1/7/2009 – Editorials

We’re going to get Prairie Public Radio in this area in the fall. A repeater will be placed on the 700-foot tower four miles west of Minnewaukan which will bring good public radio reception to a large section of north central North Dakota.

But if you have Internet connections, you can listen to it now by typing in http://www.prairiepublic.org. Click on the "listen online" box near the ear-shaped logo on the left side of the home page. Then choose one of four methods of listening to the programs. If you can’t get the programs on your first try, select a different method of listening. I usually use the bottom one.

—000—

Did you hear that Sen. John McCain spent Hanukkah with Joe the Rabbi?

—000—

Say, spring can’t be far off. I got my Gurney’s catalog on December 31.

—000—

Man, have we got snow here and we’ve got three more months of winter to go. If it keeps up like this we’re going to run out of places to store it. It’s a safe bet that the lake will rise significantly.

—000—

In a December 23 interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson, President George W. Bush defended his administration, admitting no mistakes, expressing no regret and maintaining that history will vindicate him.

Solid Republican Gunnard Ness, who writes a column in several Ness newspapers headquartered in Fordville, had this to say about George W. Bush.

"While Lame Duck is the normal terminology to describe the waning days of officials serving out the last days of their terms, in the case of United States President George W. Bush, Crippled Duck would be more appropriate. Certainly his eight-year tenure has left him and the nation more crippled than lame. A cane would hardly suffice, better a wheelchair, preferably one with the smaller wheels so it has to be pushed, not operator manipulated.

"But George Bush has not yet accepted that reasoning. Rather, he has been spending considerable of his last days in office expounding how his legacy, after enough years of study have passed, will show him to be a second President Truman, if you will. From the ashes of his presidency he will be recognized as a great American president, apparently for protecting America from terrorists during his reign; for remaking the Middle East to our civilized non-dictatorial standards and for his work in eradicating horrific conditions in Africa, to name a few.

"When he didn’t agree with a line of

conversation, a long-deceased wag in our home town was wont to say, ‘Bring me some of that stuff you’re drinking so I can talk as foolishly as you.’ George Bush will need many barrels of that joy juice to satisfy the needs of the multitudes of nonbelievers of his reasoning.

"This is the side of the coin, upon which his legacy will more likely be judged:

"He either supervised or at least accepted two wars, only one of which was an action to protect the nation from a foe that had committed war against us and which war is not being concluded during his tenure. The other preemptive war was promoted and conducted by deceit. And that resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries to American and allied nations military and civilians at a financial cost expected to total a trillion dollars before its effects are paid, plus untold thousands of casualties to the other side. Which action further resulted in the nation slipping from its position of respect and admiration from most of the societies of the world to one of disdain.

"He either supervised or at least accepted the use of torture and/or other violations of human decency that this nation had long been a leader of its eradication and that had long been the basis of our Republic.

"He either supervised or accepted an economic meltdown that led to what could become an economic/social upheaval to rival the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"He either supervised or accepted the fiasco reaction to one of the great natural disasters, the hurricane that devastated New Orleans.

"He either supervised or accepted many of the violations of the basic constitutional protections of the American nation.

"And for those of us who profess to follow the Republican principles — the ones that consider government is for the protection of the people, not as the provider for the people — as the titular head of the party, he either supervised or accepted a serious rupture of the party that will likely take years to repair.

"Against these odds he takes credit for stabilizing the Middle East, protecting America from terrorism and his benevolent actions in Africa. Yes, he will need a lot of the aforementioned joy juice dispensed to convince history to accept his view of his greatness as one of the nation’s presidents."

—000—

My question is why did Republicans continue to give him all the support he wanted in eight long years of one misguided decision after another?