What happened at the Smithsonian today....

[NuckinFutz]

My family and I were visiting the DC area today, and went to the new Aeronautics and Space museum at Dulles. While we were there, and takin a break for lunch around noon, an announcement was made for all visitors to go to the main entry hall. While we were on our way, another announcement came on indicating the museum was closed.Upon asking on of the employees on our way out what was happening, he said he'd worked for the Smithsonian for going on 30 years, and they'd never had to close it during regular hours in the past. Additionally , on our way out, my husband and i both saw police coming in, apparently escorting a 'man-in-black' sort of person. We Also noticed on our way out of town, that it seemed activities at Dulles, planes landing and taking off, seemed to cease. We've been out of the loop on news since Thursday. Anybody hear anything?????

[Longhorn]

1. Wow, what a way to end your vacation!

I hope you had a good time in D.C. otherwise! No news here but I'll be watching, too. How long ago was this?

[mitchtv]

2. I heard Bush was down in the polls

that's enough for a terror tantrum.

[bushwakker]

3. Bush/Cheney '04 mini-terror alert

[VolcanoJen]

5. "terror tantrum," lmao!

I've got to remember that one. :D

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Terror Tantrum: Good new Meme: push it! . . . n/t

[Dem2theMax]

12. Terror Tantrum!

A priceless classic has just been born. Now if that doesn't describe Bush and his behaviors regarding his terra lerts, I don't know what does. Great thinking there mitchtv! :)

[wellstone dem]

4. In April or May of 2003

I was in the HOlocaust museum. All of a sudden different sections of the museum were put in lockdown. I was at the spot the tour ends, actually waiting for my time to start to arrive. There were several teenaged girls who had gotten ahead of their folks and were separated. They were really nervous and I think talked to me because I was the only adult woman there. It turned out that someone had left a package unattended.

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. Just another day in W's

Summer of Fear Campaign.

It's all part of the psy-ops. Just need to keep the sheeple too scared to vote for someone else.

[Valerie5555]

8. Wonder if it was a "Look!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Osama!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" trick on Bushie's part.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. A Protest Happened near Enola Gay, a Powder was thrown

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--museumprotest0807aug07,0,5358172.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia

Protesters shut down the Enola Gay annex of the Smithsonian about 12:15 pm. A couple threw a gray powder, so naturally the area had to be evacuated and the nature of the powder had to be very carefully checked out. It turned out to be ashes of some kind.

[Must_B_Free]

10. Enola = alonE

[DrBB]

31. Nice anagram

My all time fave still has to be

SPIRO AGNEW = GROW A PENIS

Thank you, Dick Cavett!

[bpilgrim]

11. the display doesn't even mention the 1/4 MILLION deaths it caused

by the 'FAMOUS' payload it delivered on August 6, 1945.

the CARTOON world view must be maintained at ALL COST.

and so it goes...


peace

[Baltimoreboy]

14. Nor does it mention the hundreds of thousands of lives it saved

[Deja Q]

15. Neither do you.

How did dropping the bomb save hundreds of thousands of lives?

Should we drop the bomb on the whole of the Middle East, in order to save hundreds of thousands of lives? What's the difference when we're saving lives?

[Baltimoreboy]

16. It ended the war

Saving both Japanese and American lives.

And a total world war is a bit different from what we have in the Mideast.

America alone lost 600,000 in WWII.

[Gregorian]

17. I heard the war was already over when they dropped that bomb.

It was nothing more than an in vivo experiment, so they say.

[Baltimoreboy]

18. Funny, there's no evidence of that

No signed surrender document. That came only after the bombs.

[Gregorian]

19. The Japanese had surrendered before the bomb was dropped.

So I've heard. I'm not claiming that to be true. And being as sick as I am today, I'm not going to research that. I heard it somewhere. It could have been that they surrendered withing a week, or were known to have been in the process of immediate surrender.

Michael Franti- You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace.

I heard that song this week and just loved it.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

21. So you are repeating inflammatory charges you don't claim are true?

Interesting. Should we just assume in the future when we read something that you write, that you don't actually believe it's true?

[Gregorian]

24. Oops. That was my major boob

I thought I sort of might have remembered hearing somthing like that..... Oops. That adds up to bullshit, doesn't it?

Thanks for calling me on it. I'm willing to admit being a dummy.

I can't blame being sick, but man do I feel like dying today. :(

[Baltimoreboy]

22. You heard wrong

Look at the date of the surrender documents.

[bpilgrim]

29. the japanese were trying to surrender but we were demanding UNCONDITIONAL

SURRENDER.

not until we were ready to accept their one condition did the war end... and the crysamthemum bears witness to this very day of this small but never mentioned detail.

peace

[bpilgrim]

20. all the military leaders in theater at that time say so...

here look it up...
http://www.doug-long.com/debate.htm

once we accepted their 1 condition they surrendered and their one condition remains to this very day as the worlds oldest unbroken heriditary monarchy. chrysanthemum throne.


peace

[Baltimoreboy]

23. You need new material

I'm sure somebody from Comedy Central could write something just as ludicrous as your defense of Japan, yet less offensive.

[bpilgrim]

30. facts is all i'm looking for

peace

[kerry-is-my-prez]

26. Wow! and the Repubs (and Wm. Buckley) were the ones decrying it

It truly is a bizarro world. I guess the Repubs have ethics ONLY when it is a Democrat who is doing something wrong. Gee I wonder how the Repubs would be reacting now if it was Clinton who decided to invade Iraq? Ya don't have to think long and hard to figure THAT one out....

http://www.doug-long.com/ga1.htm

(C) Related to the problem of tone is the fact that historically this issue was not always so polarized, nor was it always seen as a liberal-versus-conservative matter--and in my view it should not be seen as such now. Indeed, an important point underscored in THE DECISION is that early on many leading American conservatives were more concerned about the ethical issues involved than liberals. Again, simply to put the matter in perspective at the outset, we may note President Herbert Hoover's comment on hearing news of the bombings: "the use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul."
Similarly, ten days after the bombing David Lawrence, the conservative owner and editor of the UNITED STATES NEWS (soon to change its name to U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT) published a strongly worded two-page editorial:
Military necessity will be our constant cry in answer to criticism, but it will never erase from our minds the simple truth that we, of all civilized nations, though hesitating to use poison gas, did not hesitate to employ the most destructive weapon of all times indiscriminately against men, women and children.
Again, William Buckley's NATIONAL REVIEW--commenting on a statement by President Truman in 1958--observed: ... the question that must be at the back of the minds of the people of Hiroshima, and that ought to haunt Harry Truman: "Was it REALLY necessary? Might a mere demonstration of the bomb, followed by an ultimatum, have turned the trick?"

[bpilgrim]

28. not only them

but it is striking none the less as you point out.

but here we are on a dem board and there are plenty who condone this action even with the benefit of hindsight.

i am thankful though for the benefit of time to be able to even have this debate without worrying about being silenced.

:hi:

peace

[wellstone dem]

34. and why did we have to drop the second bomb

the first one made the point. A threat with date and time of the second would have been enuf.

[alarimer]

25. it was wrong

period. No matter how amny American lives it might have saved. It is wrong to kill civilians and we have no idea how many died from radiation poisoning in the following years. The firebombing of Dresden was also despicable. Just because we won does not make our actions always right.

[Baltimoreboy]

27. It would have more wrong to lose

You can choose to be conquered by the murdering facists, me I'll choose victory instead.

[NuckinFutz]

13. Thanks a bunch.!

That's about the time I was there.

I still wonder why it seemed like Dulles traffic appeared to stop in conjunction with it.

[thecrow]

32. I bet they were ashes from Hiroshima n/t

[catzies]

33. Ashes. How symbolic, how appropriate, how tragic.

:cry:

[Bernardo de La Paz]

35. Not appropriate: throwing powder is not appropriate or protected speech

It was not appropriate: throwing powder is not appropriate or protected speech. It is rather like shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. A person died from a heart attack due to a powder scare (during the anthrax uproar), if I recall correctly.

[catzies]

38. I didn't mean the gesture itself. I meant the item for the gesture.

I didn't realize the powder was thrown; I thought it was placed there.

[sendero]

36. Dropping the bomb....

... I can kind of see how at the time it seemed like the thing to do. I can't see how anyone can justify it in retrospect. Just MHO.

[lumberingbear]

37. I often wondered....

why if they dropped an atomic bomb, why they didn't pick an area of Japan where they would do less human harm and then tell the Japanese that the next one would be on a city if they didn't surrender. I think the job could have been done without such human loss. Of course back then we had a mentallity that if a country was against us all the people in it were against us, not taking into consideration that the majority of people on both sides just want to live their everyday lives and that it's the rulers who want war.