The Surge

I almost feel sorry for Bush.

He made such a big deal about the troop surge, saying we had to trust him, let him act as Commander in Chief, confidence, bravado, tough-talking, etc, etc. He got a whole bunch of Republicans to support him, but now, before the increase has even had a chance to succeed or fail, his own guys are backing off! So now, like a man pleading with a loan shark, he's reduced to effectively begging them to give him some more time.

But I don't actually feel sorry for him because despite his confident claims that this surge was going to be the difference, this was going to work, etc, he is now flip-flopping and saying that if this one doesn't work, then maybe he'll consider another strategy.

Spineless goon!

Women Deserve Better Than Abortion

I just saw the above statement on a bumper sticker and I couldn't let it go.

Obviously we all see statements that we disagree with, but my beef with this one is that it doesn't even make sense! One can say 'Women Deserve Better Than Low Wages' or 'Domestic Violence' and those statements make sense. Low wages and domestic violence are things that are done to women by other people. To say that women deserve better is to say that they should not be treated in that way, that bad things should not be done to them.

I can only assume that the statement's author is trying to tap into some kind of feministic sympathy by implying that women as a whole are being wronged by abortion. The truth is, of course, the exact opposite. To abort or not to abort is not something done to a woman against her will by an employer/partner/other person/men in general, but an individual choice made by a woman herself concerning what happens to her own body. If she doesn't want to abort, she doesn't have to.

The statement, then, is not only stupidly illogical, but in fact plainly untrue, because if you believe its author, the 'better' state of affairs that women deserve, is for them to be forced to bear children they don't want in order to make other people happy. If that's better then I think most women would prefer things to stay worse.