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Nor do we rent pigs

The bridge world is aflame about the news that the US team at the international championships in Shanghai held up a crudely lettered placard bearing the words “We didn’t vote for Bush“. Whether you color it cute or spontaneous, the political speech has gotten the team in trouble with the US Bridge Foundation: Lawyers for the organization are talking about a one-year suspension.

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25 comments to Nor do we rent pigs

  • Michelle

    Agreed. Sensible comments from two sensible guys.

    But here’s what I don’t get (putting on helmet and body armour as she speaks) … isn’t there also a case of Hilary Derangement Syndrome going on in some circles which is equally as silly? Don’t like her and her policies, don’t vote for her. That’s simple. I just don’t get the rest of it. Any more than I do with Bush.

  • Yeah Michelle, but you are Canadian. You guys are much more easy going the are we here south of the border, eh?

  • Worst part is that it happened in Shanghai. The banner should have said, ” How does it feel to be a dictator coddled by the US, Hu?”

    Now THAT might have had some meaning.

    Just think, if they had sent the message via Yahoo, the company could have turned them over to the commies.

    Got to know your audience. The Chinese would have just said, “We did not vote for him either.
    We don’t vote for anyone”.

  • Bridge Too Far…

    The First Amendment does not give people the right to yell anti-Bush slogans in a crowded theater, or even to talk during the movie at all….

  • dc

    What a bunch of spineless slugs. In their attempt to reach out as a “friend” to foreigners, they presume that people instictively hate us because of our President and that they can get some sort of credibility/solidarity by using that stupid sign.

    I lived in London during the previous President’s administration. Being an active duty Enlisted, and a member of a London Yacht Club, I found myself having to be non-commital when quizzed about our President, and whatever issue that happened to be in the News. I didn’t think the UCMJ covered Enlisted folks on this issue, like the Officers are. It was a pain in the stern to have to answer to the local conservatives who were mocking me about the Democratic administration, and its policies. (Like I had any expertise in the matter). I would state that I was a Sailor in the Navy, and was committed to carrying out the orders of those appointed above me. I would also say that I supported the President, despite what ever differences I had in my personal opinions, and would drop the subject.

    I’m sure the Ladies’ in this picture moment blame Bush for their current discomfort. After all, the President gets up pretty early in the morning to plan out the daily atrocities and the dismantling of the “American Way”. Also remember, there was definitely no torture or renditions in the previous Administration. They were too busy with running our government!

  • dc

    I hope you folks understood my sarcasm in the last paragraph!

  • Marianne Matthews

    dc … I had just read the Opinion Journal article Lex linked before I came to this site. Your comments above are to the point, and all I can say is ‘yay!’

    There seem to be far more ‘pugnaciously stupid’ people around than there used to be.

    Marianne Matthews

  • Kristen

    Skippy,

    That’s a GREAT last paragraph in your comment above.

  • Babs

    I hate to say it but, were this 20 years ago, it could have been my mother in law holding up that sign…

  • Yes there is some Hillary Derangement Syndrome, but she is not President (god help us, yet).

  • John S.

    Off topic, but….

    Two posts already today and six yesterday? All good stuff, to be sure.

    I hope the home front, thesis and career change are getting their fair share of attention too.

    Just saying. We care. But, we will share.

  • secret asian man

    I suppose it’s time for some stereotyping on my part.

    Why is it always older white women doing this stuff (marching in Code Pink, running screaming into Congress during Petraeus’ testimony, etc)

  • [...] Liberal™, Truthdig, Weasel Zippers, Macsmind, The Garlic, Political Machine, Gateway Pundit, Neptunus Lex, The American Street and Sister Toldjah Technorati Tags: Politics , Bridge , Opinon [...]

  • Geo

    Many sports/competition foundations have strict rules about political speech made during the event, as to keep the organization itself politically removed, not just neutral. This brings back memories of the Turkish Grand Prix row.

  • GEO6

    Babs, I take it that your mother in law has passed away?

  • FbL

    Why is it always older white women doing this stuff (marching in Code Pink, running screaming into Congress during Petraeus’ testimony, etc)

    Their reliving their hippie days, or at least those of their older sisters whom they envied as they grew up.

  • Michelle

    Darn, here I sit in the Great White UP trying to think of some good Canadianisms to use in my response to Nose … and I got nuttin’ … nuttin’ at all…. but a belated eh?

  • dc

    Hey Michelle,
    Are you in the Keeweenaw? If so, say “hi” and keep supporting Keeweenaw Krayons! (Shameless plug for my Mother In Law)

    Enjoy the snow!

  • Snake Eater

    Michelle, how about the all time Canuck favorite, “Hooser”…seems to apply to Nose on many levels… eh?… Best

  • Babs

    GEO6 – No, my mother in law is still alive but she is too old to be dangerous anymore… She was a fantastic bridge player though.
    In her hay day she never saw a social program that she didn’t like. It was always fascinating to me as my husband and I worked for everything we have.

  • Michelle

    LOL
    Are you calling my best bud, Nose, a hoser?
    Eh? Are ya??

    Nope, still nuttin’…
    Must be a really, really bad day here in the Great White UP, eh?
    Oh well, at least we ain’t quite as crazy up here…

    Hey dc, I don’t get it. Keeweenaw…. Kelowna??
    Is that what you mean? Speak up, sonny … I can’t quite hear ya…

  • Babs, Got it. I could never figure the entitlement-for-lunch-bunch. They seemed to think that if someone else had more money, they or others were entitled to it. I encountered that malaise in the people of the former Yugoslavia- the results of a couple of generations of socialism. The only people making it there are those who get out and work the free market system and not waiting for the government to give them something. My folks lived thru the Great Depression and didn’t have the proverbial pot to _____ in but they didn’t rely on anyone to had them anything. They worked their way out of poverty and made good middle class lives for themselves and my sibs and me. That is how I was raised. You sound like you are from the same background.

  • claudio

    as my hero Austin Powers would say;

    “THESE ARE MEN!!!! BABY!!!!”

  • MaxDamage

    Secret Asian Man asked “Why is it always older white women doing this stuff?” I’d direct your attention to a previous posting regarding the Jihadi’s and you’ll find an interesting overlap.

    They’re financially comfortable, they have the free time, they believe in their cause, and they feel they’ve little other voice to give. By financially comfortable I mean they’re not raiding the couch cushons for lunch or rent money. We may take that for granted in some circles, but globally that’s not a common thing.

    These aren’t just the cases found in a few Jihadi’s or people who run for political office or play cards, these sorts are the backbone of most non-profit enterprises around. The volunteers who staff the information desks in hospitals, the college students who are so uptight about their cause du jour, the celebrities who should have been told by their handlers to stick to acting, all share these traits in common.

    Of course they differ in the degree they’re willing to advance the cause and by what methods. That should be understood. Both sought to make a political change but it’s generally considered a given that name-your-terrorist and, say, Thomas Jefferson aren’t exactly equivalent folks.

    The fact of the matter is if you’re poor, working two jobs or three or doing everything you can to raise enough of a crop to keep your family going until the next year, you don’t really have time to devote to many other projects. Yeah, your average starving farmer in Rwanda hates cancer just as much as the surburbanite, but he has better things to do than coordinate a walk-a-thon to find a cure. He’d like to eat first.

    Likewise, Bill Gates can write a check and President Clinton can give a speech and motivate a thousand people towards solving that problem. Not much need for them to get their hands dirty swinging hammers to build a new cancer research center, they’ve better uses of their time.

    The Idle Rich, on the other hand, have enough money to remain comfortable, they have time to devote, and unlike Jefferson or Clinton they are not influential. They want to Make A Difference.

    God love ‘em, they are the reason we give more privately to charities than we give publicly. Their spirit and zeal is in the right place.

    Like any population, there are a small minority who do things wrong.

    – Max

  • Michelle

    I tell ya, Max, you may not see it but I do. Intermittent to be sure, but its there. A subtle (?) change in your comments/tone. I know at this point, it probably doesn’t sound much like it but I am actually attempting (without at all succeeding, I’m sure) to give you a compliment.

    Then again, you might just want to consider its source before you decide how you feel about that… ;-)

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