Random thoughts on the current scene

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In My Opinion by Trevor Bothwell

Here’s a good example of what happens when your server crashes and you’re not able to adequately research a topic of interest in enough factual entirety to draw thorough conclusions. Never underestimate the power of Google! Here’s to hoping I have a good memory:

• It is striking, if not perturbing, that many people who refuse to believe that Saddam Hussein played even a limited role in the September 11 attacks are some of the very same people who find nothing wrong with accusing SUV owners of sponsoring terrorism.
  
• Isn’t it about time we stopped referring to John Lee Malvo and John Mohammed as the “alleged” D.C.-area snipers? Yeah, yeah, I know…hold the emails. But I forgot, isn’t ours the nation that is slandered in perpetuity for its cataclysmic intolerance of others and violation of human rights around the world?
  
• Schools have persecuted little boys as sexual deviants for kissing little kindergarten girls on the cheek during story time. Teenage girls who simply try to cope with life’s first bout of menstrual cramps by popping a couple ibuprofens have been treated like streetwalkers. And now, in Colorado, 13-year-old Mitch Muller has been expelled from school for a year (!) for playing with a friend’s laser pointer. If our public schools are going to employ “zero tolerance” policies to deal with issues of sexual harassment, drug use, or gun possession, they should at least try to apply them to actual instances of sexual harassment, drug use, and gun possession in the first place. Otherwise, they’re just “zero intelligence” policies.
  
• Where were all the anti-war protesters during Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo? Ooh, that’s right. George W. wasn’t the Commander In Chief back then. Peaceniks may hate war, but that will always pale in comparison to their contempt for any leader from the Big Bad Bully Party.
  
• It’s interesting how quickly liberals will take umbrage to allegations that many anti-war demonstrators are in fact anti-American. While it is clearly true that not all opponents of war in Iraq are anti-American, it should at least be admitted in liberal circles that not all “advocates for peace” are all that peaceful. Just because CNN cameras might choose to evade the hate spewing, anti-Bush/anti-America placards at these rallies, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Just for kicks, here was one on January 18: "Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld: The Real Axis of Evil."
  
• On Wednesday a federal judge dismissed in entirety the obesity lawsuit filed against Mc Donald’s. In the short time since the decision was rendered, one of the most popular reactions to the ruling from people I know is thankfulness that there are at least a handful of conservative judges left. While I certainly appreciate the sentiment, this might just be the only issue I can think of that doesn’t necessarily split in principle along partisan lines. I mean, I know the term “common sense” may be relative, but if you’re looking for a definition, the good judge’s decision could just be it.
  
• I’ve really grown quite fond of the “No War for Oil” campaign. I believe most conservatives and Republicans have too, itching as we are to start a third world war. But until Democrats stop sacrificing national security for vote-grabbing tactics, Republicans will have to continue to address real-life hazards overseas, like maniacal tyrants who attempt to commandeer the world’s oil supplies for their own destructive impulses. Democrats, like anyone else, realize that oil is the world’s most efficient and prevalent feasible natural resource. But it is the Republican Party that seeks to decrease our dependence upon foreign oil, and thus upon foreign menaces, by offering alternatives such as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska, which Democrats heartily reject. So which party is it again that really endorses war for oil?
  
• This week France and Germany have assured us once again that we can expect no assistance from them in the form of either U.N. Security Council support or the contribution of ground troops in an impending war against Iraq (surprise!). Said French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder by his side, “…as far as we're concerned, war always means failure.” I guess he’s right, if he means the U.S.’s failure to allow the Nazis to continue their extermination of the Jews, or to allow the Soviets to hold the world hostage to their nuclear dominance…ah, I could go on, but why bother. If the nihilism and destruction that befell the 20th century wasn’t enough to convince these two men of the obvious perils, but oftentimes justified necessity, of war, it may be time to conclude that they’re part of the problem.
  
• Critics may complain that President Bush has lost his way in this war against terrorism, but how exactly is one to measure the magnitude of an event that never occurs? Every day that goes by without another tragedy just might be a significant victory. Indeed, we may only find a benchmark for our efforts when something goes awry, and by then it’s too late. Every now and then, I’m actually happy that at some points we’re uncertain of our progress.
  
• Okay, let’s end on a light, if disheartening, note. Back in October while visiting my college alma mater during alumni weekend, I found myself chatting with a young lady during my old fraternity’s party when one of the best songs ever written emerged from the stereo system: Queen’s “Under Pressure.” Without hesitating, the little cherub blurted, “Oh, I love Vanilla Ice!” I don’t know what’s more depressing, the fact that so many kids today have absolutely no taste in music, or the fact that I’m just plain old enough to remember the year the original song was released.

Alas, time to hit the hay. Oh, for the days again when 11:15 pm meant it was time to head to the bar…

In My Opinion Archives
Trevor Bothwell is editor of The Right Report and author of the cookbook, 50 Ways to Impress Your Girlfriend’s Parents. He is a former elementary school teacher and college instructor.