Staying The Course. Not

[poliphilo]

It has been noted that president Bush is no longer using that mantra about staying the course in Iraq. Last night I saw a clip from a news conference where a White House spokesman acknowledged this and said it was because the mantra was being "misunderstood".

Tony Blair is still saying that Britain will stand firm until the job is done- whatever that means. I guess he hasn't received his orders yet. 

It would be nice to think that Iraq was the last colonial adventure- that the Western powers will have learned  that it's no longer in their power (if indeed it ever was) to march into countries they barely understand and sort them out.

I'm not going to argue the pros and cons of Imperialism. I'm not sure I could, anyway. I have all sorts of conflicting ideas. 

The point is that that phase of human history is over. It ended fifty years ago. The Empires have been dismantled, The colonial wars have  been lost. 

It's time for the White Man to put down his self-appointed burden, sit on his hands and mind his own business.

Comments

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I am still mad at him because he stubbornly refuses to say "nuclear," not "nucular."

And for other reasons.

BTW, Tony, I got this (here's a portion of it) in a spam email and thought of you--didn't you get something like this last year?

"bingley before, expressed to her sister just how very much she admired him.by mrs. hurst and miss bingley they were noticed only by a curtsey; and, on their being seated,
"i do, i do like him," she replied, with tears in her eyes, "i love him. indeed he has no improper
elizabeth had the satisfaction of seeing her father taking pains to get acquainted with him; andcertain she could never bestow a favour unworthily. it was really a very handsome thought. upon the...."

Actually, it went on and on.

Why do people do this? Do they think we are going to correspond with them because they like good literature? There's nothing to buy...

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

I am still mad at him because he stubbornly refuses to say "nuclear," not "nucular."

That is the only crime for which I support the death penalty.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I think he's doing it on purpose. Nobody's that dumb.

Thirty seconds of practice would correct it.

He's a stubborn old monkey.

[red-girl-42.livejournal.com]

I wonder if maybe it's part of some attempt to appeal to "the common man" or something.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I regularly get emails like this. The one I drew attention to was a hunk of chopped up Kipling. Normally the literary mincemeat comes attached to some unsolicited offer that's too good to refuse and serves, I suppose, as a kind of camoflauge for fooling spam detectors. Why anyone should send such stuff out by itself is beyond me.