I am sick and tired of the political arm chair quarter-backs in the media. They sit back and observe what is happening around them and quip about how the people that are actually doing something are doing it all wrong. I wish people that complained about what was going on would actually get in the game and try to make some changes instead of sitting on the side lines and jeering at the players.
Maureen Dowd is snippy and cute but lacks the courage to actually get into the ball game. Columnists are like professors, they are pretenders. If they actually had skills, they would be playing instead of sitting in the bleachers. She says that 9/11 was the biggest intelligence failure since the Trojan horse, OK... You get in there and start analyzing the data. Then she says that we used "underwhelming force to achieve overwhelming goals" and proceeds to trash Secretary Rumsfeld comparing him to Jack Nicholson's Col. Jessup from "A Few Good Men". There is only one problem, Secretary Rumsfeld hasn't broken any laws.
I was having dinner with my boss this evening and since we have differing views on the administration, the war and politics in general, we got into it on all of the above. Thank God I live in America and can actually have a different opinion than my boss and not worry that I am going to lose my job. As a matter of fact, I feel that I gain some respect for standing up for what I believe in... anyway, back to the conversation... My boss was saying something along the lines of Ms. Dowd's comment about not having enough troops in Iraq. This confuses me because in one breath they are saying "we shouldn't be there" and then in the very next they are saying "we don't have enough troops over there". These people need to see a psychologist because they are showing symptoms of schizophrenia.
Secretary Rumsfeld, George Tenet and President Bush are not responsible for the events of September 11, 2001. Crazed religous zealots hijacked those planes. President Bush is not responsible for outsourcing technology jobs as one AFL-CIO report claims. Are they trying to say that President Bush called up the technology companies and told them they would be better off if they sent jobs overseas? How, pray tell, is the President resposible for the actions of corporations that the President does not sit on the boards of, employed by, consult with or interact with in any other way than by running the country they work in? Most of the policy that is "allowing" this to happen was set by President Clinton. Please don't take that to mean that it is President Clinton's fault either, because I am almost positive that HE didn't call up corporations and ask them to send jobs overseas either.
To wrap all of this up, I think Secretary Rumsfeld has the right attitude.
Asked how we can get back credibility, Rummy bridled. "America is not what's wrong with the world," he said, adding: "I read all this stuff — people hate us, people don't like us. The fact of the matter is, people line up to come into this country every year because it's better here than other places, and because they respect the fact that we respect human beings. And we'll get by this."
And we will. The French are still selling us wine. The Germans are still selling us cars. And the Spanish are still... well I don't know what they send to us, but I am sure it is something. The United States equates to 25% of the world's economy, we lead the way in technology and offer unique cultural benefits. So, all in all, I think the arm chair quarter-backs should either get in the game or stop nit-picking the administration and start providing real insight.
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