Re: Idea of the muscle car is dead (Or, why Ford can't sell cars now)

Michael Johnson <cds@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
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Joe wrote:
Michael Johnson <cds@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
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Joe wrote:
Michael Johnson <cds@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
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Joe wrote:
Michael Johnson <cds@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
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<major snippage>

It is going to take some MAJOR breakdown in our way of life
before the population gets off its collective ass and makes real
change happen. By then the Democrats and, to a lesser extent,
the Republicans may have us screwed so bad there are no
alternatives left. Either way we are getting EXACTLY what we
deserve for being so apathetic for decades. I wouldn't blame
the younger people if they just told all the Baby Boomers that
when they retire they will be euthanized since they squandered
all the money that was to go toward their retirement costs.
Saw an interview with Andrew J. Bacevich last night on Bill
Moyers' Journal on PBS. Absolutely riveting, and that's not an
exaggeration.

Bacevich is highly accredited and tells the real story - he is
right on the money IMO.

Here's a preview of what he's all about:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08152008/profile.html
It sounds interesting. I agree that our biggest threats come from
within our own borders and I'll go even further and say they come
from the very politicians we elect to solve our problems. It
wouldn't take them more than a year to pass all the legislation
needed to right the ship. It will take years to actually make it
happen but to set the framework for it would be easy. I think
there needs to be a fundamental change in our political structure
and it needs to start with term limits. I think career
politicians are killing this country.
Bacevich knows what he's talking about. Here's a brief bio on him:
http://www.bu.edu/ir/faculty/bacevich.html

Here's an interesting article he wrote last month for the Boston
Globe:


http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008
/07/01/what_bush_hath_wrought/
I don't agree with all his assessments in this article. I'm not a
water carrier for Bush these days but some of the things he bashes
Bush on in that article are yet to be determined. As time passes
the real benefit or folly of the Iraq war will be known. A talking
head just can't say whether it was, or wasn't, worth the expense at
this point in time. I don't know much about this guy but reading
that article didn't do must to impress me with his insight on
foreign affairs. He seems a little too biased. He made too many
statements of fact when all the facts aren't known at this juncture.

Iraq could very well turn out like Vietnam. When one looks at
Vietnam in and of itself it wasn't a war worth fighting. When put
into context with the overall goal of stopping the expansion of
communism, opinions as to its worth change. Had the USSR been
allowed to expand their influence unchecked we might have a very
different world. The same can be applied to the radical Islamics
today. If they are allowed to run unchecked we might be facing a
dire situation 25, 50 or 100 years from now. No one, and I repeat
NO ONE, knows whether the decision to invade and transform Iraq to a
more Western political ideology was a worthwhile endeavor. It is
way too early to tell. When I read this guy stating unequivocally
that the Iraq war was a mistake it makes me think he has too high an
opinion of his mental prowess.

To date, nobody else has professed more sobering ideas than
Bacevich IMO. Unfortunately, it will take a radical mindset change
in America before we see real change such as he describes.
The guy has some good ideas from a domestic standpoint but like most
talking heads, he is far from having all the answers to our
problems. Thanks for the heads-up on him though. It never hurts to
get all sides of the argument.

After watching the piece 60 minutes did tonight on Valerie Plame, I'm
more convinced than ever that the Bush administration should and will
be thought of as one of the more corrupt and irresponsible
administrations in history. If nothing else, it proves that politics
in the 21st century is most definitely out of control, and the
current administration is right at the forefront.

IMO, the Plame case was them looking for their 15 minutes of fame.
They tried to do everything possible to stay in the spotlight. There
was probably a money angle in it for them. The Plame investigation
was the Democrats version of the Kenneth Star investigation except it
never got as much traction. The only thing that came from it was
Scooter Libby's perjury conviction that had nothing to do with the
original investigation. Plus, I don't look to CBS, ABC, NBC etc. to
provide unbiased news or reporting.

Bush and his cronies (and yes, he _is_ ultimately responsible for the
actions of his people) outed Valerie Plame (which, by the way, is an act
of treason and a capitol offense during wartime, and we are at war
according to Bush) because Bush wanted revenge against her husband, Joe
Wilson, for exposing the sham about Niger and yellowcake uranium. To
top it off, Bush outright lied when he said that he'd fire anyone
involved with leaking the name.

IMO, allegations (whether true or not) that news sources are all biased
and untrustworthy is an excuse not to look at the facts.

I have no doubt that Bush sold the war to the public, Congress and the
world, in general. Then again all wars have to be sold in this
country.

Maybe in this day and age, and that's one of the major problems. Why do
wars have to be "sold" in the first place?

IMO, what we have today is a bunch of Monday morning quarterbacks
whining about being duped and/or using this issue to score political
hits. The reality is the overwhelming majority of people whining now
bought into it and went right along with Bush. Then when things got
dicey they bailed and started revising history to make themselves look
like prophets. Now that Iraq is stabilizing they are running back the
other way. We won't know if the Iraq war was worthwhile for another
two decades, if not longer.

I completely disagree. IMO, many of the horrible truths about this
adminstration's chicanery are now being brought into the public's view,
and as a result, more and more people are questioning what the hell has
been going on.

Bacevich certainly has an ax to grind; his son was killed in Iraq.

This explains his tone. It also requires a footnote be placed on his
statements. Things like this cloud people's judgment and can skew
their thought process.

Bacevich has been up front all along about his son's death, and his
views and ideas are all valid regardless. He's still one of the few
people who make total sense.

However, all his ideas are based on factual history. He's certainly
one of the most respected and knowledgable people that have spoken on
these issues, and what he says makes the most sense to me out of
anybody I've heard to date.

From what little I have read I respect his domestic ideas more than
his
geopolitical ones.

You might want to read more, as he's making the most sense of anyone
these days.
.

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