Normally I don't read the Gannett Star. I mean, we subscribe to it, but normally about all that gets read are the obituaries, the comics, and the Sunday sale ads. Oh, and Sally likes reading Let It Out, which I think is the biggest waste of newsprint in the paper.
Well, or I thought it was, till I read Matt Tully's column from yesterday while re-lining the cat box with the Metro&State section.
It's not so much the column, which still makes Bart look like an idiot despite saying nothing about our "billions for the Colts, not one penny for LEO raises" penny-wise/pound-foolish approach to city government.
No, it's Tully's completely-out-of-left (and I do mean left) -field gratuitous smack at George W. Bush made in the process of trying to get a limp ha-ha out of Bart's problems. Tully parenthesizes:
(Before I continue, a thought: The city's "war against crime" has been as effective as President Bush's war in Iraq. But at least Peterson hasn't declared "Mission accomplished.")
Now, Tully is supposed to be a darling of the conservative set on the crime issue, or so I've gathered (as noted, the only part of the section he is published in that I actually read on a regular basis is the part that talks about dead people -- although perhaps he fits into that category, e.g., "dead stupid"). But I guess either he isn't really a conservative or his Gannett masters forced him to include at least one swipe at someone who isn't even peripherally involved in the city's problem.
First of all, Matt (may I call you Matt?), Bart's "war on crime" isn't even barely comparable to the War on Terror. Unless of course you're advocating the deployment of the National Guard under a state of martial law on the near-North and East sides of town, which is certainly something I'd consider. But I don't think that's what you're saying.
No, you're much more interested in the ha-ha you get from your "Mission Accomplished" attempt at a joke. Well, you've got a problem there. First of all, George W. Bush did not say (and never has said) "Mission Accomplished" in regard to Iraq. No, as a matter of fact, he said it when welcoming home a particular Navy battle group that was part of the Afghanistan incursion that toppled the Taliban -- which was the accomplished mission, I mean, they were definitely toppled. And when he said it, he did NOT mean that the overall mission in Afghanistan -- or anywhere else -- was "accomplished". We hadn't even invaded Iraq at that point. That came at least a year later.
Oh, and I could also add that Bush has at least achieved regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's something we need on the agenda here in Indy, and it would probably help a lot in clearing up the crime problem given that most of the CCC and Bart are crooked as dogs' hind legs.
Anyway, as far as the Bush quote goes, this is all documented, Matt. You can look it up. But that would constitute "research" instead of "opinion", I suppose. And it would deprive you of your limp ha-ha.
In the meantime, you've just managed to add one more straw to our camel here that's marked "stop Star subscription". Congratulations! I'm sure your Gannett masters will be happy to hear it.
