tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4662430175624645998.post3394975410574814290..comments2024-01-23T03:44:40.712-07:00Comments on Eye On Albuquerque: Localization and LunacyStealthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11731275811633047695noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4662430175624645998.post-52295138857889984312007-09-09T11:43:00.000-06:002007-09-09T11:43:00.000-06:00I agree with most of this post with the exception ...I agree with most of this post with the exception that most Iraquis find living under a dysfunctional democracy is superior to living under a tyrant. That assertion has as much basis in fact as Benton's whacked numbers. Don't go confusing how you think you'd feel with how Iraquis actually feel about what we've left them with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4662430175624645998.post-78135930013870083682007-09-05T08:38:00.000-06:002007-09-05T08:38:00.000-06:00Call me crazy, but I'd rather have our troops out ...Call me crazy, but I'd rather have our troops out of Iraq and home safe (protecting our borders) than have all the weeds in Albuquerque pulled.<BR/><BR/>Do I sense a "Recall Benton" poll next week? :)Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05204583559242827376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4662430175624645998.post-59329465668620470612007-09-04T18:46:00.000-06:002007-09-04T18:46:00.000-06:00+1+1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4662430175624645998.post-57310986773359062472007-09-04T08:11:00.000-06:002007-09-04T08:11:00.000-06:00Stick to the job the $9,000 pays you for and stop ...Stick to the job the $9,000 pays you for and stop trying to influence national policy. It's futile. You and other councilors should focus on your own delapitated districts first and foremost. Once you have that fixed then go screw around with city wide and national issues. Once again, and I say this to all councilors, drive your districts, look around. They're a discrace and embarrassment to the community. What with weeds, litter,grafitti,potholes,abandoned buildings, it's no wonder we have high crime and why the captains of industry don't want to headquarter,let alone even open up a branch here.<BR/>So get back to work and get your priorities straight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4662430175624645998.post-33497461208455180532007-09-03T19:07:00.000-06:002007-09-03T19:07:00.000-06:00Well, I guess I'm a lunatic then. Hundreds of citi...Well, I guess I'm a lunatic then. Hundreds of cities, large and small, have passed such resolutions and each one incrementally increases the political pressure for Congress to do something about this idiocy.<BR/><BR/>Besides, you don't have to be on the left to think this war is in fact an idiocy - some of the most cogent and trenchant criticism of this war has come from the right. Try retired General William Odom (head of Army intelligence during Reagan's 1st term and head of NSA during his 2nd) who has characterized this war as “the worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States.” Paul Craig Roberts, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan, thinks Bush is plainly a war criminal. William Lind, military analyst and Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism for the Free Congress Foundation, has written, "The last President who tried to export democracy on American bayonets was Woodrow Wilson. That's one of the reasons he counts as America's worst President, ever." Martin van Creveld, the Israeli military historian whose books are the only ones by a non-American author on the required reading list for U.S. Army officers, has written, "...the present adventure will almost certainly end as the previous one did—with the last American troops <BR/>fleeing the country while hanging onto their helicopters’ skids." Pat Buchanan isn't exactly a fan of this war. William F. Buckley Jr. has called it a "failure."<BR/><BR/>You Bushites don't have a monopoly on thought from the right, even though you think you do. To characterize opponents of the war as just on the lunatic left is an argument by labeling, i.e. label your political enemies as something you don't like and you can dismiss them without actually engaging with their arguments.<BR/><BR/>And what about the money that Albuquerqueans alone have spent on this war? It shouldn't take more than a few seconds to make a good estimate. We've spent upwards of $300 billion on the war. In a country of 300 million, that's an average $1000 per person. A city of half a million will have spent half a billion on the war. But Albuquerque has average incomes lower than the national average so we will have spent somewhat less. $400 million seems to be about right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4662430175624645998.post-77259761129342301682007-09-02T08:23:00.000-06:002007-09-02T08:23:00.000-06:00It will be interesting to see which agenda items a...It will be interesting to see which agenda items are deferred in favor of this item as the Council once again runs out of time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com