River

In her post of Sunday, May 29, 2005, Riverbend takes issue with a piece by Thomas L. Friedman. Among other things, she states:

Now, it is always amusing to see a Jewish American journalist speak in the name of Sunni Arabs.

Because she offers no other explanation, but simply moves on, the most available explanation we are left with is that this is a quip -- that she thinks his ethnic or religious identity determines, and most likely invalidates, his opinion.

I call that bigotry.

Maybe when you have completely unpredictable water and electricity, and your country is under occupation, you're bound to give vent to frustrations at a venal level. But heretofore River has been an interesting read. So it's surprising.

I have to credit her, though: She's thoughtful, informed and articulate, which is more than can be said for many of the college-educated Americans who support our country's policy towards hers.

I'm not very impressed by the bulk of folks who are 'against' the war, though. Just because you've read Chomsky does not make you informed. You need to be able to think. And when you've done that, you'll have enough mental agility to see through Chomsky's nonsense as easily as through Bush's.

I'm for peace, security, prosperity, mutual aid, freedom and truth. (And yes motherhood and apple pie). But how you can be 'against' a war escapes me. Wars are disasters. I wouldn't have started this one, and I would drastically alter our conduct there if I could, but being 'against' it or 'for' it seems as stupid to me as being for or against weather.

Yes, I know it's man-made, but even as an artifact of humanity, it's still a storm beyond the control of most of us. The thing to do is protect the children and minimize the suffering to the extent possible. Jew baiting is not helpful.

Left grip is 40 pounds (39, 40, 40), right grip is 91 pounds (86, 91, 90), left leg balance is 17.70 seconds, and inhale volume is 4500 mL.