Boot on "Bush's War"

Max Boot ("Loose lips win Pulitzers" in the Los Angeles Times) complains about the absence of "our" when some journalists discuss the Iraqi war, "...as if this were Bush's war, not ours." Maybe so, but Mr. Bush personalizes this war. The Desert Sun, a local newspaper, had a Sunday morning headline which reads "Bush: 'I'm not losing my nerve.'" One wonders: Where is "our" nerve? How much of "our" does Boot read into "Bring 'em on!"? As a matter of fact, just how much has Mr. Boot sacrificed over the past 3 years as a result of "our" military action? Beyond lip service, how much has the American public been asked to sacrifice? This administration has asked for precious little of "our" involvement in this adventure of theirs. Turns out, it really is Mr. Bush's war, one might suppose. A more laughable quote from Mr. Boot's column is "...when the good guys--that would be U.S. officials--say that certain revelations would help the bad guys, I want them to be given the benefit of the doubt." Weren't they given the benefit of the doubt? Isn't Mr. Boot bending over with giving "benefit of the doubt?" Max Boot Iraqi War

Interesting Lessons

The Palm Springs International Film Festival is winding down. Today there will be showings of "winners." The big winner for the past 10 days has been myself. I learned two interesting lessons: 1) French films have become mundane and boring. Whatever edginess they might have had in the early post-war decades was not in evidence here in PS this fest. 2) Non-gay couples are just as likely to be dysfunctional as gay couples. Non-gay adultery abounds in films. Are films a reflection of the society at large? And it's not just in America or Europe. Iran, Bangladesh, India, if the movies are an indication, also have troubled marital relationships. Could that, in a somewhat contraindicative way, be the reason the RWNSs protest against gay/lesbian marriage rights? Is it a large, and odoriferous, red herring? "Let's fuss about this so people won't notice that!"? Hmmm. tagname