The liberals and the Middle East, and the big debate!

I go to a community college, where the professors are generally cool or morons, and it also breeds the ideal liberal of all ages. More on idealism in college, and how people don't know any better.

The first lecture I was able to attend was one on Islam and modernity. It was from a lecturer at UofM who had done research in Morocco for 2 years. His aim was to talk about the similarities between Islam and America (though they are about as related as Judaism and America, but we'll leave that alone for now). He was trying to bridge the gap between Islam and the rest of the world, saying that we see each other as the "other," that victimized unit made oh so popular by feminists. He mainly interviewed college students in Morocco, some of whom had come from the countryside. He compared these religious views and everyday lifestyles to that of America.

He wasn't very good.

The third I was able to make it to was from Lawrence Pitnak, author of Seeds of Hate. He talked about the roots of terror. He kind of glossed over Israel and its influence on the Islamist sect, but then he went out of his way to call it the Zionist-Palestinian conflict. He said that between the U.S.'s support of dictatorships frienly to the US and harmful to the people and the U.S.'s support of Israel and our unnecessary invasion of Iraq, the Muslim world saw us as a major threat and did not support us. They saw us as an enemy now. One of the major thorns is still Israel though. When asked whether getting out of Israel's pants would help our cause, he said that it would, though he did comment, "I don't think we'll be stopping out support of Israel any time soon, with both Kerry and Bush competing on who likes Sharon more." He made some great comments on the "other" and how we saw each other (Arab world in Middle East vs. America). But, then, I agreed with him more than that first lecturer.

I may also get quoted in the newspaper, with the reporter guy saying, "where are you whenever I have to ask surveys? Everybody around here basically repeats what I say, only in different wordings with nothing original to add." He had asked my general opinion, and I felt it was too abbreviated.

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DEBATE TIME

So, while watching the debates, I decided what a good drinking game would be; Everytime Bush said something was hard work, take a drink. You'll be drunk within half an hour. EVERYTHING is hard work for the President, from training the troops to conducting the war. Bush wants to attack North Korea and Iran soooooo badly, he gets all choked up about it (probably wants to attack more than Kerry). Then, again, Kerry isn't doing himself much justice. He wants to attack N. Korea and Iran, but pretends he doesn't. Yet, he keeps attacking Bush for not attacking or talking to those countries...

The following quotes brought chortles and/or groans to my lips. I even snorted a few times.

Bushisms from the debate:

We've been training the Iraqis, and its hard work. (as if he's doing the training himself)

Osama Bin Laden doesn't get to decide what we do for defense. The American public gets to decide what we do for our defense. I decided that...

I told her that her husband's sacrifice was noble and worthy...Everybody matters. Everybody's worth it.

I think that by speaking clearly, doing as we say, we will never have to use troops.

We will rue the day if Saddam Hussein stays in power.

[Hussein] had the capability to make weapons, and he would have made weapons.

I'm interested in working with other nations, and I do alot of it.

If Kim Jong-Il refuses to submit to our agreements, then...then...he'll be doing China a great injustice.

We've climbed the mighty mountain and now its time to go to the valley. I see the valley of peace.

Kerry:
Its very important to Israel [that we fix Iraq]

Saddam Hussein would have been continually weakening if [Bush] had just gone through another round of negotiations with the other leaders. (how many rounds do leaders need to set down their arms?)

Iran has nuclear weapons, and the world would have been more dangerous. <-----Kerry plans to attack Iran as well. We've got a backdoor draft coming...(pull up your pants! Its the democrats who want a front-end draft)

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Postwar debate:

Bush sucked, Kerry sucked minorly less. GeorgeWBush.com knows that Bush sucked and, so, proceeded to pounce on Kerry for the lamest of things (trying to pretend to be myth/claim-busters). Check it out. :-)

Some highlights:

Kerry's claim: Former military officers support Kerry.

The Facts: The President has been endorsed by Over 250 retired flag officers
OOOOOOOO, 250. That's, like, alot of them. That's certainly representative of a great percentage, right? RIGHT?!
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Kerry's claim: Air cargo is not being screened for explosives.

The facts: One hundred percent of passengers and passenger bags now being screened.

Maybe I need my ears washed out, but he said that the passengers and passenger bags were being screened, but that the cargo bays were not.
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Kerry's Claim: Kerry Claim he has only one position on Iraq.
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My favorite

Kerry`s Claim: President Bush Has Not Done Enough To Secure Chemical Plants.

The Facts: Kerry Has Raised More Money From Paid Lobbyists Than Any Other Senator Over the past 15 Years.

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Kerry`s Claim: President Bush Is Restricting Funding For Stem Cell Research.