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Let me publicly appologize for leaving the impression that I was accusing you, syriacus, of lacking anything, be it an appreciation of irony or any other virtue. I am the one to blame for my lack of precision and I'm sorry. You may see in my recent follow up blog I refered instead to a generalized phenemenon among many active conservative bloggers. But you have to admit that it is ironic (I won't say hypoctitical) that Mr. Ashcroft wouldn't do what he had called on young people to do, since by his own admission he thought the letter from Harvard was real. Thanks for hearing me out. p.s. I thought adlaiestevenson didn't read well as a screen name.

I'm sure I would be skeptical if I were you as well, but I don't even like Bruce Springsteen's music, much less spend my time on any fan website. Ever since Born in the USA came out,I noticed that like for most pop tunes, people tend to read into it what they expect. So I punched up Google to get the lyrics and make sure I didn't just remember it wrong. I am, however a liberal, like our new Presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark, who sees no contradiction in being proud of the fact that, as General Clark said on Bill Maher's show last week, we live in a liberal democracy. The reason I registered on Freerepublic is the same reason I have listened to over 3000 hours of Rush Limbaugh ( thats right, 6 hours per week since spring of '92) During my 400 mile per week commute to my surgical practice in Lower Bucks County PA. It is the same reason that I've read William Buckley's classic work "UP FROM LIBERALISM"(out of print but available), and read conservative literature in about a ten-to one ratio over liberal works for more than 25 years. It's because I'm committed to get more intelligent with time, not more closed minded. I'm sure that all members of Freerepublic would find that their policy positions would be enhanced if they they read valid opposing views as much as possible. Let's face it, since I can appreciate "Maha-rushdie at the golden EIB microphone", some of our conservative bloggers can read Paul Krugman's "The Great Unraveling". Good reading!

A 20 year veteran with full permanent disability gets the disability pay but not his regular service pension because the government deducts the disability as a "tax" against their pension. These wounded former soldiers should, in my opinion get both. And for that matter, they(like former Sen. Max Cleleland, who left three limbs in vietnam)shouldn't pay any tax on either. I think it is unconscionable that President Bush is blocking the reform proposal which would end this injustice. I understand that it is difficult to actually believe this is the administrations position. But, as always, I encourage you to contact either your congressman or the white house and they can confirm the unfortunate truth.

Of course it makes sense if you realize the
Attorney General was promoting an abstenence program for teenagers in which the youngsters were to submit their own stories of adherence to sexual abstenence prior to marriage. Since Mr. Ashcroft believes his program is effective, and assuming that he is not a hypocrite (like, say Rep. Dan Burton who lied for 20 years about having an illigitimate child while calling the President names for lying about sex, Rep. Henry Hyde's affair, Rep. Helen Chenowith's affair and Newt Gingrich having an affair on his second wife with a woman from his church choir) then you would expect Mr. Ashcroft would be eager to tell his own abstenence stories as he expected others to. But he didn't. If you had read what the controversy regarding the Franken letter to Ashcroft was about, you would have to know that. But as I said before, I don't see evidence that conservatives generally perceive irony, as your politely well intentioned response shows.

The attack on the USS Liberty is a shameful chapter in our history. The answers of why the attack occured, and the US

response however are easier to explain. With the most recent Freedom of Information Act documents, and the comprehensive

history of the National Security agency by James Bamford titled Body of Secrets a clear picture is rendered. During the

Six Day War, the Joint Chiefs needed rapid intelligence on the ground situation in Egypt, fearing possible US and

USSR involvement. Remember that the Israeli Military, was then, principally armed by the French, not the US. Land based

stations, like the one in Cyprus were too far away to collect the narrow line-of-sight signals used by air defense radar, fire

control radar and microwave communications. The airborne SIGINT platforms, C-130s and EC_121s were limited to

about 5 hour stints in their "orbit areas" and couldn't provide sustained collection. That left the ships, which were all NSA

vessels. With the USS Oxford, Jamestown, Georgetown, and Belmont in the Pacific, and the USS Muller off Cuba,

that left the USNS Valdez and the USS Liberty. The Valdez was passing Gibraltar, going back to the States and the

USS Liberty was tasked.

By June 8, three days into the war, the Egyptian prisoners in the Sinai had become nuisances with no place to house them,

or enough Israleis to watch them. At El Arish, eavesdropping within eyeshot was the USS Liberty. The crew witnessed

the execution of sixty unarmed Egyptian prisoners, hands tied behind their backs. About 400 more prisoners were executed

in this fashon in El Arish by the Isralei army officers that day. This has been verified by Isralei military historian Aryeh

Yitzhaki, based on testimony from dozens of soldiers who admitted killing POWs. As many as 1000 other Egyptian POWs

were killed this way in the Sinai. Also 14 Indian peacekeepers flying the UN flag were killed in an apparently deliberate

attack. With the killing of the unarmed UN forces, the Israleis had crossed the Rubicon, and committed themselves to no

surviving witnesses. By 10:55 am, Senior Isralei officials knew for certain that an American surveillance ship was in their midst.

It had been positively identified by Isralei naval headquarters and clearly visible to the forces at El Arish. Commander Pinchas

Pinchasy, the naval liason at IAF referenced the "GTR-5" designation ( clearly painted on bow and stern, port and starboard

adjacent to "USS LIBERTY") in Janes Fighting Ships. His report of "an electromagnetic audio-surveillance ship of the

U.S. Navy, named Liberty, whose marking was GTR-5", was received at Isralei Naval Headquarters in Haifa, and survives to

this day.

Here's the kicker: for 35 years the NSA has hidden the fact that one of its planes was overhead during the slaughter,

eavesdropping the attack, A Navy EC-121 ferrett out of Athens. The intercepts from that plane, which answer some of

the key questions about the attack, remain among the NSAs most guarded secrets. All Americans should demand thier

release.

And remember, we Liberals can be patriotic too.
adlaistevenson

In the Ronald Reagan zenith of 1984, Bruce Springsteens' politics were actually as outspoken as they are today. In fact, he believed he was hiding it in plain view with his hit "Born in the USA". The middle verses tell the story:
"I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To go and kill the yellow man
[chorus]
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said 'Son don't you understand'".

Apropos of todays' permanently disabled war veterans who are unable to collect both disability pay and military pension as they should. President Bush has blocked this proposal, unknown to most Americans. If you don't believe me ask ARMY TIMES. See ARMYTIMES.com editorial june 30, 2003.

Although Al Franken was, at the time, a fellow at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard, his unauthorized use of the Harvard letterhead for that purpose did, regretably, embarass Harvard. As in most satire, the purpose is to reveal something absurd about the subject through wit. Considering that Franken was asking Mr. Ashcroft to share his own abstinence story, you would expect a quickly forthcoming response. Which never came. Sometimes I think the conservative world would be enriched if you ever appreciated irony.

With all due respect, Bruce Springsteen has been a worldwide star for 30 years, so I don't think "flash in the pan" is quite accurate.

He thinks he's The Boss; and he is.