Friday, May 25, 2007

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Blogging has been scarce of late, as I've tried to catch up on all the work I should have been but wasn't doing over the past . . . oh well, let's just say I fell behind but am now racing toward the finish line.

On Monday, I'll be leaving for a much needed (though perhaps not deserved) vacation on the Aegean. Before going, however, I wanted to link to the following article, which delves into attempts by our President (sorry, that would be Vice President) Dick Cheney to tie the President's (that would be George W. Bush's) hands on the issue of military action against Iran. In case you're wondering, Cheney is into it. Why not, after our stunning successes in Iraq?

I've long harbored suspicions that Bush was selected as a candidate by the Republican hierarchy because he was seen as a tractable, vain, and naive, in other words, easily manipulatable by the likes of Cheney and Rumsfeld. Of course, it's just a suspicion on my part, because as an American citizen, I really have no insight into the the workings of my government. I fear that this may be by design, or am I lapsing into cynicism?

Though I could be wrong, it is difficult to understand how a nation of 300 million manages to elect, not once but twice, a man manifestly unsuited to the responsibilities of his position. Perhaps there is more to this story than simply the free play of democracy. For whatever it's worth, here in Turkey, when people discuss American politics (which they quite frequently do) Cheney is generally cast as the puppeteer.

My thanks to Ken Frost for raising this issue and linking to this article on his website, Nanny Knows Best (see links to the left). While we're on the topic of interesting links, I've added a new discovery, What I Saw in America, to my list.

I'll be back in Istanbul, with more time to play, in early June.

Try not to get into any wars until then.

9 comments:

Daniel said...

Yes the summertime is fun, I like the time and my close friend on EbonyFriends.com also like it. we love to have a trip by the sea in the summer. we think it is the best time.

Black Sea said...

Thank you for your "comment" Daniel, or should I say HAL?

Richard said...

I wonder who would be commenting on this site if you were calling it The Dead Sea?

Yes the summertime is fun, I like the time and my close friend on ZombieFriends.com also like it. we love to have a trip by the sea in the summer. we think it is the best time.

Anonymous said...

I also like the summertime, but has 'The Black Sea' become a site for proclaiming the bleedin' obvious? If so, let me publicly announce that I like breathing, eating, sleeping and - from time-to-time - sex.
I think that, other than this site, my friends also like grumpyoldexpat.com (if only the idle bastard who runs it would update it more often).
In Britain, the press calls summer 'The Silly Season'; you can see why.

Richard said...

"I like breathing"

Gee, I never thought about breathing. Eating, yeah, sure, we've all said, "that was a great meal." But, has anyone ever said, "wow, that was a damn good bit of breathing I just did?"

Certainly, the alternative to not breathing is absolutely no fun.

Richard said...

"Though I could be wrong, it is difficult to understand how a nation of 300 million manages to elect, not once but twice, a man manifestly unsuited to the responsibilities of his position."

To be fair, there was not much of a choice. Gore vs. Bush or Kerry vs. Bush.

Here in the People's Republic I know a lot of "progressives." They were, of course, not going to vote for Bush. Neither was I. What got me was there praise of Kerry as the better man. I would ask them to name one pithy and articulate comment he had ever made. Only one answered. She said with embarassment, "Bring it On.

The beauty contest primary system seems to winnow out talent as well.

Black Sea said...

Still on vacation. One more week to go. I'm happy to say that I have nothing of consequence to add on any topic whatsoever.

Other than a lot of eating and a lot of sun, I've done nothing at all for the past week.

Good luck to those of you living in the normal world. I will be rejoining you in one more week.

Keep hoeing that row,

Black Sea

Anonymous said...

Rowing that hoe?

Anonymous said...

мне кажется: превосходно... а82ч