The American government is charging American citizens to get out of the war zone in Lebanon?
WHAT?
UPDATE: Dems demand some action on this.
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Excuse The Hell Out Of Me?
July 17th, 2006
19 Comments
You are not excused. Do Americans wealthy enough to travel to Lebanon then have a right that forces the working people in this country to pay their way back to the states.
You know, what? You don’t want to pay – stay in Lebanon and see what happens or take care of your own transportation.
How typically liberal: As if they have a right to the American peoples resources.
When will they learn. When will they learn?
Dugger
Wow… and your party is the one that DOESN’T believe in Darwin…
Like I have said before…..the liberals forget that their was an ASSUMPTION of responsibility in the declaration of independence. Just like the government bailing out people living in a flood plain again and again…..
Thank god they aren’t running the government..
They are Americans in a warzone, you idiots. That is all that matters.
Wow, JWG! Way to miss my point entirely!
What I was saying is that for a bunch of folks who don’t believe in Darwin’s theory, you’re saying that we should let the weakest perish and the strong survive. You are saying that those with means should be allowed to live and those that don’t should be allowed to die. That’s Darwin’s theory. Kinda ironic, don’t ya think?
BTW, Oliver’s cite doesn’t say Democrats want to give “free” transportation. (”Free” because someone has to pay for it.)
Like I’ve demonstrated in previous posts, Democrats have a creationist problem as well (47% believe God created man in our present form). What you need to say is, “Slightly more than half of us believe in evolution…you’re only at a third…we’re 20% more pro-science than you…so Ha!”
Like I have said before& ..the liberals forget that their was an ASSUMPTION of responsibility in the declaration of independence.
The Declaration of Independence means nil in terms of how the government operates.
You are not excused. Do Americans wealthy enough to travel to Lebanon then have a right that forces the working people in this country to pay their way back to the states.
Yeah! They can just go to the airport even though it would be shut down in a war zone.
How typically liberal: As if they have a right to the American peoples resources.
Those resources belong to the muti-billionaire CEOs, right?
You know, what? You don t want to pay – stay in Lebanon and see what happens or take care of your own transportation.
Why do conservatives hate Americans so much? I bet they want the terrorists to win! (Hey, that was fun.)
Just like the government bailing out people living in a flood plain again and again& ..
Thank god they aren t running the government..
Yes, heaven forbid that we have a government that actually does stuff!
Damn, now I have a sarcasm overload.
“Do Americans wealthy enough to travel to Lebanon then have a right that forces the working people in this country to pay their way back to the states.”
Why do you guys hate America?
“They are Americans in a warzone, you idiots. That is all that matters.”
Wait a minutue. You sneered at the government for wanting to be paid for transporting people back. And seriously, if that is ALL that matters, why doesn’t your boss take some of his Soros dough and get ‘em out? The money doesn’t matter, right? Right? Mr Soros?
Dugger
Yeah! They can just go to the airport even though it would be shut down in a war zone.
Actually, last I heard, the airport in Beirut hadn’t just been shut down, it had been shelled.
I’m wondering how they managed to get over there if they can t afford the cost of a plane ride out.
I’m wondering why the government couldn’t try to haggle over price after getting people to safety.
I’ve never been in this situation, but tell me, if I’m in a car wreck and slowly bleeding to death, do the paramedics check my last bank statement before applying the bandages? Or do they only do so if I got in a crash on the highway, because I should have known better than to be driving in an area where I was less safe?
I got your point. But you repeated a myth that shows up in the comments all the time, and I won’t let that go uncorrected.
No one is denied access to transportation. They are just billed for the cost. I’m wondering how they managed to get over there if they can’t afford the cost of a plane ride out. How many “poor” Americans are in the ME do you think?
So you don’t want people to know the price until after they’ve used the service? Also, no one was required to whip out a credit card before they boarded.
OW, did you bother to read the actual embassy notice, or just the paragraph excerpted in the link?
There was a paragraph preceding that one that said:
we are looking at how we might transport Americans to Cyprus. Once in Cyprus, Americans can then board commercial aircraft for onward travel.
In getting people out of Lebanon to Cyprus, my guess is that the promissory note is in the event that they are able to use commercial airplanes to get people out. I seriously doubt they’ll bill people if they end up using any kind of military transport.
So when they talk about not providing no-cost transportation it looks like they’re saying that the expense of the travel from Cyprus onward is up to the traveler, not the government. What is wrong with this? People bought their own ticket to get over there, shouldn’t they have to cough up their own money to get back? If they already have return tickets, then they need to work it out with the airline that was supposed to carry them.
Once people are safely in Cyprus, why does it then become the government’s problem to get them home at no cost? The statement did say the govt would work with airlines to make sure there are adequate flights… no one is getting stranded.
And as JWG pointed out, the action that Dems were demanding was that the govt hurry up and evacuate the “approximately 25,000 American citizens in Lebanon”. Sounds simple enough, right? Why is BushCo dragging its feet? Let’s refer to the previous statement from the embassy:
Both Beirut international airport, which is heavily damaged by bombings, and the Port of Beirut remain closed.
Road conditions vary greatly and are subject to change. For example, the road from Beirut to Syria at Masna was bombed and not passable. However, people located close to the border may be able to get to the border and cross into Syria. We have reports that American citizens have not been issued Syrian visas at the border and thus have not been able to enter Syrian territory.
So let’s see, you’ve got 25,000 people to evacuate, the airport is closed, the port is closed, and people are not being allowed to enter neighboring Syria by road. What does the Democratic brain trust suggest?
we would ask that the decision to evacuate Americans be made at once and that sufficient resources to expedite the evacuation be made available.
Yep, that’s a clear plan of action that people can get behind.
BD: I ve never been in this situation, but tell me, if I m in a car wreck and slowly bleeding to death, do the paramedics check my last bank statement before applying the bandages? Or do they only do so if I got in a crash on the highway, because I should have known better than to be driving in an area where I was less safe?
No, the paramedics won’t ask before treating you. But if they’re with a private ambulance company, you WILL get a bill from them after the fact for their services. If they’re part of city or county fire or rescue services, you’ve already paid for them with your taxes.
And once you arrive at the hospital, you (or your family, if you’re critical and unable to do so yourself) will be asked to sign some kind of promissory note for the ER care if you don’t have insurance. No one will withhold treatment until you cough up cash or a credit card. However, you are expected to pay for the cost of the medical care you receive. Is the accident not your fault? Then it’s likely an insurance company is going to end up paying your medical bills.
So what part of your scenario is comparable to the govt providing free transportation from Beirut to the US?
“So you don t want people to know the price until after they ve used the service? ”
The “service”? What service is it that you’re talking about again? Oh yes, evacuating American citizens from a war zone. Why on earth would we ever want to do that, as if safety were some kind of “perk” of citizenship. Sheesh, what were those Americans abroad thinking. While we’re at, have the pot smoking hippie students that Reagan saved from Grenada made the final payments on the cost of that military operation yet?
Oh, and remind me, did Blackwater, the private security company whose employees were murdered in Fallujah, remit yet? Tell me, what does leveling a city to defend the honor of mercenaries run these days? Is it more or less than the cost of putting innocent American citizens on boats to protect them from terrorists?
I mean seriously, why would we want to protect American citizens from terrorists without making sure that individual protected bears the full financial burden of their safety? It isn’t like we’re supposed to watch out for each other as fellow citizens or anything. Especially the ones that can afford to go to the Middle East. Rich bastards. Just like those elitist, rich stock brokers who worked in the Twin Towers. Nobody forced them to earn their big incomes in a symbol of American capitalism. Have their families got the bill for Afghanistan yet?
Jesus, pedro you really have to try better than that:
And here’s her direct quote:
you know paul, you should get in touch with your buddy nancy pelosi…..she signed the bill requriing american citizens pay to be evacuated….
BTW, the law in question was passed a few years ago by a Republican House, a Democratic Senate, and signed by a Republican president. It might be interesting to find the precise voting records of that bill…
J.