London Calling
The Max-train stops at the Rose Garden. Two police officers for every cart walk on, take a quick look at every passenger, meeting in the middle, and then walk off the train.
I tend to scratch my head.
can’t remember the last time I saw a Tri-Met rider who didn’t look either unusual or sneaky. Americans on public transit always look sneaky because it’s Not Polite To Stare, so we avoid direct eye contact.
……………
Tom Leykus’s show diverted away from the usual t and a act yesterday. It’s helpful to know that Rudy Giuliani showed up on CNN, and the television news network immediately went to a sort of “New York” centric coverage of the event.
At one point, a caller came in saying that we need to bomb the enemy. “Who?” “The Enemy! Islam!” “Huh? Give me the coordinates. Bomb a Mosque in L.A.??” “No! Hit them over there!” “Over where? What — are we suppose to hit every country that starts with an ‘I’?”
Pretty much, it seems.
Bush: I don’t–I don’t think we can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the–those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in part of the world, let’s put it that way.
Which always striked me as basically the truth. Excepting… well… the best I can come up with with the War In Iraq is that Kuwait now lets women drive cars. (That’s why it’s all worth it, you see. Freedom is on the March.) [One step forward; two steps backward, and the corruptible “Fly Paper Strategy” is shown as the farcical rationalization that it is… beyond which.)
I used to be surprised we didn’t have suicide bombers in the USA. It’s an easy, low-cost method of Terrorism that anyone and their brother can do. But now that I think of it, perhaps it just stylistically does not fit. Bin Laden (who I’ll guess is in Pakistan — and remember the recent “I think we know where he is — but we must recognize nations’ sovreignty” statement) prefers a big Event… and I guess al Qaeda is still centralized enough to the extent that they’ll occasionally throw out a “Big Event” in the Western World…
… at a time of their own choosing, I may as well add.
Which is Par for the Course.