THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† What Part Of “Loose Lips Sink Ships” Doesn’t The New York Times Understand?: Part II: The next time U.S. troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border to kill or capture al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists, they will be dodging fire from Pakistan's military, reports The Associated Press. Pakistani military officials have given the order to shoot at American soldiers conducting cross-border incursions after a raid by
† No One – Not Even Bush – Understands “The Bush Doctrine”: Not only no one can agree on a definition of The Bush Doctrine, no one can agree on how many Bush Doctrines there have been in total over the course of his two-term tenure. In his book “The Bush Tragedy” Jacob Weisberg discusses six Bush Doctrines, but former National Security Council member Peter D. Feaver tells The Washington Post there were seven Bush Doctrines, by his count. Now, columnist Dennis Prager muddies the water further with his contention that “[t]here are at least four doctrines that are called "Bush Doctrine," which means that there is no ‘Bush Doctrine.’ He adds that “[i]t is a term bereft of meaning” and takes Charles Gibson to task for using the unanswerable question to humiliate vice presidential candidate AK Gov. Sarah Palin during his interview with her last week:
Virtually everything Gibson did and virtually every question he posed was designed to trap, or trick, or demean Gov. Palin. There are views of his face that so reek of contempt that anyone shown photos of his look would immediately identify it as contemptuous. …
When he asked Palin whether she agreed with the Bush Doctrine without defining it, he gave the game away. He lost any pretense of fairness. Asking the same unanswerable question three times had one purpose -- to humiliate the woman. That was not merely partisan. It was mean.
I couldn't answer it - and I have been steeped in international affairs since I was a Fellow at the Columbia University School of International Affairs in the 1970s. I have since been to 82 countries, and have lectured in Russian in
Even if one accepts Gibson’s limited definition of The Bush Doctrine – the right of preemptive attack to prevent imminent attack by a hostile nation – Prager writes, “Isn't that just common sense? What country in history has thought it did not have the right to attack those planning to attack it?” Noting that the concept of preemptive attack predates the Bush administration, Prager thought Gibson’s line of questioning was both foolish and mean.
† Death Row Inmate: I’m Too Fat To Execute: OH rapist and double murderer Richard Cooey, who is fighting his scheduled execution next month on the grounds that his veins are not easy to reach thus making it impossible to administer lethal injection humanely, is miffed that people think he has deliberately gained weight as a ploy to support his claim, reports The Associated Press. Cooey, has added 70 pounds to his 5’ 7” frame since he was put on death row in 1986, blaming medication (he is being treated for migraine headaches) and a lack of exercise. If the state is hell-bent on putting him to death, he prefers getting shot “in the head with a .45,” adding, “[d]o it legally.”
† Updates To Previous Posts (third item, Another Cockamamie Lib Idea Fails The Real World Test): When NE lawmakers passed a “safe haven” bill allowing unwanted newborns who may be in imminent danger or harm or death to be dropped off at hospitals, critics warned that the wording of the law could apply to children of any age. Well the first children abandoned by their caregivers under the statute are an 11-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy, both of whom are now in the custody of the State Department of Health and Human Services, reports the Omaha World-Herald:
"This is what we feared," said Kathy Bigsby Moore, executive director for Voices for Children of Nebraska. "It appears this law has now created a new front door to the child welfare system."
Karen Authier, executive director of the Nebraska Children's Home society adoption agency, said the cases should be a "wakeup call" to alert communities to the need for more resources to help struggling families.
State Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he had not anticipated that many older children would be dropped off when he agreed to remove the age limit in the original safe haven proposal. …
The age limit in the original safe haven bill was dropped as part of a compromise to get the bill passed. Sen. Ernie Chambers of
The 11-year-old was dumped at
† Updates To Previous Posts (Small Towns Cry “Tio” Over Lawsuits To Overturn Anti-Illegal Immigration Ordinances): The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Rights Project have filed a federal lawsuit against Dallas suburb Farmers Branch, reports The Associated Press. The suit contends that an ordinance requiring applicants for house and apartment rentals to apply for a license from the city is unconstitutional. The purpose of the license was to gather information that could be used to verify a prospective renter’s immigration status against a federal database. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle issued a temporary restraining order against enforcing the ordinance, which had been revised after an earlier version had been struck down in federal court.
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