Vintage Baghdad Bob

Mxyzptlk · April 12, 2003

"I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have started to commit suicide under the walls of Baghdad. We will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly."

"Their infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad. Be assured, Baghdad is safe, protected."

"NO", snapped Mr al-Sahaf, "We have retaken the airport. There are NO Americans there. I will take you there and show you. IN ONE HOUR!"

"We defeated them yesterday. God willing, I will provide you with more information. I swear by God, I swear by God, those who are staying in Washington and London have thrown these mercenaries in a crematorium."

"Please, please! The Americans are relying on what I called yesterday a desperate and stupid method."

"They will be burnt. We are going to tackle them."

Much more here:

Baghdad Bob

theist · April 12, 2003

Hahahahaha... We have witnessed the birth of a new cult character. I suspect he may even warrant his own holloween mask.

The totally clueless now have a new acarya. By the way, has anyone seen him lately?

stonehearted · April 12, 2003

theist: By the way, has anyone seen him lately?

He hasn't shown up for work since Wednesday. Can't figure why. Maybe he has a migraine.

theist · April 12, 2003

Who knows where this band of theives have scoured off to. Like a cockroach when the kitchen light comes on.

But he lives on for us through his image and his immortal words as posted above.

Just think if Saddam & the 40 theives had been content to allow their countrymen to prosper along with them. They could have re-constructed the Garden of Eden. But no, they had to have it all. So now they are either bombed out of their body or running in the dessert dust for Syria or hiding in an underground tunnel somewhere crapping their pants in fear.

Greed for Krsna's love is perfection. Greed for matter opens the path to hell.

What a lesson is being played out before the world.

Sorry Babhru for any harsh rhetoric I sent your way. i get a little reved up sometimes.

Hare Krsna

stonehearted · April 12, 2003

theist: Sorry Babhru for any harsh rhetoric I sent your way. i get a little reved up sometimes.

Bob (not THAT Bob!): Well, of course you do! It's war, after all. If we didn't feel strongly about it, there'd clearly be something wrong with us. I hope my own testiness didn't bother you (or the others) too much. It was aimed more at the right-wing media airbags than at anyone else. (But don't get me started about the left-wing media airbags. They're just smoother in some ways than the Limbaughs and O'Reillys and Drudges. But wouldn't it be fun to have a show where one of them is matched up with someone like Al Franken? Now THAT's entertainment!)

I do have a comment, though, about Iraq, before we leave it. I heard on NPR today that Iraq's national museum has been cleaned out by looters--artifacts going back thousands of years "to the cradle of civilization in Mesopatamia." Couldn't we have foreseen this tuff and sent a few units of military police behind to keep an eye on a few of these places, ostensibly the property of the Iraqi people and of cultural value to the world?

(I know--that wasn't funny, either.)

theist · April 12, 2003

Well I saw that also on TV. The museum totally cleaned out. Some artifacts dated 4,000BC. But you blame the troops? This comes to a point that really bugs me. You choose to focus on that and blame the troops. Its war man. I think the soldiers are still trying to avoid snippers and suicide bombers. Are you aware that as we slept a US soldier was standing guard over a bank in Baghdad, trying to keep the peace, and a passerby pulled out an AK47 and killed him on the spot? That may not have gotten any air time on NPR.

You trust NPR? They do put the leftist spin out with a smooth presentation, I'll give them that. You need some Michael Savage to balance that out. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

livingentity · April 13, 2003

Funny you mention him. I was going ask if anyone else listens to him. He also has a show on MSNBC.

stonehearted · April 13, 2003

No, I don't blame the troops; I do, however, question the planning. If the purpose of this action was to liberate the Iraqi people, the generals should have been able to foresee the unrest that would ensue and included some provision for maintaining order so the assets of the Iraqi people may survive (and not just oil wells--another discussion entirely). Otherwise, they would naturally feel some resentment and humiliation, especially if they depend on handouts to rebuild their nation. Any discussion beyond this is best left, I think, to international and military lawyers (from whom we have heard much the last couple of days).

As for NPR--no, I don't particularly trust them, but I have more confidence in them than Fox, NBC, CBS, and Pacifica (I don't pay enough to get CNN, but those guys are just as much about entertainment and money as the rest). As I've said before, left and right are matters of relative perception only (if you're Trent Lott, Olympia Snow is a leftie, but if you're Ted Kennedy, she's pretty convservative) and ultimately bulls**t (can I write that here?). I heard an interview Scott Simon did years ago with Cesar Chavez, somewhat a a liberal icon in California. Simon went after Chavez pretty aggressively about a couple of things (I don't remember the details), so much that Chavez became very defensive and showed a less attractive side than California lefties may be comfortable considering. I found it particularly striking because Simon is most likely somewhere to the left of George Will.

You want left? Listen to Pacifica Radio. NPR is ultra-right in comparison. NPR only looks left to those whose preferred diet is Limbaugh, O'Reilly, North, Drudge, Mike Reagan, and Savage. What I like most about NPR is the breadth of their coverage and their cultural features. The news is presented on a way slightly more appealing to me than others.

Regarding Pacifica: about 15 years ago I heard a program there that was a tape recording of a six-hour conversation among Ginsburg, Felinghetti, and Gary Snyder. The first words spoken in this conversation (early 1967) were, "Hare Krishna, " and the first topic was Swami Bhaktivedanta and the impact he had made on the young people in San Francisco.

theist · April 13, 2003

Yeah I remember when he first started his radio show here in the Bay area. He is quite a character. His presentation is geared to elict emotional responses but that is a style that is important to have in the public discourse. People need a solid slap in the cheeks once in a while. Pull back the curtain and look at things the way they really are. Of course I am not in total agreement with him on all things but certainly on most.

Have you heard his radion show?

I love his tag line in the form of a warning "...pyschological nudity..." haha

theist · April 13, 2003

Yes these labels are largely relative.I have traveled the full spectrum from selling Weatherunderground newspapers on street corners to my present Paul Wolfiwitz type stance on premption.

NPR being largely taxpayer funded has the luxery of a nice presentation without commercial breaks. Public TV is also good this way. I like Nova and Frontline for instance. Did you catch their show on Saddam? But the best show I've seen is firing line with William F. Buckley Jr. I can feel you cringing from here.

One time I was flipping channels and I hit on firing line. Allen Ginsberg was playing harmonium and chanting Hare Krsna as Buckley looked on and listen. Ginsberg was in his guru mode and turned to Buckley and explained how the mantra is non-different from Krsna, to which Buckley replied." Yeah, but not when you chant it." Priceless.

Has NPR run anything on the torture chambers or the children freed from Saddam's prisions for not joining his Lion Cubs indoctrination corps for youth?

More important than old pottery I think. Not to minimize the later but lets keep things in perspective

stonehearted · April 13, 2003

theist: NPR being largely taxpayer funded has the luxery of a nice presentation without commercial breaks. Public TV is also good this way. I like Nova and Frontline for instance. Did you catch their show on Saddam? But the best show I've seen is firing line with William F. Buckley Jr. I can feel you cringing from here.

No cringing here. Yes, I think what i like best of all is no commercials. And I think Buckley is great. His show is always smart, regardless of his unabashed arrogance. The show I liked best (years ago) was a show around Christmas time with Malcolm Muggeridge, who spoke quite eloquently about the importance of having a relationship with God. I wish I had that one on tape. I wish I'd seen the Ginsburg one. Bill Buckley is fast with his tongue indeed. He's also not ashamed of literally looking down his nose when speaking to others. He's a very (very!) conservative person who supports decriminalization of certain drugs.

NPR has indeed covered the torture and the lion cubs. And, yes, that's more important than old shards. Archeology is fun, but it doesn't do much to improve the lives of those of us suffering the pangs of birth, disease, old age, and death.

Yes, I did see the Frontline on Saddam Hussein. The thrust was clearly that he is an evil, evil person. To balance this, I also remember a show several years ago profiling Newt Gingrich. This guy may not be evil, but he is definitely a creep. Would make a good match for Clinton: creep left/creep right.