Vince Avedon – 2/3/08

This page was last updated on February 9, 2008.

Not such a smart deal; Vince Avedon; Beaver County Times; February 3, 2008.

As you read this, remember Mr. Avedon once wrote that a high school student who showed interest in enlisting in the Marines “was probably brought up to be a two-faced traitor to his country.”

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“Fact: Nine of the 13 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, plus Osama bin Laden were from Saudi Arabia.”

[RWC] Mr. Avedon needs to get his facts straight. According to “The 9/11 Commission Report,” there were 19 hijackers, 15 of whom I believe were from Saudi Arabia.

“Fact: Saudi forces are not on the ground fighting with us in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Fact: King Abdullah has done nothing to broker any kind of peace agreement in the Middle East.

“Saudi Arabia has demonstrated over and over again that its loyalty is to the Muslim world. It is no friend of the United States, yet George Bush thinks otherwise.”

[RWC] Any more than any other U.S. president?

“On Jan. 15, the White House announced a major arms deal with the Saudis. While dining with the king, the broad smiling George Bush agreed to sell them $123 million worth of sophisticated precision guided bomb technology.

“Has anyone in this administration asked who is a threat to Saudi Arabia and why does it need them? No.”

[RWC] Apparently Mr. Avedon has access to the internal discussions of the Bush administration. I wonder who his mole is. <g>

Iran comes to mind. In any case, Mr. Avedon could have raised these same questions when Bill Clinton sold arms to the Saudis. If you’ll recall, Saddam Hussein had been defeated a couple of years earlier and Iran was “pooped” after its 1980s war with Iraq.

“This is just another chapter in the harebrained Bush administration.”

[RWC] To date the Democrat-majority Congress is doing nothing to stop the arms sale. The AP on Jan 14th reported, “Rep. Tom Lantos [D-CA], chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, does not intend [to] consider a resolution of disapproval, said spokesman Lynne Weil.” Why is not Congress’ Democrat leadership also “harebrained?”

“Bush’s legacy will come to fruition when the Saudis launch their first smart bomb that he facilitated.”

[RWC] What about the weapons sold to the Saudis by Bill Clinton and every other president? FYI, I’ve always had a problem with arms sales to any country in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.

FYI, when I mentioned just a couple of the above points in a comment I made on the Times website, Mr. Avedon went ballistic. He not only blamed his erroneous data on someone else, Mr. Avedon made false assumptions about me. His comments are below.

I have two other points about Mr. Avedon’s comments. This is at least the second time (I believe the first was 11/28/07) Mr. Avedon wrote something to the effect that people like me or other “right wingers” push him “further to the left.” Why would he give me or anyone else that kind of power over him? I can guarantee Mr. Avedon’s – or anyone else’s – positions won’t change my core principles. This is also at least the second time Mr. Avedon has accused me of singling him out. I guess Mr. Avedon missed the other 1,800+ critiques I’ve written.

Vince wrote on Feb 4, 2008 9:52 PM:

" Nine out of 13 equates to 70%.

Fifteen out of 19 equates to 79%.

Thank you Robin Cox for making my case against Saudi Arabia even stronger.

Next time you want to bash me, do the math."

Vince wrote on Feb 4, 2008 9:46 PM:

" I find it amazing that when Bush does something blatently stupid, people Like Robin Cox and James Lucci never put the blame directly where blame belongs. They dismiss the blunder as a governmental mis-step. If it was a democrat, they would blame Clinton for this and Clinton for that.

It's people like Cox and Lucci that push me further to the left. If people like Lucci and Coulter vote for Hillary because of a McCain nomination, that further proves my belief that when Republicans don't get their way, they eat their own.

Over the last 20 years or so, republicans have lost he understanding of bi-partisanship."

Vince wrote on Feb 4, 2008 5:38 PM:

" Robin Cox would argue with God on Judgement Day, in my opinion."

Vince wrote on Feb 4, 2008 12:45 PM:

" It appears Robin Cox has a problem with me, again. I got those statistics from FOX news right before Ann Coulter announced she will campaign for Hillary Clinton. One more thing, the Democrats WILL stop it when it comes before them. Boy oh boy, Cox stands by her president right or wrong."