[Vision2020] Who is Smarter

[Bryan E. Burke]

Walter,

If part of your point is that name calling (e.g., Bush is a moron) is an
extremely flimsy and childish way to make an argument, then I agree with
that part of what you copied and forwarded.  The important thing is if a
person's statement is logical and can be supported by evidence, and that
what it recommends is ethical.  

While I don't think President George W. Bush is very bright (that does not
apply to Powell, Cheney, Rice, or "Rummy") and I sometimes joke about that,
I never make that "opinion" of mine part of my argument against his
policies.  It is just not relevant.  Decision about important policy should
be based on the merits of argument, not name calling.  

However, you committed an error in your own argument by forwarding that
email. The list of liberal, political Hollywood stars was quite biased.
Who ever made that list purposefully selected the Hollywood stars that did
not have much of a formal education, and ommitted those that did.  Consider
that Chris Christopherson was a "Rhodes Scholar."  I am confident that I
could find many other examples if I cared to check, but honestly I don't.
There are more important issues.  

Also, the left was not silent when Clinton went war.  Although Bosnia,
Kosovo, etc. were very different wars and this makes comparisons difficult,
there were anti-war efforts that were roughly proportional to size of
military mobilization and inversely proportional to international support.  

Sincerely,

Bryan E. Burke





>Who's Smarter?
>
>by Cindy Osborne 
>
>
>The Hollywood group is at it again. Holding anti-war rallies, screaming
>
>about the Bush Administration, running ads in major newspapers, defaming the
>
>President and his Cabinet every chance they get, to anyone and everyone who
>
>will listen. They publicly defile them and call them names like "stupid",
>
>"morons", and "idiots". So, just how ignorant are these people who are
>
>running the country?  Let's look at the biographies of the celebrities and 
>then at the "stupid", "ignorant", "moronic" leaders, who are being
castigated.
>
>Barbara Streisand: Completed high school
>
>Cher: Dropped out of school in 9th grade.
>
>Martin Sheen: Flunked exam to enter University of Dayton.
>
>Jessica Lange: Dropped out college mid-freshman year.
>
>Alec Baldwin: Dropped out of George Washington U. after scandal.
>
>Julia Roberts: Completed high school.
>
>Sean Penn: Completed High school.
>
>Ed Asner; Completed High school.
>
>George Clooney: Dropped out of University of Kentucky.
>
>Sarah Jessica Parker: Completed High School.
>
>Jennifer Anniston: Completed High School.
>
>Mike Farrell: Completed High school.
>
>Rose O'Donnell: Dropped out of Boston University after one year.
>
>
>President George W. Bush: Received a Bachelors Degree from Yale University
>
>and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as an F-102 pilot for the
>
>Texas Air National Guard. He began his career in the oil and gas business in
>
>Midland in 1975 and worked in the energy industry until 1986. He was elected
>
>Governor on November 8, 1994, with 53.5 percent of the vote and again
>
>November 3, 1998, winning 68.6 percent of the vote.  In 1998 Governor Bush
>
>won 49 percent of the Hispanic vote, 27 percent of the African-American
>
>vote, 27 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of women.
>
>
>
>Vice President Dick Cheney: Earned a B.A. in 1965 and a M.A. in 1966, both
>
>in political science. Two years later, he won an American Political Science
>
>Association congressional fellowship.
>
>
>Secretary of State Colin Powell: Educated in the New York City public
>
>schools, graduating from the City College of New York (CCNY), where he
>
>earned a Bachelor's Degree in geology. He also participated in ROTC at CCNY
>
>and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation in
>
>June 1958. His further academic achievements include a
>
>Master of Business Administration Degree from George Washington University.
>
>Secretary Powell is the recipient of numerous U.S. and foreign military
>
>awards and decorations. Secretary Powell's civilian awards include two
>
>Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President's Citizens Medal, the
>
>Congressional Gold Medal, the Secretary of State Distinguished Service
>
>Medal, and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal. Several
>
>schools and other institutions have been named in his honor and he holds
>
>honorary degrees from universities and colleges across the country. (Note:
>
>He retired as Four Star General in the United States Army)
>
>
>Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: Attended Princeton University on
>
>Scholarship (AB, 1954) and served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) as a Naval
>
>aviator; Congressional Assistant to Rep. Robert Griffin (R-MI), 1957-59;
>
>U.S. Representative, Illinois, 1962-69; Assistant to the President, Director
>
>of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Director of the Cost of
>
>Living Council, 1969-74; U.S. Ambassador to NATO, 1973-74; head of
>
>Presidential Transition Team, 1974; Assistant to the President, Director of
>
>White House Office of Operations, White House Chief of Staff, 1974-77;
>
>Secretary of Defense, 1975-77.
>
>
>Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge: Raised in a working class
>
>family in veterans' public housing in Erie. He earned a scholarship to
>
>Harvard, graduating with honors in 1967. After his first year at The
>
>Dickinson School of Law, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he
>
>served as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star
>
>for Valor. After returning to Pennsylvania, he earned his Law Degree and
>
>was in private practice before becoming Assistant District Attorney in
>
>Erie County. He was elected to Congress in 1982. He was the first
>
>enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to the U.S. House, and was
>
>overwhelmingly re-elected six times.
>
>
>National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice: Earned her Bachelor's
>
>Degree in Political Science, Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the
>
>University of Denver in 1974; her Master's from the University of Notre
>
>Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International
>
>Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. (Note: Rice enrolled at the
>
>University of Denver at the age of 15, graduating at 19 with a
>
>Bachelor's Degree in Political Science (Cum Laude). She earned a
>
>Master's Degree at the University of Notre Dame and a Doctorate from the
>
>University of Denver's Graduate School of International Studies. Both of
>
>her advanced degrees are also in Political Science.) She is a Fellow of
>
>the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded Honorary
>
>Doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of Alabama in
>
>1994, and the University of Notre Dame in 1995. At Stanford, she has
>
>been a member of the Center for International Security and Arms Control,
>
>a Senior Fellow of the Institute for International Studies, and a Fellow
>
>(by courtesy) of the Hoover Institution. Her books include Germany
>
>Unified and Europe Transformed (1995) with Philip Zelikow, The Gorbachev
>
>Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin, and Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet
>
>Union and the Czechoslovak Army (1984). She also has written numerous
>
>articles on Soviet and East European foreign and defense policy, and has
>
>addressed audiences in settings ranging from the U.S. Ambassador's
>
>Residence in Moscow to the Commonwealth Club to the 1992 and 2000
>
>Republican National Conventions. From 1989 through March 1991, the
>
>period of German reunification and the final days of the Soviet Union,
>
>she served in the Bush Administration as Director, and then Senior
>
>Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security
>
>Council, and a Special Assistant to the President for National Security
>
>Affairs. In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council
>
>on Foreign Relations, she served as Special Assistant to the Director of
>
>the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1997, she served on the Federal Advisory
>
>Committee on Gender --Integrated Training in the Military. She was a
>
>member of the boards of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the
>
>Charles Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
>
>the University of Notre Dame, the International Advisory Council of J.P.
>
>Morgan and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors. She was a
>
>Founding Board member of the Center for a New Generation, an educational
>
>support fund for schools in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park,
>
>California and was Vice President of the Boys and Girls Club of the
>
>Peninsula. In addition, her past board service has encompassed such 
>organizations as Transamerica Corporation,
>
>Hewlett Packard, the Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for
>
>International Peace, The Rand Corporation, the National Council for
>
>Soviet and East European Studies, the Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and
>
>KQED, public broadcasting for San Francisco. Born November 14, 1954 in
>
>Birmingham, Alabama, she resides in Washington, D.C. 
>
>
>The silence was deafening from the Left when Bill Clinton bombed a
>
>pharmaceutical factory outside of Khartoum, or when he attacked the Bosnian
>
>Serbs in 1995 and 1999. He bombed Serbia itself to get Slobodan Milosevic
>
>out of Kosovo, and not a single peace rally was held. When our Rangers were
>
>ambushed in Somalia and 18 young American lives were lost, not a peep was
>
>heard from Hollywood. Yet now, after our nation has been attacked on its own
>
>soil, after 3,000 Americans were killed, by freedom-hating terrorists, while
>
>going about their routine lives, they want to hold rallies against the war.
>
>Why the change? Because an honest, God-fearing Republican sits in the White
>
>House.
>
>
>So why the hype out of Hollywood? Could these celebrities believe that since
>
>they draw such astronomical salaries, they are entitled to also determine
>
>the course of our Nation?  That they can make viable decisions concerning
>
>war and peace?   Does Sean Penn fancy himself a Diplomat, in going to Iraq
>
>when we are just weeks away from war? Does he believe that his High School
>
>Diploma gives him the knowledge to go to a country that is controlled by a
>
>maniacal dictator, and speak on behalf of the American people?  Or does the
>
>fact that he pulls in more money per year than the average American worker
>
>will see in a lifetime give him clout? 
>
>
>
>Copied without permission,
>
>Walter Steed
>
>_____________________________________________________
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