Big O.

Late getting back to the thread because, yes I got an elk and we spent 5 hours last night cutting, grinding and wrapping. South of El Malpais, would that be Quemado, Fence Lake, Ramah, Pie Town?

Their are a lot of things about the Mormon way of life I admire, the dedication to family and community. The thing I don’t like about the Mormon religion is the same problem you guys have had all the way back to Palmyra, it’s the bright line you draw between Mormon and non-Mormon and the influence the Mormon bloc has on politics. The entire Ward will vote as a single voice to support a candidate or position, from POTUS to high school cheerleader. The individual is subsumed by the church.

And it explains for me the unwavering support for Bush in any and all areas. The predetermined answer is that he is right. Trust the authority figures to do the right thing.

I think you guys have been had. Your history is one of fierce resistance to government influence in your lives. How can you support his manipulation of the masses to get His War in Iraq and destruction of Civil Liberties, just to mention a couple?

And although this is absolutely none of my business, I would hate to see any father send a son to fight Bush’s War in Iraq. I know several kids who have been over and back and watched a friend deal with the loss of his kid. A mission to Ecuador maybe?

Enough rambling, I have to get a pile of work off my desk.

//vitriol on//

Tonight’s the cold one, it will get better through the week and into the weekend.

I am a pretty tolerant guy and definitely not a religious bigot, I don’t dislike any religion more than another and I don’t subscribe to any. Secular and pretty spiritual. I just got back from a week chasing elk in the White Mountains of Arizona and that is a pretty religious experience for me. Spent time with family and extended family and friends, several of them “Smithites”.

It bothers me greatly when someone blames actions and decisions on their beliefs. It’s a cop out in my book.

Bush’s Iraq War is one of the most egregious examples. I don’t know to what extent his religion factored into that miserable decision, but it was a factor.

So I can’t own up to being intolerant and a religious bigot. But I do retract my question of your faith, I will go with my gut assumption.

Be sure you don’t confuse the fresh and waste lines to your outhouse…

Now that I think about it, your posts do have an air of fecal toxicity about them. Perhaps you should see a doctor…

Comment by O. Bigfoot — October 23, 2007 @ 5:28 pm

“Republicans hate facts” has by far more ligitimacy than what you could possibly fit in your “mind”. The day I see you compare hard facts with him mano a mano, then I will take you seriously and I think a lot of people will agree.

Comment by hellinabucket — October 23, 2007 @ 5:35 pm

Hey, leave him alone, its hard to find facts that support false claims.

Bush was correct when he said it’s complex. The number of deaths isn’t a measurement that shows success or failure.

Mr. Bigfoot, I haven’t seen any evidence to support your claim that Plame wasn’t covert. Without that evidence, or admission by you that you are wrong, I will conclude you only have opinions and don’t stand on anything concrete like facts.

Based on what I’ve read, the only reason for the apparent “success” in Anbar is the rise of “gangsterism” and the homogenization of the region. Once one sect has eliminated the other, the violence goes away.

Sharp drop seen in US deaths in Iraq
By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer

October is on course to record the second consecutive decline in U.S. military and Iraqi civilian deaths and Americans commanders say they know why: the U.S. troop increase and an Iraqi groundswell against al-Qaida and Shiite militia extremists.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch points to what the military calls “Concerned Citizens” — both Shiites and Sunnis who have joined the American fight. He says he’s signed up 20,000 of them in the past four months.

“I’ve never been more optimistic than I am right now with the progress we’ve made in Iraq. The only people who are going to win this counterinsurgency project are the people of Iraq. We’ve said that all along. And now they’re coming forward in masses,” Lynch said in a recent interview … The efforts to recruit local partners began taking shape earlier this year in the western province of Anbar, which had become the virtual heartland for Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida bands. The early successes in Anbar — coming alongside a boost of 30,000 U.S. forces into the Baghdad area — led to similar alliances in other parts of Iraq.

“People are fed up with fear, intimidation and being brutalized. Once they hit that tipping point, they’re fed up, they come to realized we truly do provide them better hope for the future. What we’re seeing now is the beginning of a snowball,” said Keaveny, whose forces operate out of Forward Operating Base Kalsu, about 35 miles south of Baghdad.

Oops, ironically that should be “Al Qaeda.”

Comment by foreyes — October 23, 2007 @ 2:38 pm

Actually both (and plenty more) are acceptable although “Al Queda” is the most widely used english-ized spelling.

Comment by Exley — October 23, 2007 @ 10:14 am

Bin Laden is totally irrelevant to what’s happening in Iraq. Al Quada in the Land of Two Rivers represents 5-7 percent of the insurgency and it is not even certain that Bin Laden had anything to do with the creation of that group. Is it a coincidence that the so-called Al Quada in Mesopotamia started to wither when the US military began to dole out $$$$ to the local sheiks?
Anyhow, Iraqis don’t want foreign fighters on their soil and are therefore helping to get them out. A good question would be: what’s going to substitute the Al Quada boogeyman when the insurgency keeps on kiling American soldiers? Is it the Iranians?

Comment by Exley — October 23, 2007 @ 10:05 am

Exley if you want to know the latest facts about how things are going in Iraq and what the Iraqis intend to do, I suggest you read this:

Shiite-Sunni Alliance October 2007

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IJ17Ak03.html

I am going to assume that silence is a yes. I have never met a non-Mormon Christian yet that doesn’t clear that record.