Is it Me?

Post #15,555 by mmoffitt 10/29/01 11:14:11 AM Reply	Is it Me? Or are we in a spiralling Chinese Fire Drill? (No bigotry intended towards anyone from the Far East) IMO, we are in a state of chaos that most people are simply too inane to recognize. We have a government headed up by underachievers - Powell and Bush are what Bart Simpson grows up to be. These guys actually enjoy talking about what marginal students they were. We have gun-toting domestic lunies blowing up federal buildings (and IMO) sending anthrax laden letters through our mail system to the USSC, the Congress, major media outlets, etc. We're bombing hell out of the rubble that is a Third World nation so that, largely, we get the sense that our government is "doing something". And US flag sales are at record levels. All this following a virtual hijacking of democracy in the last election that a majority simply think we should "just get over". It is approaching surreal to me.
Post #15,557 by bepatient 10/29/01 11:25:34 AM Reply	Yep...it is. You were born...and so you're free...so Happy Birthday! _{Laurie Anderson} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient]
Post #15,562 by inthane-chan 10/29/01 11:36:39 AM Reply	And which of so many ways do you mean that? Personally, I'm hoping for d. "All of the above..." "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Post #15,564 by bepatient 10/29/01 11:40:01 AM 10/29/01 11:40:49 AM Reply	Just answering the question posed ;-) You were born...and so you're free...so Happy Birthday! _{Laurie Anderson} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient] Edited by bepatient Oct. 29, 2001, 11:40:49 AM EST Expand All History
Post #15,576 by Arkadiy 10/29/01 1:29:18 PM Reply	Powel was a very mediocre student of geology. He _does_ seem to enjoy talking about it in his memoir. How it has any bearing on his carrier that followed, I have no idea.
Post #15,577 by bepatient 10/29/01 1:43:46 PM Reply	Why... he's an underachieving Bart Simpson wanabe. I always thought that Bart would grow up to be a General...head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and head of Dept of State. Right after he was done watching the Itchy and Scratchy marathon. You were born...and so you're free...so Happy Birthday! _{Laurie Anderson} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient]
Post #15,586 by Arkadiy 10/29/01 3:02:56 PM Reply	Underachiever President Ronald Reagan was once giving a speech before some college students. He said something along those lines: "When I think back to my college years, all that goofing around that I did back then... I often tell myself: how much further I would have gone if I were a better student!"
Post #15,595 by mmoffitt 10/29/01 3:52:53 PM Reply	That's what's missing in Powell and Dubya. I abhorred the policies of RR, but the fact that he said what he did in your post is what I miss now. Is it good for the President of the United States, for a former Head of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State to boast of being bad students? It's like they're saying, "See, we're marginal and we're a success!" How, exactly, are the parents of the schoolchildren who hear such things supposed to nuture a desire for learning and understanding when we have these bozos at the top of our pyramid?
Post #15,599 by Arkadiy 10/29/01 4:11:41 PM 10/29/01 4:13:23 PM Reply	For the humor impared among us.... Reagan was joking! He _was_ actually boasting on how far he went despite being a mediocre student. Think about it: just _how_ much further could he have gone? One more note: my point was - call Powel dumb, or a smooser, or whatever, but you can't call him underachiever. He acheived the highest goal in his choosen path. And then some. Edited by Arkadiy Oct. 29, 2001, 04:13:23 PM EST Expand All History
Post #15,601 by mmoffitt 10/29/01 4:30:00 PM Reply	Well, he could have been a Good President ;-)
Post #15,600 by bepatient 10/29/01 4:19:27 PM Reply	What would you have them do... tell all the kids that they'll never amount to anything unless they get straight A's? Aside from that...I don't see a whole lot of junior high kids reading Colin Powell's book. But if Britney Spears comes out and says she was a lackluster student we'll probably have wholesale revolt. Land of Opportunity....all bookworms unite! You were born...and so you're free...so Happy Birthday! _{Laurie Anderson} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient]
Post #15,602 by mmoffitt 10/29/01 4:30:58 PM Reply	So, we should be lead by the LCD?
Post #15,603 by Arkadiy 10/29/01 4:41:55 PM Reply	Re: So, we should be lead by the LCD? No, by CRT. Or by LSD. :0) (ducks)
Post #15,605 by bepatient 10/29/01 5:01:58 PM Reply	Leadership is not taught in books. You were born...and so you're free...so Happy Birthday! _{Laurie Anderson} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient]
Post #15,579 by wharris2 10/29/01 2:10:07 PM Reply	Powell is a great schmoozer I have heard the guy speak (on his youth organization/movement, the name of which escapes me at the moment) and he could sell snow to an Eskimo. He could sell saltwater to Tampa. He could sell sand to the Saudis. As to actual ability, I think he's shown a dubious record. "Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it." -- Donald Knuth

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