Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[Rome]

The thought that we invaded to depose a dangerous dictator for humanitarian reasons is also ridiculous because we looked the other way for years because Saddam was an ally in our cold war against Iran.

While I agree with the rest of your post I disagree here. It's never too late to put a bullet in the head of genocidal maniacs, even if they were once in bed with us.

Right - but this could have been accomplished in about an hour by a Delta Team or a well-placed cruise missile.  There was no need to invade Iraq or kill hundreds of thousands of people.  The only reason we're there is because they have a commodity that we need unfettered access to.  What we should have done is forgone the pretense that we were there for any other reason than the oil and just come clean about our intentions.

[General_Failure]

7.  The near-psychosis level of attention paid to the test is hurting the kids in that the test is pretty much all they'll be covering.  I know that in 8th grade math, at least a solid week is given simply to teach the kids HOW TO WRITE THEIR ANSWERS IN THE BOOK.  As it is not a simple process (not just a bubble in the answer, especially in Math), the kids have to be taught this, or they'll get those answers wrong.

Hey, I had to pay $14,000 to get that kind of education. I think I still owe a couple thousand on that.

[Sgt PSN]

The thought that we invaded to depose a dangerous dictator for humanitarian reasons is also ridiculous because we looked the other way for years because Saddam was an ally in our cold war against Iran.

While I agree with the rest of your post I disagree here. It's never too late to put a bullet in the head of genocidal maniacs, even if they were once in bed with us.

Right - but this could have been accomplished in about an hour by a Delta Team or a well-placed cruise missile.  There was no need to invade Iraq or kill hundreds of thousands of people.  The only reason we're there is because they have a commodity that we need unfettered access to.  What we should have done is forgone the pretense that we were there for any other reason than the oil and just come clean about our intentions.

It's not very PC though.  And that's the really important part. 

[phillymic2000]

You're welcome.

By the way, I have no problem with deposing evil genocidal dictators. And if that had been the premise of the war from the beginning, and if evidence of Saddam's evils (which were abundant) were officially presented along with a defined plan of action for once he was out of power I would defend the decision to go to war. But the fact that the whole premise of the war was that they had weapons of mass destruction capable of starting a third world war and attacking America, and only after the fact did the notion of getting rid of a murderous dictator get presented as motivation reaks of bullshtein. We attacked because we wanted to form a friendly government that would help feed our addiction to oil.

Now that I can't argue with at all, well stated. And don't misread it and think I dismiss the rest of your list, just commenting on this post.

[phillymic2000]

This whole post makes me want to stick a dagger in your eye.

Well thanks.

[Diomedes]

I have a big problem with disposing of people like Saddam.  We have a country to run.  Sticking our nose deep into the business of other countries, just because they happen to be run by a dude we don't like, is stupid.  Especially when we're the only ones doing the heavy lifting with only mild support from other nations, and extra especially when it's done unilaterally.

That Saddam was a murderous bastich is true, but until he or any other whacko is a direct threat to America...and I don't mean to our "interests" as they are so broadly defined these days....then it's a total waste of scarce resources.

We should not be gallivanting around the world knocking off scumbags...the job would never end and we have our own people to take care of.

[rjs246]

That's a perfectly valid opinion. I just don't agree with it. Kill the fargers.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Some of those teachers are as good as I am

That's supposed to mean what, exactly?

[General_Failure]

That a lot of them were really crappy teachers. Way worse than Geo.

[Rome]

We have Saddam's oil reserves now.  That's why shteinbags like McCain use phrases like "we'll be there 50 years or more" (or whatever he said).  You think we'll be there to foster democracy?

O-I-L.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Not only is O-I-L the real reason we're in Iraq, but it's the best reason.  $114 a barrel is not hilarious fun for the whole family.

[Geowhizzer]

Some of those teachers are as good as I am

That's supposed to mean what, exactly?

That I am getting a bonus for being an "excellent teacher," when in reality I am simply in a better situation than some of my colleagues in "failing schools" are finding themselves.

I have a relatively supportive parent group, and most of my students have advantages (family situation, stable home life, etc) that are just not there for the kids in a school like Immokalee, which has a migrant rate of 50% (i.e. a full half of the students have switched schools at least once in the past calendar year).

And yes, I do consider myself to be a good teacher.  However, many teachers in these schools are also good teachers, but suffer the consequences of their school not meeting expectations, even though the conditions are just not as good at the present time.  Kind of like expecting the Eagles to win the superbowl with a WR combination of Brown/Curtis.  The culture of that high school must be changed over a few years in order to begin to see a true rise - a one-year jump in test scores isn't a good measurement of the growth of the students.

[Sgt PSN]

Operation
Iraqi
Liberation

Heard on the radio the other day that oil was around $30 a barrel when Dubbya took over.  And now it's around $115.  Nice.

On the other hand, my local gas station dropped their prices $0.02 per gallon yesterday.  The economic crisis is nearly over!

[Geowhizzer]

Operation
Iraqi
Liberation

Heard on the radio the other day that oil was around $30 a barrel when Dubbya took over.  And now it's around $115.  Nice.

On the other hand, my local gas station dropped their prices $0.02 per gallon yesterday.  The economic crisis is nearly over!

It'll go up $0.25 tomorrow.

[Rome]

Why would Bush care about gas prices?  He doesn't give a shtein about anyone who has to think twice about the price of a gallon of gas anyway.  He started off as a dirty little oil pimp and will spend the rest of his life in luxury getting paid $250,000 a speech by the same scumbags who put him in the White House to begin with.

To paraphrase one of our favorite pastimes here... The Game is the Game, the system is the system, and life goes on.