Monday, August 13, 2007
The Left's New Narrative?
Well, now that the Democratic candidates for President are kind of on board with the idea that "the surge" is working, the Left needs some new justification for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. WaPo pundit Jim Hoagland's piece appearing in today's San Diego Union (may require registration) could be one of the early statements of the new narrative.
To wit: the military is winning, but the political solution is not forthcoming, so the gains for which we have fought so hard will soon dissolve like a sand castle at high tide. Or in other words, why try, because the Iraqis will let everything go to pot. Or as Hoagland puts it, "U.S. troops are being pushed to produce short-term security gains that are likely to be temporary and perhaps ultimately self-defeating."
First they said we can't win, so we should give up. Now they say we can win, but any such victory will be only temporary, so we should give up. I wonder if the likes of Hoagland can imagine any outcome in Iraq that they deem worth pursuing--that doesn't require us to give up. My guess is they can't, and I further surmise that there's absolutely nothing that the Hoaglands of the world would be willing to fight for--right up until the victorious Islamofascists slice off their heads.
Small ideas lead to small results.
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To wit: the military is winning, but the political solution is not forthcoming, so the gains for which we have fought so hard will soon dissolve like a sand castle at high tide. Or in other words, why try, because the Iraqis will let everything go to pot. Or as Hoagland puts it, "U.S. troops are being pushed to produce short-term security gains that are likely to be temporary and perhaps ultimately self-defeating."
First they said we can't win, so we should give up. Now they say we can win, but any such victory will be only temporary, so we should give up. I wonder if the likes of Hoagland can imagine any outcome in Iraq that they deem worth pursuing--that doesn't require us to give up. My guess is they can't, and I further surmise that there's absolutely nothing that the Hoaglands of the world would be willing to fight for--right up until the victorious Islamofascists slice off their heads.
Small ideas lead to small results.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Observing Nature
I live in coastal San Diego County, and our lot backs up against open space, which is populated by all kinds of wildlife, some of which invade our yard. We have rabbits dining on our lawn and shrubbery morning and night, and voles occasionally do the same. We've had a 4-foot king snake visit, and once we had a young owl perch on our upstairs deck rail a few mornings. Quail drop in once in a while. Coyotes patrol the canyon and occasionally wake us up in the wee hours as they celebrate a kill. One of the neighbors claims he saw a bobcat a few years back. Hawks and other raptors abound, and vultures wheel high overhead.
Last Wednesday my wife was talking on the phone right around sunset, and she went into our living room because it was quieter. "Come here, quick!" she called. I went into the living room and looked out the window where she was pointing. There, not ten feet on the other side of the glass, on top of the block wall that separates our yard from our neighbor's, was a hawk dismantling and devouring a mourning dove. I'm not a birder and I don't have a field guide in the house, but after researching a bit I think it most likely that the bird was a Cooper's hawk. I called our 14-year-old daughter and her reaction was, "Oohhh, sick!" (That expression meaning something like "neato" did when I was her age.) She watched for about 15 minutes, at which time the hawk flew away with the remains of its catch.
It was one of the occasions that makes me feel so lucky to live here.
(0) comments
Last Wednesday my wife was talking on the phone right around sunset, and she went into our living room because it was quieter. "Come here, quick!" she called. I went into the living room and looked out the window where she was pointing. There, not ten feet on the other side of the glass, on top of the block wall that separates our yard from our neighbor's, was a hawk dismantling and devouring a mourning dove. I'm not a birder and I don't have a field guide in the house, but after researching a bit I think it most likely that the bird was a Cooper's hawk. I called our 14-year-old daughter and her reaction was, "Oohhh, sick!" (That expression meaning something like "neato" did when I was her age.) She watched for about 15 minutes, at which time the hawk flew away with the remains of its catch.
It was one of the occasions that makes me feel so lucky to live here.
