I'm off to Savannah, Ga. tomorrow

[beachmom]

I'm off for a "Moms weekend away with no kids". I will have no access to a computer, and have decided to make it a news fast weekend, too (Dr. Andrew Weil recommends that as a good prescription for optimum health). That doesn't mean there won't be some political talk -- I am going with 4 other people -- 3 of them voted for *, so I'll have to semi behave myself so they don't kick me out of the condo! One of them is REALLY Republican but she may have the scoop on Iran (she was right about Iraq, so I trust her sources), so I'll have to be a little diplomatic so I can pump her for info. Plus her brother was in Iraq doing civil engineering work for the Army (not all Republicans are chickenhawks -- some of them actually walk what they talk), so I would like to hear his story.

IB and WEL -- my DVD burning of the speech on the computer failed so I have to burn another one manually tonight. I guess I'll have to suffer and watch JK's speech again :). I'll drop them in the mail for you tomorrow morning.

I'll miss you guys, and may end up with the shakes being disconnected from everything, but I think this vacation will do my soul some good. Happy blogging while I'm gone, and we'll chat next week!

[JohnKleeb]

1. Savannah is supposed to be beautiful I hear

Have a great time and some non political stuff will be nice. Have a great time.

[karynnj]

2. Have a really really great time

It should be a great break.

[WildEyedLiberal]

3. Have a great time!

Question about your friend: she knew Iraq was going to be a clusterfuck, but she supports Bush anyway?

:wtf:

[beachmom]

4. No, she knew the U.N. stuff in January as well as the weapons

inspectors were a charade, and actually worked to the military's advanatage to have everything prepared for an invasion. She said it was a delay that kept Saddam guessing what would happen, and therefore not fully prepared to fight back.

Repeat -- Colin Powell, U.N. Security Council Resolutions, weapons inspections.

All of it was a charade, completely irrelevant on *'s planned invasion of Iraq.

Yes, my friend was for that.

She told me all of this in January 2003.

[WildEyedLiberal]

5. That's disturbing.

I would seriously question her morals at that point.

[beachmom]

6. She's a true believer in "saving the Iraqis from Saddam Hussein"

She was horrified when I said * aims to have permanent bases in Iraq, and then I told her that Kerry brought it up in the debates and * did NOT deny it. She could not accept the darker side to that invasion, and thought of it as freeing the Iraqi people.

This probably is hard to wrap one's brain around, but there are some people for the war who think it is an act of "good", like WWII. They still don't understand that they have been bamboozled. I haven't talked to her in a while; maybe she's not in the 32% approval rating. Interestingly, her officer husband (they're both military) who is still madder than hell at Clinton for almost getting him killed in what he called wag the dog dogfights in the no fly zone in Iraq was against the war. He thought it was stupid to go in. His wife, however, is a "true believer". There are a lot of soldiers like that, who will help an individual Iraqi family, and think it's moral to be there. They don't see the big picture and how their acts of goodness are an aberration of a larger bid for imperial power.

[WildEyedLiberal]

7. Eesh.

I hope she's seen the light since then. Civil war is certainly not going to help the Iraqis any. :scared:

[MH1]

12. Hmmm....has she heard what is happening to women in many parts of Iraq?

Just wonder how she feels about that, or has she been insulated from that info.

[beachmom]

13. Well, to be fair to her, she just had a baby in Jan. so I don't know

how much she is paying attention to all of the news like we are. And she's bringing the baby with her since she's still breastfeeding, so I suppose I can't exactly hit her with all of this too much. She's probably more worried about getting sleep than world events. What I was talking about was what she said last summer, and obviously, things have gotten a LOT worse since then, plus Katrina.

To be honest, most military people I know were for this war and voted for *. I feel distinctly in the minority, but I feel like now the truth is on my side, and will have no problem speaking up (calmly hopefully) to call out the lies that the administration continues to churn out.

[karynnj]

8. Wow,

I'm more shocked that she would tell anyone - even a very good friend. I'm less shocked that a good person (which she likely is or you wouldn't have her as a friend) could accept this - she likely felt the war was needed and anything that helped us, cut our loses was fair game. She likely saw it as the CIC's decision. What does she think now when it's failed and has had so much blow back.

[beachmom]

15. It was an open secret, really

The military was poised to attack, not stand down. The U.N. shananigans changed that fact not one iota. We were just all talking about Iraq, and she just told us that, very matter of factly. Everyone knew the U.N. inspections would not get in the way of regime change.

Edited to add:

Even with that info, I STILL thought there were SOME WMD (as did my friend) in Iraq, which tells you how well the propaganda worked on us all. The idea at the time was that Saddam Hussein would be able to hide it on the inspectors, so we HAD to go in. Obviously, with the CIA info we have now, we know that was the biggest load of B.S. of them all. With Iran, I'm not falling for that! (I only read MSM back then)

[Island Blue]

9. Have a great trip Beachmom!

No hurry on the DVD, jut whenever you get a chance. (Thanks again for that btw.)

I heard someone say today that a lot of gas stations up your way are out of gas. Have you noticed that? (I haven't had much time to watch the VA news lately.) I wonder how our respective tourist seasons are going to be affected by fuel prices. It should be an interesting summer.

Again, have a great time in Savannah. This should be a beautiful time of the year for a visit.

[WildEyedLiberal]

10. I definitely second the "no hurry"

If you can't get it finished before you leave, no worries. I have the mp3 now :D and at any rate, thanks for going through all the trouble do this! Just whenever is convenient for you is fine.

Have fun!

[MH1]

11. Cool Enjoy the trip.

I think Dr. Weil is onto something. Everyone needs a break some time!

Good luck with the * voters though...that would be harder for me than going without news for a weekend.
Although it is a good chance to observe the...uh...well, get some idea what they were thinking. ;-)

Anyway I hope the trip is safe and fun!

[beachmom]

14. In case you were wondering . . .

I'm friends with these ladies because we have a lot in common regarding parenting, our choice to stay home, etc. The girl I was talking about who is for the war -- she's a really good Mom, and I agree with her a lot on parenting issues. I'm sure all the other Moms here will agree that parenting methods are just about if not more controversial than politics. Interestingly, James Dobson is in that world, too, with a ton of parenting books that all advocate "not sparing the rod". None of these Moms agree with THAT nonsense!

But I have to admit, as my interest in politics grows, it gets harder relating to the trivia a lot of people talk about.

[karynnj]

16. Not at all

My best friend in my neighborhood is Republican. As are many people I became friends with through my kids.

[TayTay]

17. Have a great time and enjoy the kid-less weekend

That is so special and rare, believe me, I know. Have a blast and a rest. (Hmmm, if these things are not incompatible.)

This stuff is in that book Cobra II. Very frightening. Rumsfeld needs to go. And I understand about being in a military area and having the majority of the people support the Repubs. sigh!