What I MEANT to Say Was...........

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Republican Righteousness

An interesting WaPo column about Republicans' outrage that the 110th congress' majority party is not letting them participate in the initial direction of the legislative agenda. Amazing. There is no ethical, moral, or hypocritical boundary these guys would even hesitate crossing.

Click on the Seattle PI editorial cartoon below (or right click and choose "view image") for a larger view:

Helter Skelter

They say that the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over and expecting different results. This definition fits to a T George Bush's "plan" (it's more of an adjustment than a plan) to escalate the occupation of Iraq.

This latest cynical attempt to run out the clock on his watch demonstrates his continuous and blatant total disregard for what is right for the U.S. and the American people. Increasing the troop level in Iraq by 15% is like offering a person suffering from hyperhydration a glass of water. Every credible authority on the situation on the ground in Iraq agrees that U.S. troop presence in the country is the main reason for the level of the violence. This is a problem in need of a political solution, not a military one. Our military forces are designed to fight wars, not police anarchic cities.

And of course we are hearing a new wave of old hyperbole and meaningless rhetoric from W and his rapidly dwindling pool of sycophants. "The Dems have no plan, we're fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here, failure is not an option" and on and on. One change, W has recently broken new ground by talking to reporters other than FOX folks, such as his recent appearances on 60 Minutes and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Unfortunately he's still sputtering the same tired material: simplistic generalizations, childish metaphors, and gross misinformation which show he either doesn't understand the complex issues or doesn't care. And he's still doing it in an arrogant, cynical, condescending manner. Like a sarcastic cheerleader. As conservative David Brooks put it, "he needs to talk to people as adults, not down to them as 5 year olds".

The problem is there is no good option anymore, it's going to be ugly any direction we go at this point. The best option would have been to not invade in the first place. The second best option would have been to go in with sufficient troop levels to initially maintain order. And the third best option would have been to preserve the civil and social infrastructure. But those doors have closed years ago. The absolute worst option is to stay the course, but add more fuel to the fire with additional troops.

No More Hunger

Well, it looks like our rightie friends in DC have solved yet another of our nations many problems! No longer will any American go hungry. Amazing! They may experience some, well, er, low food security. But hunger? C'est histoire.......

Read it and weep.....

Fresh Ideas From the GOP

He's baaaaaaaacckkkkkk!!!!!!

Looks like last week's mid-term election results had a profound effect on the Republican party. They seem to recognize a new direction is needed.

Christians United Against Christ

It always blows me away how many self-professed "Christian" organizations preach and emphasize the exact opposite of what Christ actually taught, prefering to spread hate and intolerance. The latest example.

Ed Bradley

Wow. Knock me over with a feather. Like most folks I was shocked to read of Ed Bradley's untimely (whatever that means) death today. A fabulous reporter. A good man.

Can We Talk (Joan Rivers style)???

I don't like to gloat, and I don't like when it's done to me. It's not constructive.

But can I take a moment to say nyah nyah nyah?

We deserve it. You pompous, righteous blowhards have been slamming us with your "fair and balanced" crap for 12 years.

Time to show you get as good as you give.

I am enraptured (no pun intended) with the rightie response today. My reaction:

Now we're subjected to the big government tax 'n spend group again

• Yeah, as opposed to the folks who have driven a record surplus into a record debt, with no end in sight. Can you say DHS?? The reality (as opposed to the empty rightie rhetoric) is that the Reps have proven they've never met a spending bill they didn't love. Except they don't tax for the revenues, they borrow. Its like dropping a teenage girl off at the mall with an unlimited credit card.

Osama bin Laden is joyful now

• Oh, did I fall asleep just now? Oh yeah, that old Rove/Copperfield sleight of hand

Well, the Dems had better perform now or....

• Or what? You're gonna return congress to the pedophiles, crooks and druggies?

The Dems didn't win it, the Reps lost it

• Yeah, whatever you need to believe to relieve the sting. The Dems have learned some things about campaigning over the last 6 years. They were focused and disciplined. They worked very hard and stayed on message. They didn't get drawn into false choices or hypotheticals. Tens of thousands of volunteers made millions of phone calls, rang millions of doorbells, contributed millions of dollars, sent millions of eMails, and hosted thousands of activism parties. Air America and other underpaid (in some cases unpaid) broadcasters did tens of thousands of shows getting the message out, and did the media circuits. Maybe the Reps incompetent governance made it the huge blowout it was, but the Dems earned the victory.

As Lou Dobbs said, the voters have told you that it's now your turn to shut up and listen.....

Someone PLEASE Pinch Me.......

If I had false teeth they'd have dropped out of my head when I saw this article this morning. It's so shocking that it seemed like perhaps it was just a prank. But it's not. Here's the man that is probably one of the 3 or 4 people most responsible for the war in Iraq criticizing the current administration for bungling the effort in interview for an upcoming Vanity Fair issue!! This, the guy who was drawing up plans to invade years before W knew there was a country named Iraq, the guy who wanted to go in with 40,000 troops and bitterly criticized General Shinseki for wanting to use 250,000 troops (the good General was then unceremoniously dumped), pointing his finger in blame!!!! He's also part of the "we'll be greeted with flowers and candy", and "oil revenues will pick up the tab" crowd.

If there was ever a shred of honor, honesty, character, responsibility, compassion and/or accountability in the NeoCon movement it surely has been choked out years ago......

Chicken Counting

Dems everywhere are gleefully antsy for next Wednesday to dawn, believing their party will definitely be in control of the House, and possibly the Senate. Not so fast, folks, remember that old admonishment about counting and chickens and hatching and such.

As much as it hurts me to say this, I believe this is what'll happen: If the Dems do pick up the House (which I doubt) it'll only be by one or two seats. This would be a disaster, as they'd not be able to get anything of substance done in the next two years, yet would take all the blame for the righties past mismanagement of government giving the Reps plenty of cannon fodder in '08. And the Senate? It will remain firmly in rightie hands. My reasons?

• Remember, to these guys winning is not everything, it's the only thing. There's nothing, absolutely nothing that they won't do to hang onto power. If you think things have gotten as ugly as they can get over the last week, wait until their so-called "72 Hour Plan" kicks in tomorrow.
• The Republican gerrymandering projects over the last 12+ years make a Dem win all but impossible.
• The righties know that if the House Dems get subpoena power more than a handful of political careers and personal lives are going to be ruined. The stakes are just too high to let the people decide.
• The vote manipulation and outright fraud we'll see next week (and are already seeing this week) will make '04 and '00 "irregularities" look like jaywalking. But this time we're much less likely to be able to prove it due to the fact that the vast majority of folks will be voting on electronic machines without a dependable audit trail.
• Lastly, this little article in Barron's slipped in under the radar a few weeks ago with little fanfare, but it's simple and sobering. (Though WaPo is still hopefull)

The Rest of the Story

While I am tired of John Kerry's bumbling public relations (see previous post), make no mistake: The righties, knowing full well what he really meant, intentionally promoted the misinterpretation regardless of what the effect on "The Troops" might be as a result, so long as there was political hay to be made from it. And what chutzpah, after all, they're the folks that did the real harm with a misguided and botched invasion of Iraq, and stripping desperately needed benefits when the vets come home. Even in my own area, that fraud McGavick is scrambling to get some of it. But the NYT says it much better than I could.

Well, as long as we're speaking of Iraq, there's a story that got pretty much buried by the Kerry flap. A classified document prepared by USCentCom leaked to the NYT shows the military's (and presumably the government's) true assessment of the "progress" in Iraq. Here is the story they ran two days ago. I'm surprised CNN didn't cover it, as they seem to have "grown a pair" in recent months. Click on the image above to see a larger version of the chart in question.

Shut the %$#@ Up: Part III

Is any progressive besides me tired of John Kerry?

Senator Kerry is a talented, dedicated and effective public servant. And he would have made a decent president, sparing us 4 more years of pain under Commander Cuckoo Bananas.

But the good Senator is not the Great Communicator. He proved that in 2004.

I take him at his word, that he merely meant to deride W with his "botched joke" two days ago. Especially after hearing parts of the speech which preceded and followed the part that's gotten so much attention over the last few days. But a seasoned politician, particularly a veteran United States Senator, should have an instinct to avoid even being in the same neighborhood with the comments he made. The RNC folks are peeing themselves over this one. Those sharks know blood when they smell it.

And then his ego prevented a graceful exit. Instead he subjected us once more to that awkward, clumsy Kerry shuffle. The comments required a nuanced explanation. Then the explanation required a nuanced explanation. A painful flashback to 2004. The Great Equivocator.

Enter the leftie talking and writing heads. More explanation. Thin claims that all reasonable people would not have mistaken Kerry's comments, that the White House is intentionally making a mountain out of a molehill.

Next, righties everywhere wrap themselves in the flag once more and feign cynical, phony shock at this insult to our "brave men and women in uniform". The righteous demands for an apology. Then, on script, the declaration of the apology being either too little, or too late, or both.

Two sad things about this: First, the veneer of Iraq was finally wearing thin for the righties. So what does the good Senator do? He gives them a giant October present. Second thing? There's more than a little truth to his unintended meaning, and politicians on both sides of the aisle know it.

The good part? Any progressive who forgot the lessons of 2004 is reminded again why the Senator should not get his or her support in the 2008 presidential primaries.

Elmer Gantry

This is not your father's Republican party.

I don't know what the Republicans stand for these days. They used to claim to be the party of smaller, less intrusive government, fiscal restraint & responsibility, personal accountability, defender of the military, and states' autonomy on personal issues. They believed in habeas corpus and the Bill of Rights. But over the last 12 years their actions, incredibly, demonstrate the opposite intent on all these issues. And they are incapable of civilized, constructive dialogue about any national issue, preferring to spread fear and hate with clever, meaningless, mean-spirited sound bites. And like the German Reich of the 1930s (as well as many other autocratic repressive governments in history) they angrily brand a dissenting voice as being in bed with some simplistic two-dimensional enemy, like the fictional superhero villains. They only speak in negative terms, never in hopeful possibilities.

I hear people defend the party, calling the current bunch in charge NeoCons, a temporary fringe religious bunch who are not true Republicans.

But the name on the door is still "RNC" (and if you want a taste of their positive message, check this out).

But trying times can make strange bedfellows. I find myself reading some sane, constructive conservatives like George Will. I actually listen to Pat Buchanan (though I don't agree with most of his opinions, they are well reasoned). And Lou Dobbs has clearly turned a corner

Toward the former, Mr. Will, I recently read a column of his where he quite astutely separates and analyzes two flavors of modern conservatism (I believe there are three). He uses the Mark Foley debacle as a backdrop.

Speaking of Foley, I actually read a female rightie columnist trying to minimize the Foley thing by saying we have to "separate true children" from teenagers, and that men between the ages of 16 & 18 at their "muscular peak", as if that explained everything (others have made similar arguments, though not to this extent). So much for black & white right and wrong. Equivocation and nuance where it serves us. Definitive clarity where it does.

Meet Chris Hedges

Every so often a talk host on radio or TV introduces me to a remarkable individual, someone who has the background and experience to honestly and authentically reflect a position. They're usually not a household name due to the fact that their opinions and theories take more than a clever soundbite to impart, but nonetheless they bring a brilliant, enlightened insight on a given subject shared with a laser-like focus.

I heard such an inspired individual on a radio program today, his name is Chris Hedges. This is not a political guy; his wisdom spans many years and many administrations (some progressives, myself included, see Bill Clinton as a guy who had much promise but mainly squandered opportunity). Take a look at this article he wrote, google him to find other info, or look up his books highlighted in the right column of his article. He takes a painfully honest look at war; not just the horrors and waste of it, but also the seductive allure.

One great line:
"We are allowed to taste war's perverse thrill, but spared from seeing war's consequences."

What a powerful, truthful, and moving piece of writing. I'm awestruck........

Promises, Promises......

Can we get this one in writing from Senator Weathervane??

"The Defeat-o-crats"

Of all the colossal blunders and missteps of the current Bush administration, by far the colossal-est is the invasion and occupation of Iraq, a sovereign nation which we knew at the time posed no clear and present danger to the U.S. (in fact one could make a strong argument that due to our destruction of its military capabilities in the Gulf War and the daily patrols of the "no-fly zone" it was one of the world's smallest threats to us). This single act has significantly damaged our country economically, militarily, morally (congress just passed legislation essentially giving the president the ability to spy unchecked on any citizen, to suspend habeas corpus, and to approve torture; can you say alien and sedition?), and diplomatically, perhaps permanently.

This is the first in a series of posts regarding the occupation of Iraq. I thought I'd start with a link to this very well done op-ed piece from yesterday's Washington Post, written by Representative John Murtha. It does a great job of simply laying out the current situation in Iraq, from a 30,000 ft view, with unvarnished facts.

But of course we know rule #2 in the RadCon playbook is to tar & feather the messenger when you don't like the message, and are at a loss to intelligently refute it. So when Rep. Murtha originally came out with his plan months ago on how to start moving in a positive direction in Iraq, rather than have a constructive discussion he was attacked as a "cut-and-runner"; some even implied he was a "coward".

Now I don't know if the man's a saint or a sinner, but let's look at his CV: 37 years in the Marine Corps. Birthday is June 17. 32 years in Congress as a staunch supporter and defender of the military. In fact, he states in that 32 years he's always supported the president on matters of war. Until now. Just like 7 former generals.

The issue is not the rapidly deteriorating situation in Iraq. The issue is that the meaningless yet clever slogan crowd keeps declaring victory is near and the current course the only right one.

So read the piece, then you decide. Look for more interesting links in the next few days.

Faith-Based Politics

One of the NUMEROUS developments of the early days of the W administration raising alarm bells was the announcement of the so-called "faith-based initiatives' or the promise to pour billions of dollars into evangelical "christian" organizations. Among the concerns (aside from the obvious assault on the separation of church & state) was the fact that the federal government has a long reputation of spending unaccountably; there would be virtually no meaningful and effective oversight with regard to how the funds were being used. Well, worry no more. As with most promises made by this bunch, this particular one turned out to be boldface pandering to the religious right for political support through two elections.

The wheels have been coming off that bus for a couple of years now as the leaders of this extreme wing are realizing that they were duped along with the rest of us. The only money being doled out generously is to defense contractors in Iraq and elsewhere (nearly $1 trillion over the last 5 years). This hoax was very plainly and thoroughly spelled out in a 60 Minutes interview with a former Bush and "faith-based initiative" supporter, David Kuo, who has a new book (of course) out on the subject. He alleges that only $100M or so of the predestined $8B has materialized so far.

Among the tidbits in the piece:

• He himself dreamed up an idea "to hold events at taxpayer expense for Republicans in tight races as a way of energizing religious voters". The white house was "thrilled" by the idea.
• The evangelical "christian" movement, instead of pursuing the promised course of "compassionate conservatism" helping the poor and needy instead relentlessly pushed agendas attacking homosexuality, abortion, stem cell research, and divorce. This on the government dime.
• Administration staffers frequently ridiculed religious leaders.

One gentleman in the piece alludes to Kuo as "naive" for not recognizing the realities of the political environment, that no one comes away with 100%. But I'd call him naive for believing that the RadCons ever intended to spend one thin dime on the poor.

A side note: If you read the transcript of the interview take the time to scroll down about 3/4 of the way down the page into the reader comments. There is one (entered 3 or 4 times) that is the epitome of righty debate techniques. The writer says "It comes down to a matter of trust and credibility. Since 60 Minutes has been known to fabricate stories in an attempt to manipulate upcoming election results, their journalistic endeavors are seen as tainted and are dismissed as such". And there you have it. State something as an absolute fact (when it is not) then build your case on it. When you can't dipute the facts, simply kill the messenger, and thereby the message. 60 Minutes has been producing award winning journalism for 38 years, and has had only 3 or 4 credible challenges to the complete accuracy of a story in that time; there's no evidence that they're "known to fabricate stories". What the writer is no doubt referring to is the 2004 piece on 60 Minutes II regarding W's AWOL incident from years ago. First, it was on a program that had nothing to do with Don Hewitt's award winning 60 Minutes, other than sharing a name in an attempt to bring credibility to the knockoff show. Second, the underlying facts and assertions of the W AWOL piece were essentially upheld as true. It was one of the documents presented as evidence that was questionable. Lastly, Mr. Kuo was telling the story in his own words, and has a book out with which anyone can verify if CBS was accurately reporting his allegations. How could 60 Minutes be "fabricating" this?

WaPo followup

Ernie Pyle, Iraqi Style

One of the many things lacking in the current media coverage of the occupation of Iraq and it's implied sibling, the so called "war on terror", is the unvarnished factual account of what the hell is going on there. The far left is painting a picture of total and irretrievable chaos, an exponential spiral with no hope. The RadCons are selling "freedom on the march", "with us or agin us", "fight there instead of here", "stay the course", "no cut 'n run" among other meaningless rhetoric. Most serious journalists see the "embeds" as, well, whores!

We have many examples of high placed government officials who have laid out the facts as to the admin's folly, both Republicans and Dems. Then we have a steady stream of officials and retired generals saying the same things. They have no strong political or financial agendum.

Now Time magazine has printed a very interesting letter from a GI, a Marine who's done a tour or two in Iraq. Time claims to have validated the authenticity of this letter, and I have to take them at their word (I had my suspicions when I first read it, it sounds like professional writing). He's probably a Sergeant, or a possibly a Lieutenant. This report is brave, honest, clever, critical, and cynical all at the same time. It is also very well written. But along the way he inadvertantly (or perhaps intentionally) shares some wisdom about taming this hydra, with practical language, and without the tired RadCon rhetoric (note the military is fed up with them). It's interesting that this communication was vetted and released by the Pentagon bureaucracy. Are they trying to tell us something? Perhaps we have the beginning of unvarnished acounts.

Regardless, I love the part about the PITA VIP visits, and of course about Bill O. Of course, given Bill's vast combat experience he always refers to..... Whatever.... Read it, more to come.

Here it is, enjoy.

Shut the #@%* Up, Part II

What the hell are Mark Foley's handlers thinking? "I take full responsibility but I'm an alcoholic and I was abused as a teen"? Your life as a public official is over, dude, fade to black. Quit the damage control, the train is totaled. You had your bite at the apple, and you blew it. We don't care how you became a perv. Go deal with your issue, and stop trying to capture headlines. Let Denny McTubby bumble it from here.

Rocky Time of Year

Happy the one, sis..........