The First Lady in Afghanistan…and the unabated hatred of the Left
First Lady Laura Bush made a surprise visit to Afghanistan over the weekend to push for more world aid for the war-torn country and to lobby for women’s rights/education. She met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai and greeted US troops at Bagram. Unlike some first ladies, she doesn’t need to embellish reports of her trip with tall tales of sniper fire. This is her third trip to Afghanistan–and the second time she has traveled to the war front solo without President Bush. She flew to one of the poorest provinces, Bamiyan, which is now headed by a female governor. At Bamiyan, she met female police recruits and New Zealand troops.
America should be proud of her work.
Via ABC News:
Urging the world to “stand more strongly with Afghanistan,” first lady Laura Bush visited remote Bamiyan province, where the Taliban regime prompted international outrage by destroying two giant Buddhist statues in 2001.
“We have seen a resurgence of Taliban and al Qaeda killings and kidnappings in Afghanistan,” Bush told ABC News in an exclusive interview aboard the Air Force jet she flew from Washington to Afghanistan. “I don’t want people to think it means we need to give up. I think it just means we really need to stand more strongly with Afghanistan.”
Bush has made support for Afghanistan’s women — who endured brutal repression under the Taliban regime — one of her signature issues. This is her third trip here, the second traveling alone, without the president. Previously, no first lady had ever stepped foot in Afghanistan.
The first lady’s trip to Bamiyan Province is rich in symbolism. Dirt poor and remote, Bamiyan became a symbol of the Taliban’s backwardness and senseless brutality when two enormous Buddhist statues were blown up in March 2001 by Taliban militiamen.
The statues, which were destroyed under an edict to remove the “gods of the infidels,” had stood for more than 1500 years and were considered among the world’s greatest ancient cultural treasures.
“It’s a destruction of historical magnitude,” Laura Bush said. “I see it as a symbol of what the Taliban did and what al Qaeda does. [It was] a way of destroying the past, a way of destroying what people before you thought or what they believed or what they liked and I think it really is representative of a sort of destruction of civil life, cultural life, civil society that they represented.”
Will Mrs. Bush’s travels and activism abroad lessen the personal hatred the Left has shown her? Of course not. In April, the San Francisco Chronicle’s resident miscreant, Mark Morford, assailed the First Lady in an ad hominem-filled rant as a “docile doormat.” That is what Bay Area loons call any conservative woman who loves her husband, exhibits quiet grace, and doesn’t share the feminist impulse to crush men like soda cans for a living.
The Bush-bashers naturally can’t keep their stories straight. They have assailed and belittled the First Lady for advocating “safe” issues like children’s literacy. But what do they do when she travels alone to the battlefront to challenge oppressive jihadists?
Yup, they complained that she’s wasting fuel. A sampling of comments at the ABC News blog:
Nothing like wasting jet fuel!!! What in the world is she supposed to do there? Answer: Waste more of our tax dollars!!!!! What nerve for W to waste so much money, but of course it is not his money. JERK
***
Exactly, a waste of fuel.
***
Why are the taxpayers funding Laura’s latest exotic shopping expedition?
***
Absolutely absurd. No need to go there Laura. Waste of time and money.
Obama 08!
You know if she were a Democrat first lady, we’d be hearing about her bravery on the frontlines and her commitment to women’s rights endlessly. She’d be lauded by the yappers of The View and gushed over by Oprah, Katie, and the NYTimes.
Instead, she’s “wasting jet fuel.”
Can’t win with these people.
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You will always find people in politics who are totally consumed with hate. They become totally irrational and think it’s okay. Liberalism is an emotionally driven philosophy, so it’s easy to become hateful of anyone or anything who disagrees with them.
Can’t win with these people.
Of course you can’t. We should not even try. We should just let thier own pettyness and spitefulness condemn them with the voters.
I am sure Senator Ned Lamont would agree…
Hey graysonret,
Remember the good ol’ days when making an emotional argument was considered a sign of poor mental discipline?
Those days are gone.
It really is sad and dangerous that the message is spun so negative toward the President and Mrs. Bush by the media and the left, including Congressional Leaders.
Conventional wisdom refuses to acknowledge serious gains toward victory in the War on Terror, an amazingly resilient economy that can absorb $4/gallon gasoline, and credibility worldwide.
There are more, but the preemptive attacks and denial by the left are dangerous — remember that the DHS memo that included duct tape was in reality a list of emergency supplies including food and water (and duct tape near the bottom) that could have saved many in New Orleans if it had been reinforced by Democrats rather then become the punchline of jokes by Harry Reid and late night TV!
David
Yes, I do, gridlock. I even remember liberal friends, I could discuss politics, and enjoy the debate without outbursts.
The woman’s rights is the unsong and unused secret weapon to bring these regions into democracies. If there were only hundreds of billboards scattered around Iraq showing split screens of how the Islamic zealots want women to live and how westernized Iraq women could live, the terrorists would be hard put to find sympathetic sanctuaries over there. Also most terrorists go home to a wife or mother or sister or girlfriend whose reception of their third-class regard by them would change if they were only educated of the opportunities and freedoms they’re missing.
James Greenidge
Queens NY
I actually know ONE liberal like this. He is a die-hard liberal and FAAAAAAAAAAR LEFT of left by his own volition. He differs in one major aspect however. Despite his “liberalism” he is a staunch American and has as much spite and contempt for these other people as we do. He understands that their incessant whining and division will ultimately destroy our nation and no matter which “side” wins that battle, we are all going to lose.
They do exist … I just wish they were still the majority over there on the other side and Conservatives were the majority on ours.
I am very proud of our courageous First Lady. And I am sure our men and women at Bagram and the Kiwis at Bamiyan appreciated her visit as well. And think of this, the wife of our president just flew into the heart of “enemy” territory to advocate for those most abused by the monsters who attacked us on September 11, 2001. To capture or harm her would have been a major victory for our enemy. Laura Bush went anyway. May God Bless her.
As for the leftist press and pundits here in the USA, they are spineless cowards and most of America knows it.
As they whine about jet fuel and rock the boat, Laura Bush is rowing hard to make a difference in a war torn country. The far left has no intention of letting facts influence their decision to hate Bush and anyone associated with him. I don’t like him either, for several very good reasons, but I can’t find anything to dislike about Laura.
Through his entire administration, she has remained very cool - even though she has been holding a hand without a high card.
No, comrade. Pouring a gallon over your head and forgetting to bring matches would be a waste of fuel.
Hillary may have a “lock-box” but Laura Bush has more guts than the entire Democrat Congress combined … bravo …
But how does this help the Obama’s children?
What losers!!
So has First Lady Bush been to the front lines more times than Obama at this point?
chicagojedi
The answer to your question is a resounding “YES!!!” …
this was her 3rd trip to Afghanistan … and she has made several trips to Iraq …
I think everyone hates the Bushes now pretty equally. She did the right thing by going to Afghanistan, but he has destroyed the party and conservatism for at least a generation.
There’s no hatred for the Bushes on my part. There are things W should have done better on, like border security and fiscal restraint, but he has been relentless in the GWOT and I respect and admire him for it.
Waste of fuel? But they won’t decry the waste of fuel by Algore for accepting an ugly medallion and truckloads of cash when they could have used FedEx and video conferencing. All so he could tarnish his own country.
They won’t decry the waste of fuel by candidates for the White House jetting all over for a couple dozen more votes.
They won’t decry the waste of fuel used to generate their precious ethanol — at a net loss.
More like a waste of logic by these liberal haters.
To quote Harrison Ford in K19, the Widow Maker
“What good are honors from such men anyway.”
Frankly, I feel if they’re complaining, we must be doing something right. If they’re praising us, we should take a second look at it because something might be wrong.
Ditto - to add:
Bush has stuck to his guns on the GWOT unlike the Dimocraps who were screaming “we must stop Iraq … weapons of mass destruction” under the Clinton administration. Now every single one of the Dimocraps deny Iraq had WMD’s or that they supported the decision to go into Iraq.
Bush = courage
Dimocraps = cowards
Can someone please explain to me why there are still Democrats?
On June 9th, 2008 at 8:00 am, derel3433 said:
“I think everyone hates the Bushes now pretty equally.”
Please do not take it upon yourself to paint “everyone” with the opinions you hold. Just because you feel it, don’t make it so.
Soap, among the words Zell Miller used during that unforgettable speech at the Republican National Convention,”…a spine of tempered steel.”
Because conservatives are still protecting this country in spite of the Dems efforts to keep them from it, thereby interfering with the usual course of natural selection which would render Democrats extinct.
so. much. ignorance.
Well stated, Michelle, and absolutely spot on.
Someone should watch “The View” to see if this is mentioned,and update Michelle. The women on that show are the foulest sort of hypocrites, and I lost any respect that I had for Barbara Walters years ago.
I’m really going to miss Laura Bush and to make matters worse, it might be Michelle Obama who takes her place. I think I’m going to be sick.
Gotta disagree with you on that ACH … you can’t waste something you don’t have … and the libs have ZERO LOGIC …
Soap …
There are still Democrats because there are still too many dimwitted Lemmings voting for them …
derel3433
I do not hate Bush … I disagree with the handling of certain issues … but I am still extremely glad we had Bush on 9/11 and not Gore …
It’s so we have pictures to put on our dartboards.
As much as I have disagreed with Jorge Bush on so many of his actions over the last couple of years (except for his dogged support of our troops) Laura Bush has brought a touch of class back to the White House serving as its First Lady. Her selfless acts on behalf of numerous charities and visits to the front lines of this current World War have impressed me greatly. Leave it to the deranged members of our society that feel instead of think, going off the deep end because she has the audacity to try to help the truly downtrodden victims of radical Islam (women and children).
Exactly correct. They don’t want anybody to win. And it will be, in part, of the BDS twisted point of view that Democrats can’t win ‘with these people’ on their side.
Totaly irrational hatred.
I cannot for the life of me imagine Michelle Obama doing similar work in the role of first lady.
She deliberately dresses in Kennedy-style sheeth dresses and pearls, in order to sell the “quintessential east-coast Democrat first lady” image to the world (I keep waiting for the pillbox hats to appear).
But she’s little more than a “wannabe”… severely lacking in the poise, grace, and dignity necessary for an American first lady who will be communicating with world leaders and representing our country in a diplomatic capacity.
She could never do the type of work that Laura Bush is doing, because
1. She’s an east-coast liberal snob who hates her country, and has nothing but disdain for those who don’t think like her, and
2. underneath the Kennedy-esqe attire and Ivy league sheepskin, she’s dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to diplomacy and world politics.
Michelle Obama is a woman of very high ambition, but she is NOT first lady material. Never has been, never will be.
Because the barking moonbats and the “mush minded” vote for them.
Those comments are “the democrat party”.
Without the rabid activist base, the democrats are nothing. Their hate-mongering, full-throated offense is their way of doing business.
Nothing anyone who is not a leftist can ever be looked upon as virtous. They stay on offense, all the time. They drag out whatever pain they can inflict.
To break ranks inside the leftist activist base is to commit political suicide.
Ask Joe Lieberman. He is a classic example of what it means to disagree with their hatred. They let nothing get in their destructive paths.
The result is less discension internally. But it also stiffles thought. They one directional thinking leaves them no room when they are proven wrong.
Our job in part is to show as many people as possible their errors and constantly remind anyone who will listen that it takes more than feelings to participate in a democracy. It takes courage. And many other qualities the socialist left want to rid the people of.
Cindy McCain on the other hand, a fashionable, confident and highly educated woman who loves her country, understands global politics, is a champion for selfless causes, is a very persuasive speaker, and has honed the art of diplomacy to a tee.
She is also a woman of humility who doesn’t try to portray herself as a perfect woman without faults, and is willing to step up to the plate and take responsibility for her failures as well as her sucesses.
Mrs. McCain has her own style and dresses to please herself, not to impress others. She will bring a strong image of poised professionalism to the White House, and will not shrink from unpopular causes.
I can see Cindy McCain easily stepping into this role.
oldcollegeguy1980
Borg Collective anyone?
Because if there were no Democrats we would have nothing to measure the success of COnservatism against.
I am okay with that. Let’s give it a try!
Perhaps you should talk to your hubby about wasting all our money in Iraq. I believe that’s the problem right there at home.
Mrs. Bush has made a very clever double point here. She is more mentally adroit than anyone who has run for President of this country since Reagan.
This video series is a great example of how liberals act when peaceful conservatives exercise their first amendment rights.
I’ll be listening, will you.
I figure if Dennis has the kahunas to do all this, then it’s worth watching and listening to.
Semper Fi and Uhra! Brother
She seems like a loving caring supportive woman and wife; something I can’t seem to find among democratic ladies.
They are so driven by irrational hatred that they have become mentally ill.
Laura Bush goes where Obama fears to tread.
There’s an interesting point: the First Lady will go where Obambi fears to tread.
She will probably make it to Iraq before him too.
Were there any snipers there and did she exit the plane amidst a hail of fire?
Yep. I’ve been called brainwashed, stupid, and a slew of other names. I’ve been told I’m “wasting” my education and destroying my life by being a conservative, Catholic woman. My husband “forced” me to convert, and must just be the most misogynistic person around.
Right. Liberals think women like me have no intelligence, no free will, and no reason to be conservative other than the fact someone (usually a big, bullyish male) made us.
They never consider for a moment that conservative values - including marriage and childrearing - might actually appeal to women who are designed and called to be wives and mothers.
They never consider that women would prefer jobs that pay less, with more flexible hours, so they can go to their kid’s recital rather than sit in an office 60, 70, 80 hours a week.
They think women are exactly the same as men in every way, shape and form (which is rather ironic, since they label men as useless, stupid, and cruel) and vehemently deny anything remotely feminine.
I’ve told this story before, but a raging feminist college classmate of mine told me I was “jealous” of Teresa Kerry because “she’s a real woman.” (And I was pretty liberal at the time, just didn’t like Kerry’s cold-as-ice manner).
Any time a woman (or a minority) either leaves the liberal camp or just is a conservative, it’s an affront to those oh-so-tolerant and ever-compassionate liberals who can’t wait to mock, tease, taunt and otherwise abuse those who dare to leave their little group.
And then they expect me to come back into the fold.
Graysonret, I used to have some liberal friends as well but sadly no more. People with whom I had been friends with since high school suddenly were consumed by something. The topper was an email sent by one of my former friends to myself and two other people telling us that due to our “politically ideology” she could no longer be friends with people she saw as no better than “the nazi’s”. I responded with the question of why do the libs always call conservatives “nazi’s”. She sent back a nice “gfy” and that was that.
Laura is a true lady, something the Harvard mouth will never be.
Exactly, more T.L.H. from the left. At this rate I’ll have enough material for several T.L.H. books.
Balind Mule; thank you for that link. I admire that family very much.
The left is often portrayed as non-violent, however, nothing I have seen would support that position.
In fact what they are, is nothing more than bullies.
Their problem is that their tactics are so well known, that now, they are simply laughable.
This family had the one weapon the leftist hates, a video camera which shows their faces and actions.
Without that piece of equipment this familys day would have been much worse.
A lesson for us all.
It infuriates me to no end when MSM liberals dare to criticize Laura Bush - who has to be one of the most caring and actively concerned First Ladies our nation has ever known - when, at the same time, they fall all over themselves to excuse and defend every offensive action and idiotic comment that comes from the likes of Mrs. B. “For the First Time in My Adult-life”Hussein Obama and Mrs. Bill “Bosnian Sniper Fire” Clinton.
Laura Bush exudes the type of feminine gentility and genuine caring that is rarely found in political wives today - especially not in those who have political aspirations of their own - and when she chooses to express this thoughtfulness by bringing comfort and encouragement to people whose plight needs the media spotlight shown on it, as a means to ameliorate the direness of their suffering, she should be lauded and cheered - not degraded and ridiculed - for representing America’s best efforts to aid the downtrodden and the voiceless.
I am PROUD of First Lady Laura Bush! I am ashamed for the Mark Morfords of the MSM.
englishqueen01 - you hit the nail. There has been no public outcry by any feminist organization against the mutilation of little girls in the Islamic world, the forced marraiges of little girls in the Islamic world, the acceptance of polygomy in the Islamic world, the acceptance of beatings of women by their husbands in the Islamic world, and a slew of other women’s issues. Our feminist organizations are afraid to take on real issues and instead fall back on “the right to choose” and “Bush lied, people died” nonsense. When a real grown-up woman surfaces (Laura Bush) they cannot wait to tear down her credentials and show disdain for anything she does.
On June 9th, 2008 at 9:08 am, Irish Rose said:
She’d probably be a lot like Terezzzah “Shove it” Heinz F’n Kerry
I’m a right-leaning moderate, and most of my close friends fall somewhere between left-leaning moderate to avowedly liberal in their own views. Despite that, we generally manage to keep it civil, even after a few beers. I may not agree with their views (and they may not agree with mine), but I respect their intelligence enough to understand they looked at the issue just as I did, and drew their own conclusions. There’s room for that in the USA, if everyone’s willing to act like adults about it.
On the subject of logic, one of the best classes I ever took was in Bioethics. We could take whichever position we wanted on a given issue, but had to state a premise, construct our argument, anticipate the other side’s response, and counter it logically. We couldn’t play the compassion card or a Bible verse to prove our point– the argument had to be equally compelling regardless of race, gender, religion, emotional state, etc. (And no, it didn’t always come down to simple utilitarianism. But we kicked simple subjectivism out of the equation pretty much on Day One.) Everyone should have the opportunity for a course like that. Although IIRC, the class suddenly became half-size on the last day to drop.
Erin_Coda
Unfortunately all the intelligence in the world does not automatically mean that a person has a corresponding level of logic and common sense with which to use that intelligence …
Alphonse, yup.
I’ve always thought Bush was an empty suit and a less than mediocre President, but Laura Bush has always struck me as a class act. I think she’s been a pretty underrated First Lady.
Al Bore is Flipping mad over this.
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the - Web Reconnaissance for 06/09/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile; Filths savour but themselves.
- William Shakespeare
What more need be said about the state of present-day “progressivism?”
How much money would be enough to pull that country out of the abyss?
who? Oh you mean Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira. Heinz & Kerry are married names. Mrs. Laura Bush has more class in her toes than that other one.
I am so tired of all the Bush hate that we have had to listen to in the media the past 7 years.
And it won’t end. If McCain wins we’ll still here the Bush hate as the media tries to apply it to McCain.
If Obama wins and he will surely destroy our economy and make our country a truly horrible place - the media will still find a way to blame Bush instead of rightly blaming their Marxist, liberal messiah - Obama.
I think Laura Bush is a wonderful and lovely lady - one of the best First Ladies ever. I really admire her and respect her. Too bad the media is so leftist and liberal it can’t see how great she is.
Irish Rose,
Not only is Cindy McCain all those classy things you stated, she is also a licensed PILOT and flies her own plane!! How cool is that? She might be the first First Lady who flies planes!! I wonder if they will give her a go with Air Force One (grin)?
My instincts tell me that Michelle Obama is very much like Cynthia McKinney. An inherent sense of entitlement and a beast if she doesn’t get her way. On the up-side, maybe she will have enough spine to loan some to her hubby.
I will miss Laura Bush.
ah yes, a first lady that can fly her own private Gulfstream is just what America needs.
Give history time. George W. Bush will someday be acclaimed as one of our great Presidents for his steadfast performance in unprededented difficult times; despite domestic criticism and interference.
And, Laura Bush, the First Lady, is a first class lady.
Good to read support for Cindy McCain on this site. A couple of liberal associates Saturday were really tearing her down. I didn’t have a lot of background on her for retaliation. Of course they were still reeling from my summation of the genuine empty suit and fine Irish lad, Barry Obama. The unwashed and unread are going for him in a big way. Someone on FoxNews, I believe, talked about so many people voting for the “aura” which pretty much says it all. One of my more astute associates thinks he’s going to be the next Jimma Carter. We were trying to figure out which critical, strategic resource of national importance will he give away first? I’m thinking Guantanamo. We should start a pool.
If BO does get elected, watching Michelle will be the sole benefit. That angry woman will provide comic relief as we watch our standard of living begin the preliminary tanking process.
Plus, “W” remains one of my favorite presidents. I respect his spine and thick hide. He didn’t follow every trajectory I would have preferred but again, spine and thick hide. His beliefs, and the reality of the intelligence information he receives to which we’re not privy, makes it impossible to mitigate every opinion or desire emanating from this large country. All I know is the only thing I fear is a Democrat in the oval office with a majority in the House and driving abandoned two-lane highways with no rev limiter on the mo-mo.
I am appalled, still, at how First Lady Laura Bush is treated. She is a woman of grace, dignity, who can stand on her own accomplishments and not her husband’s.
It disturbs me how selective liberal hate outrage is. For a political party who said how concerned they were about women’s rights, the liberals seem only inconvenienced that resources and aid are being spent on womens rights in Afghanistan and Iraq. What, do these women not deserve the same equality and chance at success that Western women now have? The Dems are the party of double standards not women’s rights, unless it’s their own constituents.
This story makes me ashamed. Iraqi and Afgani women deserve to be free too, don’t they? Why can’t liberals put their bitter hatred aside and get behind this? Are they just emotionless robots who think that their own freedom is tied to insular, isolationist, secular Socialism?
Yeah…. those pesky women’s rights… good for the West but not for the developing world.
Speak for yourself. I don’t. I don’t like some of the decisions he’s made but I’ll take him over Clinton any day. Conservatism will survive and as far as the Republicans are concerned, they destroyed themselves. Pres. Bush suffered from overly political compromise/pragamatism, even overly devout displays of loyalty. He should have trusted his gut more and his advisors less.
Yes, you can - out vote them come November.
Maybe somebody should point out to them that their carbon footprint when they open their mouths is big enough they cannot justify their continued existence.
{^_-}