Myths About Afghanistan
Victor Davis Hanson on whether Afghanistan is really the "graveyard of empires ..."
Announced during the last hour, Norman Mineta is leaving his post as Transportation Secretary. Mineta is the only Democrat in the Cabinet, and is a Clinton appointment that Bush inexplicably left in office upon taking the reins at the White House.
Tony Snow will have nice things to say about him, but the fact is that 9/11 occurred on his watch. And another fact is that while the hourly workers were ready to begin targeted searches (i.e., looking for those of Arab descent), Mineta continued the completely hapless policy of searching little old white ladies who use canes to walk. Mineta is an inept stooge, and the U.S. is better off without him.
What is that I heard? A tick upwards on the U.S. securometer?
On June 23, 2006 at 12:27 pm, Steve said:
I would say that more importantly, 9/11 happened on Bush’s watch. Since he was the one receiving intelligence reports titled, “Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.”
Secondly, it’s not like the highjackers were able to sneak guns onto the planes. Anybody could sneak a box cutter on to a plane — then and now. Lastly, I’m glad he didn’t rush into racial profiling as I’m sure he remembers what it was like when his family was hauled off to a concentration camp during World War II.
If Bush and the Republican controlled government was actually interested in security then why did the Congress recently cut a measure that would have increased scrutiny of containers entering U.S. ports, from a national security package? The price for this was $648 million. Alot of money you say? Well at the same time they were trying to eliminate the estate tax which the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates would reduce federal revenue by $355 billion over the next 10 years. 355 BILLION! Some people might wonder whether it makes sense to balk at spending a few hundred million dollars – that’s million with an “m” – to secure our ports against a possible terrorist attack, while sacrificing several hundred billion dollars – that’s billion with a “b” – in federal revenue to give wealthy heirs a tax break. But nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes.
On June 23, 2006 at 10:04 pm, Breakerjump said:
Could just be me, but I’m pretty sure the Captain’s entry was regarding Norman Mineta. I can’t – at all – think of what you might have been reading, Steve. For the sake of relevance, however, let me point you to another of the Captain’s entries: Like ADHD Children.
On June 24, 2006 at 10:05 pm, Steve said:
My comments are clearly about Mineta and the fact that his departure will not make the country safer when the Republican-controlled Congress is more interested in giving windfalls to billionaires than effectively screening our ports. The Captain argued that Mineta’s departure will help security, and I simply argued the contrary. Maybe connecting the dots is beyond you, but name-calling doesn’t appear to be.