The American Spectator

I think Mr. Mehan illustrates the most important mistake President Bush has made during his Presidency. The first is as we all know, to spend like a liberal. That is to say wasting billions of dollars of our money doing things very badly that ought not to be done at all.

Fighting the war in Iraq like a Democrat is the second and the worst error. When Democrats fight wars they incorporate three components as their strategy. First, we must not get Americans in any numbers hurt or killed. Second, we fight to maintain the status quo, not to change things, though this is an unspoken understanding. Finally we must have no plan. We just charge in and expect things to work out.

FDR was the last Democrat to fight to win and accept the necessary consequences of that overweening goal. Truman accomplished nothing in Korea; JFK the same in Cuba; LBJ and a Democrat Congress worsened the situation in Vietnam. Mr. Carter did absolutely nothing when Iran attacked the U.S. and took our embassy workers hostage. (At least he was intellectually honest. He knew he wouldn’t win because he wouldn’t try to, so he did nothing to get the same results as previous Democrats: none.) Mr. Clinton, of course, sent troops to Bosnia and Somalia. Where there was actual combat in Somalia, he completely abandoned those troops and we lost some of our finest for no purpose what ever.

p>No we have left wing George Bush who is doing the same thing. No thought. No plan. And Americans being killed and maimed to no purpose. br> — Jay Molyneaux br> North Carolina /p>

If Mr. Mehan is going to regularly report on events in Iraq, he might consider using terms a little more descriptive of war than the panty-waist “troubling,” as in Basra. Troubling is when you look in your checkbook and discover you didn’t record the last three checks. Or when you are in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge and your gas gauge shows Empty.

His statement that “death and carnage had stopped” was a redundancy, considering the locale. Death is death and carnage is slaughter. What can the man be thinking? Besides filling the required space, I mean?

As for the rest of the article, the first four paragraphs were simply Mehan telling us what General Petraeus said, indicating he saw the hearings. And referring to another article, which proves he read about it somewhere.

Did anyone read this article and come away wondering just what of his own thinking went into it? Save the last gloomy prediction harking back to WWI.

On the other hand, maybe it is just that I am wondering how serving in the EPA qualifies one for much. I added a 12’x12’ room to my house years back. It could not be seen from the street and yet I had to conform with EPA regulations you would not believe. Studies as to what impact this additional living space would have on the environment. Thirty five copies of my blueprints sent to neighbors. Would it cast a shadow on my neighbor’s house? No. Would it obstruct a view? No. Still, if any one of them had objected, scrap the plans. They tangled with the wrong private citizen, though. I played their game through endless Planning Commission meetings and got my addition.

Two years ago I had an unfortunate experience of a toy in a toilet, courtesy of 4-year-old grandchild. Upstairs bathroom. Niagara ensued. It’s called Grey Water and will kill an entire village. How much “grey water” has the average housewife mopped up. Herself, in a lifetime of children putting an entire roll of toilet tissue in? Necessitated removing vinyl flooring and replacing. Men came out in HazMat suits, taped the bathroom door shut, put up warning signs of DANGER. This was “in case” asbestos had been used in the construction of the sub-floor. If it had not been covered by insurance, my husband could have replaced the floor for under $500. But with all the EPA rules followed it ran into several thousand dollars. I am staying away from those curlicue light bulbs.

p>Anyhow, when I got to the end of this non-article and saw EPA, I said to myself, “That explains a lot.” It gets in the bloodstream. A lot like grey water. He’s got it. Heck, I’ve got it. Maybe it was the grey water. The symptom is: writing without saying anything.