Snapshots of Americana

Editor’s note: In the tradition of Thomas Sowell’s “Random Thoughts on a Passing Scene,” Jon Dougherty brings his readers “Snapshots of Americana” from time to time — focusing on a few key events taking shape or taking place in the present.

Last week mega-talker Rush Limbaugh defended President Bush’s “right” to make war against Iraq without any further debate or input from Congress.

Rush quoted from the resolution adopted by lawmakers in September 2001 that authorized Bush to go after anyone and everyone directly or remotely associated with the Sept. 11 attacks.

Since then, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been preaching that America should not wait to dispose of Saddam Hussein like it waited for Hitler to stop his conquest of Europe or Japan to end its imperialism. He said to do so is to risk Iraq building and using poison gas or bioweapons against us.

It’s no surprise that either man would defend Bush, and I’m not suggesting that either man is wrong. But there is one question Americans have a right to ask and have answered before sending a couple hundred thousand sons and daughters off to fight a new Gulf war: Since when did Iraq have something to do with planning or carrying out the Sept. 11 attacks?

That’s the mandate Congress gave to Bush – it was not an open mandate to make war on any nation he felt like attacking.

For a short while last year, the Bush administration backed a Czech government claim that Iraqi agents met in Prague with ringleader Mohammed Atta. But then the administration disavowed that report. Czech officials later reaffirmed it but our government still says no, it never happened.

Seems to me that meeting was the justification Bush needed to fulfill his mandate in relation to Iraq. Why, then, did he throw it away?

Despite the rhetoric, Bush and Co. still have some justification to do before striking Iraq. Our Constitution requires it and our people demand it.

Blame America for Sept. 11?

The “blame America first” crowd is at work again, this time in the National Education Association.

According to the Washington Times on Monday, the NEA “is suggesting to teachers that they be careful on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks not to ‘suggest any group is responsible’ for the terrorist hijackings that killed more than 3,000 people.”

No one is responsible?

Suggested lesson plans compiled by the NEA, the paper said, “recommend that teachers ‘address the issue of blame factually,’ noting: ‘Blaming is especially difficult in terrorist situations because someone is at fault. In this country, we still believe that all people are innocent until solid, reliable evidence from our legal authorities proves otherwise.'”

“Solid, reliable evidence”? What about all that video footage from a dozen newscasters showing hijacked airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center?

“Factually”? Here are the facts: A group of terrorists led by Osama bin Laden plotted, planned, financed and carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. They believe in Islam. They hate Christianity. They hate the West. They hate Americans. They even hate the NEA.

None of these facts are in dispute – indeed, bin Laden and his followers have all admitted as much.

American schoolchildren don’t need this NEA-inspired drivel. They need curriculum designed to make them better readers, writers and thinkers so they can spot an Islamic apologist when they see one.

Good-looking corpses

Three more people have died in Florida since July after receiving cosmetic surgery, even though the state has imposed “strict new standards” for cosmetic surgeons.

According to a published report, one man died after getting cosmetic surgery on his neck and abdomen. The other two victims were both women who went in for facelifts.

American culture is bombarded with unrealistic images of men and women who appear perfect but are only so because of the magic of photographic technology. In our culture, you could be a complete idiot – or a sports figure – and still be treated like a god if you’re good-looking. Being a war hero, moral leader or good parent means nothing, especially if you’re “cosmetically challenged.”

Such focus on physical appearance has led many to their death. Statistics show that cosmetic surgery is one of the most precarious forms of health care available. Maybe it’s God’s way of telling us, “Be happy with what you’ve got.”

If you want to look better, try exercising once in a while. For those who won’t but instead want to cut and tuck their way to physical beauty, there is this maxim: If your surgeon goofs, at least you’ll have a good-looking corpse.