Hi Ralph and all - At the bottom of every post you read on MoPo are instructions on how to leave the list; put the words...
SIGNOFF MOPO-L ..into the text of your note. Send that note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] But I advise you not to leave, Ralph. You are not alone. ** Some of the ideas being spouted since my post and Channing's about Katrina this morning, are, in my view, ridiculous. Yes, put the blame for a natural disaster completely on the shoulders of one man -- the President. That's so far afield from my rant this morning that I'm ashamed I posted it publicly. It was my heartfelt reaction to Channing's marvelous, "fast ball down the middle of the plate" note. (BTW, I also like ALL of Kirby McDaniel's notes thus far about Katrina. He's a known liberal but has taken the high road in a persuasive way that people like me are more inclined to listen and read notes like his and Channing's because they're fair.) Rudy obviously comes from the Bush-hating school who believes the response to Katrina is NOT a SHARED failure. He believes state and local leaders are immune to criticism and to state otherwise is, in his words, "cowardly." Yes, Bush and global warning which caused Katrina. So unfair. It's unreal how much hate for one man can be generated on even these dinky boards. I am a fiscal conservative and social liberal, hence I obviously do NOT hate the President or any person in the Oval Office who can move in without whole cabinets being shot. ** I intensely dislike the "blame America first" crowd who want to put the world's problems on this country's doorstep and onto the shoulders of a single person and his so-called "cronies." That's from the bitter Oliver Stone school of pessimism I obviously don't attend. Half-glass empty people are not taking advantage the greatness of being alive during their short time on earth, hence they're a drag at parties, always negative. Who wants to go to their graves negative? ** I obviously spend a lot of my time talking politics at other, more appropriate topic boards. My criticism of our President was about the ethereal concept of leadership. I don't give two s***s about efforts to connect the dots to Iraq, Karl Rove and the like. I don't give two s***s about what the world thinks of America if it's negative. The President is NOT the brightest light, knows it, and still makes unpopular decisions. His time is running out anyway. Bush-haters said last Nov. would be the most important election in history. They spent more money than ever to dump him, but they lost anyway because of a confusing message while kissing off the entire South, forcing them to win 70% of the remaining electorate to take the White House. They remain sore losers; they think those who voted for him are retarded and can't get behind the Oval Office under any circumstances. I am in awe of anyone who occupies the Oval Office. It's a symbolic thing for me. ** I have friends in the military and in law and in education -- and when you put faces on these people, you hear many polarizing views. Bush-haters do not speak for our all-volunteer military. 2,000 dead is not the same as 50,000 in Vietnam. The Abu Ghraib scandal is shameful, but it's not like the My Lai massacre, but you'd believe such comparisons if you read the NY Times. I like to hang around "fair-minded" people like the liberal family I married into who may dislike Bush but still give him credit IF he deserves it. I'm appalled the 2004 playbook is still being run against him. Geez, the President is NOT on the 2008 ballot and his stamp on America represents an 8-year chunk out of 230 years of history. We're too close to predict what his name will mean in 2055. He may be the Millard Fillmore of American history. Who knows? But he won't be compared to Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot. That reed of logic and hatred will be forever peddled in pamphlets handed out in Greenwich Village, with zero impact on people between Manhattan and Malibu. ** Meanwhile, I chuckle at "fluffhead Gary" returning to these boards after his ceremonial departure "announcement" earlier this year. He did exactly as predicted. He left, wanted people to know -- but in fact he never did. I still don't understand such press release announcements. Leave, go -- or stay. To bolster his "thesis," he puts up a link to the most maniacal mainstream critic of the Oval Office, Paul Krugman of the NY Times, a pessimistic man who, like Frank Rich, uses condescending euphemisms predicting disasters of "biblical proportions." Oh yeah, like that tone is really going to convert people. ** The politicization of Katrina will continue. Bush haters, go ahead, keep railing away, but the train has left the station and you're being dragged behind it. Bush is gone in 2008 -- so again, start focusing on solutions instead of crapping on everything. Stop running on the "what's bad news for America is good news for Democrats" playbook. Cuz in my view, that's a sad platform upon which to hang your hat. Hillary isn't playing that card. ** Finally, I was born in a once fascist country that took 3 decades after 1945 to find democracy AND to become an economic power. Suicide terrorists aren't the same as WWII soldiers running under a losing flag, but pockets of resistance in the Japanese and German empires remained for a good five to seven years, enabling contemporaneous "pundits" to forecast eternal doom and gloom. The quick fix pundits of 2005 are doing the same, still using words like "quagmire" and pi****g on the Iraqi elections and the effort to ratify a new constitution. Without America's help, Japan would be nothing today. American forces still haven't left Japan completely. Yet eight of 10 Japanese in a July 2005 Kyodo-Associated Press poll in still admire America. Seven of 10 Americans feel the same about Japan. I really believe if you are born elsewhere and come here to live, you feel a little different about America's greatness. When people see me, I don't "appear" like an obvious American. But it's my country and I don't like it being torn down unfairly. So s*** on it all you want and s*** on its leader, but I'm not changing my mind. ** That's it from me about THIS subject. When this Katrina stuff settles down, I can't wait to talk about movies again. -koose. ----Original Message Follows---- From: Ralph Plumb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Ralph Plumb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 15:03:01 -0400 This latest batch of postings from the liberal gang is too much for me to take. I tried unsuccessfully to unsubscribe but mail was returned. I used the instructions shown at the bottom of all emails but it did not work. Please either unsubscribe me or furnish me with instructions on how to do it. Ralph Plumb Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.