All units, we have a report of a pants fire....

Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job!

How Reliable Is Brown's Resume?

By DAREN FONDA AND RITA HEALY

When President Bush nominated Michael Brown to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2003, Brown's boss at the time, Joe Allbaugh, declared, "the President couldn't have chosen a better man to help...prepare and protect the nation." But how well was he prepared for the job? Since Hurricane Katrina, the FEMA director has come under heavy criticism for his performance and scrutiny of his background. Now, an investigation by TIME has found discrepancies in his online legal profile and official bio, including a description of Brown released by the White House at the time of his nomination in 2001 to the job as deputy chief of FEMA. (Brown became Director of FEMA, succeeding Allbaugh, in 2003.)

Before joining FEMA, his only previous stint in emergency management, according to his bio posted on FEMA's website, was "serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight." The White House press release from 2001 stated that Brown worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., from 1975 to 1978 "overseeing the emergency services division." In fact, according to Claudia Deakins, head of public relations for the city of Edmond, Brown was an "assistant to the city manager" from 1977 to 1980, not a manager himself, and had no authority over other employees. "The assistant is more like an intern," she told TIME. "Department heads did not report to him." Brown did do a good job at his humble position, however, according to his boss. "Yes. Mike Brown worked for me. He was my administrative assistant. He was a student at Central State University," recalls former city manager Bill Dashner. "Mike used to handle a lot of details. Every now and again I'd ask him to write me a speech. He was very loyal. He was always on time. He always had on a suit and a starched white shirt."

In response, Nicol Andrews, deputy strategic director in FEMA's office of public affairs, insists that while Brown began as an intern, he became an "assistant city manager" with a distinguished record of service. "According to Mike Brown," she says, "a large portion [of the points raised by TIME] is very inaccurate."

Brown's lack of experience in emergency management isn't the only apparent bit of padding on his resume, which raises questions about how rigorously the White House vetted him before putting him in charge of FEMA. Under the "honors and awards" section of his profile at FindLaw.com — which is information on the legal website provided by lawyers or their offices—he lists "Outstanding Political Science Professor, Central State University". However, Brown "wasn't a professor here, he was only a student here," says Charles Johnson, News Bureau Director in the University Relations office at the University of Central Oklahoma (formerly named Central State University). "He may have been an adjunct instructor," says Johnson, but that title is very different from that of "professor." Carl Reherman, a former political science professor at the University through the '70s and '80s, says that Brown "was not on the faculty." As for the honor of "Outstanding Political Science Professor," Johnson says, "I spoke with the department chair yesterday and he's not aware of it." Johnson could not confirm that Brown made the Dean's list or was an "Outstanding Political Science Senior," as is stated on his online profile.
Speaking for Brown, Andrews says that Brown has never claimed to be a political science professor, in spite of what his profile in FindLaw indicates. "He was named the outstanding political science senior at Central State, and was an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City School of Law."

Under the heading of "Professional Associations and Memberships" on FindLaw, Brown states that from 1983 to the present he has been director of the Oklahoma Christian Home, a nursing home in Edmond. But an administrator with the Home, told TIME that Brown is "not a person that anyone here is familiar with." She says there was a board of directors until a couple of years ago, but she couldn't find anyone who recalled him being on it. According to FEMA's Andrews, Brown said "he's never claimed to be the director of the home. He was on the board of directors, or governors of the nursing home." However, a veteran employee at the center since 1981 says Brown "was never director here, was never on the board of directors, was never executive director. He was never here in any capacity. I never heard his name mentioned here."

The FindLaw profile for Brown was amended on Thursday to remove a reference to his tenure at the International Arabian Horse Association, which has become a contested point.

Brown's FindLaw profile lists a wide range of areas of legal practice, from estate planning to family law to sports. However, one former colleague does not remember Brown's work as sterling. Stephen Jones, a prominent Oklahoma lawyer who was lead defense attorney on the Timothy McVeigh case, was Brown's boss for two-and-a-half years in the early '80s. "He did mainly transactional work, not litigation," says Jones. "There was a feeling that he was not serious and somewhat shallow." Jones says when his law firm split, Brown was one of two staffers who was let go.

Pay me now....

Remember the old Fram oil filter commercial, with the auto mechanic who says "You can pay me now, or pay me later?" The premise was, spend a couple of bucks now on preventive maintenance or pay thousands down the road in repairs.

I really wonder what that "now or later" difference will be in the aftermath of Katrina. Beyond the inestimable value of lives lost and destroyed, what will the final dollar value be? Look at the "pay me now" figure of flood prevention, levee maintenance and effective emergency management as compared to what will be the eventual staggering "pay me later" figure of cleaning up this nightmare.

To this administration, an ounce of prevention is a pound of missed opportunity or....penny wise, Bush foolish!

Death, Incompetence and Closure

Let's go to the dictionary, shall we?

Our first stop, our old friend, death. We see that death is defined as the act of dying or the termination of life. From there, flip through to "incompetent" and you find that this refers to someone "devoid of those qualities requisite for effective conduct or action."

We begin with death, and this story from Reuters. It seems that FEMA can't get a bus or a boat or a helicopter out when it should, but it can get out press releases. In this case, "press release" has a dual meaning, as it is a release not just for the press but directed TO the press.

The Reuters story stated that FEMA, "heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims. An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats and that the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect. We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media, the spokeswoman said in an e-mailed response to a Reuters inquiry."

The federal government has requested that the media not cover perhaps the most significant aspect of this story. Death, remember from above, is the act of dying or the termination of life. In this instance, I think the former definition is more applicable. The termination of life sounds official, almost clinical. What happened in New Orleans was the act of dying, an act that was hideous, painful and all too frequent. Desperate people trapped in their homes as they were swallowed by the raging waters, parents who lost a gut-wrenching battle to hold on to their children and elderly men and women who simply could walk no more played out that final act.

The administration does not want us to hear their stories, though, they do not want us to see the images of the final chapter of this storm and their own foolishness and failings and the consequences for so many. It as if these lives actually were not ravaged and destroyed if they keep the horrific pictures from us (pssst...sound familiar?)

In our daily lives, when we mourn the deaths of those around us, we often view their remains. It is often said that this experience helps confirm the reality and finality of death and allows the sorrows of one to become the sorrows of all. We need to truly know on a very personal level what has happened, not in some distant country, but here in our midst. We need to get our head around it, to grasp its scope, and we need to allow the sorrows of one to become the sorrows of all.

But if we do that, if we understand the tragedy and grieve as a community, we cannot escape that other definition, the definition of incompetence. Remember that one, the one that reads "devoid of those qualities requisite for effective conduct or action?" These images would demand explanation and any explanation necessarily circles back to incompetence.

So to avoid that, the administration draws the curtain, and pretends the final act never occurred. No explanations are necessary, no closure provided and no dealing with those messy definitions. Turn your head, look away and disregard both death and incompetence. But I can't, I just can't....

Fashion Faux Pas

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this is working very well for them."

Apparently someone forgot to remind Barbara Bush that it is gauche to wear white sheets after Labor Day.

Schmidlap's blog

Read this one.

Please!

schmidlap.blogspot.com

Misunderestimations

Candidate Chimpy said that the media often "misunderestimated" him.

I have been wrong so many times about George W. Bush and the American electorate. I clearly have "misunderestimated" both the body politic and this politician.

In 2000, I was convinced that when he moved beyond southern state primaries onto a national stage that the country would realize there was no "there" there (with apologies to both Gertrude Stein and Oakland!) Well, when that didn't happen, I said, thankfully, there are still the debates, and.... that didn't work. Ah, but wait, I said, a vigilant, independent press will surely do their job to excuse the failings, foibles and frauds of this grotesque caricature of a candidate…hmm, no.

Even after the debacle of the 2000 election, the theft of Florida and a Supreme Court decision so flawed that they won’t even allow it to be cited as precedent, I once again misunderestimated the situation. I thought that OK, we were screwed, but how bad could it be? We’ll lose the protections of some EPA rules and see a couple of wackos named to the federal bench, but we’re a resilient country, we’ll get by.

How bad could it be, I wondered, how bad could it be. Oh Lord, did I misunderestimate.

First, he bungles the invasion of Afghanistan, as a legitimate attack on the Taliban becomes an abortive campaign to support the Northern Alliance and turn the country over to the opium lords. And then on top of that, we wage an unholy war in Iraq resulting from filial pride and neocon ambition that kills by the thousands and drains the treasury.

Surely, I thought, now the country will wake up to both demand an honest election and to turn out this incompetent administration. I had no illusions now about how bad things could be, I would not misunderestimate the president. But I did sorely misunderestimate the press and the American electorate.

But now, please, people, can you see this time? The president goes to parties and plays guitar while New Orleans drowns. FEMA is staffed by political hacks that have no idea what Federal, Emergency or Management mean, and all levels of the administration try to bob and weave and blame someone else. Can you see this time?

Tell me I haven’t misunderestimated you again.

Comment Piece in Today's Financial Times

Tragic costs of Bush’s Iraq obsession
By Michael Lind
Published: September 5 2005 21:17 Last updated: September 5 2005 21:17

Samuel Huntington has called it the Lippmann Gap, echoing the American journalist Walter Lippmann in 1943: “Foreign policy consists in bringing into balance, with a comfortable surplus of power in reserve, the nation’s commitments and the nation’s power.” The historian Paul Kennedy has another name for it: “Imperial overextension”. Whatever you call this dangerous disease, the symptoms are clear in the US.

In early 2001, shortly after President George W. Bush was inaugurated and before 9/11, the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned of the three most devastating disasters that could strike the US: a terrorist attack on New York City, a hurricane flooding New Orleans and a San Francisco earthquake. The Bush administration was focused on its priority: Iraq.

The first foreseen disaster took place on September 11 2001, when al-Qaeda flew hijacked jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The federal government was taken by surprise. New York City’s first responders were hampered by communications problems and poor planning for this long-predicted event. The Bush administration’s response to the mass murder committed by al-Qaeda was warped by the focus on Iraq. Many in Washington believe that the administration failed to send sufficient troops to Afghanistan because it was with-holding forces for the invasion of Iraq.

Day after day, the levees of Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans and the wetlands that protected the city were eroding. Mr Bush and his allies in the Republican-majority Congress have slashed federal spending for flood control in south-east Louisiana by half and funds for work at Lake Pontchartrain by almost two-thirds. From 2003, funds authorised for the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project were diverted to pay for the war in Iraq. Earlier this year, the US Army Corps of Engineers requested $27m (€21.6m) to repair the levees to protect them from hurricanes. Mr Bush sought to cut the amount to $3.9m and also proposed reducing spending to prevent flooding from $78m to $30m (the Republican Congress ultimately passed $5.7m and $36.5m, respectively). The New Orleans Times-Picayune published numerous articles warning that the war in Iraq was taking money away from hurricane protection on the Gulf coast.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, the insurgency metastasised. With US forces divided between the necessary war in Afghanistan and the war of choice in Iraq, and army recruitment numbers plunging, the Bush administration, in addition to hiring private contractors, was forced to mobilise National Guard reserves overseas. When Katrina struck, tens of thousands of National Guard soldiers were in Iraq, along with much of the equipment needed for disaster relief.

At the same time, America’s long border with Mexico has gone largely unprotected. Around a million illegal immigrants are apprehended each year, in addition to the estimated half a million who join the roughly 10m living in the US. A growing number of illegal immigrants apprehended at the border are from Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Yemen, Iraq and Syria. President Bush’s justice department claims that suspected American terrorist Jose Padilla and an accomplice planned to enter the US through Mexico and blow up buildings in New York and other cities. Mohammed Junaid Babar, an alleged al-Qaeda agent linked with plots against London, has told US investigators of a plan to bring terrorists into the US from Mexico.

On December 17 2004, Mr Bush signed the National Intelligence Reform Act, which required the addition of 10,000 border patrol agents beginning in 2006. In his February 2005 budget, however, Mr Bush authorised funds for only 210 new border agents. Last month, the Democratic governors of Arizona and New Mexico asked for federal disaster relief to help deal with border chaos.

The horror in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast, and the chaos along the US-Mexican border, join anarchy in Afghanistan and Iraq as proof of the bankruptcy of the Bush doctrine. Mr Bush’s neoconservative strategists wanted a crusade for US hegemony in the Middle East and the world; as “national greatness conservatives,” some might have been willing to pay for it with higher taxes. But Mr Bush’s political base consists of conservatives and libertarians united by a crusade to cut taxes. The attempt to establish American global hegemony without paying for it was a disaster – actually, several disasters – waiting to happen.

If, early in 2001, the Bush administration had focused on al-Qaeda instead of Iraq, it might have responded to FEMA’s call to prepare New York for a big terrorist incident. If it had not divided US forces to fight two wars at once, Afghanistan might have been pacified while Saddam remained in power but contained. If Bush had not sacrificed border security to pay for the war in Iraq, the Mexican border might be under control. If Bush had not diverted so many National Guard units to Iraq, disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina would have been swifter and more effective. And if the war in Iraq had not caused the Bush administration to raid money for the New ­Orleans levees, this big port city might not be a corpse-filled cesspool.

Supporters of the war in Iraq predicted that the dominos would fall in the Middle East. Instead, the dominos are falling across America.

The writer is Whitehead Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation

A personal note to Susan Petrarca of Lemont, Illinois

Susan wrote a letter to the editor published in today's Chicago Tribune. She describes how her brother is likely to be deployed to the Middle East in October. She proceeds to rant that "if anything should happen to my brother, I'll blame the Cindy Sheehan contingent. And I'll be more than happy to tell her to her face." She then adds about how she is one of "those of us who support the struggle for a constitutional democracy in Iraq."

Pssst, Susan--that struggle is over. There is no "constitutional democracy" in Iraq. The Iraqi people didn't want it and George W. Bush certainly didn't care about it. Your brother will be supporting the establishment of a fundamentalist Islamic client state of Iran. I applaud his service and hope for his safety, but please know that the "anti-war" left cares far more about your brother and his comrades-in-arms than does your president.

As for dissent, nothing is more fundamentally American. I always think of a young man from Illinois by way of Kentucky and Indiana. While in Congress, he voted for a resolution that said that the war "was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally commenced by the president." He basically called the president a liar, stating that "the result of this examination was to make the impression that, taking for true all the president states as facts, he falls far short of proving his justification and that the president would have gone farther with his proof if it had not been for the small matter that the truth would not permit him." Finally, he even got a bit personal, saying that the president's speech calling for war sounded like "half-insane mumbling."

He says that the president kept changing his reasons for war, as he "first he takes up one, and in attempting to argue us into it he argues himself out of it, then seizes another and goes through the same process, and then, confused at being able to think of nothing new, he snatches up the old one again, which he has some time before cast off." Again, he takes to insulting the intellectual capacity of the president, as he describes how "his mind, taxed beyond its power, is running hither and thither, like some tortured creature on a burning surface, finding no position on which it can settle down and be at ease."

The young man is also concerned about how the president reacts to criticism and won't listen to his generals. He notes that the president fails to state when he "expects the war to terminate." Generals were "by this same president driven into disfavor, if not disgrace, for intimating that peace could not be conquered in less than three or four months...... the president gives us a long message, without showing us that as to the end he himself has even an imaginary conception."

He wraps up with one last insult, as he states that the president "knows not where he is, as he is a bewildered, confounded, and miserably perplexed man."

Downright un-American you say? Well, I wonder what ever became of that young man so critical of the president and war--that Abraham Lincoln fellow.

Life and Death in New Orleans

Let me begin by saying that despite my rather obvious political leanings, I take no joy from the failings of the administration. I wanted them to do well here, I wanted them to succeed, I wanted them to save New Orleans.

I hoped that a prepared and effective response would blunt nature's wrath for many reasons. The most basic of course was the fundamental human desire to avoid suffering and loss of life. The second was a fear, now realized, that the storm could produce an environmental catastrophe and severe economic disruption.

The third reason, though, was simple and essentially selfish. I love New Orleans and I did not want to see it washed away. I have only been there once, but the city is one of those uniquely American places that has a hold on even those who have never been there. Like New York, where we want to be a part of it, and San Francisco, where we leave our hearts, we always wanted to ride The City of New Orleans to this vibrant spot.

This city was in a way a "melting pot" before that term was generally applied to the country, but a truly unique pot it was. The various components, from all parts of Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere, kept their unique identities while creating an urban culture like nowhere else. We know New Orleans from Mardi Gras and Anne Rice, from taking A Streetcar Named Desire, from football games to funerals both sad and joyous, from hearing Dixieland jazz and tasting gumbo and jambalaya. In a way, New Orleans felt like it belonged to all of us.

I remember walking down to Cafe DuMonde while the city that had been out too late the night before still slept. In this city of contrasts, around the corner from the garishness of Bourbon Street, you could find a tiny bookstore that would welcome you in to see and touch rare maps and manuscripts. Here a vibrant African-American culture emerged in the shadows of the slave market, and in St. Louis Cemetery #1, you could see the busy, urban city of the living rising above the whitewashed walls of the city of the dead. Now, so much of that is lost.

I do not expect the federal government to solve every problem and I realize that governments are made up of fallible human beings. Those human beings are charged with duties and responsibilities, and what we have seen in the last week is a gross dereliction of those duties that is criminal in its scope. At the head of the agency charged with emergency management, we have not a professional with emergency response experience but a political hack previously fired for mismanagement in heading up horse shows! And now, after failing to be both proactive and reactive, the administration chooses now to deflect criticism and blame others.

I had hoped for so much more.

Who is Mark Silva?

[Note: Mr. Silva did have different co-authors for each article, but he is the common thread]
And why does he have a job at a major newspaper (The Chicago Tribune) ? The man is a hack and a shameless shill for the Bush administration. How does he sleep at night?

I have already pointed out his earlier "journalistic" assessment of the president's "swift" and "personal" response to the crisis in the Gulf Coast. Here is the president's "swift" response:

While this was the scene on that very day in New Orleans:

On this morning's front page, Mark outdoes himself. He describes the president as a man "who honed his credentials as a manager of unimaginable crisis in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001."

Really, Mark? Crisis manager?

I seem to remember a dazed and baffled man looking lost among the school children while the mayor of New York showed what crisis management really meant. I remember a useless figurehead being flown about the country and hiding from view that day while America reeled, and finally, I recall a blinking, nervous, overgrown child overwhelmed by his accidental presidency. He stared into the camera that night with a face that so clearly said that this was the wrong man at the wrong time.

Hi Mark, I'd like to introduce you to Journalistic Integrity. Journalistic Integrity, this is Mark. I'm sure you two have never met before.

Nice work, guys.

From the Department of Homeland Security web page, courtesy of The Gadflyer:

Preparing America

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort.

Nice work, fellas.

Now I've seen everything.......

Click here if you dare.

Pat Robertson has a weight loss shake.

Really.

Lose 20 pounds, and YOUR MIND!

"Wow, Pat, after drinking your shakes, I'm wearing 34-inch pants, I just killed a homosexual and the president of Venezuela and I feel GREAT! Praise the Lord! Now I'm going to teach the home-schooled children about the 6,000-year history of the Earth and how Jesus hates Arabs. After she makes me a nutritious dinner capped off with a satisfying Pat shake, I'm hoping to have reproductive, missionary position relations with the little housewife!"

I hope anyone who voted for this man is ashamed of themselves

From Bubble Boy's flyover: "Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

Can you believe he actually said that? Trent Lott will have a FANTASTIC house?

Of course he will (not to mention the house he has in Jackson and a lovely residence near the nation's capital.) He will also have a lifetime pension and millions of dollars to make sitting on that porch oh so comfortable.

Chimpy's concern for Trent Lott is so touching, while countless thousands of Americans have died or had their lives destroyed with nary a smirk from our increasingly bizarre mockery of a president.

By the way, I happen to have a picture from the first back yard barbecue at Trent's new place below.

A new team member

I would like to welcome Katie to the blog and look forward to her first post!

Who ya Crappin, Part II

Yesterday's Chicago Tribune
Note..this was from the FRONT page, not the Op-Ed!

HURRICANE KATRINA: THE PRESIDENT
By Mark Silva and Frank James, Washington Bureau. September 1, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Taking swift and personal responsibility for federal relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush on Wednesday made a somber appeal for patience and a pledge to deploy vast resources, from the military to public health agencies, to a lengthy and daunting task.

SWIFT???? He spends three days in Crackerford on his pretend ranch drinking Lone Star out of O'Doul's bottles and these idiots call it swift????

Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States!

Remain calm! All is well!
Hmm...a smirking frat boy in a pretend soldier suit completely oblivious to his surroundings!

It doesn't have much Spam in it.....

A Quick Note on Comments

I enjoy the comment feature on the blog. Say what you want here within very loosely drawn limits --basically don't go racist/misogynist/homophobic on us, no death threats and remember, profanity is an art form (From A Christmas Story, "My father worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay", so be an artist!).

Link to your site, fine with us. HOWEVER, we have a zero-tolerance rule for spam (and spam is in the eye of THIS beholder.) So if you're pitching something, we pitch your comments.

We now send you back to your regularly-scheduled programming.

Who you crappin????

A local sports radio show does a bit with the title above, "Who you crappin?" It comes from an exchange with legendary Bears coach Mike Ditka, but the bit involves people who have lied to you. Not something someone DID, something someone SAID....

Bill O'Reilly, where "Loofah means never having to say you're sorry," on Fox News was interviewing a poor local National Guard officer and berating him about "where was the Guard."

Hello, McFly??? The Guard is in IRAQ fighting Bubble Boy's war! Four out of every ten Louisiana Guardsmen are in the desert for NOTHING along with their HIGH WATER gear. In the desert. Floods here--desert there. And where is the high water gear????

My Pet Goat Redux

In an earlier post, at that point hesitant to politicize a human tragedy, I challenged the president, saying "it is time for you to step up, be a leader, do your job." You have failed so miserably.

Mr. President, in case you haven't noticed, one of America's greatest cities NO LONGER EXISTS.This isn't a "roll up our sleeves and get to work" photo op, this is a huge NATIONAL disaster. I am puzzled that you can't be troubled to awaken from your fake ranch-induced stupor to deal with hundreds of thousands of human lives lost in a tsunami or countless multitudes of dead and suffering on our soil, but yet you can rush back to Washington in order to try and force-feed a dead Florida woman.

Not just the Gulf Coast, but the entire country, was crying out for leadership. While we didn't have the immediate horror of water and death around us here, the country far from Katrina's wrath awoke to realizing that they might not be able to afford to drive to work and are deathly afraid that they won't be able to stay warm this winter. The country wanted leadership, the country wanted a president, and we got My Pet Goat II.

You knew this was coming and you waited. You played at your “ranch,” you preached to the choir and you watched an American city die. The New York Times was far too kind to you this morning. Your oh-so-timid appearance made even your blinky, nervous, nonsense after the towers fell look statesmanlike by comparison. The Times said “George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom.” You did so much more or oh so far less than that. You embarrassed yourself as a president, an American and as a human being.

Damn I hate to say I told you so.....

http://thinkingorsitting.blogspot.com/2005_07_03_thinkingorsitting_archive.html

7/9/05
Call Out the National Guard!

So, do you think folks in the gulf coast might like a few guardsmen around to deal with what could be a nasty early-season hurricane?

"Where have all the guardsmen gone, long time passing...
Where have all the guardsmen gone, long time ago
Where have the guardsmen gone?

To Iraq for nothing at all,
When will they ever learn...
When will they ever learn..."

Stories on looting

I knew there was a reason that I've become a near-militant son-of-a-bitch. Below are all from links to www.nola.com, the site supporting the New Orleans Times Picayune newspaper. Their reporters are blogging to the site with stories themselves at this point; there's little else they can do but keep reporting the news as they can get it.

________________

Those trapped in the city faced an increasingly lawless environment, as law enforcement agencies found themselves overwhelmed with widespread looting. Looters swarmed the Wal-mart on Tchoupitoulas Street, often bypassing the food and drink section to steal wide-screen TVs, jewelry, bicycles and computers. Watching the sordid display and shaking his head in disgust, one firefighter said of the scene: "It’s a f---- hurricane, what are you do with a basketball goal?"

Police regained control at about 3 p.m., after clearing the store with armed patrol. One shotgun-toting Third District detective described the looting as "ferocious."

"And it’s going to get worse as the days progress," he said.

In Uptown, one the few areas that remained dry, a bearded man patrolled Oak Street near the boarded-up Maple Leaf Bar, a sawed-off shotgun slung over his shoulder. The owners of a hardware store sat in folding chairs, pistols at the ready.

Uptown resident Keith Williams started his own security patrol, driving around in his Ford pickup with his newly purchased handgun. Earlier in the day, Williams said he had seen the body of a gunshot victim near the corner of Leonidas and Hickory streets.

"What I want to know is why we don’t have paratroopers with machine guns on every street," Williams said.

Like-minded Art Depodesta sat on the edge of a picnic table outside Cooter Brown’s Bar, a chrome shotgun at his side loaded with red shells.

"They broke into the Shell station across the street," he said. "I walked over with my 12-gauge and shot a couple into the air."

The looters scattered, but soon after, another man appeared outside the bar in a pickup truck armed with a pistol and threatened Depodesta.

"I told him, ‘Listen, I was in the Army and I will blow your ass off,’" Depodesta said. "We’ve got enough trouble with the flood."

The man sped away.

"You know what sucks," Depodesta said. "The whole U.S. is looking at this city right now, and this is what they see."

In the Bywater, a supply store sported spray-painted signs reading "You Loot, I Shoot" and "You Bein Watched." A man seated nearby with a rifle in his lap suggested it was no idle threat. At the Bywater studio of Dr. Bob, the artist known for handpainted "Be Nice or Leave" signs, a less fanciful sentiment was painted on the wall: "Looters Will Be Shot. Dr. Bob."

As the afternoon faded, aggression filled the air on the neutral ground of Poland Avenue as well, as people grew increasingly frustrated with the rescue effort. Having already survived one nightmare, a woman with five children feared going to go to the Dome, saying that some of the men preparing to board transport vehicles had smuggled razor blades with them.

__________________

Looting difficult to control

Tuesday, 8:10 p.m.

By Ed Anderson and Jan Moller

Widespread looting contributed to a deteriorating situation in Louisiana's largest city Tuesday in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Tuesday, according to witnesses and second-hand accounts from evacuees.

The problem is being compounded, officials said, by a breakdown in the ability of public agencies to communicate with one another, said New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas.

“The most frustrating thing about this whole thing has been communication,” Thomas said. “We have to devise a better system.”

He said looting has also escalated and an atmosphere of lawlessness has developed as police resources have been almost entirely devoted to search-and-rescue operations for people trapped by floodwaters on roofs and in attics. “Widespread looting is taking place in all parts of the city” - from uptown and Canal Street to areas around the housing projects, Thomas said.

“People are going in and out of businesses at Louisiana and Claiborne (avenues), taking clothes, tennis shoes and goods,” Thomas said. “It is inconceivable to me how people can do this.”

“People are leaving the Superdome to go to Canal Street to loot,” Thomas said. “Some people broke into drug stores and stole the drugs off the shelves. It is looting times five. I'm telling you, it's like Sodom and Gomorrah.”

__________________________

Shot police officer in surgery

The New Orleans police officer shot in the head by a looter Tuesday was expected to survive, officials said.

The officer, who has not been identified, was in surgery at West Jefferson Medical Center after being shot in the forehead, police said.

The officer was shot by a looter after he and another officer confronted a number of looters at a Chevron store at Shirley and Gen. DeGaulle.

Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies on the scene arrested four people in connection with the shooting. One of the looters reportedly was shot in the arm by an officer during a shootout.

__________________

Shot the arm? Somebody should've shot the fucker in the head and been done with it.

NOLA And The Neanderthal

First off, much like everyone else, I've been watching the desolation and destruction (there couldn't be two better words) that has been happening in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and I can't help but feel sorry for these people. Many of them thought likely that the worst had passed with Katrina and then came the popping of the levees and the flooding which has put about 80% of New Orleans underwater according to many reports.

In a separate forum, Blogger par excellence Schmidlap said that everyone should make a contribution to the American Red Cross. Bravo, Schmidlap, bravo. I wholeheartedly agree and will be opening my pocketbook to the cause as well. However, in the wake of all the horrible things that are going on, I can't help but have a couple of thoughts in mind that leave me rather perplexed and agitated for thinking in such a way.

1. How many times did the local media and law enforcement outlets tell the locals to GET THE HELL OUT? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but if I'm below sea level and 160 mph of wind and hell and fury are coming my way, I'm punching my ticket out of dodge, pride be damned. If nothing else, it necessitates a much less materialistic lifestyle. You get attached to the things that are attached to you and everything else can float away and be replaced (to a point). Those who put themselves in harm's way to rescue the people who didn't heed the warnings of the local constabulary, well, if they wanted to let those people just die courtesy of a little something Darwin called "natural selection," well, that only makes the species stronger, right?
2. Looting. There were COUNTLESS photos on the web and on the television of people looting anything that they can get their grubby opportunistic paws on. I'm sure that major grocery stores and/or convenience marts who could get federal disaster relief (and itinerant good will for helping in the most dire time of need) wouldn't mind opening their doors to people who needed stuff. That's fine. But to loot? To take someone else's property without their permission? C'mon, the waters are over your head and this is the time to steal a television set? Or furniture? Or clothes? I may be a little draconian, and it sure as hell isn't "the punishment fits the crime", but in my mind, there's only one solution. Gangland style executions by law enforcement. Take that person who is busy trying to climb out the broken windows of Circuit City with the flat screen television (because let's face it, there's power AND cable where they live) and just put a bullet right a'tween their eyeballs. Only one, enough to maybe get some gray matter to ooze out just for good measure. Then take and hang 'em outside the establishment with a little sign around their neck that says "No Shoplifting". If that don't drive the point home, then drop them in the biggest alligator and poisonous snake infested hole you can find and see where they are on the food chain.
3. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and their relief dollars. Am I the only one who wouldn't be surprised if the government said, "Well, uh...because we have to support the 101st Airborne and their patrols in dangerous parts of Iraq and Afghanistan, the federal government just doesn't have any money left to spare to help victims of a natural disaster. Check with your insurance company." Now, I'm sorry, but an environmentalist (and I'm the furthest thing from a tree hugger you'll find) made the rather blunt point that thanks to the levee system, land is disappearing around the bayou and barrier islands that would've otherwise taken some of the steam out of the hurricane. Oh, and add global warming (even though Chimpy doesn't ascribe to the proven scientific theory) which makes the water warmer and gives these storms more energy to feed and become more powerful, aren't the collective "we" to blame to some extent for the severity of the disaster?
4. Gas is going to spike. Hard. I already have truckers charging fuel surcharges in excess of 20% and I saw premium for $3.25/gallon in Schiller Park this afternoon at a Marathon station. Now would, I think, be a good time to mention that "alternative fuel" thing in passing to anybody who will listen.

I can't imagine what it is like to be there right now. They said tonight that I-10, the major interstate between Lousiana and Mississippi, could take YEARS to rebuild because parts of it have just gone missing and from the air it looks like a long dashed line with pieces gone. Hopefully there's a lesson to be learned here. The only question is whether those who need said lesson are even paying attention.

My money says they're too busy on their mountain bike or on holiday to really notice or give a damn.

Water and pain...and hope and help

Hurricane Katrina has brought much pain and suffering to the Gulf coast, and as so often happens with hurricanes, the worst is yet to come. Those who made it through the punishing winds will now face weeks of flooding, power outages, contamination and the thousands of horrible realizations of having lost everything and having no homes. It may be days or weeks before we know how many people saw their lives end in a whirling wind and walls of water.

Olease do what you can to help. The American Red Cross is an invaluable first responder, and they need help. Anything will help.

And now, Mr. President, it is time for you to step up. Be a leader,

Do your job.

Of Hurricane Warnings and Morons in the Snow

While the Big Easy seems to have dodged the worst case scenario of a storm of the century, the Crescent City is still getting really hammered. Here's hoping one of my favorite cities pulls through.

Last night I heard a National Weather Service warning that was frightening in its bluntness, saying that buildings would be destroyed and people would die. Rarely have I heard such straight talk, but they had to do it in part because of the "Chicken Little" approach to weather reporting by local news outlets--or as I call them, the Morons in the Snow.

Local news coverage in all major cities is very competitive, and to sell theirs, each station tends to have some overly dramatic "Storm Tracker" or "Storm Watch" nonsense. I live near Chicago, and news flash, it snows here, it gets cold and traffic blows. But never fail, every time we have some flurries in the forecast, out come the Morons in the Snow.

These are the fresh-faced and nicely coiffed cub reporters in their designer parkas standing on an I-94 overpass proclaiming in their most serious "grownup" voice, "Well, Overpaid Talking Head #1 and Underqualified Talking Head #2, I'm here over the Kennedy Expressway, it is cold and and if you look behind me, I think you can see...snow! Yes, it is definitely snowing, no doubt about it! And it is about 5;45 Friday evening and traffic is BAD. Back to you."

Because of the mind-numbing repetition of such drivel, we are conditioned to ignoring the routine Eyewitness News Storm Tracker "The 5-day forecast shows a 90% chance that WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!" nonsense. In order to reach people in a real emergency, the NWS had to spell it out in plain and simple terms, get the hell out of here. We're not kidding, leave. Now.

Back to you in the studio.

Katrina and the (Really Damn Big) Waves

Here is hoping all those in harm's way of the hurricane make it through safely.

Luckily, the National Guard will be there to help those in need...

DOOOOHP!

The "Liberal" Media?

From cnn.com

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's constitutional committee approved a final draft of the Iraqi constitution and put it before the National Assembly on Sunday, despite the rejection of Sunni Arab leaders.

OK, GREAT NEWS, right? The "constitutional committee approved a final draft of the Iraqi constitution and put it before the National Assembly!" Fireworks! Parades!

Oh wait...what was that last bit..."despite the rejection of Sunni Arab leaders." I'm sure "liberal" CNN wouldn't mislead us....

Oh never mind them, just a few Sunnis, right? Hey, they "approved a final draft of the Iraqi constitution and put it before the National Assembly!" I'm not letting a few "Sunnis" rain on my parade! After all, look at that CNN headline:

Committee Signs Iraq's Draft Constitution!

P-A-R-T-Y!!!!!!

But wait--those Sunnis--are they important?

Those people who make up 20+% of the population and had been in power for generations, those who ideologically support the resistance (NOT the "insurgency") but were willing to give constitution-making a chance have now been rendered irrelevant by the Shi’a-Kurd alliance.

(Cue Mr. Rogers)

Boys and girls, I have some new words for you to learn today. Can you say “civil war?” I know you can. And tomorrow, we’ll learn “escalating regional conflicts!”

Won’t you be my neighbor?

Going to Hell Very Quickly...

in one VERY large handbasket.

Look at Informed Comment to see just how quickly and how dangerously the situation in Iraq is deteriorating.

The Hippies: The Once and Future King

The president gave us this Hippy (Best Performance by a Hypocrite) Award-winning bit of inspiration:

"I don't know if you know this or not, but 19 individuals have served both as Guardsmen and as President of the United States. And I'm proud to have been one. "

Well, it is debatable whether or not he has "served" as president, but we know from the incontrovertible historical record that he did not serve in the National Guard. Admitted by connections, excused by privilege, he was a disgrace ro the uniform then and a disgrace to the presidency today.

Bread crumbs and parmesan....

You can tell I'm searching for things other than WPE to write about (worst president ever, by the way.)

A quick cooking tip for the beginner. With some bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper, you can do wonders. Take chicken, pork cutlets, fish fillets or shrimp and dip in beaten egg. Cover with the seasoned bread crumbs mixed with the grated cheese and pan-fry just to brown. With thicker pieces, like the pork or chicken, finish in the oven or on the grill and it is ALL GOOD!!!

Things I have learned in life....

1. OTHER PEOPLE DO NOT THINK YOUR KIDS ARE CUTE!
Now, I have three kids myself, and they are adorable,I have learned that OTHER PEOPLE I/you encounter in the mall, at a sporting event, at the movies, in a restaurant (and most of all, ON AN AIRPLANE) find my/your children to be just massive butt pains.

2. (not original but oh so true) NEVER CONFUSE ACTIVITY WITH ACCOMPLISHMENT!
At work, in relationships, around the house, in sports--just being busy does not equate to being productive!

3. (a no-brainer, but...) BUTTER IS GOOD.
Enough said. We want butter. We need butter. We DESERVE butter! Not trans-fat free hydrogenated something, but simple, pure, well-shaken cow.

4. This is for the single guys out there, but...WOMEN LOVE POMERANIANS!

I am a reformed anti-dog person. I never wanted a dog, ever, but my daughter insisted on bringing home this pomeranian puppy from the pet store she worked at. Don't have a digital picture handy, but he looks roughly like this:


Needless to say, he is now my dog. Not are they cool little dogs, but members of the opposite sex find them absolutely irresistable said. When my wife finally wises up and dumps me..I'm taking the dog!

Don't look now....

Fearless Leader gave us this gem in Idaho (which makes sense, as Idaho is "The Gem State." And why is Connecticut the "Nutmeg State?" And why is it spelled "Connecticut?" No one says the "Connect" part...but I digress.)

"And when the Iraqi forces can defend their freedom by taking more and more of the fight to the enemy, our troops will come home with the honor they have earned....."

Don't look now, boys and girls, it has been away a long time, we thought it was gone forever, but it's back.....it's...it's...AAAAAAAAAGH

PEACE WITH HONOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shhhhh...listen, listen to the echoes. You can almost hear.........we today have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia.....The people of South Vietnam have been guaranteed the right to determine their own future, without outside interference.

Or again, back to the future and back to Idaho:

"We owe them something. We will finish the task that they gave their lives for. We will honor their sacrifice by staying on the offensive"

Listen again, what's that sound? It sounds like...like...1973! What is that..The Allman Brothers and "Ramblin' Man?" "Brother Louie?" Billy Preston and "Will It Go Round in Circles?" No, wait, turn up the radio for a second, I want to hear this...."you had the courage to stand for the right kind of peace so that those who died and those who suffered would not have died and suffered in vain, and so that, where this generation knew war, the next generation would know peace....."

Not only is he less popular than Nixon, now he is channeling him!

Good thing we're seeing the "last throws."

At Least 34 Dead, Dozens Wounded
Guerilla Platoon Attacks Police in Baghdad
Bloody Shiite on Shiite Clashes in the South

Entire story at Informed Comment:

Forty guerrillas in Baghdad launched a coordinated attack on police that included suicide bombings, killing 15 and wounding 56. It is always worrisome when you see a whole platoon of guerrillas operating openly in daylight in the capital. It appears that the guerrillas were targeting a visiting high level police commando from Samarra, but missed him.

In Samarra, guerrillas blew up the house of a police commando and executed one of his relatives. I'd guess this is the guy who was visiting Baghdad, and who was targeted there. I don't know exactly what a "police commando" is, but I suspect he is actually a member of one of the elite Interior Ministry security forces, which have recruited especially from the Badr Corps, a Shiite militia.

In Baquba, guerrillas attacked three sites and killed 8.

As if the problems with the Sunni guerrilla movement weren't serious enough, fighting broke out in six southern cities on Wednesday between followers of Muqtada al-Sadr and those of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. In Najaf, Sadrists attempted to reestablish a political office in the city, from which they were expelled by the US Marines last August. Angry crowds of Najafis gathered and attacked the infiltrating Sadrists. The crowd may have included Badr Corps fighters, the paramilitary of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a rival Shiite party. Sadrists are claiming that 8 persons were killed inside the new offices. Another report said that the building had been burned down. Dozens of persons suffered injuries.

Mr. Popularity

Who is/was more popular...

President Chimpy

or

Richard Nixon just before his resignation?

You guessed it--A man assured of impeachment AND removal who would have faced serious criminal charges were it not for the grace of Gerald Ford gets higher marks than Bubble Boy.

One note about Nixon. He went down because his party had the decency to do the right thing. If only that was the case now.

I've got something for the inventor of the blister packaging process...

We've all been victims of it because you can't buy anything anymore without getting that lovely atmospherically neutral clamshell of a plastic nuisance. Retailers will tell you that it cuts down on theft and makes things easier to stock shelves with.

I'll tell you that more times than not, your scissors won't open it, you're too damn afraid to attack it with a straight razor or other sharp implement for breaking the contents and once you HAVE cut into it, you may have gashed yourself on a sharp plastic edge enough to require sutures.

Here's a thought: The person (or persons) who invented it should be sealed alive inside one themselves. We can put them on display much like the dead corpse of the dictator or Communist leader of your choice except they won't appear peaceful and sleeping, their faces will be frozen with the rigor mortis of fear and hopefully their fingernails will have left scratch marks on the inside. Think Han Solo frozen in carbonite.

From Maureen Dowd

My Private Idaho

By MAUREEN DOWD

W. vacationed so hard in Texas he got bushed. He needed a vacation from his vacation.

The most rested president in American history headed West yesterday to get away from his Western getaway - and the mushrooming Crawford Woodstock - and spend a couple of days at the Tamarack Resort in the rural Idaho mountains.

"I'm kind of hangin' loose, as they say," he told reporters.

As The Financial Times noted, Mr. Bush is acting positively French in his love of le loafing, with 339 days at his ranch since he took office - nearly a year out of his five. Most Americans, on the other hand, take fewer vacations than anyone else in the developed world (even the Japanese), averaging only 13 to 16 days off a year.

W. didn't go alone, of course. Just as he took his beloved feather pillow on the road during his 2000 campaign, now he takes his beloved bike. An Air Force One steward tenderly unloaded W.'s $3,000 Trek Fuel mountain bike when they landed in Boise.

Gas is guzzling toward $3 a gallon. U.S. troop casualties in Iraq are at their highest levels since the invasion. As Donald Rumsfeld conceded yesterday, "The lethality, however, is up." Afghanistan's getting more dangerous, too. The defense secretary says he's raising troop levels in both places for coming elections.

So our overextended troops must prepare for more forced rotations, while the president hangs loose.

I mean, I like to exercise, but W. is psychopathic about it. He interviewed one potential Supreme Court nominee, Harvie Wilkinson III, by asking him how much he exercised. Last winter, Mr. Bush was obsessed with his love handles, telling people he was determined to get rid of seven pounds.

Shouldn't the president worry more about body armor than body fat?

Instead of calling in Karl Rove to ask him if he'd leaked, W. probably called him in to order him to the gym.

The rest of us may be fixated on the depressing tableau in Iraq, where the U.S. seems to be delivering a fundamentalist Islamic state into the dirty hands of men like Ahmad Chalabi, who conned the neocons into pushing for war, and his ally Moktada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric who started two armed uprisings against U.S. troops. It was his militiamen who ambushed Casey Sheehan's convoy in Sadr City.

America has caved on Iraqi women's rights. In fact, the women's rights activists supported by George and Laura Bush may have to leave Iraq.

But, as a former C.I.A. Middle East specialist, Reuel Marc Gerecht, said on "Meet the Press," U.S. democracy in 1900 didn't let women vote. If Iraqi democracy resembled that, "we'd all be thrilled," he said. "I mean, women's social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy."

Yesterday, the president hailed the constitution establishing an Islamic republic as "an amazing process," and said it "honors women's rights, the rights of minorities." Could he really think that? Or is he following the Vietnam model - declaring victory so we can leave?

The main point of writing a constitution was to move Sunnis into the mainstream and make them invested in the process, thereby removing the basis of the insurgency. But the Shiites and Kurds have frozen out the Sunnis, enhancing their resentment. So the insurgency is more likely to be inflamed than extinguished.

For political reasons, the president has a history of silence on America's war dead. But he finally mentioned them on Monday because it became politically useful to use them as a rationale for war - now that all the other rationales have gone up in smoke.

"We owe them something," he told veterans in Salt Lake City (even though his administration tried to shortchange the veterans agency by $1.5 billion). "We will finish the task that they gave their lives for."

What twisted logic: with no W.M.D., no link to 9/11 and no democracy, now we have to keep killing people and have our kids killed because so many of our kids have been killed already? Talk about a vicious circle: the killing keeps justifying itself.

Just because the final reason the president came up with for invading Iraq - to create a democracy with freedom of religion and minority rights - has been dashed, why stop relaxing? W. is determined to stay the course on bike trails all over the West.

This president has never had to pull all-nighters or work very hard, because Daddy's friends always gave him a boost when he flamed out. When was the last time Mr. Bush saw the clock strike midnight? At these prices, though, I guess he can't afford to burn the midnight oil.

Important Then....Important Now

Ah, those carefree days I spent as a younger man! What was important then....

Cindy Crawford


What's important now....
Cindy IN Crawford!!!!

Vehicular Lunacy...or Idiocy

So, I'm driving to work today and fall in behind one of those phenomenal gas-guzzling Ford Explorers being driven by someone, undoubtedly American and damn proud of himself.

How to tell? Well, in today's tough political, divisive and Lee Greenwood's resurrected career times, there are a few simple hallmarks.

He's got the special Illinois license plate for being a veteran.
He's sporting one of those stickers featuring a demonic looking Calvin taking a whiz on the word "Imports"

But, here comes the healthy dose of ignorance. Immediately to the left of the Calvin sticker, he's got an Apple sticker.

Has this tool not stopped in his local Apple store and checked the packing on EVERY box in there? If you can find me something made at their headquarters other than the designs for their nifty gadgets propelling them back to success, I'd like to know what it is.

Perhaps I'll be criticized for not drawing the linear link that some would make of, "Hey, stupid, the 'imports' he is talking about are CARS." But you know what? An import is an import and if you're going to be panning one, you had damn well better keep it consistent.

$3,927

Think how many SECONDS it takes you to read this. Think about those seconds, because for EVERY SECOND your government spends $3,927 on Chimpy McFlightsuit's (thanks Schmidlap!) Excellent Adventure. Take a deep breath and count to three---one ($3,927), two ($3,927), three ($3,927).

How was that? Twelve grand more toward our subsidy of the creation of a fundamentalist Shi'a theocracy. Congrats, Chimpy!

WWJW?

Who would Jesus whack?

Pat Robertson's prayer for death was creepy, but funny in a bizarre way.

However, calling for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez
is absolutely beyond irresponsible. When we're already facing record oil prices, raise your hand if you think it is a good idea to antagonize one of the world's leading petroleum producers?

Ands such a Christian message too!

Pat Robertson--Hiring a Hit (M)an???

Pat prays:

“Take control, Lord! We ask for additional vacancies on the court, and we ask for additional fine people like John Roberts. Lord, speed this hearing process; may there be no rancor. May the Senate comport itself as it should, and may we see peace, harmony and a rapid confirmation process. Do miracles, Lord. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

So--Pat Robertson is asking God to off John Paul Stevens? To ramp up Ruth Ginsburg's colon cancer?

And of course in the midst of war, famine, pestilence, disease, hurricanes, tornadoes, bankruptcies, murders, genocide...please God, clear the decks for a court appointment!

I would like to think God is both better and too busy for that!

And now, as Commissioner of baseball....

I am officially changing the scoring rules by fiat. Under current rules, the pitcher who allows a runner to reach base is charged with the run if that runner eventually scores.

Henceforth--if a relief pitcher enters the game with a man on FIRST and allows that runner to score, the reliever shall be charged with the run. For the runner to score, there must be an extra-base hit or multiple hits/walks/errors/HBP for the runner to score. The reliever will have done more damage than the pitcher who allowed the runner to reach first (a pitching corollary of the no RBI on a DP rule).

Let it be written, let it be done.

(I'm still working out the kinks--say the starter walks a man, he advances to second under Reliever #1 and scores on Reliever #2. )

And then I have to deal with the steroid-era record book!

Worst presidential blunder?

Bartcop was wondering whether Dick and Chimpy's Excellent Adventure represents a worst presidential blunder than LBJ's Viet Nam buildup. I responded as follows:

It is apparent that Johnson's decision to escalate the war in Viet Nam was a colossal blunder, a mistake that we paid dearly for in lives and treasure. However, one key difference was that Johnson's folly was played out in the very tightly drawn paradigm of the Cold War. The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were content to play out their proxy wars across the globe, with none of them really altering the fundamental political structure of the balance of power.

Obviously, that is not true today. While (for the time being) we have squandered fewer American lives, I would assert that the damage to the U.S. internationally has been far worse than Viet Nam. We have alienated allies and radicalized populations that are far more threatening than in the 1960s. Oh, and don't worry, if Bush has his way, we will soon be catching up in terms of both body bags (oh, I'm sorry--"transport tubes") and empty coffers.

Just think, when Clinton was president, coffers were full and coffins were empty...

From the dictionary:

We did cognitive dissonance, how about

Insurgency: Rising in revolt against established authority, especially a government.

Why do the news media/talking heads/Bushies always use this term to describe the chaos in Iraq? It is completely inapplicable. For one thing, this is not a "revolt," it is armed resistance. The majority of those fighting are Sunni Muslims, who were in power before our unprovoked invasion. This is the same enemy that U.S. troops confronted on Day 1. Oh certainly they have been supplemented by foreign jihadists and others with similar ideological motivations, but make no mistake, these are local fighters engaged in what they see as self-defense. That makes them very dangerous.

On the second part--"established authority?" Please, that doesn't even pass the giggle test. Representatives selected in a sham election imposed by force of arms and conducted at gunpoint haggling over a "constitution" inside a U.S.-protected "Green Zone" while outside the country lurches toward civil war. And a "government?" The only "governing" authority in country is based on 130,000 brave Americans being abused by their government.

Cognitive Dissonance

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/dissonance.htm

An interesting article...

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon which refers to the discomfort felt at a discrepancy between what you already know or believe, and new information or interpretation. It therefore occurs when there is a need to accommodate new ideas, and it may be necessary for it to develop so that we become "open" to them. Neighbour (1992) makes the generation of appropriate dissonance into a major feature of tutorial (and other) teaching: he shows how to drive this kind of intellectual wedge between learners' current beliefs and "reality".

Beyond this benign if uncomfortable aspect, however, dissonance can go "over the top", leading to two interesting side-effects for learning:

• if someone is called upon to learn something which contradicts what they already think they know — particularly if they are committed to that prior knowledge — they are likely to resist the new learning. Even Carl Rogers recognised this. Accommodation is more difficult than Assimilation, in Piaget's terms.
• and—counter-intuitively, perhaps—if learning something has been difficult, uncomfortable, or even humiliating enough, people are less likely to concede that the content of what has been learned is useless, pointless or valueless. To do so would be to admit that one has been "had", or "conned".

Cognitive dissonance was first investigated by Leon Festinger and associates, arising out of a participant observation study of a cult (Dittos, Rush!) which believed that the earth was going to be destroyed by a flood, and what happened to its members — particularly the really committed ones who had given up their homes and jobs to work for the cult — when the flood did not happen. While fringe members were more inclined to recognise that they had made fools of themselves and to "put it down to experience", committed members were more likely to re-interpret the evidence to show that they were right all along (the earth was not destroyed because of the faithfulness of the cult members).

Note: See below

Chimpy's Reading List

The White House reports that President Chimpy is doing some summer reading, including...

"Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar" by Edvard Radzinsky.

Right. Can't you just see it? Chimpy digesting late-19th century Russian history. Right.

I'm sure that The Monkey House can get advance copies, but the book won't even be released until the end of October!

The Iraqi constitution

So, looks like the little experiment in "democracy" isn't going the way Chimpy planned. Well, just minor details remain, like THE ROLE OF ISLAM, FEDERALISM, ETHNIC AUTONOMY and WHO CONTROLS THE OIL!!!

So

1) we can have the process tainted by real or perceived U.S. interference
2) the tough issues can just be pushed down the road to reach a face-saving deal (like, oh, I don't know, SLAVERY? How did that work out?) or
3) it all just blows up.

Freedom is on the march!

But once it's done, it will just be beer and skittles. After all, popular insurgencies rarely last long or cause much damage, such as that little one led by Emilio Aguinaldo.

Please Read "The March of Folly"

I referenced Barbara Tuchman's brilliant 1984 book, The March of Folly, below. Please read this book. Please.

She defined "folly" as the KNOWING pursuit by governments of policies contrary to self-interest. It is not enough that governments made bad decisions--governments are made up of fallible humans who make mistakes and bad choices. Folly requires the knowledge that the course taken is wrong AT THE TIME and involves not only a failure, but a refusal, to learn from experience. She includes, from an American standpoint, the pigheadedness of George III and American independence, and her aptly-named chapter, "America Betrays Herself in Viet Nam."

I re-read this book this week. I began this post with the idea of writing how eerily her words about Viet Nam tracked the disaster in Iraq. She writes how the United States, in its domino theory claims, became "lodged in a trap of its own propaganda." She notes how "prophecies of exaggerated catastrophe if we lost Viet Nam served to increase the stakes." She concludes that "the American mentality counted on superior might, but a tank cannot disperse wasps."

I found these similarities telling and frightening, and I considered a long post on her observations. But--we know all that. What moved me to write was this huge difference she observed in a very few words:

"American reporters were probing the chinks and finding the shortfalls and falsehoods in the compulsive optimism of official briefings." Re-read that-----American journalists practicing ... journalism?????? QUESTIONING administration policies rather than Judith Miller's "Give me a W-A-R!!!" cheer? Asking for a rationale rather than "Wow--I'm embedded! Look--tanks!"

Amazing--and frightening.

Too Stupid to Lead

Bush defends not talking to grieving mom

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush, noting that lots of people want to talk to the president and "it's also important for me to go on with my life," on Saturday defended his decision not to meet with the grieving mom of a soldier killed in Iraq. Bush said he is aware of the anti-war sentiments of Cindy Sheehan and others who have joined her protest near the Bush ranch.

"But whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the president, that's part of the job," Bush said on the ranch. "And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say. But, I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."

The comments came prior to a bike ride on the ranch with journalists and aides. It also came as the crowd of protesters grew in support of Sheehan, the mother who came here Aug. 6 demanding to talk to Bush about the death of her son.

He needs to get on with HIS oh-so-privileged "life?" Tell that one to the dead, the maimed and the grieving!

Lessons Not Learned

From Barbara Tuchman's March of Folly:

A contemporary summing up [of the Viet Nam War] was voiced by a Congressman from Michigan, Donald Riegle. In talking to a couple from his constituency who had lost a son in Vietnam, he faced the stark recognition that he could find no words to justify the boy’s death. “There was no way I could say that what had happened was in their interest or in the national interest or in anyone’s interest.”

Dwarf-Tossing????

OK, I am a securities lawyer. Securities law, by definition is, oh I don't know--dull? Sure we get the big scandals but usually it is the net capital rule and the "tick" test (don't ask...) but read on...

From the Washington Post:

A Boston Brahmin's Brawls With Donaldson

By Steven Pearlstein
Wednesday, August 10, 2005; D01

Edward C. Johnson III is the very model of a Boston Brahmin billionaire -- a pillar of Yankee discretion and probity whose wife is active at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities and whose family happens to own Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest mutual fund company.

So one can only imagine Johnson's reaction when it became known recently that the Securities and Exchange Commission, as part of a kickback investigation, was looking into who paid for a bachelor party for a Fidelity trader that reportedly featured paid escorts and "dwarf tossing" -- a party game that apparently involves throwing a dwarf in a Velcro suit at a Velcro-covered wall. Johnson also got caught up in the probe, having benefited from two free tickets to the ice-skating competition at the Salt Lake City Olympics from a brokerage firm with which Fidelity does business.

Dwarf tossing??? Now THAT is a party!!!! Who doesn't think that mutual fund investors should pay for a little game of "pitch a Mini-Me???"

As F. Scott Fitzgerald opined, the rich ARE different!

Whodathunkit?

The Chicago Tribune reports:

An Illinois Army National Guard memo distributed to commanders early this year described lapses in leadership, flagging retention and low morale among deployed Guard units and calls into question the ability to field a ready fighting force.

The Illinois Army National Guard's second in command, Brig. Gen. Charles E. Fleming, based the Jan. 29 memo on a survey of 1,200 Guard troops deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and U.S. bases last year.

"When soldiers were asked questions regarding retention, morale and leadership, the results were shocking," said the memo, which sought to begin correcting the problems.

Of soldiers trained for duty in so-called military occupational specialties--military job skills--the memo says the "Illinois Army National Guard's readiness continues to suffer."

The non-classified memo, which was provided to the Chicago Tribune, identifies particular problems in finding and retaining officers, and it says fewer soldiers are re-enlisting after basic and advanced infantry training--a period when soldiers historically are the most "motivated and aggressive" to further their military careers.

The memo raised concerns about a leadership climate in which it is often felt that officers are more concerned about their own advancement than the well-being of their troops. Soldiers in interviews said they have not raised critical questions over readiness for fear of retribution from Guard leadership.

The memo, called an operations order, comes as the Army National Guard is undergoing convulsive changes to make it more responsive to sudden wartime call-ups.

Nationally, surveys of returning troops find similar trends, and the number of new recruits has been falling in active-duty military, reserve and National Guard units.

The Illinois Army National Guard in particular has grappled with leadership and staffing issues in recent years, the extent of which was outlined in Fleming's memo.

Guard commander Maj. Gen. Randal E. Thomas on Friday called the memo a snapshot taken at a low point in the Guard's morale as its first underequipped troops were returning from Iraq.

"The situation was we've got some issues to solve in personnel and manpower," Thomas said. "This was a strategy, but I do believe we need to change the culture of the Guard."

According to a survey of Illinois Guard members, Fleming cited in the memo, "the majority of soldiers feel they are poorly informed, inadequately cared for, and that training in their units is boring and unorganized."

More than three-quarters thought unit morale was a big problem while deployed to Iraq.

I wish I could have voted for Paul Hackett...

Responding to America's Midday Cancerous Gasbag, Paul told the truth.

Limbaugh said "And it appears that, you know, he goes to Iraq to pad the resumé, come back and run as a big supporter of the war, or at least finishing the project over there."

Yeah, you know, going to Fallujah is "padding the resume"--like student council or Model UN, I guess.

Hackett responds:

That's typical for that fat-ass drug addict to come up with something like that. There's a guy -- I didn't hear this, but actually when I was on drill this weekend, I've got to tell you, he lost a lot of Republican supporters with his comments. Because they were coming up to me, telling me, "I can't believe he said that! And besides that, he called you a soldier. He doesn't know the difference between a soldier and a Marine!" So generally, the consensus is, you know, Rush doesn't know squat about patriotism. He's typical of the new Republican. He's got a lot of lip, and he doesn't walk the walk.

We live in a stupid country.....

It is bad enough that 59 million people (give or take a few imaginary Floridians and Ohioans) thought that a reckless, dangerous, arrogant moron should be president, but now..

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?????

Americans plunked down more than $30 million to see

THE DUKES OF HAZZARD??????

God help us.

A personal message to Bill McCabe of Arlington Heights, Illinois

Dear Bill McCabe:

I don't know you but I have a suggestion for you.

Turn off Limbaugh, switch the channel from Fox News and go outside!!!! Take a look around.

In a letter to the editor published in today's Chicago Tribune, Bill writes:

We need to do what is right as a benevolent member of the international community by helping the Iraqi people and start to worry less about what France and Iran think of our efforts overseas.

Hmmm, let's see.. a benevolent member of the international community and helping the Iraqi people...

Right, when I think of "benevolence" and "help" I immediately think of bombing and conquest! I think of destroying the infrastructure, blowing up the electrical grid and the water distribution system, and bombing hospitals, neighborhoods and schools.

We have benevolently helped at least 25,000 of the Iraqi people and perhaps as many as 150,000 or more by benevolently and helpfully killing them!

Have a nice day, Bill.

There is no such thing.....

I am munching on a FABULOUS piece of 4-year old cheddar cheese from The Cheese Haven in Port Clinton, Ohio. Expensive, but ohmygawd, is it good. You must go, you must!

1) Just think of the stuff you buy at your supermarket that turns into a science project of green fuzzies in about 10 days. This stuff is FOUR YEARS OLD and keeps out of the frig.
2) When this cheese was made, war in Iraq was only a wide (or wild)-eyed fantasy for young President Chimpy.
3) Just think of those disgusting things at your store. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FAT-FREE CHEESE!!!!! If it is "fat free," it is NOT cheese! Ditto for my personal (un)favorite, "fat-free half and half"

VVVVHAT? Half milk and half cream with no fat? "Cream" is defined as "a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of raw milk before homogenization."

It it is non-fat, it isn't "half and half." It is a disgusting lab project.

Your body NEEDS fat. Not what we consume in massive fast-food burgers, but we need fat nonetheless. And if you are going to enjoy, do it right--use the real butter and cream wisely and leave the things that don't exist on the store shelf.

CHEESE HAVEN--GO THERE!!!

The Hippies

I know, I know, we had given President Chimpy a lifetime achievement Hippy (for hypocrisy), but this one deserves special mention. The Simian-in-Chief told us that he pushed through the repulsive Bolton appointment as U.N. ambassador (imagine a Bolton more repugnant than Michael???) because this post was "too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform." VVVVVHAT? For one thing, it isn't vacant, the deputy ambassador was doing a fine job. For another thing, you CAUSED the long vacancy by 1) waiting forever to make the nomination and 2) nominating someone too disgusting to confirm. And secondly, isn't this the same President Monkey who has completely blown off the UN throughout his tenure?? Congratulations, Cheetah. Tarzan and Jane are very proud.