Ted Kennedy unloads on the Greedy

From Schmidlap, we know that there are three types of Republicans, Evil, Greedy, and Stupid. It's probably some combination of the first two that has prevented the Senate from passing the minimum wage bill that the House passed very easily during the first 100 hours flurry. They killed it in a cloture vote (essentially, now everything takes 60 votes to pass), although they bitched to high heaven when the Dems did it when they were in the minority, and are now trying to add tons of amendments to it, just to make sure that rich people don't, you know, incur any actual costs or anything.

Ted Kennedy's sick of it, and he's letting people know (thanks to Bob Geiger for the story):

"We have now had amendments that have been worth over 200 billion dollars… Amendments that have been offered. We've had amendments on education of 35 billion dollars. We've had health-savings amendments that will benefit people with average incomes of $112,000… We've had those kinds of amendments and we're looking at the Kyl amendment at 3 billion dollars. But we still cannot get two dollars and fifteen cents -- over two years. Over two years!

"What is the price, we ask the other side? What is the price that you want from these working men and women? What cost? How much more do we have to give to the private sector and to business? How many billion dollars more, are you asking, are you requiring?

"When does the greed stop, we ask the other side? That's the question and that's the issue."

"Make no mistake about it -- they have on the Republican side, 70 more amendments. 70 more amendments!" said Kennedy. "We have none. We're prepared to vote now. 70 more amendments… 'Oh yes, we want an increase in the minimum wage, we want this, we want that but… let's have some other kinds of amendments that have virtually nothing to do with this.'"

"240 billion dollars in tax breaks for corporations. 36 billion dollars in tax breaks for small businesses. Increase in productivity -- 42 percent over the last 10 years," yelled Kennedy emotionally. "But do you think there's any increase in the minimum wage? No. At 12 after five today, on Thursday, I speak for all of our Democrats and say we're prepared to vote now. Now!"

"Do you have such disdain for hard-working Americans that you want to pile all your amendments on this? Why don’t you just hold your amendments until other pieces of legislation? Why this volume of amendments on just the issue to try and raise the minimum wage? What is it about it that drives you Republicans crazy? What is it? Something. Something! What is the price that the workers have to pay to get an increase? What is it about working men and women that you find so offensive?"

"We don’t want to hear any more from that side for the rest of this session about permitting or not permitting votes in here when you're denying it on the most simple concept of an increase in the minimum wage," said Kennedy. "We don’t want to hear any more about that."

"This is filibuster by delay and amendments. I've been around here long enough to know it when I see it and smell it, and that's what it looks like, that's what it is, make no mistake about it. Make no mistake about it."

Now, that's some real vitriol. Wait for the SCLM to hammer him for being uncivil.

State of the Union Whack-a-Mole

First, we must balance the Federal budget. We can do so without raising taxes. What we need to do is impose spending discipline in Washington, D.C. We set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009 — and met that goal 3 years ahead of schedule. Now let us take the next step. In the coming weeks, I will submit a budget that eliminates the Federal deficit within the next 5 years. I ask you to make the same commitment. Together, we can restrain the spending appetite of the Federal Government, and balance the Federal budget. Next, there is the matter of earmarks. These special interest items are often slipped into bills at the last hour — when not even C-SPAN is watching. In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate — they are dropped into Committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk. You did not vote them into law. I did not sign them into law. Yet they are treated as if they have the force of law. The time has come to end this practice. So let us work together to reform the budget process … expose every earmark to the light of day and to a vote in Congress … and cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in half by the end of this session.

Hmm. Mr. President. where have you been for the last six years?

For the terrorists, life since 9/11 has never been the same.

You're absolutely right, since 9/11, it has been Terrorist-apalooza.

Our enemies are quite explicit about their intentions....By killing and terrorizing Americans, they want to force our country to retreat from the world and abandon the cause of liberty.

Hmmm, who are our enemies??? How are we advancing "liberty??"

We have said this many times here, but the basic fact is that this is NOT A WAR. There is nothing to be won or lost here as in a war. There is just an end, and a bad end at that.

Everyone's running for President!

Except John Kerry.

Stay in the Senate, John. I certainly won't miss you.

Repubicans hate poor people

Despite passing easily in the House, the Republicans in the Senate just can't keep their grubby hands to themselves, and have messed up an attempt to raise the minimum wage. The bill from the House was extremely simple, spelling out when and to what amount the minimum wage would be raised, and that's it. However, unless businesses get tax breaks (I know, shocking), the GOP doesn't believe that they should have to pay their workers a respectable wage.

Of course, they killed it in a cloture vote. What about an up and down vote, folks? What about those obstructionists in the other party?

Who cares about the poor, anyway - hell, can they even vote?

The Blogger and the Pea

There is so much to comment on from last night, so much fuzzy math and so many disconnects from reality. However it is the first and the smallest, the pea under oh so many mattresses, that is really bothering me. Perhaps I'm suffering from outrage overload on Iraq, or perchance I'm dumbstruck that this man with the popularity of open sores would dare broach funding religious schools or screwing up social security at this late date.

But no. Read the official transcript: "Some in this chamber are new to the House and Senate—and I congratulate the Democratic majority." But he didn't say that. He used the Newt Gingrich-Frank Luntz "talking point" adjective, the DEMOCRAT majority. You see, they really aren't "democratic" and it rhymes with RAT--get it?

OK, back to business now, but that damned pea certainly does bother me.

(Note: See Joshua Holland over at Alternet for a thorough breakdown. Note in particular how Tony Snow described picking out the highlights of the speech as choosing among "a drawer full of diamonds." YACK.)

I don't know who's watching tonight

Link to the text (h/t Think Progress)

Who yelled "Whoo!" when W was introduced?

Health care? Higher fuel standards? Global climate change? Who does this guy think he is, a liberal?

What the hell is Cheney smirking at?

Oh, crap. 9/11. Time for whiskey.

Notice how he's gotten almost no applause at all about his 20k Tank Fodder approach?

This really is a painfully weak speech. He's not saying anything at all. Not the usual nothing, but really nothing. Even the "initiatives" are small time for a SotU. Not exactly what he needs to get a bounce.

Man, did he have to concentrate to say "Dikembe Mutombo".

Someone call Jack Nicholson. Laura stole his Joker mask.

That's it - if we have kids, I'm never buying them "Baby Einstein" stuff.

I'll give Wesley Autrey his props, though. That took some serious guts.

Thoughts?

Will the Circle be Unbroken?

Will the Circle be Unbroken? Yup.

There is a god.

E, Howard Hunt dies on the day where Pat Fitzgerald comes out firing on Cheney, the man whose idiot daughter penned a ridiculous op-ed saying that our republic was in an “existential” struggle while der Chimpenfuhrer prepares an address that even Republicans don’t want to hear.

Indeed, there is a god. As former Chicago Bulls guard Jamaal Crawford once opined, things are coming to “fruitation.”

When in free fall, objects accelerate downward at a constant rate of 9.8 m/s/s

CBS News' latest poll has the Liar in Chief at a 28% approval rating.

Other presidents two years before their 2nd term was up?

Clinton in 99, after the impeachment (remember, he was hated and despised and ruined America) - 65%.

Reagan in 87, after Iran-Contra - 52%.

LBJ in 67, hip-deep in Vietnam - 47%.

Ike in 59 - 57%.

Where the hell were you people in November of 2004?

--UPDATE (by Rousing Rabble)--
Good Dr. Magoo didn't have access to my archives, but I have been able to find the approval rating of one other famous (well, infamous) American president who had his own war debacle

Jefferson Davis, 1865, after Appomattox - 29%

Meanwhile, back in Frostbite Falls

BAGHDAD (AP) — Twin bombings Monday tore through stalls of vendors selling second-hand clothes and DVDs in a busy Baghdad market catering to Shiite Muslims during a religious festival. A market also was attacked north of the capital, and police said nearly 100 people died in the renewed campaign blamed on Sunni Muslim insurgents.

Think about this for a minute. Nearly a hundred people dead in ONE DAY in ONE CITY. We have sown the wind, and are indeed reaping the whirlwind.

Having nothing to do with politics

Bear down, Chicago Bears
Make every play clear the way to victory;
Bear down, Chicago Bears
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation
With your T-formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears
And let them know why you're wearing the crown.
You're the pride and joy of Illinois
Chicago Bears, bear down!

In news you may have missed...

Sam Brownback (R-Kan)

announced the formation of an exploratory committee to prepare for a run for chancellor of Germany in 1933 on the National Socialist ticket president.

UPDATE: As mentioned in one of the comments, Rolling Stone did a feature story on Brownback a few years ago. It can be accessed on-line here. It is recommended reading on any number of levels. (Rousing Rabble)

For a Cubs fan, George Will is an idiot

Okay, maybe there's a dispute about that Cubs fan part. The second part, on the other hand, is an ever-growing truth. On This Week, this week, during the roundtable session they were talking about Bush's future State of the Union address, and brought up that the Liar in Chief will talk some about global warming, for the first time. I don't expect that Bush will propose anything of value that he'll actually back up with funding, but even discussing it will move the national dialogue in a better direction. That way, when there's someone who's less of an idiot in the White House, there will be real bipartisan support to try to do something about this issue.

Back to Mr. Will. He states (correctly) that India and China are growing very quickly, and that their production of greenhouse gases will outpace ours. He concludes that we shouldn't bother to do anything about it, since others will be causing problems. Appropriately, Sam Donaldson pointed out how dumb that statement is, but it goes further. Of course the "well, they're bad, so it doesn't matter if we are or not" is a dumbass argument. But so is ignoring the idea that if the US truly invested in technologies that combated global warming we wouldn't see a growth in our economy, that China and India and Europe wouldn't become our customers for that technology. It's also our responsiblity to do what's right.

Not that George Will would understand that.

Iron-y Deficiency

Dick Cheney tells Iran that they should "keep their folks at home," while the secretary of state tells Iran that we won't tolerate outsiders "meddling" in Iraq.

Do they even listen to themselves?

It's dumbass shooting fish in a barrel time

Sometimes it is just WAAAY too easy:

Many argue that the cost of American lives in Iraq has been too high. How soon we forget that we once had a war called the Civil War in which hundreds of thousands of Americans died. A hundred years before that, we were ruled by our own perceived tyrant, the king of England. Likewise Saddam Hussein killed hundreds of thousands of his own people. I applaud the U.S. for standing up to a tyrant. Who knows what Hussein was going to do next? The price of freedom isnever cheap.

Mitch Johnson
Western Springs

"How soon we forget that we once had a war called the Civil War in which hundreds of thousands of Americans died??? " Excuse me, Mr. Johnson, who has forgotten? It is not a problem with "us" forgetting, it is a problem of you fundamentally misunderstanding the events of which you speak.

With regard to the Civil War, need we even point out that this conflict was HERE rather than a world away? Let's also note that Lincoln took our nation to war to protect a union that he believed was worth holding together, a national idea joined and bound by "the mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land." It is difficult to imagine a starker contrast between that cause and this ill-conceived invasion of a fractured legacy of European colonialism where the competing sides cannot even be rationally identified.

Mr. Johnson then refers to our rule by a "tyrant" where he again displays his ignorance of history. While the phrase may have been tossed around by firebrands and agitators, few Americans, even revolutionary leaders, perceived King George as tyrannical. Arrogant, stubborn, petty and incompetent, yes (...hmmm, that sounds familiar...) but tyranny? No.

Besides that, Mr. Johnson, how does that have anything to do with the present mess? You present two instances of domestic insurrections and compare them to an unwarranted and unlawful invasion of a sovereign nation? You equate the establishment of permanent U.S. bases and a stooge government in Iraq while thousands are butchered monthly with freedom?

We did not "stand up" to a tyrant, sir. We destroyed a country. We sowed that wind and reaped the whirlwind of a region in chaos. You also say that we did not know what Saddam Hussein would have done next. Yes, we do. He would have continued to rule over a functioning society in a repressive and often cruel fashion, under close U.S. surveillance. People would have suffered, but for the most part, they would have worked and lived rather than hide and die. We do know one thing he would not have done, however, and that is attack Iran. If only the same were true of our leader.

Mr. Johnson....

One of my least favorite people gets a smackdown

The "intellectual" right has been feeling uppity lately, with moron Dinesh D'Souza explaining how gays and drugs and permissiveness casued 9/11. He's not the only one out there explaining, under the guise of intellectualism, how liberals are ruining the world. One of his compatriots in idiocy is David Horowitz, who had a brainiectomy and has decided to spew venom against those who do the most harm to our society - college professors.

On a website called "The Beast," they ranked the 50 most loathsome people in America, 2006. The list includes many of the obvious people (Bush, Cheney, et al), as well as some less obvious, such as "You" and "Us". It's a worthy read, if you enjoy reading insulting things about obnoxious people. My favorite, though, is what they have to say about the aforementioned Mr. Horowitz:

Like most fascist converts, Horowitz sees disseminating information as an act of treason. His favorite targets are university professors he declares enemies of "academic freedom," because nothing is more dangerous to a neocon than someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.

Madame Speaker, the President of the United States

The state of the union drinking game.

Congrats to the Schmidlaps

Here.

What time is it?

It's Dumbass Time!

Jimbow, a good friend of this space, submitted what he aptly called the trifecta, from a local paper:

To the Editor:

Unfortunately, this country is at war with two enemies, the terrorists and the liberal leftists who rely on the media to support that lose-at-any-cost agenda. Had Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood with President Bush and looked the terrorists in the eye and said, “We are one. This country is united and we will not be defeated,” this war would have been over in months, but no. Our own people constantly and wrongly drag this country, which is winning the war and is doing a good job, through the mud. We are enjoying a thriving economy, record unemployment, a deficit on the decline and troops who are re-enlisting in record numbers.Why are people not uniting as one? Those who voted for Sen. Dick Durbin, D–Ill., please, stop and think before you vote next time or just toss your ballot in the garbage. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy – is that who you want running this country? For those of you who are older, remember, we had our Jimmy Carter. Please don’t make the same mistake. Let’s try unity before we choose defeatism, I believe that we are called the United States. Let’s start acting like it.

Bruce Bocian
Lake in the Hills

AND

To the Editor:

Since the Democrats have taken control of Congress, there have been a few letters expressing desires to get rid of President Bush before his term is up. I wholeheartedly agree with this. After all, Bush didn’t respond to an attack on the World Trade Center [editor's note: the attempt at sarcasm here is correct. He did not respond] , ignored the threat posed by Osama bin Laden [editor's note: again, the intended sarcasm is correct, Bush did ignore the threat, and of course the Sudan stuff following is lies and urban legend.] (refusing to take him from the Sudanese government three times), gave us the largest tax hike in American history[editor's note: No], bombed Iraq to avoid an impeachment hearing, [editor's note: No], lied under oath [editor's note: Well, yeah, but it wasn't perjurious because it was not "material."], trampled our Second Amendment rights, [editor's note: No], gave nuclear technology to North Korea [editor's note: No], and, oh, wait a minute.That’s right, Bush cut taxes [editor's note: On the super-rich], put Osama bin Laden on the run [editor's note: No], has protected our Second Amendment rights [editor's note: HOW?], has disrupted uncountable numbers of terrorist attacks [editor's note: No], deposed Saddam Hussein [editor's note: So? Fat lot a good that did you, upsetting the balance of power and creating a `Shi'a Crescent], freed 25 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan from murderous totalitarians [editor's note: No], has signed legislation protecting unborn children [editor's note: Symbolic legislation as part of a partisan agenda], stopped “negotiating” with North Korea because of their broken promises to us [editor's note: and that got us where???] ,and is the reason Saddam no longer is alive. [editor's note: I repeat, that does what for us?]

And, by the way, Bush didn’t lie about weapons of mass destruction. [editor's note: No] Every major intelligence agency in the world supported this claim [editor's note: No], as did former Iraqi soldiers in Senate hearings on the subject, not to mention the Kurds and Iranian army.

Jake Justen
Ringwood

AND

To the Editor:

Impeach President Bush? Articles of Impeachment:

1) The stock market is at a new all-time high [editor's note: Not whwn adjusted for inflation and historic expansion] 2) Unemployment is at 25-year low [editor's note: "Fuzzy math" takes many out of the equation, those who are embittered to the point of giving up] 3) Oil prices are plummeting [editor's note: from record highs???] 4) Taxes are at 20-year lows [editor's note: and the deficit/debt is at a post-1789 high] 5) Federal tax revenues is at all-time highs [editor's note: Nice verb tense there. We have to adjust for inflation and consider the grotesquely would put a Keynsian to shame spending levels and that pesky deficit] and 6) The federal deficit is down almost 50 percent, as projected [editor's note: HIS deficit. HIS projections! 7) Home valuations are up at least 75 percent over the past 3.5 years [editor's note: SOURCE????], 8) Inflation is in check, hovering at 20-year lows [editor's note: while real wages and retirement security are decreasing] 9) Not a single attack on United States’ soil since Sept. 11. [editor's note: SO????], 10) Osama bin Laden is living under a rock, if he is alive. Or in a hole like his cowardly compatriot, the late Saddam Hussein [editor's note: as compared to what?] 11) Terrorist cells are flooding into Iraq to get their heads blown off rather than boarding planes and heading to America to wage war on us here [editor's note: No]. 12) Several terrorist attacks have been thwarted by U.S. and British Intelligence [editor's note: No]Yeah, President Bush sure hasn’t protected the personal and financial security of the American people. [editor's note: Yes]

What a crock.

Lester J. Ballerine
Cary

So Bruce, Jake and Lester:

Habeas Corpus ad Subjiciendum and original intent

Kudos to Doc below.

Habeas Corpus ad Subjiciendum, also known as "The Great Writ." As the Supreme Court stated, `[t]he writ of habeas corpus is the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action.'

Such conduct just demonstrates the lack of regard that this administration has for the constitution and their abject hypocrisy in proclaiming their love for "original intent."

The revolutionary thinkers valued the "Great Writ," and of course presumed its universal application. Another galling aspect of their hypocrisy goes to the very heart of revolutionary sentiment. No, it wasn't "no taxation without representation." That was a shibboleth, albeit one well-used by Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty. They didn't want "representation," as the British parliament in the late 18th century was not a "representative" body in any sense of the word. Taxes on the colonies were also much lower than those levied in Britain, and here, they were almost exclusively transactional (i.e., avoidable).

No, what angered the colonists were "general writs," the right and power to forceably search without cause. You see that definitively written into the 4th Amendment, which includes elements of both cause and specificity. This administration trashes the very basis for the existence of revolutionary America as they become more invasive.

The framers would also be appalled at this war. There are libraries full of explanations of the American Revolution, dating WAY back historiographically speaking to (fellow DePauw alum) Charles Beard who wrote that the founding fathers rebelled basically to avoid paying off their debts to English merchants. You find a much more nuanced view in Bernard Bailyn's Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. In this seminal, albeit dated, work, Bailyn traces revolutionary ideology back to English opposition writers, and grounds revolutionary thought in the notion of "republicanism" and "republican" ideology. This is a political theory that in effect establishes a duality between good and evil, cast as "virtue" and "corruption." The thinkers of the day looked to the few "pure" republics, Athens and Rome (even though their historical grasp of classical Athens and the Roman republic was quite idealized, and the history was just not very good) and saw righteous states overcome by "corruption."

There were two key roots of "corruption" in the revolutionary ideologue's view. The first is selfishness. While we tend to think of our country rooted on capitalism, its revolutionary ideology was based on selflessness and the "commonwealth." According to republican (obviously with a lower case "r") theory, greed is NOT good, it is destructive.

The other great fear of republican thinkers was the mischief of "standing armies." As these 17th and 18th-century theorists saw it, and of course have been proven right time and again, standing peacetime armies are a BAD thing. The framers opposed them because hereditary rulers, often being of less than full control of their mental faculties and flush with the notion that they were God's instrument (thankfully, THAT never happens!) tended to use standing armies to make mischief.

Republican theory may not explain the revolution (I don't think it does), but it explains a lot of constitution-making. For example, the standing army fear is why you see the militia featured so prominently in the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment does not exist to allow Cooter to protect his "rahts" with his squirrel rifle. Rather, it is there to prevent the federal government from disarming the militias.

The framers also blended the war powers between Congress and the president so that this most solemn of obligations and actions would be carried out thoughtfully and deliberatively. Admittedly, the constitutional language is mushy. The Articles of Confederation vested the war power in Congress, while the constitution obviously tempers that with the Commander-in-Chief notion. However, the framers clearly expected a congressional role, as Congress is authorized to "raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years"

In other words, the framers expected congressional diligence and oversight. Simply put--do your job. At LEAST every two years. They would not be de-funding the troops. They would be following the constitution.

I would refer you to the archives over at Alternet for the brilliant writings of my pal Joshua Holland on this topic.

Shut up, Torture Boy

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, at hearings in front of the Senate Juniciary Committee (unofficial transcript, h/t Kos):

Specter: Now wait a minute, wait a minute. The Constitution says you can't take it away except in the case of invasion or rebellion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus?

Gonzales: I meant by that comment that the Constitution doesn't say that every individual in the United States or every citizen has or is assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn't say that. It simply says that the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended.

What the hell is he talking about? The right of habeus corpus shall not be suspended, but every individual doesn't have the right? Who, then, does have the right? The trees? How the hell does that make any sense?

On the other hand, it does fit in with other actions of the Murderer in Chief's administration. Consider the Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

So, under TB's interpretation, when they wiretap people without a warrant, or read their mail, it's okay, because the Constitution doesn't guarantee that everyone has the right to a warrant, but just that the right to a warrant shall not be violated.

These people need to go away now.

Remarkably stupid, even for Sean Hannity

The great Sean Hannity actually suggested that the decapitation below might have happened because, and I'm not kidding--"the noose might have been too tight." Think about that for a sec...

Those wacky Iraqi hangmen!

They know how to have a good time!

Saddam aides hanged, but not as planned
Half-brother's head is severed; Sunnis claim he was 'mutilated'

The GOP with its priorities in place

At one of the crucial junctures of our nation's history, when we face both a constitutional crisis and the threat of a regional war in the Middle East, Rep. Jo Davis (Fascist-VA) introduced legislation to deal with our most pressing problem:

H. 107 To define marriage for all legal purposes in the District of Columbia to consist of the union of one man and one woman.

I know that Congress has authority over the district, but they have a LOCAL government that deals with these things. However, she must have acted because the wedding of Ed and Ted or Jane and June are the most important social problems facing the district. Never mind guns, drugs or school problems in D.C., we MUST stop homosexual nuptials!

It is odd though--Rep. Jo doesn't live in the district. Why should she care? Before ye of little faith think, though, that these are just GOP talking points, note that this is one powerhouse representative who has previously introduced crucial legislation calling for the James River to be named "America's Founding River." [editor's note: I've always felt the James has been slighted.]

And just one quick note on Rep. Jo. Besides winning the Joan Collins Over Made-Up Hag Award




we should point out this little factoid--she "attended" Hampton Roads Business College. We all know what "attended" means--she didn't finish. So to the fine folks of Virginia's 1st Congressional district, your representative is a typing school dropout!

My apologies

It was rude of me to suggest in the post below that the president's veinous, bulbous nose, bloodshot eyes and red blotchy complexion indicated that he was drinking again. We now know that he has beem prayerfully meeting with his grandfather

and his aunt



and his senior military commanders

Question for Schmidlap

WHY on earth would you think he's drinking?

The Straight Talk Express Derails Again

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain defended President Bush's Iraq plan on Friday as a difficult but necessary move, parting company with lawmakers fiercely resisting the military build up. "I believe that together these moves will give the Iraqis and Americans the best chance of success," said McCain, R-Ariz., a leading presidential contender for 2008.

McCain also took a shot at Democrats who say the United States must bring some troops home within four to six months. "I believe these individuals ... have a responsibility to tell us what they believe are the consequences of withdrawal in Iraq," he said. "If we walk away from Iraq, we'll be back, possibly in the context of a wider war in the world's most volatile region."

He has no shame whatsoever.

Editorial Change

Note to bumper sticker production team:

Please add "and Terrified" after "Appalled." Thanks, and it's been nice knowing you.

Kalimera!

I've carped here before about the travel the Mrs. does for work, Paris, Rome, etc. Well, given that 1) it's our 30th anniversary as a couple, 2) our 25th wedding anniversary and 3) 30 years since my wonderful sophomore year spent there, we decided I would tag along on the Euroean group meeting this year. Where?

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- The U.S. Embassy in Athens has been hit by a rocket in an attack that anonymous callers claimed was staged by militant left-wing group, authorities said.



Thanks, George.

Ladies and Gentlemen, President Kang

Kang: "We must move forward... not backwards, not to the side, not forwards, but always whirling, whirling, whirling towards freedom!"

If only the federal constitution had learned from New Jersey

We could learn a thing or two from the Garden State:

No idiot or insane person shall enjoy the right of suffrage.

Just think of how much of Retard America couldn't have voted for W.

Cry, the Beloved Country

The esteemed Dr. Schmidlap has an astute diagnosis of GW syndrome here. I cannot dispute a word.

What struck me last night was the fact that I actually agreed with the preznit's first statement, that this "a struggle that will determine the direction of the global war on terror -- and our safety here at home." We know that to be true, because the reckless conduct of this administration has both generated worldwide hatred directed at us and expressed through acts of terrorism and made us far less safe here "at home."

This man has become Commodus. This ill-fated man was emperor of Rome in the 2nd century AD. He had delusions that he was a gladiator and a war hero, and would often "fight" in the arena in staged battles that he knew he would win. He dressed like Hercules, lion skins and clubs included

and believed (and insisted others repeat) that he was leading Rome into a new "Golden Age." Commodus fought battles he knew he would win, though, while W fights battles that only he believes can be won.

By the way, Commodus' mistress had a wrestler strangle him in his bath.

Brilliant!

Shamelessly stolen from the BBC via Americablog via Daily Kos:

General: Now, Field Marshal Hague has formulated a brilliant new tactical plan to ensure final victory in the field.

Captain Blackadder: Ah, would this brilliant plan involve us climbing out of our trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy, sir?

Captain Darling: How could you possibly know that Blackadder? It's classified information!

Captain Blackadder: It's the same plan that we used last time, and the seventeen times before that.

General: Exactly! And that is what is so brilliant about it! It will catch the watchful Hun totally off guard. Doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time! There is, however, one small problem...

Captain Blackadder: That everyone always gets slaughtered in the first ten seconds?

General: That's right. And Field Marshal Hague is worried that this may be depressing the men a tad. So, he's looking to find a way to cheer them up.

Captain Blackadder: Well, his resignation and suicide would seem the obvious.

To the fine people of Indiana's 6th Congressional district

Dear Folks:

Your congressman (Mike Pence, R-Fantasyland) is an idiot.

The American people could see that this Commander in Chief has decided not to fail. While the President is calling for more American forces, this is more properly understood as a change in strategy and tactics. Freedom must prevail in Iraq. The President has charted a course for victory and I look forward to supporting this new strategy.

Wow, freedom, victory, new strategy, was it buy one talking point, get one free?

Editor's note, completely off point: Rep. Pence's bio on his website states that he earned his "doctorate in jurisprudence" from Indiana University. Right there, you know he's a pompous blowhole. OK, I know the paper says something similar (mine says "juris doctor") but it's a friggin' LAW DEGREE. It's a trade school certificate, NOT a doctorate (Doc Magoo can testify to what getting a REAL one takes) and only pompous blowholes pretend otherwise. It's not even a difficult trade school to get through. I did well at a pretty decent law school, and graduate school in history made law school look like a walk in the park.

Which way?

So is tonight's Iraq plan "The New Way Forward?" "Forward Together?" "Going My Way?" "the Way We Were," perhaps? Nope, it's just the ...

Where's WaldoJohn McCain?

Actually, WaldoJohn McCain isn't hard to find at all! He's everywhere! On the Sunday shows, chatting on Today through Tonight, goshdarnit the Straight Talk Express was even there for the BCS game coin toss Monday night. We sure love that maverick, don't we?

And then we have his escalation talk. His talk of an addition of 100,000+ to the military overall, with deploying at least 30,000 to Iraq immediately, suggests one of two possibilities:

1) He never really checked out of the Hanoi Hilton and is suffering from very real delusions or, much more likely,

2) It is the ultimate CYA game. He'll make any ridiculous request, and when this debacle comes to its inexorable miserable conclusion, Mr. Straight Talk can say, "Look, did you do what I said? No. I said "Send in 30,000 troops! Add 100,000 more! Send in the Rockettes! Did I see any leg kicking in Baghdad? No, that wasn't the Straight Talk way!"

How many times has he sold his soul?

While you were sleeping...

Helicopters Strafe al-Qaida in Somalia
By SALAD DUHULAssociated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia--Attack helicopters strafed suspected al-Qaida fighters in southern Somalia on Tuesday, witnesses said, following two days of airstrikes by U.S. forces--the first U.S. offensives in the African country since 18 American soldiers were killed here in 1993. In Washington, a U.S. intelligence official said American forces killed five to 10 people in an attack on one target in southern Somalia believed to be associated with al-Qaida. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity, said a small number of others present, perhaps four or five, were wounded.

The operation's SENSITIVITY? Why would STARTING ANOTHER WAR be sensitive????

From the "Who da Thunk It" File

Execution sparks Arab support for Saddam
Status as martyr hero grows as new gruesome gallows video appears (link)

Wow, no one would ever have guessed that, huh?

Map Fun

In the Chicago Tribune, we get to "enjoy" one of America's stupidest humans, Dennis Byrne. He recently drooled

Now here's what should be a familiar story: One country--Ethiopia--got so fed up with waiting for the UN and the "international community" to do something about the threat of Islamic extremists in neighboring Somalia that it went ahead by itself and took them out. If such unilateral military action sounds familiar, it's the game plan followed by President Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Note to Denny. The "game plans" have absolutely NOTHING in common.

Point #1. Note where "Ethiopia" and "Somalia" appear below:

Any questions?

Guess the byline

From this morning's Chicago Tribune:

In policy mirror, Bush reflects on Truman
Parallels drawn over global threat, duty

Of course, it has to be Mark Silva. This simple-minded Bush apologist writes that Chimpy "is reaching forward for a place in history with hope that he will be recognized as a leader who confronted `the ideological struggle of the 21st Century.'"

You know, Mark, you might actually be right for once. Of course though, the `the ideological struggle of the 21st Century' is certainly not as you cast it, a "conflict between freedom and terrorism." Rather, it is a conflict that has several faces, the conflicts pitting democracy against corporatism, constitutionalism against authoritarianism, religious fanaticism against rationalism and finally and most fundamentally, decency against criminality. Mark, Mr. Bush has not only "confronted" these struggles, he caused them, and we can all only hope that he loses.

My favorite pic from the new Congress!

The 4th Amendment--RIP

I'm a lawyer, forgive me. The text below is heavy in legalese crafted by my brethren. But please, make no mistake, this is not boilerplate. Your president has just claimed the right, in DIRECT contravention of the statute involved, to open YOUR mail without warrants.

The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection.

Bye bye, we'll miss you!

Thank you, I'll be here all week!

Tip your bartenders!

The preznit tries his hand at standup:

"We've got to make sure we spend the people's money wisely." [editor's note--see the ticker to the right, and remember, those are only the costs they tell us about]

"Over the past few years, pro-growth economic policies have generated higher revenues. Together with spending restraint, these policies allowed us to meet our goal of cutting the budget deficit in half three years ahead of schedule." [editor's note--you mean YOU overestimated YOUR grotesquely huge deficit soyou could `cut' it in half, after you inherited a surplus?]

and the clincher---

"It's time to set aside politics and focus on the future." [editor's note--nice thought from the most partisan administration in history? The preznit who on Halloween said "However they put it, the Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this, the terrorists win and America loses???" ]

Drive home safely!

Smiting Time

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (AP) -- Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday that God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would cause a "mass killing" late in 2007.

"I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear," he said during his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network. "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."

Robertson said God told him about the impending tragedy during a recent prayer retreat. God also said, he claims, that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September.

It is good to see that the divine has a sense of humor. After all, eternity could get boring, so why not liven it up by yanking around a crazy old coot?

Mr. President, I have Reality on Line 1

Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial -- the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime.

Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule. It is a testament to the Iraqi people's resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial. This would not have been possible without the Iraqi people's determination to create a society governed by the rule of law.

Saddam Hussein's execution comes at the end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for our troops. Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself, and be an ally in the War on Terror.

We are reminded today of how far the Iraqi people have come since the end of Saddam Hussein's rule - and that the progress they have made would not have been possible without the continued service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

Many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead. Yet the safety and security of the American people require that we not relent in ensuring that Iraq's young democracy continues to progress.

It's like a word search game for kids, only instead of words, we're looking for delusions. How many can you find?

1) A fair trial? Please, that charade was anything but. I think the gunning down of lawyers and judges automatically removes a proceeding from the real of "fair."

2) The "rule of law?" hardly. What we saw was a grotesque sectarian lynching.

3) Iraq's "young democracy?" You just keep right on believing that, if it helps.

4) Milestone? ANOTHER milestone? Or is it a turning point?

He did say one thing that was accurate:

Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq

Gee, ya think?

Blood for blood

So, Saddam Hussein is dead. I will shed no tears for his passing. He truly committed acts of great violence and malice, and the harm he caused will be felt for decades to come. Nor will I rejoice. His death, however just one may deem it, will not save lives, nor will it bring to an end any sooner the violence and destruction in his former country. That there are those, including, I am sure, our supposed leader, who will feel glee and celebrate this moment, is sad, and speaks ill of us as people.

Punishment may have come, certainly too late, to one man. To a country, to millions of lives, to a world where hatred and anger are given nourishment by far too many for far too many reasons, justice is still nowhere to be found. Our nation's part in the brutal decay of another will be written in the history books for our children to read. This death will be no more than a clause in a sentence. Our shame is burned into our very core and is written in rivers of blood for all to see.

They don't make heroes like they used to

According to an AP poll, 13% of Americans consider Der Chimpenfuehrer their "hero of the year."

I have but two questions:

1) Who are these people and

2) Can I play poker with them?

Insert your own caption here, redux

Hang in there...

"When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."
Dr. Samuel Johnson

So Saddam is to die by hanging.Regardless of how one feels about the death penalty, the execution of this sentence under these circumstances in a horrible idea. The execution would take place under the authority of a government viewed by many Iraqis and observers throughout the world as a failed American stunt devoid of legitimacy, following a trial that didn't even rise to the level of a sham. Iraq right now is this:



An execution would be this:

Turn him over to the Hague, hold a trial with full due process and let any sentence be carried out under the auspices of international law.

A couple of housekeeping details

Readers/commenters: I decided to turn the annoying letter box thing back on. I know it seems redundant with the comment approval, but we were getting dozens of spam comments every day for Russian brides and Mr. Happy pills, etc. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Team members: Looks like I jumped the gun, Blogger isn't ready for us to switch to the new format yet, will advise when that happens.

A Happy Holiday to All

"A merry Christmas, Bob," said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year. I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob. Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!"

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

Three of these things....

Three of these things belong together
Three of these things are kind of the same
Can you guess which one of these thinhs doesn't belong here
Now it's time to play our game (thanks Sesame Street!)

12,000 Iraqi policemen killed since '03

6 U.S. Soldiers Die in Bombing (editor's note:Good God, six more slaughtered on Christmas Eve)

Ethiopia launches offensive against Somalia

“I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume”

And the war came (or we went looking for it)

"... and the war came"
Abraham Lincoln

".. how to win this war in which we find ourselves"
George W. Bush

"War is the extension of politics."
Karl von Clausewitz

The first two quotes suggest presidents who found themselves almost passively confronted with the horrific reality of war. However, the last quote goes a long way toward explaining the differences between them.

War may indeed be an extension of politics. In the case of the war faced by Abraham Lincoln, political decisions postponed by the framers and profound political changes unforeseen contributed to this horrific conflict. The founding fathers pushed the question of slavery onto future generations, and certainly never anticipated a mechanizing, urbanizing nation with a population spreading from the original colonies afar afield as Texas and California. Growth, urbanization, industrialization and the emergence of a democratic culture from the strictures of an aristocratic republic presented challenges and unanswered questions that may well have required this ultimate drama to resolve. Abraham Lincoln saw the war come, and he led his nation THROUGH it.

George W. Bush's war also was an expression of the political, but it was not the result of both an inexorable march and a response to sudden jarring changes. Rather, it was the fouled fruit of a political ideology founded in American imperial hubris, of bending the world to our will (while generating huge profits for friends and patrons). Mr. Bush, we did not "find ourselves" in this war. You wanted it, sought it and embraced. Unlike Lincoln, you led us TO it, and you show no desire or ability whatsoever to lead us THROUGH it as did your esteemed predecessor.

Waiting for...the Decider to Decide (thanks and MANY apologies to Samuel Beckett)

ESTRAGON: Charming spot. Inspiring prospects. Let's go.

VLADIMIR: We can't.

ESTRAGON: Why not?

VLADIMIR: We're waiting for Godot.

ESTRAGON: Ah! You're sure it was here?

VLADIMIR: What?

ESTRAGON: That we were to wait.

VLADIMIR: He said by the tree. Do you see any others?

ESTRAGON: What is it?

VLADIMIR: I don't know. A willow.

ESTRAGON: Where are the leaves?

VLADIMIR: It must be dead.

ESTRAGON: No more weeping.

VLADIMIR: Or perhaps it's not the season.

ESTRAGON: Looks to me more like a bush.

Same Thought, Different Centuries

As riches increase and accumulate in few hands; as luxury prevails in society, virtue will be in a greater degree considered as only a graceful appendage of wealth, and the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican standard. This is the real disposition of human nature: It is what, neither the honorable member nor myself can correct. It is common misfortune that awaits our state constitution, as well as others.

Alexander Hamilton


Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Matthew 19:24

The "N" word (no, Michael Richards, not that one)

An article in Slate raises the question of references to Hitler and the Nazis in the course of political debate. The piece quotes New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd's advice that politicians should "have little Post-its on their microphones reminding them not to compare anything to the Nazis."

Ah, the Nazi analogy...

Yes, the Nazi image occupies very different positions in our national psyche, from tired conversational cliché to dramatic movie image to video game villain to the tortured memories of those touched by what may be our closest incarnation of true evil. It is also certainly true that our government, even under the grotesque incompetence and criminality of the current administration, does not sink to the level of human baseness that was Adolph Hitler.

Analogies are teaching points, however, and certain similarities must be noted. Many are characteristic of all ambitious power seekers, but others [hopefully should] give us pause. Both Adolph Hitler and George W. Bush exploited national tragedy, patriotism and fear to move nations comprised largely of decent people to wage unnecessary, unlawful and horrific wars of choice. These chosen wars were both sparked by near messianic visions, one of a Third Reich and the other a “New American Century,” and both conscripted the media, the corporate community and much of organized religion to support them.

Both men craved power to conceal their failures in life. One, a failed artist, sought greatness in being "der fuehrer," while the other desired redemption from myriad failings and shortcomings by being a "war president." Late in both conflicts, the two leaders were also reduced to pathetic desperation. One ordered non-existent divisions to face the Russians and cursed those who brought him the grim news of reality, while the other said that November's Democratic election victories were “a call to find new ways to make the mission there succeed” (and I’m assuming he also cursed those who brought him the grim news of reality.)

However, as the article cited above points out, those together do not represent the most telling and frightening similarities. That will remain “the banal ordinariness of the citizens who perpetrated it. The relevance of Third Reich Germany to today's America is not that Bush equals Hitler or that the United States government is a death machine. It's that it provides a rather spectacular example of the insidious process by which decent people come to regard the unthinkable as not only thinkable but doable, justifiable.”

We let it happen. Say that again, we let it happen. Sure, I, and many of you reading this opposed this monstrosity from the beginning, while others came later to see the truth.

But still, despite our best intentions, WE LET IT HAPPEN. Yes, of course, I wrote about how wrong this was, I went to meetings and I corresponded with government officials, but in reality, I did nothing. I let it happen. I went to work, I went to the beach, I ate, I drank, I laughed, and I LET IT HAPPEN. I let it happen in the midst of my "banal ordinariness."

Do you see what I see?

The president said he interpreted the Democratic election victories six weeks ago not as a mandate to bring the U.S. involvement in Iraq to an end but as a call to find new ways to make the mission there succeed. (link)

Mr. President, we have the results of your Rorschach test. We showed you and the rest of America a series of inkblots. More than 80% of America thought they looked like this

and this but you thought they looked like this

and this

With extensive therapy, Mr. President, I MIGHT be able to help you improve your condition to that of delusional sociopathy.

By Mark Silva

By Mark Silva

That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it? Any byline by this shameless hack signals another waste of ink and pulp defending the indefensible.

Try this one:

As he attempts to chart a “new way forward’’ in Iraq, President Bush again is striving to frame the conflict there as central to a broader struggle against world terrorism – despite analysis both from inside and outside the administration that worsening sectarian violence inside Iraq is responsible for a greater share of the increasing casualties there than any acts of terrorism.

Pssst, Mark, the casualties in Iraq have not resulted from “terrorism” as that term is generally used. The violence in Iraq results from sectarian clashes and from resistance to the U.S. invasion and the attempted installation of a stooge government.

You keep on tryin’ though, Lil’ Feller, and maybe someday you and your beloved preznit will find that elusive “way forward.”

Rhetoric and Reality

Rhetoric and Reality (link)

Words of wisdom from Fearless leader (the Year 2000 beta test module)

"I just don't think it's the role of the United States to walk into a country and say, we do it this way, so should you ....but I think one way for us to end up being viewed as the ugly American is for us to go around the world saying, we do it this way, so should you…..I think the United States must be humble and must be proud and confident of our values, but humble in how we treat nations that are figuring out how to chart their own course."

"If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world and nation building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road, and I'm going to prevent that...."
"Well, if it's in our vital national interest, and that means whether our territory is threatened or people could be harmed, whether or not the alliances are -- our defense alliances are threatened, whether or not our friends in the Middle East are threatened. That would be a time to seriously consider the use of force. Secondly, whether or not the mission was clear. Whether or not it was a clear understanding as to what the mission would be. Thirdly, whether or not we were prepared and trained to win. Whether or not our forces were of high morale and high standing and well-equipped. And finally, whether or not there was an exit strategy. I would take the use of force very seriously. I would be guarded in my approach. I don't think we can be all things to all people in the world. I think we've got to be very careful when we commit our troops. The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders. I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place."

"..... if we don't stop extending our troops all around the world and nation building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road, and I'm going to prevent that."
It really depends upon how our nation conducts itself in foreign policy. If we're an arrogant nation, they'll resent us. If we're a humble nation, but strong, they'll welcome us."

"I'm going to be judicious as to how to use the military. It needs to be in our vital interest, the mission needs to be clear, and the exit strategy obvious."

Maybe the Iraqi government is becoming more like ours...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Thirteen men convicted of murder, kidnapping and other crimes were hanged in a Baghdad jail on Tuesday, lining up shortly before their execution in hoods and green jumpsuits, their hands bound behind their backs.
Elsewhere in the Iraqi capital, gunmen in military uniforms robbed government accountants as they left a bank with bags of cash, in the second major bank robbery in Baghdad in eight days.

Has anyone seen my (lap)dog?

(London) "We need to recognise that a central element of foreign policy - the intervention in Iraq--has failed in its objectives so badly that the threat to this country is actually greater than it was before it began." (Conservative MP David Cameron)

The article further notes that, according to Mr. Cameron, "the threat to Britain was bigger now than prior to the war, was a statement of fact."

Nice work, guys.

One interesting sidebar in the piece is that the British politicos are becoming a might peeved as being seen as Bush's lapdogs. A Conservative party policy group reported that "British interests would `always be best served in partnership with America,' but the relationship must be put on a `proper footing'. We should recognise that we will find it difficult to serve our interests, or those of America, if we are regarded as their mute partner in every foreign undertaking."

Good luck with that.

Who should I listen to?

Washington The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intense debate. Sending 15,000 to 30,000 more troops for a mission of possibly six to eight months is one of the central proposals on the table of the White House policy review to reverse the steady deterioration in Iraq. The option is being discussed as an element in a range of bigger packages, the officials said. But the Joint Chiefs think the White House, after a month of talks, still does not have a defined mission [editor's note--Duh!] and is latching on to the surge idea in part because of limited alternatives, despite warnings about the potential disadvantages for the military, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House review is not public.

Definitely go with the White House. They've been spot on so far, and what do those military guys know?

Workin' hard, makin' progress....

WASHINGTON - Attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops and Iraqi civilians jumped sharply in recent months to the highest level since Iraq regained its sovereignty in June 2004, the Pentagon told Congress on Monday in the latest indication of that country’s spiraling violence. In a report issued the same day Robert Gates took over as defense secretary, the Pentagon said that from mid-August to mid-November, the weekly average number of attacks increased 22 percent from the previous three months.

The story is bad enough as it is, but yet--the spin continues even amidst this tale of woe. Note the reference to "since Iraq regained its sovereignty." Sovereign, huh? Well, it certainly seems to be a particularly explode-y kind of sovereignty!

It's lovely weather for a dumbass together with you

This one is remarkable. Every time I see Bush's plummeting approval ratings, I always ask myself who these dwindling few supporters are. Well, this is one rather pathetic follower [editor's note--look for how the historical reference he makes supports the exact opposite conclusion from what he draws].

Steve Chapman’s assertion ("Iraq report actually fuels hawks," Commentary, Dec. 14) that the liberation of Iraq from the butchery and tyranny of Saddam Hussein "was a doomed enterprise from the start" and that "we could do worse" than talking to Syria and Iran as the Iraq Surrender, uh, Study Group, shows that it is he, not the Bush administration who have "learned nothing" from history.

He says we should "look at…the Americans in Vietnam." Okay, let’s look. We were never defeated on the battlefield. Tet [Offensive] was a military disaster for the Vietcong and North Vietnamese, not an American defeat. And South Vietnam fell two years after we left, not to a popular uprising, but to a conventional armored invasion from the North after the Democratic "Watergate babies" of 1974 cut off the South Vietnamese at the knees.

Now another Democratic Congress, and Steve Chapman, wants to ignore the millions of Iraqis who risked their lives to vote for their leaders and a constitution, proudly displaying their purple fingers. They risk and lose their lives daily, publishing newspapers, joining the police, just going to work.

What do Syria and Iran want? Certainly not stability in Iraq or Lebanon as both have aided the private armies of Muqtada al-Sadr and Hassan Nasrallah, respectively. They want an American defeat in Iraq. Neither want democracy to gain a foothold and spread.

Chapman must have missed the recent revelations of U.S. intelligence officials regarding the ongoing attempts by Syria and Iran to wreak havoc from Beirut to Baghdad. Officials described how Iranian Revolutionary Guards worked in tandem with Syrian military intelligence to facilitate the travel and training of radical Shiite Iraqi militants.

The New York Times reported that "a senior American intelligence official" says that between 1,000 to 2,000 fighters in Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army had been trained by Hezbollah in Lebanon. A number of Hezbollah operatives are also said to have entered Iraq to do training on-site.

Chapman’s and the ISG’s naiveté is exceeded perhaps only by the late Sen. William Borah who, upon hearing of the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, opined, "Lord, if only I could have talked with Hitler, all this might have been avoided."

Daniel John Sobieski

Just one suggestion, Danny Boy---

Quote of the Day

"I had a sense, for the first time, that the Iraqi political leadership realized that this thing was slipping away"

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Now there's one quick study!

One bad bet...

Jonah Goldberg wrote this in early February 2005 (in a wager with Juan Cole, with whom is he WAAAY out of his league). He still has six weeks for his happy place to become a reality. I'm confident, aren't you?:

I predict that Iraq won't have a civil war, that it will have a viable constitution, and that a majority of Iraqis and Americans will, in two years time, agree that the war was worth it.

A pop culture observation

Take it out in the back yard and shoot it. It's not--what's the word I'm looking for--oh, funny.

Guess the quote...

"Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?"

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Sean Hannity, 1999

No, it's not an Onion headline

Rumsfeld to be honored today at the Pentagon

Bill Frist's proudest moments

Hello from beautiful Greencastle, picking up the college daughter.

I came across Bill Frist's list of the tremendous accomplishments of this disgraceful Congress:

"We passed legislation securing the right to prayer in U.S. military academies.

"We passed legislation protecting the Mount Soledad Memorial Cross.

"We passed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which allows for the 10- fold increase of FCC fines for indecency violations.

"We passed Cord blood legislation that harnesses the power of stem cells in cord blood to develop new cures for life-threatening diseases.

"We passed the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act, which prohibits the gestation of fetal tissue in order to use it for research.

"We passed the Stem Cell Research Alternatives bill, which provides federal funding for a variety of stem cell research that do not involve destroying human embryos."

Thanks Bill (especially that crackdown on fetus farming!)

From the Pickle Barrel

So who does Pickles Bush blame for her husband's poll numbers, which are hovering just so slightly above the approval rating for compound fractures and open sores? Why, the media, of course. It's because of what we see on the tee vee.


Of course she does.

Happy Anniversary!

Belated, but we just passed the 6th anniversary of Bush v. Gore. I have NEVER been so wrong about anything. I remember thinking that night, "how bad can it be?" I expected crappy judges, tax cupcakes for his friends and some environmental rollbacks. Never did I expect to see the very future of the republic imperiled by a madman who seems like Hitler in his bunker in early 1945, ordering phantom divisions and shrieking about victory as the Russians marched into Berlin.

Kudos to Charlie Rangel

The congressman calls 'em as he sees 'em

“You have a President that’s in deep shit. He got us into the war, and all the reasons he gave have been proven invalid, and the whole electorate was so pissed off that they got rid of anyone they could have, and then they ask, ‘What is the Democrats’ solution?’”

Am not! Am too!

The president is acting like a petulant teenager just after his parents told him that they were getting him a babysitter. His reaction to the ISG report can be neatly summed up as "You're not the boss of me!"

Have you seen my liberal media? I know I left it here somewhere..

I was watching the Today Show this morning, and in their Iraq segment, we saw Byron York from the National Review Online. Then (for "balance"??) they bring in GAMBLIN' BILL BENNETT.

Some liberal media.

Really, why hurry?

Two headlines, one right after the other:

Bush: I won't be rushed on Iraq (AP)
At least 55 die in more Iraqi violence (AP)

We wouldn't want to do anything rash now, would we?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas the Apocalypse

Washington: The Army and Marine Corps are planning to ask incoming Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Congress to approve permanent increases in personnel, as senior officials in both services assert that the nation's global military strategy has outstripped their resources. In addition, the Army will press hard for "full access" to the 346,000-strong Army National Guard and the 196,000-strong Army Reserves by asking Gates to take the politically sensitive step of easing the Pentagon restrictions on the frequency and duration of involuntary call-ups for reservists, according to two senior Army officials.

Ho ho ho!

Jabberwocky

There was a book lying near Alice on the table, and while she sat watching the White King (for she was still a little anxious about him, and had the ink all ready to throw over him, in case he fainted again), she turned over the leaves, to find some part that she could read,--for it's all in some language I don't know,' she said to herself. It was like this.

As President Bush weighs new policy options for Iraq, strong support has coalesced in the Pentagon behind a military plan to "double down" in the country with a substantial buildup in American troops, an increase in industrial aid and a major combat offensive against Muqtada Sadr, the radical Shiite leader impeding development of the Iraqi government (link).

She puzzled over this for some time, but at last a bright thought struck her.`Why, it's a Looking-glass book, of course! And if I hold it up to a glass, the words will all go the right way again!"

OK, let me get this straight. We are going to wage a major offensive against a Shi'a cleric in a Shi'a country, and are effectively siding with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's Badr brigade and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which has strong ties with--Iran.

There's one to ponder, but the looking glass isn't helping.

Special Headline

I've got some thoughts finally bubbling their way to the surface after a month or so of post-election burnout, but this isn't them.

Headline of an AP story this morning: "Bush decides direction of Iraq policy"

Well, of course he did. He's the decider.

The Vice Presidential Christmas Card

Merry Christmas and

The White House Christmas Card

The White House
Washington, D.C.

The President and Jeff GannonMrs. Bush wish you and yours a happy holiday.

I bring you good tidings of great fear, which shall be to all Americans.
For unto you this day there is an enemy, terrorists, freedom haters and evildoers
You will find the enemy stripped and lying in a prison, but that's just for starters
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the corporate host praising W, and saying,
Glory to W in the White House, and on earth, fear and corporate profits toward men.

The Butcher, the Baker....

The Iraq study group report delivered a much-deserved public scolding to the White House, and it has been interesting watching the White House spin machine go into overdrive on this one. It is also remarkable to see the critic's role played by such characters as James Baker and Ed Meese.

Despite the pleasure I take from seeing the administration embarrassed, I find that the report is fundamentally and fatally flawed. The study group, while more perceptive than the president (not a particularly high standard), still dwells in a fantasy world, evidenced by statements such as these:

"the Iraqi government needs to show its own citizens—and the citizens of the United States and other countries—that it deserves continued support."

"President Bush and his national security team should remain in close and frequent contact with the Iraqi leadership to convey a clear message: there must be prompt action by the Iraqi government to make substantial progress"

"the United States should make clear its willingness to continue training, assistance, and support for Iraq’s security forces and to continue political, military, and economic support"

"Saddam Hussein has been removed from power and the Iraqi people have a democratically elected government that is broadly representative of Iraq’s population"

I believe the problem is readily apparent.

THERE IS NO IRAQI GOVERNMENT and THERE IS NO IRAQI ARMY! Period, end of story.

Clinging to these pretenses accomplishes nothing positive, either for Iraq or for the United States. The Iraqi "government" controls no territory, commands no loyalty, has no monopoly (anything BUT a monopoly, as the competing militia factions exercise real authority) over coercive force and is unable to perform even low-level governmental functions. "Training" an "Iraqi security force" or military is a non-starter because of the fundamental reality that it is impossible to have an Iraqi military when there is no Iraq. We have spent significant time, manpower and money tilting at this windmill, and in the face of even stronger militia operations and a greatly-diminished regard for both the U.S. role and the Iraqi "government," expecting improvement here is a fool's paradise.

This of course is no secret or any profound observation on my part. It also is not surprising, given the makeup of the study group. While it may be "bipartisan" it is still made up of mainstream Washington insiders who have a vested interest in avoiding the obvious reality. The report clings to the Iraqi government, elections and democracy because this is the last refuge of even the slightest (albeit totally fictitious) whiff of anything resembling legitimacy in the invasion and occupation. They cling to frauds and fictions because they have to do so. Any other course of conduct would force them to do something that they would be organically unable to do. They would have to describe not incompetence, not missed opportunities, not flawed planning, but criminality. They would have to talk not of victory or defeat, progress or setbacks, but rather our nation's criminal conduct, the conduct of a rogue state. That they could not do.