# Why does Aldebaran get so much stick? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498 "2004-09-07T16:38:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/61 "2004-09-09T11:52:03Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Your comparing the mass murder of children to fat people needing exercise is utterly Neanderthal. You are a fucking cretin some times, do you know that? I’m talking about the practicalities of addressing groups, and you pretend I’m equating exercise and child murder? Fuck you, and fuck your self-righteous bullshit. As if you’re the only one around here who condemns child murder, and the rest of us peons have to be led to it. Shove it up your arse. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/62 "2004-09-09T11:57:42Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > He made his own choice to identify his position and outright refuse to condemn the acts. That’d be a flat-out lie, wouldn’t it? > [@Aldebaran](#): > > **It is condemned by the fact alone that I am a normal reasoning/feeling human being** = not other then you in fact are. That has nothing to do whatsoever with my religion, or even if yes or no I have a religion. What is so difficult for you to understand this? Why should I make about this any different statement they you do? Note what you said: > [@Liberal](#): > > I realize that Russia has committed atrocities in Chechnya, but this is out of bounds. Loud and universal condemnation should ring forth from every mosque on earth. It is time for Muslim people of faith to clean up their houses and take back their religion. Yes, you are being bullied by Bush and Putin and I suppose Sharon, but killing their children will not bring back your own. You’re playing right into the hands of men who want the world to think you’re insane. And if you remain silent about this, you are. You didn’t even give an unambiguous condemnation of the act _yourself_. Stop trying so hard to be a such a fucking jerk. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/63 "2004-09-09T12:00:28Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > No one did that. And in the thread in question: > [@Liberal](#): > > Loud and universal condemnation should ring forth from every mosque on earth. from post #2 > [@Liberal](#): > > What I claim is that you should condemn this act. from post #4 It seemed that you were setting a different standard for Muslims in general and Alderbaran in particular than for the general populace and other posters respectively. I understand why he should take offence at that. ---
**Author:** ![ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZombiesAteMyBrain)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/64 "2004-09-10T01:14:37Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Well, aside from the breathtaking rudeness, the hypocrisy, the refusal to let us know where he’s posting from while he ruthlessly stereotypes the rest of us based solely on our locales, the willingness to play the race card even though he’s half-Belgian (and Arabs are Caucausian, anyway), the threat to decapitate me once, the five or six Pit threads that have been started about him, his flaunting of the lifestyle of a rich and ill-educated idler, and his sheer bullheaded unwillingness to see anybody else’s point of view or engage in honest non-whining debate, I have no trouble with the guy. Maybe I missed those threads, but I have yet to see any unusual [or breathtaking] rudeness or hypocricy … not compared to what I’ve seen directed towards him by some other posters, at any rate. I don’t understand why Mehitabel is so desperate to know where he’s from - and why all the cracks about Belgium continue, when he has explained over and over that it is his mother’s birth country and that he doesn’t live there. I also haven’t seen him “flaunting of the lifestyle of a rich and ill-educated idler” … I’m not even sure how one would do that on the internet. As for “sheer bullheaded unwillingness to see anybody else’s point of view or engage in honest non-whining debate” - this could also describe the unwillingness of other posters to take his word that he is living in the ME, and the constant whining on this topic almost every time he posts - regardless of the topic being debated. I find Aldebaran’s posts interesting - even when I don’t agree with him - and I certainly don’t see him coming across as being ill-educated. ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/65 "2004-09-10T16:42:20Z")
Now I’m wondering how on earth I could overlook this pearl of duffer-wisdom > [@duffer](#): > > Might be because in the past he has defended “suicide bombers” . Didn’t sound like he was supporting innocents at the time. Care to back this up, you lying insect? Since you can’t back up this stupid yet still disgusting attempt to spread such vile and disgusting lies about me, I suggest you read carefully the following quote from the thread \*\* SDMB registration agreement as of 3/24/04.\*\* > **[SDMB registration agreement as of 3/24/04](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247049)** > > The agreement below spells out the rules by which SDMB users are expected to abide. Changes since the last version are indicated in bold. Current changes are intended to (a) clarify rule enforcement in light of the switch to paid subscriptions, and... > [@](#): > > You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the SDMB to post any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy, or violative of U.S. law. Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/66 "2004-09-10T17:24:56Z")
> [@Aldebaran](#): > > I should say: let me buy you a drink in some obscure location where it goes unnoticed that I endorse and encourage the **consumation** of such a satanic item. [English lesson]The word you were looking for is consumption. Consummation is, err, something else. Close try though![/English lesson] Look, **Aldeberan** is under no more obligation to explicitly condemn these actions than is anyone else. Even just on the SDMB, there are thousands who have not explicitly condemned these actions. Does that mean we all support them? Should a thread be started? “We, the undersigned, do explicitly condemn the actions of the terrorists in Ossetia.” Then everyone who doesn’t post to it can be ripped a new one? There are plenty of things to not like about **Aldereran** : his coyness about his location, his defensiveness, his ability to fly off the handle at the drop of a hat, etc. I’ve seen nothing that displays a lack of the common human decency that believes killing innocent children is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/67 "2004-09-10T17:31:26Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > What, like Belgium? 😃 I know quite a few obscure locations there. The trouble is that I don’t go unnoticed anymore because of previous visits, and this not as much because of my weird behaviour as of that of some of my friends. > [@](#): > > Note to SDMB as a whole: **Aldebaran** is not a spokesperson for the Muslim world. He doesn’t make policy. You are quite right. I try to stay out of politics by all means since I gained the age of wisdom (Which was when I was about 3 hours old and woke up from my first real-time sleep). > [@](#): > > Note to **Aldebaran** : not everyone is out to get you. Of course they are. Even at this moment I see the little people covering my screen and I must wipe them from my keyboard while they try to eat my poor fingers. > [@](#): > > It’s not necessary to go straight on the defensive at any perceived slight; it will only antagonise people. I think the difficulty with that is that in many cases what some might perceive as " being defensive" is nothing else then me making an attempt to make my points clear. The thread you linked to is a good example. I was not on the defensive. I was trying to make my point become clear. Some people saw that immediately, others did not or simply refused to. I must say that Liberal disappointed me because normally I like reading his posts. It is obvious that he made that first comment in the thread while being emotional overwhelmed by what happened in that school. This can be an understandable reaction from his point of view at that moment. My first reply was intented to make him think a bit further about what he just wrote and cut out the emotional part of it. Yet instead he refused to recognize that he posted a very badly frazed and wrong comment, while that was all that was ever needed to solve the whole problem immediately. To solve his problem he tried constantly (and still did in this thread) to switch the focus on me yes or no condemning these acts the way he thought he could command me to fraze it, and then in addition on his explicit command. I don’t now what counts for Liberal on this issue, but I don’t take commands in real life from anyone except from those I recognize as being in a position to do this. How on earth a stranger posting anonymously on a public message board would come to the idea that he is in such a position goes beyond me. And yes, requiring from me or any other muslim to make a special statement about such actions, while it goes without words that every normal human is horrified by them, implies very directly that we should apologize for the actions of these murderers. The explicit condemnation of such a thing _because_ you are Muslim is nothing else then expressing the inherent apology. I am sorry but I do not play such disgusting games with my dignity. Never and nowhere, which counts also when I am only an anonymous poster on a message board. Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/68 "2004-09-10T18:18:49Z")
As I stated in the thread that was referenced, the problem isn’t one of guilt, or apology, or any of that fungible bullshit. The problem is pragmatics. If your religion’s image is one of endorsing violent crime-in-the-name-of-religion then it is up to the moderates to vocally decry such a hijacking of their religion. It is PR, pure and simple. I would also suggest that if 99% of Muslims all over the world railed against killings-in-their-religion’s-name then we might very well see fewer suicide bombers, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/69 "2004-09-10T19:11:54Z")
> [@Aldebaran](#): > > Now I’m wondering how on earth I could overlook this pearl of duffer-wisdom > > > [@duffer](#): > > > > Might be because in the past he has defended “suicide bombers” . Didn’t sound like he was supporting innocents at the time. > > Care to back this up, you lying insect? I’m not sure but I think he’s referring to the [11-year-old Human Bomb](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=245447&highlight=suicide) thread. ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/70 "2004-09-10T20:03:01Z")
Nurse! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/71 "2004-09-10T20:14:42Z")
I post a link and **A** makes a non sequitur. There may be hope yet! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/72 "2004-09-10T20:14:48Z")
> [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](#): > > I also haven’t seen him “flaunting of the lifestyle of a rich and ill-educated idler” … I’m not even sure how one would do that on the internet. My WAG: **Aldebaran** and I have discussed horses, our own and in general, in some threads. There’s a perception among some part of the populace that only rich idlers are into horses (Newport polo toffs and so forth). Maybe that’s it, or part of it. Horse owner = rich idler. [pause whle I picked up the muck fork dropped while guffawing] Now, I don’t know about **Aldebaran’s** circumstances, but I can assure you that people of all walks of life own and ride horses, and a lot of us have to sacrifice in order to do so. Still, the elitist image persists. So perhaps that feeds into that comment. As to the topic at hand, others have eloquently made the point: insisting that **Aldebaran** apologize for the actions of others who happen to be of the same religion is ludicrous. I’ve had my own run-ins with the man here, and sometimes he drives me batshit insane.\* But I don’t hold him in contempt because his worldview and beliefs differ so vastly from mine, nor do I expect him to be the Muslim avatar, atoner for all co-religionists’ sins. \*Gee, **Lib** , who have I made similar comments about recently, eh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/73 "2004-09-10T20:50:58Z")
> [@ETF](#): > > As to the topic at hand, others have eloquently made the point: insisting that Aldebaran apologize for the actions of others who happen to be of the same religion is ludicrous. Can you point out who asked Aldebaran (or anyone else for that matter) to apologize? I would like to join the eloquent horde, and blow spit upon the bastard(s) who asked Aldebaran to apologize. Because, you see, what we had asked for was not an apology. An apology is pretty meaningless unless you are responsible for what you’re apologizing for. What we asked for was _condemnation_ of the kidnapping and mass murder of children. One need not be culpable to condemn. That’s why the Pope condemned it. He didn’t do it. And he didn’t apologize. And in fact, no one asked Aldebaran specifically even to condemn the act _until he singled himself out as the topic of the thread_. I give you the benefit of the doubt that you came in late and missed the other thread from which this one was born. But now that you’re here, you need to catch up with the many posts before where this very thing was explained. Apologize versus condemn. I don’t apologize for the murders because I didn’t do them. I do, however, condemn them. Don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/74 "2004-09-10T21:23:13Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Apologize versus condemn. I don’t apologize for the murders because I didn’t do them. I do, however, condemn them. Don’t you? Okay, condemn. if I don’t state publicly that I condemn murder, whenever it occurs, does that mean that I support homicide? Or is it okay to refrain from making a point of condemning it unless it’s spectacular mass murder? And then one must make public declaration of detestation or be held to approve the act? And if a murder is committed by a middle-aged Caucasian New Englander, must I rise up in righteous wrath and condemn all middle-aged Caucasian New Englanders who commit murder, or be taken to tacitly support their actions? Say I find myself amid enraged hordes of non-MACNE condemning a mass murder carried out by MACNEs, said enraged hordes insisting that every non-murdering MACNE must condemn such heinous atrocities as antithetical to the MACNE culture, or else the world may fairly conclude that such atrocities are in fact integral to my MACNE culture, even promoted by its worldview. Mightn’t I be just a wee bit pissed at that? And express my pissedness? And find it demeaning that others would proclaim that my failure to explictly condemn murderous MACNEs means I therefore support them? Or, to put it Pitwise: Who the fuck are _you_ to appoint _anyone_ spokesperson for an entire culture, and ream them when they decline to act as _you_ think they should? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/75 "2004-09-10T21:28:06Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Or, to put it Pitwise: Who the fuck are _you_ to appoint _anyone_ spokesperson for an entire culture, and ream them when they decline to act as _you_ think they should? Look, I just jumped in here, but i thought that **aldebaran** was self appointed. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/76 "2004-09-10T21:48:23Z")
**Aldebaran,** I agree with the others that you have become a lot more mellow and even tempered lately, and I apologize for calling you a motherfucker, uh… 675 times (but not that 676th! :D). But… > [@Aldebaran](#): > > You are quite right. I try to stay out of politics by all means since I gained the age of wisdom (Which was when I was about 3 hours old and woke up from my first real-time sleep). > **[Why would you still give GW Bush your vote?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=256523)** > > Everytime I come across a post stating that the poster want to vote for that man I just can’t believe my eyes. I really would like to become informed how this is possible. Why on earth would anyone have such a president for an other term. Salaam.... > **[Which US president had good/negative impact on your life and why.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=243453)** > > Since a president is supposed to “serve the country” which in my opinion includes “and its citizens”, there must have been at least one who’s governing directly affected your daily life. (Off course includes the president’s administration) So I... > **[How secualr is the USA when it comes to elect a president.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=233634)** > > The thread “Would you vote for an atheist” including in the OP the question if an atheist would have any change to be elected as president, brought me to the idea for this one. After reading the answers on that thread, I posted the following... > **[Showing pictures of POW's: the US hypocrisy](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=229255)** > > Seen the hypocritical outcry in the USA when in the beginning of the invasion/occupation of the sovereign nation Iraq the Iraqy TV, Al Jazeera and other channels brought coverage of a few US soldiers in custody of the Iraqy government, I have some... > **[USA Unfreedom of Speach](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=210010)** > > http://www.sundayherald.com/36460 Introduction of the article… \*\*America’s Haul Of Shame Last week at the Venice Film Festival Tim Robbins said Hollywood’s rejection of him and his wife Susan Sarandon for their anti-war views had rallied liberals... > **[Next US government faces the world's opinion on the USA](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=208187)** > > Seen the fact that the current US president and government managed to convince about the entire world that the US can never be trusted for one single second that the US is governed by spoiled children who make “freedom fries” a slogan when an... > **[Bible Waver invasion of Iraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=192302)** > > It seems the Christian sect of your president planned even when the butchering of Iraqis was still in preparation, to invade the country with their “Jesus Saves” talks. They want to “erradicate Islam” which their leader Graham describes as satanic ,... > **[Free Iraqis.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=196045)** Those are all threads you have started about politics. Now, I’m willing to accept that you started them all within three hours of being born, but I’ll need some evidence. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/77 "2004-09-10T21:55:39Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > Those are all threads you have started about politics. Now, I’m willing to accept that you started them all within three hours of being born, but I’ll need some evidence. :dubious: He did say “try”. Guess he wasn’t successful. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/78 "2004-09-10T22:20:24Z")
> [@Aldebaran](#): > > I am sorry OK, we’re done here. Move along, everybody. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/79 "2004-09-10T23:38:17Z")
> [@Aldebaran](#): > > Care to back this up, you lying insect? I just have to say that I enjoyed this line. ---
**Author:** ![ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZombiesAteMyBrain)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498/80 "2004-09-11T00:31:14Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > I would also suggest that if 99% of Muslims all over the world railed against killings-in-their-religion’s-name then we might very well see fewer suicide bombers, etc… I would then suggest that perhaps 99% of all Christians should condemn Bush’s genocide of the Iraqi people - which he has said is done on his God’s instructions. Then perhaps we would see fewer dead Iraqi civilians. > [@](#): > > …"God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. > [@](#): > > Some Americans may worry about an evangelical crusader controlling the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal, but religion - even the fundamentalist variety - is generally considered a good thing in the U.S. Certainly, focusing on religion helps keep attention away from other more contentious motives for invading Iraq, such as oil or world domination. So the media have been hyping Bush’s alleged spirituality (including a Newsweek cover story on “Bush and God”), even as the president snubbed pleas for peace from world religious leaders and last week tested a 21,000-pound bomb in preparation for unloading it on people in Iraq. (Blessed are the bombed children.) Of course, it’s possible that Bush is deeply religious, whatever than means. More likely, Bush is simply an empty vessel, a hollow shell, a person of weak character and limited life experience who is therefore highly susceptible to the control of a small, determined group of ideological hard-liners bent on asserting U.S. power more forcefully in the world. " Above quotes from [Bush Button News](http://www.bushwatch.com/evangelist.htm) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-aldebaran-get-so-much-stick/263498.md?page=5)