in the organization or otherwise. I was so proud. My dad's the shit. He never takes a chance to take a cheap shot at someone. There's a lot of things to be said about my dad, but one of the most significant is that he is fair. He has always been- and more so than anyone I've ever met.
The really sad thing about it all is that Sheehan is obviously still grieving and suffering for her son. He died almost 2 years ago. It's irresponsible for the left and all these anti-war organizations to validate her, put her up as their media darling, and allow her to misdirect her anger this way- when what she really needs is to work through it with her family. Hey, who cares? Makes for a good press photo, right? I know, I could never know what it's like to lose a son, unless it happens to me. But we need to stop acting like tempering emotion with reason is heartless- in ANY aspect of society.
Ok, I need to backtrack. My dad met with Sheehan on Sunday to 'prepare' them both for yesterday. After chatting with my dad a bit, she 'confessed' she was being pressured into this, nay 'made' to do it, and didn't want to, so it wouldn't be a real debate, which it wasn't. They each spoke for 10 minutes, took a lot of questions, and then spoke for 5 minutes each. Guess someone pussied out when she realized it's impossible to talk circles around my dad- especially when all your arguements are straw men.
Needless to say, I was not impressed. And I really tried to go in there and listen to what Cindy Sheehan had to say (though it was hard with my catty mother whispering in my ear that even though she's from Texas, Sheehan looks like an ugly, weathered, yankee woman.... heh, my mom's so entertaining). I teared up a little, when she talked about picking up her son's body from the airport. It is sad. I have every sympathy for her.
It doesn't change the fact that all she did was spout rhetoric and play for peace from a purely emotional standpoint. When she tried to use any real evidence against the war, it didn't make sense. She tried to say Katrina has proven our invulnerability because "all the soldiers who could have helped were in Iraq, and so is all the levee building equipment". WHOA. Ok, in the days/weeks after the hurricane, they started turning helpers, volunteers, what have you, out of New Orleans, because there were too many of them. The only thing we lacked was someone with central authority to tell all those people what the fuck to do. Levee building equipment in Iraq? What the fuck? That is such a dumb statement, I don't even know if it's worth pointing out that we haven't shipped every piece of heavy equipment in the states here to Iraq. Why the fuck would we? Does she think this is WWII, where they ration out butter, sugar, and aluminum, because it's all going to the war effort? Did she do any real research?
On an aesthetic note, Daddy showed up in a suit and tie while she wore what resembled a cross between jeans and pajama pants, and a t-shirt. (As Adam said, when I pointed that out: you can take the trash out of the trailer, but you can't take the trailer out the trash.) Moreover, while my dad listened attentively to everything she said, she didn't have any qualms about putting on lip balm or text messaging while my dad was talking.
The fact of the matter remains that the U.S. government will not bring our troops home because Sheehan wants them to. Hell, they won't bring them home right now if the majority of Americans want them to. Why? Because to do so would be irresponsible. Iraq would fall into chaos. Warlords would rise up to tear apart the fledgeling government there. As for the poll saying 80% of Iraqis want our troops out of Iraq..... No one mentions the second question on that poll. A simple "When?" The answer? "When we have a stable government and are able to take over for ourselves."
I will say this... They passed out index cards so we could write questions to address the speakers. Someone sent one up intenting to antagonize Ms. Sheehan, after she'd claimed she was a gold-star mother. For anyone who doesn't know, a blue star mother or family has a soldier in service overseas. We flew a blue star in a front window while my dad was in Iraq, and I'll fly one when my Parrain goes, and later, when my brother probably goes. A gold star family, or, specifically, a gold star mother, has lost a soldier. Someone sent up asking the question "You claim to be a gold-star mother, but have you joined the Gold Star Mothers of America?" She was taken aback and said, no, but she'd had one pinned on her at her son's funeral. Man, daddy got pissed. As soon as she got done talking, he got up, and sternly informed the audience that you do not have to join an organization to be a gold star mother. It's just a support and political group. ANY mother who has lost a child to service to the country overseas is a gold star mother, and she deserves the same respect, as such, that one would give to any gold star mother, in the organization or otherwise. I was so proud. My dad's the shit. He never takes a chance to take a cheap shot at someone. There's a lot of things to be said about my dad, but one of the most significant is that he is fair. He has always been- and more so than anyone I've ever met.
The really sad thing about it all is that Sheehan is obviously still grieving and suffering for her son. He died almost 2 years ago. It's irresponsible for the left and all these anti-war organizations to validate her, put her up as their media darling, and allow her to misdirect her anger this way- when what she really needs is to work through it with her family. Hey, who cares? Makes for a good press photo, right? I know, I could never know what it's like to lose a son, unless it happens to me. But we need to stop acting like tempering emotion with reason is heartless- in ANY aspect of society.