Sunday, September 25, 2005
Those Who Cannot Remember the Past...
...Are usually on the left. Here is a transcript of a shouting match last week between lefty has-been Phil Donahue and current hot-property blowhard Bill O'Reilly. I've seen the video too; believe me it's easier to take in print.
One thing that got me was this exchange:
DONAHUE: Saddam--Saddam was a bastard. But he was our bastard.
O'REILLY: He wasn't anybody's...
DONAHUE: Donald Rumsfeld shook his hand in the '80s.
O'REILLY: Well, that's true (ph).
Way to debate, Bill! Ya' lightweight.
How about a little historical context through the Socratic method:
Q: During the 80s, was Iraq at war with any other country?
A: Why, yes, from 1980 to 1988, the overwhelming bulk of the 80s, Iraq was at war against Iran.
Q: And between those two combatants, Iraq and Iran, whom did we support?
A: We supported Iraq over Iran.
Q: Why was that?
A: Because in 1979, Iran had a revolution and the Iranian militants took over our embassy in Teheran (the very definition of a barbarous act) and held most of the Americans there hostage for well over a year. That made us pretty angry at Iran.
Q: Did there come a time between 1988 and 2005 when we no longer supported Saddam Hussein in Iraq?
A: Well, yes, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, we were then pretty angry at Iraq and waged war against their forces in 1991. I would think bombing Baghdad and killing tons of Iraqi soldiers as we kicked them out of Kuwait could be considered a pretty clear signal of the ending of our support for Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
Q: So Saddam Hussein was not 'our bastard' even though Donald Rumsfeld shook his hand in the 80s?
A: No, he was never our man; we just preferredd him over the mullahs in Iraq because of the Embassy thing and because the enemy of one's enemy is one's friend, even if he's a bastard. That someone in our government shook Hussein's hand is not really a very significant sign of support given the history of our struggle against Iraq since then in the Gulf War (part 1).
Q: Does lefty has-been, former talk show host Phil Donahue know about the Gulf War (part 1) in 1991?
A: He doesn't seem to, or he consciously ignores it to make a false claim to support his flawed opinion. A lot of people do that, not always on the left.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
One thing that got me was this exchange:
DONAHUE: Saddam--Saddam was a bastard. But he was our bastard.
O'REILLY: He wasn't anybody's...
DONAHUE: Donald Rumsfeld shook his hand in the '80s.
O'REILLY: Well, that's true (ph).
Way to debate, Bill! Ya' lightweight.
How about a little historical context through the Socratic method:
Q: During the 80s, was Iraq at war with any other country?
A: Why, yes, from 1980 to 1988, the overwhelming bulk of the 80s, Iraq was at war against Iran.
Q: And between those two combatants, Iraq and Iran, whom did we support?
A: We supported Iraq over Iran.
Q: Why was that?
A: Because in 1979, Iran had a revolution and the Iranian militants took over our embassy in Teheran (the very definition of a barbarous act) and held most of the Americans there hostage for well over a year. That made us pretty angry at Iran.
Q: Did there come a time between 1988 and 2005 when we no longer supported Saddam Hussein in Iraq?
A: Well, yes, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, we were then pretty angry at Iraq and waged war against their forces in 1991. I would think bombing Baghdad and killing tons of Iraqi soldiers as we kicked them out of Kuwait could be considered a pretty clear signal of the ending of our support for Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
Q: So Saddam Hussein was not 'our bastard' even though Donald Rumsfeld shook his hand in the 80s?
A: No, he was never our man; we just preferredd him over the mullahs in Iraq because of the Embassy thing and because the enemy of one's enemy is one's friend, even if he's a bastard. That someone in our government shook Hussein's hand is not really a very significant sign of support given the history of our struggle against Iraq since then in the Gulf War (part 1).
Q: Does lefty has-been, former talk show host Phil Donahue know about the Gulf War (part 1) in 1991?
A: He doesn't seem to, or he consciously ignores it to make a false claim to support his flawed opinion. A lot of people do that, not always on the left.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 2:21 PM 
