The Common Ills: Rice, Clinton, Iraq and so much more

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Rice, Clinton, Iraq and so much more

Two topics that I don't plan to include in the snapshot? Secretaries of State former.

E-mails are pro and con regarding Condi Rice being banned from speaking.

But Condi wasn't banned.

We covered this in real time. I agreed with the Christian Science Monitor's call, by Patrik Jonsson, that Condi was "gracious" in turning down the Rutgers' invitation.

She graciously stated that a student's day was becoming a distraction and that she was turning down the invitation to let the day be about the students.

And well it should.

That it should be about the students doesn't less the grace with which Condi handled it. I'm not detracting from her comments, I'm not insulting them and she was gracious in how she handled it.

Along with people e-mailing this site being confused (she wasn't banned and she made the decision not to speak), there's also the ridiculous notion that Rice was ever appropriate.

Some are going so far to insist that this is censorship (it's not) and what message does this send?

How about one of: Stop making graduations political by inviting certain people to speak?

You want to invite someone to speak?

Invite J.R. Martinez. The Iraq War veteran gives great and powerful speeches about life and living.

You may want to invite Condi to speak. And if it's for her to speak on campus about international relations or whatever there might be a point to it. But she's not a commencement speaker.

She's too divisive (as are most politicians and I'd include every president and every first lady on that list).

Like everyone, Condi has events in her life that could provide wisdom and insight.

But she carries the baggage of the Iraq War.

Why would you do that, invite her to a commencement?

It makes no sense at all.

I love Jane Fonda but she's also a divisive figure who shouldn't be a commencement speaker.

That doesn't mean Jane shouldn't be invited to speak on campus. She should. And people who want to go hear her speak can do so.

But that's very different from injecting Jane into someone's graduation.

I like Jane some people don't.

I don't like what Condi stands for, some people do.

Stop doing it, stop inviting people who divide to be speakers at graduations.

Graduations are supposed to be about the students and their accomplishment.

There's really no need for a 'name' speaker at these events to begin with.

Will Rogers could rise from the grave and speak at one and all anyone would remember is the graduates themselves. So it's money wasted that could be better spent elsewhere.

This is the students' day.

Inviting a divisive speaker is like trying to upstage the bride at her wedding.

The students are the stars, let them have their day.

I strongly support free speech.

But Condi wasn't banned (she graciously turned down the invite), she also hasn't been refused entry to a campus.

Hillary Clinton is another former Secretary of State.

Isn't Karl Rove evil!

I didn't even realize until late today what people were talking about because I try to focus on real issues.

Hillary's health was raised by Rove recently. (I care so little about this that I'm not even going to try to nail down when he raised the issue.)

It's apparently led Chuck Todd to piss his tighty-whities on Morning Joe.

If you run for president, people will raise health issues.

In 2008, Democrats made the campaign about Sarah Palin in a 'McCain's old and could die and that would Palin was president!!!!!'

So Hillary's health is fair game.

But she hasn't declared she's running.

No, she hasn't.

And as she sucks all the air out of the room with her coy pose, I've considered writing about how, if she really gave a damn about America, she'd announce one way or another instead of stealing all this media attention which should be covering serious issues.

But the reality is that even if she declared today, "I'm not running," the media would still be appalling.

They'd spend a week or two finding a new 'front runner' and spend the rest of the year focusing on that.

We do get, don't we, as Chuck Todd and others babble on about Hillary, that the 2016 presidential election is not next month, right?

So why are they so obsessed?

Because it's gossip and not news.

Gossip is not just cheaper than news, it also doesn't require any real work. In fact, some of our most noted TV gossips are able to create entire 'facts' on air.

It's cheap to do gossip, it doesn't require a lot of work and it's a big distraction that may fool people into thinking MSNBC or Fox has actually broadcast news when, in fact, they couldn't find investigative journalism with both hands and their tongues.

Bill Clinton has spoken so now everyone should leave it alone!

Bill did tell Gwen Ifill that Hillary's health was solid -- or he implied it (implied from the quotes I've seen).

So now the story is over.

Because Bill has never lied to protect or shield Hillary, right?

Oh, wait . . .

No, it's not over.

And it's true she hasn't declared she's running.

But as long as the media's floating her as the front runner, Karl Rove and whomever else have every right to raise the issue of Hillary's health.

Third e-mail issue. Ruth wrote "F**k you, Julie Bowen and double for Modern Family" and reposted it here.

A few are in a tizzy (visitors).

How dare Ruth write that! You must defend Julie Bowen.

No.

Bowen made an idiot of herself. Ruth focused on how offensive Bowen's remark was in one regard.

It was also artistically stupid. Ava and I"ll grab that this weekend at Third.

Julie Bowen's an idiot and so are the people she's representing.

I get so pissed when people start pretending to be knowledgeable but they're just so damn stupid and should honestly stop speaking.

Ruth is right about the homophobia but Bowen is just as stupid about a device that's been in place since the 70s and its insulting that she wants to pretend like she knows what she's talking about.

She's deeply stupid.

(Yeah, distort art and I lose all respect for you and I'm not joking. This is as appalling to me as someone misrepresenting the three act structure in film.)

Fourth issue, community members weighed in. The explanation re: Malware was made earlier today. They say enough time has elapsed for everyone to know that was worried and that Antiwar.com should go back on the links now and not wait 14 more hours. So it's back on the list.

Let's move over to the never-ending violence in Iraq . . .

National Iraqi News Agency reports 1 person was shot dead in Ghazaliya, 1 police member was shot dead in Shiekh Hamad Village, a Mosul roadside bombing left four people injured (two were police members), another roadside bombing south of Mosul left two people injured, an Abu Ghraib bombing left four people injured, 3 members of a police patrol were shot dead in Tikrit, a Jurfis-Sakhar roadside bombing left four Iraqi soldiers injured, a second Jurfis-Sakhar roadside bombing left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and two more injured, an Alrifai roadside bombing left 2 Iraqi soldiers dead, a Mosul roadside bombing killed 1 police member and left three more injured, a Hit suicide bomber took his own life and the life of 1 police member with four more left injured, a Baquba attack left 4 police members dead and four more injured, 1 intellignece officer was shot dead in Balad, a Badush roadside bombing left three people injured, a mosque guard in Mehajeran was shot dead, and 1 corpse was discovered dumped in the streets of Abu Ghraib.

The following community sites -- plus Black Agenda Reporter, Jake Tapper, Jody Watley, Fresh Air, Ms. magazine's blog, Susan's On the Edge and Z on TV -- updated: