The space between the bullets in a firefight

[cyrano]

I learned a new Japanese word--Bushusunu, which apparently is the infinitive of the verb 'to vomit'. It does not seem to connote the standing of the subject nor the object, nor how familiar they are with each other.

David Ignatius wrote a column on the strains America's New War has put on the Euro-American alliance and talks about how both sides have some critical misunderstandings about the other.
The Europeans don't realize that this bloom of US patriotism isn't like the quick blush we get after watching Rambo II or watching the Olympics--people here actually feel protective of the country, and determined to finally act. I just wish that American patriotism was more about 'The USA is great' and not 'The USA is Number One--better than everybody else!' That football-hooligan style of pride is amazingly unhelpful.
The US doesn't realize that the Europeans are not strangers to terrorism, and in fact have been feeling this very same gripping fear for decades. They don't need to be lectured by Americans about how evil terrorism is and what a long and bloody war this may be. They've already started. It's like the mother whose son has just gotten AIDS and she suddenly wakes up to the idea that AIDS is bad and perhaps we should start to find a cure. She has the passion of a recent convert though, which means more energy and possibly more accomplishments if she can avoid reinventing the wheel.

Pat Buchanan bemoans the fact that Bush's comments on the Axis of Evil are 'painting him into a corner' and possibly 'forcing him into a war' with Iraq. Oh please, brother fox, don't fling me into that there International Firefight! Please don't make me push my approval rating into three digits while I smooth over social and financial concerns in my own country while I finally win the war my father started.

As an aside, it occurs to me that, rather than a car, the first thing I will do when I find myself with 'discretionary income' will be to pour it into my teeth. Must. Have. Dental. Insurance. And right soon, thank you very much.

So the Office of Strategic Influence plans to release 'misleading news items as a part of a new effort to influence public sentiment and policy-makers in both friendly and unfriendly countries'. Shocked! Shocked, I am, to discover that gambling is taking place in this casino! Imagine my horror and surprise when I find that my government is considering lying about what they're doing so that it will look more palatable. Shocked shocked shocked. Truly, I am.

Comments

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

In a random conversation with some old guy on a San Diego trolley last week, I was disgusted to be called unpatriotic because I made a face when he asked, "How about that George Bush?" My opinion of The Usurper has nothing to do with my patriotism. I didn't like Bush while he was Texas' Governor, I didn't like him as a candidate, I really didn't like him after he got elected and proceeded to screw up some major good stuff that had been accomplished by his predecessors, and I'm certainly not going to start now while he's bombing half the innocent population of Afghanistan in the name of wiping his "Axis of Evil" off the face of the planet. Harrumph.

On the dentist front, I can recommend my dentist, Dr. Shazi Hedayati, who's on Remington just west/south of ECR. I can't remember how much she charges, though.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

It is tragically unfortunate that many people give equivalent value to the terms 'patriotic' and 'sheep-like but with extreme tendencies toward bloodthirst and xenophobia'.