March 25, 2003

The mummy speaks

Ancient raisin of the Left Eugene McCarthy is apparently still alive, or at least he is moving about in an almost lifelike manner. Of course, he has Important Views on stuff. Here is a sample:

McCarthy, renowned for speaking his mind and dishing out quips, blamed President Bush for using religion to wage his war. "This is a faith-based war," McCarthy said. "The worst thing is faith-based religion."

Those words were cut 'n' pasted and served up to you with no added byproducts or preservatives, just a touch of emphasis on our favorite sentence. We provide only the freshest examples of idiocy here at Spleenville.

(Via Daimnation!.)

Posted by Andrea Harris at March 25, 2003 01:13 PM
Comments

"The worst thing is faith-based religion."

I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one.

The other amusing part was this:

the former Minnesota senator and anti-war presidential candidate

Now, I will admit I was a bit young in 1968, but I seem to recall that all of the major candidates ran against the war, including a certain Republican who promised to get us out of it.

Which is why I laugh everytime I hear an ignorant comment about "Nixon's war".

Posted by: Ken Summers at March 25, 2003 at 02:53 PM

In a bit almost as old as McCarthy, didn't the Python guys have an idiot duke on wheels? A nurse pushed him around and from time to time had to jostle his brain back into place. Those guys; a joke for every occasion.

Ken's right. Humphrey and Tricky took turns of "I'm more against the war than you are!"

Posted by: Jack at March 25, 2003 at 02:59 PM

Hey, who's putting words in his mouth now that Edgar Bergen is dead?

Posted by: Kevin McGehee at March 25, 2003 at 03:25 PM

So, does the reactionary left have an endless supply of corpsicles, or what?

MonkeyPants
Imperial Falconer

Posted by: MonkeyPants at March 25, 2003 at 06:50 PM

As opposed to the evidence based religions?

Oh wait, am I going to get it now?

Posted by: andy at March 25, 2003 at 08:40 PM

Nah, I think that's the point, Andy.

How many mainstream religions can you name that claim to be based on scientific proof rather than faith?

Pretty short list.

And I'm wondering exactly what he means - what are faith-based religions worse than? Mass murderers? Ruthless dictators? It boggles the mind...

Posted by: Demosthenes at March 25, 2003 at 09:41 PM

Nixon had a "secret plan" to end the war in 1968. The secret was that he had no plan and thousands died between Jan. 69 and Feb. 73. That crime weighs more heavily that that 3rd rate burglary that ended his presidency.

Only faith will allow primitive superstition to rule the lives of the masses. Rationality deflates religion like the frothy fluff that it is.

Posted by: andi at March 25, 2003 at 10:44 PM

I only highlighted that statement because of its complete absurdity. Saying "the worst thing is faith-based religion" is like saying "the worst thing is water-based rain." No wonder leftists can't think straight.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at March 25, 2003 at 10:55 PM

Yeah, Andi, thousands died after Nixon took office. Thousands died before that. Thousands more died after we left. Still doesn't make it "Nixon's war".

Irrespective of one's opinion of Nixon, it's hardly a "crime" to not end an inherited war quickly enough to suit some people.

Posted by: Ken Summers at March 25, 2003 at 11:27 PM

As somebody alive and thinking during the '68
elections, I remember that Nixon said he had a "secret plan" to end the war. His secret plan was to let more Americans get killed until we bugged out and the NV took over the whole country.
(At least that's what happened, IMHR). To defend Nixon at this late date for his role in the Vietnam War is like remembering Benedict Arnold for winning a few battles against the British.

Posted by: Frank C at March 27, 2003 at 01:00 AM

Guys? A request: Nixon has been dead for some time now, and he wasn't even the subject of this post. Also, this Was-Nixon-evil-or-wasn't-he rehash is giving me unpleasant flashbacks to Oliver Stone's The Doors and some of the more pretentious X-Files episodes. So could we put Tricky Dicky back in his box for a while? Thank you.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at March 27, 2003 at 01:16 AM

Anybody that thinks Nixon did anything other than (WRT Vietnam war, that is) wait a couple of months after being elected and then start pulling troops out of Vietnam as fast as they were put in, has a severe case of cranial rectosis. Do some reading, for God's sake, and stop embarrassing yourselves.

FWIW: Nixon withdrew 60,000 troops his first year, 100k his second, 145k his third, and 160k his fourth. But that's probably not important.
In contrast, 160k were added in 1965, 200k in 1966 and another 100k in 1967. Only 50k in 1968.

Ummm...Frank? Remember this: Nixon got us out of Vietnam. Johnson got us in, most of the way. Your assertion to the effect that it wasn't fast enough to suit you in no way affects that he did get us out.

Posted by: David Perron at March 27, 2003 at 01:26 AM

Uh, guys? Hello? Hello? Can anybody hear me? Is this thing on?

Take the Nixon convo to email. Once again, thanks. >:|

Posted by: Andrea Harris at March 27, 2003 at 01:49 AM

Oops. Sorry, Andrea, sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake.

Posted by: David Perron at March 27, 2003 at 08:15 AM