ISIS & the Stupidity of Evil Can Kill Both Domestic & Foreign

Rosewater is a movie written and directed by Jon Stewart about a Canadian-Iranian journalist named Maziar Bahari who found himself jailed in Iran for 118 days due to idiotic Iranian spy accusations based on nonsense.

At some point in Rosewater Jon Stewart sums it up, saying "Some people are just idiots, and the stupidity of evil can kill you".

Which brings me to the idiotic stupidity of that entity known as ISIS, currently terrorizing large swatches of Iraq and Syria with crucifixions, mass murders and beheadings, among with other atrocities.

The world reaction to the ISIS debacle totally perplexes me.

We have had multiple beheadings of Americans, shown via video on YouTube. Along with beheadings of nationals of American allies, like the UK.

When is the United Nations Security Council going to meet to deal with ISIS?

How is it that the United States presented a case before the United Nations Security Council calling for action against Saddam Hussein, and Iraq, due to what turned out to be false claims that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction posing a threat to the peace of the world?

And so America led its allies in America's first pre-emptive war, against a foe who had beheaded no Americans.

What is the point of America spending trillions of dollars on defense when we have a situation where Americans are being beheaded with America not using the full power at its disposal, both military and diplomatic, to put an end to ISIS?

I don't get it.

All that money wasted taking down Saddam, and the chaos which followed, which pretty much led to the festering of the ISIS virus.

The United States led a coalition of around a half million soldiers to free Kuwati from Iraq. The United Nations was on board with that.

Is this ISIS problem not at least as serious as was the Iraqi takeover of Kuwait?

It is just maddening, all the resources wasted with the toppling of Saddam, who posed no threat, with that toppling resulting in the deaths of thousands of American soldiers, the wounding of thousands more, the deaths of untold thousands of Iraqis.

All in a war which never should have happened and which brought about the instability brought by ISIS.

You think ISIS would be beheading Americans if Saddam where still in control of Iraq?

No.

Would America be better off right now if Saddam were still in control of Iraq?

Most likely yes.

Would America be better off right now if the man who actually won the 2000 election became president, rather than the man who got a couple million fewer votes than George W. Bush?

Most likely yes.

How does George W. Bush sleep at peace with himself? I have no idea. The benefit of having no conscience?

Most likely yes.....

Is President Obama Channeling Teddy Roosevelt Speaking Softly While Carrying A Big Stick?

On September 2, 1901, American Vice-President Teddy Roosevelt, in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair, used the phrase, in regards to American foreign policy, that America should "speak softly and carry a big stick."

Four days later President William McKinley was shot by a terrorist assassin, Leon Czolgosz. McKinley died on September 14, 1901, which made Teddy Roosevelt America's president for the first 8 years of the new century.

Sort of a George W. Bush of his day.

Only Teddy Roosevelt exercised America's power in a less noisy way than George W. Bush, who spoke way too loudly and used a big stick way too much.

Tonight America's current president, Barack Obama, is giving a speech from the Oval Office regarding Syria. Regarding Syria, President Obama seems to be sort of speaking softly while threatening to use the big stick.

The speaking softly, while threatening, seems to be having some results. There have been no fresh reports of Syrian sarin gas murders. The Syrian Civil War seems to be taking a bit of a break. There seems to be a lot of international debate going on regarding what to do about Syria, if anything.

Somehow Russia's President Putin has managed to get himself in the role of peacemaker, doing his own version of sort of speaking softly while not carrying quite as big a stick as America carries.

To my way of thinking I prefer the Barack Obama go slow approach, applying pressure, listening to the debate, to the George W. Bush approach of boldly going where no sane president has gone before, invading another nation to "pre-emptively" remove a supposed threat that turned out to be non-existent, and in the process seeing thousands of American soldiers killed, a number in excess of the number murdered in the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks. Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of Iraqis killed during the Iraq War's American use of its big stick, when speaking softly had been working well for years keeping Saddam Hussein from being a bad boy.

I hope Obama's speech tonight hits it out of the ballpark, continuing with that big stick metaphor, but I am not all that optimistic that I am going to like what I am about to hear.

America could really use a Teddy Roosevelt. Or his cousin Franklin. In these troubled times....

I Am With George Carlin Thinking About How Stupid The Average Person Is

Judging by this quote it would seem George Carlin knows how stupid the average person is and that half of them are even stupider than how stupid you think they are.

I have no idea how stupid the average person is. I do know a lot of average people are really stupid. I make note of that when talking to them, or reading what they write in various venues that give stupid people unfettered access.

Like Facebook.

When stupid people lose their temper it truly is an unsettling spectacle to witness. It is like suddenly you are being granted access to the swirling nonsense to which their brain neurons must subject them all the time.

There really is no reasoning with a stupid person, near as I can tell. I know I've had little success in penetrating a stupid person's thinking. When I try, the stupid person usually just gets more upset and gets deeper in to his or her angry place.

The planet is plagued by stupid people both on the micro and the macro level.

Take this whole Syria situation.

I'd wear myself out trying to iterate all the ways the Syria problem is stupid.

I do see a lot of smart comments regarding the stupid Syria problem. People belittling the idea of countering violence with more violence.

If Syria's Assad did a bad bad thing by murdering his citizens with Sarin nerve gas, how does it fix that problem by sending in some Tomahawk missiles to inflict some damage?

I read some smart person suggest that we do a massive flyover of Syria airdropping all sorts of humanitarian aid to the beleaguered areas of Syria. That would not be a stupid thing to do....

If Syria's Assad Needs To Go What About North Korea's Kim-Jong-Un?

The jungle drums keep on beating for the predicted upcoming American strike against Syria.

Even though the UK has now backed out from participating.

Leaving the U.S. with France and Turkey being its prime allies in this latest American foray into being the world's policeman.

You really can not go wrong with France and Turkey covering your backside.

I totally understand the current Syria Fixation. Apparently actual neuro-toxin weapons of mass destruction were used by Assad's regime to kill a lot of innocent people. And rebels.

The civilized world can not tolerate any regime anywhere in the world being so brutal to its people by using so brutal a weapon as poisonous gas.

Meanwhile in another country in the world, which is also ruled by a bizarre familial ruling dictator system, North Korea, for some reason America is not quite so adamant about a lesson being taught and a regime being changed.

North Korea has actually exploded weapons of mass destruction known as atom bombs. North Korea has actually threatened to put one of those bombs on a missile and aim it at America. North Korea brutally represses any opposition, with thousands thrown in prison.

North Korea is ruled by a little man named Kim-Jong-un who clearly has some serious mental health issues.

In the past week it was reported that Kim-Jong-un had one of his ex-girl friends executed.

Singer Hyon Song-wol and 11 others were arrested on August 17 for violating North Korea's laws against pornography.

Three days after her arrest Kim-Jong-un's ex-girlfriend was executed by a firing squad using machine guns, along with 11 other members of the performing groups Unhasu Orchestra and Wangjaesan Light Music Band.

Members of the orchestra and band who were not machine gunned, along with the murdered victim's families, were brought to the execution site to watch. And then sent to prison camps.

Now, I may be totally wrong here, but to me, I think the world needs to be rid of Kim-Jong-un at least as much as Syria's latest Assad needs to go.

I would think China would be on board with America in fixing the North Korea problem once and for all. It would be in both nation's long term interest to do so.

Or so it seems to me...

Let Me See If I Have This Right...We Are Attacking Syria Because Syria Attacked Syria?

"Let me see if I have this right...We are attacking Syria, because Syria attacked Syria?"

Did Ron Paul really ask this question?

I don't know.

I found this graphic on Facebook via Martin B.

I think, at times, Ron Paul can be a bit loony, yet at the same time often make really good sense. And ask good questions.

With this Syria deal methinks Ron Paul is right to be a bit perplexed.

I know I'm perplexed.

We, by we, I mean the United States, invaded and deposed Saddam Hussein because we thought he had weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons.

The assertion is that Assad's Syrian regime has actually used chemical weapons to murder hundreds of Syrian rebels fighting to oust Assad.

Back before the first Gulf War, that being the one led by the first President Bush, Saddam had used chemical weapons to murder a large number of Iraqis.  A much larger number than Assad's alleged murder victims. But, nothing was done, at that time, to punish Saddam.

So, how do we administer justice in this current Syrian case? Depose Assad and charge him with crimes against humanity. Or just do some random bombing? Like a spanking, hoping he behaves better.

Martin B, on Facebook posed an amusing, but flawed analogy...

A little make believe story: Hillary Clinton becomes our next Prez. In reaction to this a far FAR right faction of redneck Tea Party members go absolutely ape. With Susan McDougal as their spokes person they gain numbers and take to the streets of DC demanding that Hillary step down. The mob grows, the redneck Tea Partiers even burn a Prius or two. Intelligence sources inform Prez Hillary that a huge number of the redneck Tea Party have gathered in a central location and are planning to rush the White House, forcing her from office. Fearing for her administration, Hillary orders a chemical attack......200 rednecks are dead, another 100 or so innocent Walmart shoppers also perish. In reaction to this, Russia puts a missile or two into the Pentagon and into a couple of the military bases around DC...as a "warning shot." I've written enough...you guys can finish the story.....

Which had one of Martin B's Facebook friends pointing out the obvious...

The analogy to Syria is seriously flawed, unless you're claiming a US presidential election is akin to whatever means Syria used to choose its current president.

The current Syria situation has way too many ways it could go badly awry. The world does not need anything going badly awry right now....