[lit-ideas] Re: U.S. superlatives (was Victor Hanson in Iraq)
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:24:49 -0800
What's our local body count anyway . . . I think I've read three people
referring to half a million, aka 500,000 dead in Iraq. Not that there is
any thing wrong with killing enemies in my opinion. I've written of that
elsewhere, and as to who is to blame, well that would be Saddam Hussein
abetted by France and Russia who promised him he could thumb his nose at the
UN and the US as long as he liked.
But with anti-Americans bandying about a number like 500,000, it occurred to
me it check it; so I checked. I found a site called Anti-War.com -- sounds
like a site I wouldn't appreciate, but that was the first one up on Google
-- might as well check it. Here are their numbers:
I guess the anti-war Leftists are only concerned about the Iraqi's killed --
500,000 Iraqis killed, that's what I understand them to be saying.
Anti-War.com estimates a minimum of 50,543 and a maximum of 56,040. I'm
thinking the Lit-Ideas Leftists may have misplaced a decimal. Easy to do -
done that myself a time or two. See http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/
Well sure the anti-war.com people are pretty detailed, getting down to the
actual names of those killed, but what about other estimates, estimates
using a broader brush? The Washington Post estimates 100,000, twice the
number of anti-war.com. No one can know for sure, they say, and at the end
of the article, Human Rights Watch says that number is a reach.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7967-2004Oct28.html
The Lancet seems to like the 100,.000 number but goes a step farther and
estimates the anticipated growth of population had Saddam remained in power
and estimates the present population and estimates that 654,969 are missing
and therefore presumed to have been killed.
http://www.thelancet.com/webfiles/images/journals/lancet/s0140673606694919.p
df
The Lancet like Howard Zinn and other Leftists and pacifists don't care who
did the killing. They don't care if Iraqis did most of the killing. They
just know that the US went to war in Iraq and now there is a population drop
that can only be accounted for by death. So for Lancet as well as the
Washington Post and Howard Zinn and Irene, death trumps principle. They
don't care who is right. They ignore Paul Berman who was outraged that any
self-respecting Liberal would think Iraqis were well enough off under the
monster Saddam Hussein. The Liberal Paul Berman has thought this thing
through logically. He remembers the days when Liberals still had
principles, when they knew there were things worth dying for -- when they
knew there were outrages in the world that must not be tolerated. But what
has happened to such liberals. Perhaps we should include them in the body
count. Perhaps they have died as well; so all that can be spoken of is
death. Who cares if there was a holocaust, if there were Kristal Nachts and
pograms and cleansings of millions? Who cares if Turks killed Armenians and
Saddam killed Kurds and Shiites? Let us leave those things alone and
quietly back away and hope that everyone else will remain alive. Why are
principles so important if by avoiding them 500,000 innocent Iraqi civilians
can be saved.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Lawrence Helm
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 10:41 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: U.S. superlatives (was Victor Hanson in Iraq)
Just which superlative are you challenging? All my superlatives are
accurate.
Certain of your statistics require explanations. Because we aren't a police
state we allow millions to cross our borders illegally and take advantage of
our health care, rob us, get locked up, die young, all of those things which
affect statistics. But notice why we have this problem: Enormous numbers of
people want to come here. Illegal immigration has reached scandalous
proportions. That wasn't one of my superlatives but it could have been: the
most desirable nation to immigrate to. That should tell you something about
the real America.
No, we don't have a socialistic health system so if you make up a list about
which nations have the most guaranteed, socialized anything we will not do
well, but there is a downside to that as France and other nations are
learning.
As to education, the Leftists have been the major influence in that arena
for years. When the analysts are considering who is going to get what
support from whom, the Teachers associations are out there supporting a
Leftist agenda. It is scandalous. Many parents are pulling their kids out
of these schools and opting for home schooling.
Why do you think school bonds are voted down so often? It isn't because
parents are cheap or because they don't want their kids educated. It is
because the education they are being offered is deficient and they don't
want to pay for something that isn't working. Who are you going to blame for
all the experimental non-traditional (non-conservative) teaching experiments
that have been graduating kids who can't read or write?
However, not to worry. The Leftists can't educate our kids but we are so
rich that the brilliant kids from other countries want to come here and make
up for our shortfall. Being rich and successful covers a multitude of
Leftist sins.
All the Leftist condemnations, abuse, criticism, skepticism, scorn, and
misinformation can't alter the fact that the US is all of my superlatives:
the best nation in the world, just as our founding fathers hoped it would
be.
The Leftists want to abandon the wishes of our founding fathers and turn the
US into something more like Europe, more like France -- nay they want to go
further and have it give up its sovereignty and take instruction from the
UN. We shouldn't decide what is best for our nation; we should let the UN do
it. However, Leftists must know how tough a sell that would be. The
European elite wanted a super-sovereign EU and it was rejected soundly.
People don't want to utterly give up their freedom, even in Leftist-leaning
Europe. I'll grant that the people from some other nations prefer a benign
paternalistic cradle-to-the-grave care, but it is interesting to see that
the people who voted for leaders who promised this to them aren't willing to
increase their taxes to pay for it.
Listen primarily to Leftist slogans, to the anti-American jargon and you may
well be surprised that there is someone remaining out there who thinks
America isn't at all as the Leftists describe it. There are still Americans
who fully realize and appreciate what we have here in this nation. Perhaps
the number that appreciate America is decreasing due to Leftist educational
methods, but perhaps not.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Ursula Stange
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 7:38 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] U.S. superlatives (was Victor Hanson in Iraq)
Lawrence Helm wrote:
> Ah me, how wicked it is to be the preeminent Liberal Democracy in the
> world. How thoroughly rotten to have the finest, freest, most
> democratic and successful culture in the world. How degrading to have
> the richest most successful economy. How depraved to have the most
> powerful military. Surely all the nay-saying defeatist Leftist are
> right to condemn a nation so brilliantly successful....
>
>
What a list of adjectives...preeminent, finest, freest, most democratic,
richest, brilliantly successful....
I remember that America. I learned about it in my fourth grade history
class. The real America isn't like that. The real America is just so
much wasted potential. Surely you've noticed a few inconsistencies
between the words and the reality. Surely you know that the U.S.
consistently falls near or at the bottom of lists of industrialized
nations in terms of education, health care, life expectancy. But, here
is one example where the U.S. outdoes everyone in the world...
From Reuters...
A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a
record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were
behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the
total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.
According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King's
College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States than
in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners,
followed by Russia with 870,000.
The U.S. incarceration rate of 737 per 100,000 people in the highest,
followed by 611 in Russia and 547 for St. Kitts and Nevis. In contrast,
the incarceration rates in many Western industrial nations range around
100 per 100,000 people.
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/us-imprisons-more-people-than-any-other
/20061209111509990004
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