Schmidt Wrote: Andrew -- We got off topic as we often do in these posts with a bit of sarcasm about bombing. The topic is indeed the movie American Sniper. My interest in the movie is how it almost perfectly defines the great political divide in our country. For those on the right, it is all about American patriotism, the war against Islamic jihadists and war heroes protecting us. These folks swarmed to the theaters in masses setting box office records for a "feel good" experience as only Clint Eastwood can make them feel.

On the other hand, those critical of war and the way Eastwood depicted the Iraqis as savages in an unpopular war, have condemned the movie as nothing more than propaganda. One critic called it "Republican propaganda", because of the way it fed into the neoconservative worldview of how our military is making the world safe for democracy. Some critics made comparisons to the cowboy and Indian movies of the past.. or good versus evil. I spent considerable time reading about Chris Kyle and how he is being made into a legend by those inclined to the neoconservative worldview. We know Kyle's book has several lies that he stuck to until his death, but I was wondering how much of it had to do with psychological problems associated with the stress of four tours of duty in Iraq and the killing of so many insurgents.

We all know how Bill O'Reilly has fabricated events in his own mind while a journalist in an Argentina "war zone" so it's not too hard to consider that Kyle's preposterous account of shooting looters from the roof top of the Super Dome during Hurricane Katrina might actually be true in his own mind...and maybe other "hard to fact check" events as well during his tours of duty. I am not a psychologist but I read several articles about how PTSD can affect people differently.

In any case, as I see the Chris Kyle legend making going on right now, I couldn't help but think of Jessica Lynch, another "war hero" from the initial invasion of Iraq who could have been a legend too had not she owned up to the fabricated story put together by the military to create a hero bigger than she was in combat. Then there is Pat Tillman whose story also became unraveled by the fact checkers. Wow those could have been made into a couple of box office hits with the right kind of direction had not the facts got in the way of the made for movies narrative.

Clint Eastwood took a lot of liberties in rewriting the American Sniper script that would appeal to the American psyche, and we should not forget that his objective was to make money at the box office. Those members of Congress that want to elevate Chris Kyle to "Medal of Honor" status should do some fact checking rather than relying on Clint Eastwood's legend making prowess.

Dutch Wrote:

Andrew Cothran Wrote:

Schmidt Wrote: Oh please not Colorado Springs, home to James Dobson's Focus on the Family, and Ted Haggard's New Life Church (until he was fired for...??); and now we have elected Pastor Gordon Klingenschmitt to our state legislature. He's famous for claiming he performed an exorcism on President Obama.

So leave my city off your map...

I,m in north carolina so is my family ,,,

What has that anything to do with the "american sniper" movie? I live in FL, every night someone gets shot here, must be "the sniper"?

jaredsxtn Wrote:

Schmidt Wrote: Andrew -- Yes you are right. Except that the first reports I read came out of RT...Russia Today. He has emerged from his isolation today, so perhaps all the reports were premature. This probably would have been a non-story if it wasn't for the all the other stuff going on in Russia.

I actually think this is a bigger story than not. I'm sure he just had the flu or a common cold, but he has built this image of flawlessness that he could never admit to coming down with something as terrible as that. So instead of having his spokesman say that he was sick, they instead show stock footage of old meetings and fan the flames that something is much more wrong with him.

This goes to a deeper sense of worry about what Russia will do when Putin actually becomes permanently incapacitated. There is no line of succession in Russia and that is a scary thing in a country that has thousands of nuclear weapons at their disposal. Monarchies have lines of succession. As do Democracies. But Putin has consolidated all the power and silenced every once of his critics. There is no Plan B, and that's what's so scary about his disappearance.

Schmidt Wrote: Andrew -- Yes you are right. Except that the first reports I read came out of RT...Russia Today. He has emerged from his isolation today, so perhaps all the reports were premature. This probably would have been a non-story if it wasn't for the all the other stuff going on in Russia.

And welcome to the Democratic Hub.

Schmidt Wrote: Oh please not Colorado Springs, home to James Dobson's Focus on the Family, and Ted Haggard's New Life Church (until he was fired for...??); and now we have elected Pastor Gordon Klingenschmitt to our state legislature. He's famous for claiming he performed an exorcism on President Obama.

So leave my city off your map...

RanmaMOJ Wrote: The only real issue I have with them doing that is that they are in essence encouraging kids to break the law. The age of consent in Illinois is 17, so handing them out to those under 17 is in essence telling them it is okay to have sex as long as you do it safely, despite state law...

Schmidt Wrote: Huffington Post, March 15, 2015: Where In The World Is Vladimir Putin?

"Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't been seen in public in 10 days, and the world is starting to wonder why.
Putin's absence has stretched from a brief hiatus to an eternity in Kremlin-time. He was last seen meeting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on March 5. On March 11, Putin canceled a visit to Kazakhstan in a move that would turn out to be a catalyst for the current manhunt. What could have been an innocuous scheduling change drew attention after an anonymous source from the Kazakh government told Reuters it was due to illness. Observers raised more red flags after Putin skipped an annual meeting with the Federal Security Service the next day".

With the assassination of his foremost political foe, Boris Nemtsov a few weeks ago, one has to wonder what is going on

ok you caught me hes here he and i shared some vodka and hes been staying on my sofa ,im sorry i scared you but we all need a break ..

i honestly think that he has a personal situation hes taking care of and unlike the US Russians are not as obsessed with their presidents every move ,