licentious radio

Saturday, March 22, 2003
[9:49:11 PM]

Political Strikes got it right:

"War... Unh! What is it good for?

"Me! And my ratings! And my rich, oil friends!"

-- Bush, laughing

[10:16:01 AM]
It's an oil war. Our people are dying because they have orders to capture the oil wells and oil facilities. If you aren't trying to grab the oil infrastructure intact, why not be patient? Surround the Iraqis, give them a chance to surrender. Use tanks to scare them away. Let's keep our soldiers out of firefights for oil!:

U.S. Confirms 2nd Marine Death in Iraq

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- Two U.S. Marines were killed in Iraq (news - web sites), the U.S. Central Command confirmed Friday.

The first, from 1st Marine Division, died early Friday after leading his infantry platoon in a firefight to secure an oil pumping station in southern Iraq.

The marine's platoon engaged a platoon of dismounted Iraqi infantry. The marine was transported by helicopter to a surgical company in Kuwait.

The second, a Marine from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, died at approximately 4 p.m. while taking actions against enemy Iraqi forces near the port of Umm Qasr.

[10:07:44 AM]
We are all terrorists.

We are all terrorists, now, every American. Our society and politics have led us to the point of mass murder in Iraq, as in Afghanistan.

Is it enough for Rumsfeld to kill thousands of innocents and then say we didn't mean to? Is it OK because we might have killed even more?

[12:12:04 AM]
"I don't think charging down East Oak Street is going to bring anyone out of Baghdad," said James Maurer, the Chicago Police Department's chief of patrol. "This is just silliness."

We pay police to think, of course. We specifically pay them to keep their political opinions to themselves. Maurer's comments are as inappropriate as they are naive. The silliness is Maurer's. Alas, Maurer is in a position where his ignorance is a threat to public safety.

Police have a long tradition of unprovoked violence and attacks on democratic expression. That tradition -- do you remember the civil rights movement, and America's apartheid that we called 'segregation'? -- is not the finest police have given us. Of course, many police officers and departments have behaved well in politically charged circumstances. Obviously police risk their lives daily for our safety, and we are grateful.

Maurer should remember -- or be reminded -- that part of his job as a professional is to understand the people he deals with, and that another part of his job is to keep his political opinions to his personal life. Professionalism is *exactly* about doing that, even on the most frustrating days.