Where's the Outrage?

From TP:

After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush famously declared that he would capture Osama bin Laden “dead or alive.” However, less than a year later — in March 2002 — Bush said that he was “not that concerned” about the al Qaeda leader. Today on CNN’s Late Edition, host Wolf Blitzer asked Vice President Cheney, “How frustrating is this to you personally, knowing he’s [bin Laden] still at large?” Cheney hesitated, then simply replied that he would “obviously…like to solve that problem.” He added that it’s more “important” to “keep…this country safe,” indicating that bin Laden is inconsequential.

Tags: Bush Administration by ecthompson md
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Sunday Afternoon News Roundup

• Although Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has stated that his country is close to achieving its objective, it is hard for me to imagine what that objective is. If the objective is chaos, starvation and causing more Palestinians to hate you intensely, then perhaps he is right. The intensity of the fighting appears to be increasing.
• New York Times columnist Bob Herbert agrees with me. In his column yesterday he discusses the horrible jobs picture. He emphasizes the need to throw out the Republican safety blanket, tax cuts for all, as the answer to all problems. Tax cuts are not going to fix this problem. We’re going to need to invest, as I said yesterday. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman gave us all some information to ponder on Friday. He suggests that the $775 billion stimulus package may not be large enough to stimulate our economy. Personally, I don’t think Obama and his economic team will get a second bite at that apple. It is critical for them to get the economic stimulus package correct the first time.
• George Bush admitted today in an interview with Brit Hume that he authorized the torture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. So does that mean that he has admitted to a war crime?
• One of the most interesting stories that came out yesterday was that Israel asked the Bush administration for permission to bomb Iran. They also asked for special bunker-busting bombs. The Bush administration said no. The Bush administration said no to Israel. It just doesn’t seem right. The neoconservatives have gone out of their way to push a pro-Israeli agenda, especially in foreign policy. Look for more reporting on this issue.
• Look for Obama’s economic team to overhaul what is left of the $700 billion bailout package. Thank goodness. This is clearly in need of some significant overhauling.
• Frank Rich wrote an excellent column yesterday comparing the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme to the cronyism and corruption seen in the Bush administration. Basically, he states that over the last eight years we, the American people, have been victims of the Bush administration’s Ponzi scheme. No, it was not literally a Ponzi scheme but it was our money getting thrown to an endless supply of Republican insiders.
• Finally, I was on a Maureen Dowd bandwagon for many years. Then, over the last two years, she has criticized Barack Obama relentlessly. The man couldn’t put on socks and shoes without a long column describing his inadequacies in putting on socks and shoes. In yesterday’s column, she discusses the victory laps that VP Cheney and President Bush have been taking. I think she is correct in mentioning when Fred Barnes and Bill Kristol, the neoconservatives’ conservative, can point only to President Bush’s attempt to privatize Social Security as his biggest (almost) accomplishment. This president’s legacy is in serious jeopardy. Just consider where we would be if we’d have allowed the privatization of Social Security.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration, Economy, Torture by ecthompson md
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Deion Sanders, on the NFL network, said the Carolina State police were looking for Jake Delhomme because he murdered his team. Nobody, including myself, gave the Arizona Cardinals any opportunity to beat the Carolina Panthers. We all thought that the victory we saw when the Arizona Cardinals destroyed the Dallas Cowboys was all about the Dallas Cowboys’ flaws and not about the good things the Arizona Cardinals were doing on the field. When the Cardinals beat the Atlanta Falcons, the Falcons just hadn’t played well. Also, the Arizona Cardinals played some truly awful football when they went east. So, clearly, the Cardinals, going East would mean disaster for the Cardinals.

Yet, the smart football folks should’ve been able to break down the film against the Atlanta Falcons and discover a few of the things that the Arizona Cardinals were doing that were positive.

I’ve said this before and I will say again. At the end of the year and in the playoffs, defense matters. Defense is king. The primary job of the offense in the playoffs is not to hurt your own defense (ask the Tennessee Titans). Do not turn the ball over. Jake Delhomme was a one-man turnover machine. When he threw his third interception, Daryl Johnston, doing the national color commentary, said, “I just don’t know what he is seeing on the field.” Delhomme continually put his defense in that position. In a nutshell, this is why the Arizona Cardinals will be playing next weekend and the Carolina Panthers will be sitting down.

The Carolina Panthers did not have or did not display anything that resembled a stout defense this year. Their defense was average. The loss of Kris Jenkins in the middle was a huge blow to this team. It may have been possible that the Panthers could have overcome some of the early turnovers if they had a better defense. When the game was on the line, throughout the second quarter, the Panthers could not get any pressure on Kurt Warner and they had no answer for Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald personally torched the Panthers’ secondary. He had eight catches for 166 yards and one touchdown.

Defense wins championships. The Arizona Cardinals brought the suffocating defense. Now, if you were an Arizona Cardinals, fan wouldn’t it be nice if the Philadelphia Eagles were able pull out a victory in the Meadowlands. That would mean you would host the Eagles next week in Arizona. Wouldn’t that be sweet!

Panthers lose [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Sports by ecthompson md
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