Another letter to the editor
Eeeeerrrrrrrgggggg!!!!!! GAWD!!!! The Austin American Statesman really burns my butt!!! Why do I keep buying this rag???? Probably because it is the only game in town, and so what drives me more crazy than a whacked Liberal, a MONOPOLY! Thanks the Lord for the Wall Street Journal. I read the Statesman and think, " We are all going to Hell in a hand basket" and then I read The Journal, and I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that all is okay, but that there are still some whacked out folks in the world, and they write for the local paper.

I'm as serious as I can be, if the Statesman didn't report on local events, I would drop it in a half second.

So, the reason for my fury, the knuckleheads at the Spaceman, er...Statesman, have called into question the deeds of over 200 veterans of the Swiftboats as "highly suspect". Veterans groups are composed of men who work closely together, who rely on one another for their lives. They are put into situations where they clearly understand that they can not survive with out the support of each other. A "Band of Brothers" isn't some new Hollywood idea, this is ideal that has come down through the centuries of warriors who rely on each other for every thing, including their lives. I have not been in war, yet I have been in situations where I could not succeed without my "Band of Brothers", and I am here to say that the band you feel for these brothers is most extreme. Even for me, and the piddly little things I have done, the bonding was amazing, and I can easily see why why these bonds are sometimes stronger than the bonds of family.

So, to me, it is exceptionally illuminating to me that so many vets who worked with Kerry, would now say that he is a liar. Granted, he crapped all over them when he came home by essentially testifying that they were all baby killers. Yet, through all that they went through together, and knowing how forgiving Americans can be (look at Bill Clinton) these Vets said, "No, he is lying". To men, that is a "Wow" moment.

Here is my letter to the editors of the Statesman;

The President should denounce the swift boat veteran's ads? Has the Statesman forgotten that Kerry has made his service in Viet Nam the reason he is fit to be Commander in Chief? We don't know what Kerry stands for today because he keeps us focused on what he did 30 years ago. And why does the Statesman say that the claims made by over 200 veterans who were there with Kerry during his four and a half months in Viet Nam are "highly suspect", yet give credence to one dissenter, John McCain, who wasn't even there. I respect John McCain, but he has publicly said that he doesn't like it Veterans fight about their war records. It's clear what McCain's motivation for dissent.
So, following the Statesman logic, shouldn't you also be calling on Kerry to denounce George Soros's $15M to MoveOn.org's ad campaign that compared the President to Hitler?

Remember that I only get 150 words to the editor, so I had to be concise. I think I hit my point.

- posted by Simmering @ 9:16 PM

 
Trying not to fall into cliche'
One of the things I really do enjoy about the Olympics is how the athletes and there accomplishments can be a metaphor for life and the "real world". In the Olympics, the athlete who takes home the gold medal, and thus all the glory (and endorsement deals!) doesn't have to destroy his or her opponent, they just have to win. The margin of victory can be by hundredths of a second or hundredths of a point. They are still the winner, and thus they take all of the spoils. The real world is much the same.

I think of all the opportunities that I have won or lost in my professional career, many of them were narrowly won and lost, and yet the margin of victory didn't matter. What mattered is that I had won, and the opportunity turned into a contract for millions of dollars. There is no silver medal for second place in the real world. Silver medals in the real world doesn't put food on the table, and in the Olympics, it doesn't get you the endorsements.

- posted by Simmering @ 11:05 PM