So, I've been reading about the Korean hostages recently freed from the Taliban in Afghanistan, Senator Craig's scandal, gay marriage in Iowa, etc. Pretty much all the things you're not supposed to talk about when you first meet someone, politics, religion, with sexual orientation thrown in for good measure (twice).
I'm glad the Korean missionaries have been released, and feel sorry for the two that were executed, although I'm somewhat surprised there wasn't more carnage. What bothers me is that the Korean government has given the Taliban some semblance of legitimacy simply by just talking to them. Now I understand that the first thing you do in a hostage situation is try to establish contact to negotiate. And I also understand that by capturing people from a less powerful country (than say the US or UK), the Taliban stood a better chance of not awakening a sleeping giant. What I don't see is how any of this made the slightest bit of difference in the long run. The hostages were freed for the promise of the ROK removing their non-combat troops by the end of the year, something they were going to do anyway. Both the Taliban & the Korean government swear upside down & sideways that no money changed hands, but I think that's unlikely. There was no other incentive for them to be released, certainly not the reassurance of the government that they really were going to do what they said they were going to do anyway. And what of the outrage of the Korean people, the news reports I've read indicated that they were angry at the US, not the Taliban for the incident. I'm sorry, but I just don't see the connection. Twenty-three well meaning folks go to a foreign country that doesn't want them, to do what they believe are good works under the auspices of whatever Christian church they belong to, for a people who believe that apostasy is cause for putting folks to death, and they expect to have an uneventful trip? Now the Korean government has bailed them out, probably for a ransom, and promised to do what it said it was going to do anyway, and, oh yeah, we won't sponsor any more christian missionaries to "your" country. Frankly, I'm disappointed in the Korean government, they didn't used to be that way. In Vietnam, if a prisoner found out that they were to be interrogated by ROK troops, they'd starting talking immediately in the hopes of preventing the interrogation. The ROK troops had a well earned reputation for fearlessness and harsh treatment of any prisoners they might take. Too bad that Korea has lost that respect.
On to Senator Craig. I know nothing of his record, or much at all about him other than what I've read in the past couple of weeks about his being railroaded out of office. I read Ben Stein's article about this the other day, and I have to say I agree. While I think it was pretty ill advised to plead guilty to the charge, certainly in the day of the Drudge Report, I think I can see some reasons why he might have pled as he did. That said, it seems to me that Ben's right, all he was arrested for was tapping his foot while in the bathroom. If this is the case, his guilty plea makes all the more sense, as he thought it was just a bit of nonsense more quickly dealt with by a guilty plea than to spend the time in court. Nobody wants to advertise that they've been arrested in a sex sting, even if they're not guilty. A quick, easy out, especially for a public figure might look like a good idea. But they have to understand, someone's going to find out, it is public record after all. And they're going to tell someone else, etc. till it gets onto a news desk somewhere, and it blows up in your face & ruins your career. As a republican he has to (or should) understand that the liberal press (IE democratic) is just dying for stories about elected officials they can drag in the mud. Did you see the coverage for this on CNN? It was seemingly every fifteen minutes or less for a couple of weeks straight. Now, possibly he was trying to solicit sex in that bathroom, if so, then I think he's too stupid to be a senator anyway. And possibly he is gay or bisexual, if so, who cares? I can't see how either leaning would affect your ability to work as a government servant. In any case, I feel badly for the guy, my gut feeling is that he was arrested by an overzealous cop, then tried to make it go away as quickly as he could, and it came back to bite him, once the media got a hold of it, it ran like a wildfire till he was escorted out of his office (well, the end of this month).
Iowa allowed same sex marriages for a while, then they were ruled illegal again. And those who'd had their marriages performed already? Their licenses were invalid. My thoughts on this whole mess are these: who cares? If folks want to get married, let them. We've been down this exact same road in other states. If you're worried about them having kids, you need to go back to biology class, if you're worried about them adopting, no studies that I'm aware of have shown that kids raised by gay parents are any different than any other kids. In fact they're probably more well adjusted. If you're worried that your insurance premiums will go up because all of a sudden they support same sex unions, you need to come to your senses and live in the twenty first century. If you're worried that they'll corrupt our youth, destroy our military, or whatever, I think you need to think outside your little world.
I'm glad the Korean missionaries have been released, and feel sorry for the two that were executed, although I'm somewhat surprised there wasn't more carnage. What bothers me is that the Korean government has given the Taliban some semblance of legitimacy simply by just talking to them. Now I understand that the first thing you do in a hostage situation is try to establish contact to negotiate. And I also understand that by capturing people from a less powerful country (than say the US or UK), the Taliban stood a better chance of not awakening a sleeping giant. What I don't see is how any of this made the slightest bit of difference in the long run. The hostages were freed for the promise of the ROK removing their non-combat troops by the end of the year, something they were going to do anyway. Both the Taliban & the Korean government swear upside down & sideways that no money changed hands, but I think that's unlikely. There was no other incentive for them to be released, certainly not the reassurance of the government that they really were going to do what they said they were going to do anyway. And what of the outrage of the Korean people, the news reports I've read indicated that they were angry at the US, not the Taliban for the incident. I'm sorry, but I just don't see the connection. Twenty-three well meaning folks go to a foreign country that doesn't want them, to do what they believe are good works under the auspices of whatever Christian church they belong to, for a people who believe that apostasy is cause for putting folks to death, and they expect to have an uneventful trip? Now the Korean government has bailed them out, probably for a ransom, and promised to do what it said it was going to do anyway, and, oh yeah, we won't sponsor any more christian missionaries to "your" country. Frankly, I'm disappointed in the Korean government, they didn't used to be that way. In Vietnam, if a prisoner found out that they were to be interrogated by ROK troops, they'd starting talking immediately in the hopes of preventing the interrogation. The ROK troops had a well earned reputation for fearlessness and harsh treatment of any prisoners they might take. Too bad that Korea has lost that respect.
On to Senator Craig. I know nothing of his record, or much at all about him other than what I've read in the past couple of weeks about his being railroaded out of office. I read Ben Stein's article about this the other day, and I have to say I agree. While I think it was pretty ill advised to plead guilty to the charge, certainly in the day of the Drudge Report, I think I can see some reasons why he might have pled as he did. That said, it seems to me that Ben's right, all he was arrested for was tapping his foot while in the bathroom. If this is the case, his guilty plea makes all the more sense, as he thought it was just a bit of nonsense more quickly dealt with by a guilty plea than to spend the time in court. Nobody wants to advertise that they've been arrested in a sex sting, even if they're not guilty. A quick, easy out, especially for a public figure might look like a good idea. But they have to understand, someone's going to find out, it is public record after all. And they're going to tell someone else, etc. till it gets onto a news desk somewhere, and it blows up in your face & ruins your career. As a republican he has to (or should) understand that the liberal press (IE democratic) is just dying for stories about elected officials they can drag in the mud. Did you see the coverage for this on CNN? It was seemingly every fifteen minutes or less for a couple of weeks straight. Now, possibly he was trying to solicit sex in that bathroom, if so, then I think he's too stupid to be a senator anyway. And possibly he is gay or bisexual, if so, who cares? I can't see how either leaning would affect your ability to work as a government servant. In any case, I feel badly for the guy, my gut feeling is that he was arrested by an overzealous cop, then tried to make it go away as quickly as he could, and it came back to bite him, once the media got a hold of it, it ran like a wildfire till he was escorted out of his office (well, the end of this month).
Iowa allowed same sex marriages for a while, then they were ruled illegal again. And those who'd had their marriages performed already? Their licenses were invalid. My thoughts on this whole mess are these: who cares? If folks want to get married, let them. We've been down this exact same road in other states. If you're worried about them having kids, you need to go back to biology class, if you're worried about them adopting, no studies that I'm aware of have shown that kids raised by gay parents are any different than any other kids. In fact they're probably more well adjusted. If you're worried that your insurance premiums will go up because all of a sudden they support same sex unions, you need to come to your senses and live in the twenty first century. If you're worried that they'll corrupt our youth, destroy our military, or whatever, I think you need to think outside your little world.
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