Sy Hersh on Iran, Strained Troops, Car Insurance Hell, Sorority Scandal, And Oscar Winner Al Gore (Monday's Second Hour)
Hi guys. We kick off this hour with a taped interview that John Roberts did with Sy Hersh of the New Yorker. John points out that Sy has been writing about possible military action with Iran for over a year now and wonders what's changed. Sy says that now the planning has been brought inside the joint chiefs, Bush has asked for a 24 hour package (meaning we're ready for war in 24 hours), and the US is grabbing many more Iranians for interrogation. He thinks all of this is inching us closer to something. You know, I always love to hear from Sy Hersh, but everytime I see him I get this feeling that the world is ending. John notes that the White House is denouncing everything Sy says. But of course. Sy tells us that his sources in the military are nervous and we now have a carrier group in the Straits of Hormuz, which is very vulnerable to attack because it's hard to maneuver there. He also tells us, "They have anywhere from 700 to 1,000 little PT boats that they could turn into suicide boats tomorrow and go after our fleet." See why he gives me that 'end of the world' feeling? Please be wrong, Sy.
On now to a Jamie McIntyre piece on our stretched thin military. Okay so General Peter Pace says that our military is ready for whatever comes at us, but..."CNN has confirmed that recently General Peter Pace secretly upgraded to significant the risk that the U.S. would have trouble responding to a major new security threat." Uh huh. I think the fact that we're taking criminals now pretty much confirms the military is about broken. After the piece Kiran talks with Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Kiran asks what the upgrade means and William says that if we get in another conflict (another conflict?!) it will take longer to complete. Longer than forever? Because that seems to be how long Iraq is taking. William then says that actually we need more troops in the conflicts we're already fighting. He talks about how NATO needs to step up. Yes they do. After this we're got a Drew Griffin investigation on car insurance.
Transitioning now to Kiran introing aKeith Oppenheim piece on the Delta Zeta sorority. Kiran says that she was a sorority girl. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Sororities are a bit of a mystery for me because my university didn't have them. And I wouldn't have joined anyway. So okay, apparently Delta Zeta wasn't getting as many members as the national leadership wanted, so what do they do? Kick out two-thirds of the girls. And not just any two-thirds; these were the least attractive. That's lovely. Remind me why I never joined a sorority? Delta Zeta of course is spinning the whole thing, saying it was about commitment. Whatever. After the piece Kiran talks to Alexandra Robbins who went undercover for a year in sororities. Alexandra says that sororities are run like businesses and this is all about quotas. Is nothing sacred?! She thinks they should kick the Deltas off. Amen. Ah, your blogger is out of time. Next we had a Bill Schneider piece on Al Gore and then some blog comments.
Were you a sorority girl? Are we going to war with Iran?
On now to a Jamie McIntyre piece on our stretched thin military. Okay so General Peter Pace says that our military is ready for whatever comes at us, but..."CNN has confirmed that recently General Peter Pace secretly upgraded to significant the risk that the U.S. would have trouble responding to a major new security threat." Uh huh. I think the fact that we're taking criminals now pretty much confirms the military is about broken. After the piece Kiran talks with Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Kiran asks what the upgrade means and William says that if we get in another conflict (another conflict?!) it will take longer to complete. Longer than forever? Because that seems to be how long Iraq is taking. William then says that actually we need more troops in the conflicts we're already fighting. He talks about how NATO needs to step up. Yes they do. After this we're got a Drew Griffin investigation on car insurance.
Transitioning now to Kiran introing aKeith Oppenheim piece on the Delta Zeta sorority. Kiran says that she was a sorority girl. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Sororities are a bit of a mystery for me because my university didn't have them. And I wouldn't have joined anyway. So okay, apparently Delta Zeta wasn't getting as many members as the national leadership wanted, so what do they do? Kick out two-thirds of the girls. And not just any two-thirds; these were the least attractive. That's lovely. Remind me why I never joined a sorority? Delta Zeta of course is spinning the whole thing, saying it was about commitment. Whatever. After the piece Kiran talks to Alexandra Robbins who went undercover for a year in sororities. Alexandra says that sororities are run like businesses and this is all about quotas. Is nothing sacred?! She thinks they should kick the Deltas off. Amen. Ah, your blogger is out of time. Next we had a Bill Schneider piece on Al Gore and then some blog comments.
Were you a sorority girl? Are we going to war with Iran?
posted by eliza at 7:38 PM
7 Comments:
I'm just now getting to college at 26, so I missed my chance to be a sorority girl. Sad. I watch Veronica Mars sometimes though.
I hope we don't start a "conflict" with Iran. Dubya wouldn't be lying about the whole WMD thing, but that's the scary part! He has another year in office, but I don't think there's any way that Congress would approve military action. It sounds though like Dubya would rather provoke an attack, so that we would have no choice but to respond militarily. My husband and I were talking over the weekend, and we decided that I would go to DC and protest if things start to look serious about Iran. I don't want to go all Cindy Sheehan but I'd be compelled to do something. I don't think I'd be alone. I just hope he waits till spring so maybe it won't be so cold. It will be hard to chant witty slogans if my lips are frozen!
@anne-I love Veronica Mars! I just started watching this year. It reminds me of Buffy, just without the vampires. Heh. What are you studying?
The thing about a conflict with Iran, I don't think it's going to be like Iraq where there's a countdown and everything. I think they're just going to do it. We may not even know when it starts. After all, they were bombing Iraq before we officially attacked.
So..surprise! Yes, I was a big time sorority girl! Held two different officer positions and even applied for an advisor position but never got it which I think was actually a blessing.
Now that I'm older, I appreciated what I learned and the friends I gained by being in the "sisterhood" but we were so non-diverse.
Was a bit miffed not only by AC360's coverage but Paula Zahn's coverage. I would agree that membership is like running a business in the sense that you need the money but during my terms, it was all about the quality/personality of the members and one of my goals as an officer was to make sure we had true "active" members, not members who paid their dues but never participated in our events or charity activities.
What confused me the most was that Delta Zeta apparently put some type of "quota" on each girl to bring in more members. Neither Paula Zahn nor AC360 went indepth into what exactly each member was expected to bring in as far as new memberships but I agree, it seemed ironic that in the end, they simply kicked out members instead. On Paula's show, she really questioned the National Advisor of Delta Zeta regarding the "not pretty" accusations. All the National Advisor said was that the members of that chapter voted to close down that chapter but then the school came back asking them to reconsider.
Unfortunately, that story brought more questions than answers.
After seeing Peter Bergen's report during tonight's show regarding the shortage of intelligence personnel because of the Iraq war, I can just imagine what would happen if we started a conflict with Iran. Three wars going on at the same time is simply insanity! And of course, the CIA refused to make a comment. Is that a surprise?
As a member of a national sorority during college, it served a social and philanthopic purpose for me. At 18, I was aware of a subtle yet apparent Greek system quest for a beauty & brains combo, but didn't see that as a potential negative until years past graduation. For me, the sorority offered a focus above & beyond cut-throat academia and a break from the collegiate bubble. If it were not for the sorority, I would not have become as involved in the community and charitable works. That said, of the 24 members in my graduating class, 8 went to law school, 6 med school and 3 business school. One joined the Peace Corps. The other 6 were employed upon graduation. That absurd rep of sorority girl to Mrs. degree was not the path anyone I knew followed. Now, will my daughter be a sorority girl when she goes to college (if her school has a Greek system)? I hope not. I think the system has run its course and the negatives are starting to outweigh the positive aspects. Add in the hefty fees on top of college costs and we have the making of another segregated society. Our colleges certainly do not need any of that.
@ Eliza- I'm entering the radiography program next year- I'll be doing x-rays and I plan to go right back and become certified to perform MRI's and CAT scans.
I just started watching VM this year too. There's nothing on Tuesday nights. And she's such a smartass, I love it!
But yeah, you're probably right- no one will say anything, they'll just drop a bomb on Tehran.
E-mail me if we go to war, will you?
E-mail me if we go to war, will you?
What makes you think they're going to notify me first? lol
Funny because at my school DZ was the "brainy" sorority. The bimbos were all in Sigma Sigma Sigma (otherwise known as "Tri-Sigma"--why not; everyone else has, HAHAHA--and yes, I'm being totally sarcastic here; no flames please)
Yes, we're going to war with Iran.
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