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carolinalady

Listed below are comments made by carolinalady between Thursday, 26th November 2009 and Saturday, 5th December 2009.

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'No Afghanistan withdrawal in 2011' 2:05pm on 05 Dec 2009 #'s 4 & 5: About damned time, too! A panic among the Karzai clan and subsequent housecleaning is exactly what's wanted. The President said so loud and clear: start cleaning up your act by a date certain because we're not going to stick around forever and ever to allow your Swiss bank accounts to grow fatter. And this IS an important ongoing story: the holidays don't take precedence -- they just accent the message.
Rhetoric of reassurance 2:23pm on 02 Dec 2009 I agree with KCcurmudgeon once more: the most important audience the President spoke to last night was the one right before him. I had thought the choice a bit weird before I realized how different his speech was from all the Bushian rally-the-troops, sound-byte generating sloganeering. This was straighforward and serious; an adult speaking to adults (well...presumably) about the realities of the situation and how best to resolve it and move on. I did see the odd underclassman snoozing as the cameras panned, but the reaction of the upperclassmen (and women) was telling. These are the the young lieutenants going out to deploy next summer and they were right there with the Commander in Chief, hanging on every word. I have hope now that with a clear understanding of their mission, they will execute it and bring their troops home at last.
Afghan decision time 11:15pm on 30 Nov 2009 #72 Tino: ...and I answered you; I have read the Koran. You just didn't read the rest of my post.

There is nothing in the Koran that doesn't sound just as archaic, creepy and violent as some of the misinterpretations and mistranslations of the Christian Bible. So, let's put that one to bed. There are stupid people of all religious stripes willing to believe they know the one and only truth because it's printed in their holy book. Truth doesn't always come in a book and monotheist religions with holy writings are not necessarily the wisest things humans ever thought up. NOW, I suppose all the religious fanatics will be on my case, too! Young Tino, you are a trouble maker.

I try to get along with everyone -- including our squirrels -- and point out places in our discussions where points have been missed or the logic seems thin, circular, fuzzy or non-existent. Yes, I admittedly lean left on the political spectrum but that doesn't make YOU a bad person.

Namaste
Afghan decision time 7:45pm on 30 Nov 2009 #51, Tino: don't bait me into insults, dear. I am a tough old woman who has been around the block, traveled in the Middle East (yes, even IRAN!!! oh, horrors!), read the Koran, made friends with Jews, Muslims, Christians, Ba'hai, Wiccans, Pagans and Atheists...and I won't tell you which I am. The point is: YOU (and a goodly portion of America's adult population) have been scared by your leaders and your religious teachers, for their political gain. The attacks on 9/11 were horrendous indeed, but we neither fulfilled our mandate nor took advantage of world support by bringing the perpetrators to justice expeditiously. It looks to the Muslim world like we're terrorists too, when we send drones to bomb villages and hit wedding parties. That sort of footage, played endlessly on Al Jazeera, recruits more terrorists than Osama started out with. I repeat: don't give them excuses.
Afghan decision time 5:46pm on 30 Nov 2009 #38, Tino: You're afraid of 'em, son. Like Cheney and Rummy and all the rest of the tough talking, draft dodging ilk who sent us down the shoot-'em-first-and-accuse-anyone-who-disagrees-with-you-of-being-unpatriotic path. The terrorists win if you let them scare you into violent reactionary methods on their own level: into what I called, in an earlier post, excuses for further recruitment. Don't give them excuses and they will turn upon themselves.
Afghan decision time 3:46pm on 30 Nov 2009 No, Fluffy, as much as we adore political dirt, we don't like to try our own Presidents. To wit, only 2 in our history have even been impeached and only 1 (Andrew Johnson) was actually removed from office. Richard Nixon resigned rather than face a Bill of Impeachment -- and was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford, which probably cost Ford the next election. If you think a moment, you'll see why we tend to avoid Impeachments and trials of Presidents...they lead to the slippery slope and are considered the remedy of very VERY last resort in the case of gross misconduct.

Now, whether a criminal or espionage/treason case is under preparation within the DOJ against Bush or Cheney or Rummy or any other ilk is not something any of us ought to be privy to...and it's not within the President's purview, either. We can only hope but as with all things legal, it takes a lot of time.
Afghan decision time 2:23pm on 30 Nov 2009 Ahhh...back to politics as usual.

This is a difficult one for me, too. I'm with KCcurmudgeon (I've asked before...are you SURE you're not my dad?). When we first invaded Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 -- with the stated purpose of rooting out Osama bin Ladin, Al Qaeda and Mullah Omar's Taliban thugs -- I supported that action, along with most of the rest of the civilized world.

Now, here we are, almost 10 years of mission creep later: a whole different war on our hands that NOBODY supports, another country invaded that never did us harm, a different leader toppled, bin Ladin and Omar still on the loose and untold lives and treasure wasted. It is to weep.

To finally retrieve the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Neocon blunders, we would actually have to go into still a THIRD country -- Pakistan -- which nobody supports. So, President Obama's choices devolve into choosing the least worst path to getting our troops out of the region safely and soon.

Ending the "Islamic terrorist" threat once and for all is a pipe dream and a political slogan. The best thing we can do about Islamic terrorists is to quit providing reasons for them to recruit. Stop doing stupid things like the Swiss just did in forbidding the construction of minarets. Assist in educational, financial, agricultural and international sporting ventures -- bring the Islamic world INTO the world instead of excluding them.
A very different Black Friday 8:15pm on 28 Nov 2009 Back when I had a "real" job, I didn't go near a shopping mall between Thanksgiving and New Year's. I either shopped the catalogs (those were the days before online shopping was available...I reveal my age) or I did my shopping before Thanksgiving, when it was more relaxed and pleasurable to stroll around in the malls.
A very different Black Friday 3:23pm on 28 Nov 2009 Sorry I missed this one! I work in retail and can report that I have survived another Black Friday...barely. As one of the canaries in the financial coalmines, I can tell you that there's life stirring in the American economy. There are DEEP discounts, of course, to draw the shoppers in, but once in our clutches, they're spending and they don't look unhappy doing so.

Just FYI here are the CAROLINALADY'S RULES FOR SURVIVING THE RETAIL FEEDING FRENZY:

#1) Chill: there are approximately 200 million other Americans doing the same thing on the same time line you are; don't take out your ill temper and impatience on the customer service reps or your kids.

#2) Ask for gift receipts and boxes: we are delighted to give them to you, but ASK before the end of the transaction. Once the register records your sale, it's too late. Also, if the wrap desk is closed or backed up, we'll gift wrap for you, but the customers in line to check out take precedence.

#3) Pick up after yourself: with very few exceptions, your mom doesn't work at the store. Hang up what you try on, please! Leaving the garments inside out on the floor does NOT endear you to us.

#4) Leave the kids at home: children HATE shopping...they are miserable, hot, hungry and bored. And ladies, don't wheel the strollers through our overcrowded selling floor where they knock over displays and the kiddies can drag garments off the hangers.

#5) GO HOME!! When the PA system announces the store closing in 10 minutes, finish up and get to a register to check out. We are exhausted and want to go home to our families but we will smile and tell you it's no trouble if you dawdle another half hour over your decision between the red or the green sweater. Behind those smiles, though, we are cursing you to eternal torment and we remember who is naughty and who is nice...all year long!
Getting to grips with Thanksgiving Day 1:44pm on 26 Nov 2009 Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

This is my favorite holiday of the year because this is -- as Mark remarks -- the one with the best family memories associated with it. Even if we cannot be together today, we telephone each other and keep the ties close.

Oh, and my secret for the very bestest and most moist turkey: set half a lemon and half an onion in the cavity before roasting and baste with white wine! The flavors are subtle (I also use home grown herbs)and the house smells wonderful while the bird is cooking, too.

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