Good Soldier, Poor Leader

Echoing Fred Kaplan's piece on Powell, Goodman asks moderates "when do we dump him?"

Hat Tip: Reader JCM.

Further evidence that I am a ghost

The bathroom sensors on the sink NEVER work for me.

The Solution for our military woes

Send over Robosaurus. I still can't believe this thing is real. Cost only $2.2 million.

Democracy: Not Just for Whites Anymore

Yes, it's Friday and I feel more like blogging than working. Number 3 for today:

Hark, oh racially diverse citizenry of the United States, your President speaks! :

There's a lot of people in the world who don't believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self-govern. I reject that. I reject that strongly. I believe that people who practice the Muslim faith can self-govern. I believe that people whose skins aren't necessarily -- are a different color than white can self-govern.

Not the same as ours, Mr. President? Come on. You know that "our" skin comes in many colors. I've even seen pictures of you with people of different colors right here in America (it's how I know you're compassionate, remember?).

Let us all cheer President Bush as he creates the first non-white democracy in the world and proves wrong the sorry lot who "don't believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self-govern."

After the President proves that non-whites can self govern, maybe he can invade South Korea. As long as we're over there, we could nail Japan. Then South Africa. On the way down we could hit Botswana, Namibia, Benin and Mali! Watch your non-white backs! American Thunder Democracy is headed your way! You looking at us funny, Thailand?

I'm Going to Go Out On A Limb Here...

Please honestly consider the following:

(A) On a daily basis, people are firing hot slugs of lead into and through each other's bodies in Iraq. People are detonating explosives, intentionally dismembering and mutilating each other. People are burning each other alive. (People = just that... Iraqi, American, Polish, whatever)

(B) Now we learn that some American soldiers (although perhaps directed by private contractors/mercenaries) made hooded naked Iraqi prisoners pose in different positions. They pointed their fingers at the Iraqi prisoners' genitals (the hooded prisoners presumably didn't see this). They made the naked prisoners lie on top of each other in a pyramid. The worst allegations are these: a prisoner was bitten by a dog and wires (live? don't know) were attached to a prisoner's genitals.

Don't get me wrong, those are some bad times. Nobody wants a dog to bite them or to have wires attached to their wares, but compared to part A, part B seems fairly tame, doesn't it?

Apparently not.

"That really, really is the worst atrocity," Atwan said. "It affects the honor and pride of Muslim people. It is better to kill them than sexually abuse them."

Sexually abuse them? The articles I've read have said the prisoners were made to simulate sexual acts, not perform them. Even then... better to KILL them?

Like I said, this behavior is surely to be condemned, but with what is going on in Iraq I have a hard time mustering up any outrage about it. Am I taking crazy pills over here, or is it bizarre that we can all accept people splattering each other's brains all over Iraq, but not people making each other do naked dogpiles?

When Stupid People Talk

A UMass grad student wrote an opinion piece in her school's newspaper that calls the recently deceased Pat Tillman, former NFL star-turned-US Ranger, a "G.I. Joe guy who got what was coming to him." The backlash was immediate and the school quickly issued a condemning statement. Below is the article in full:

Pat Tillman is not a hero: He got what was coming to him

By Rene Gonzalez
April 28, 2004

When the death of Pat Tillman occurred, I turned to my friend who was watching the news with me and said, "How much you want to bet they start talking about him as a 'hero' in about two hours?" Of course, my friend did not want to make that bet. He'd lose. In this self-critical incapable nation, nothing but a knee-jerk "He's a hero" response is to be expected.

I've been mystified at the absolute nonsense of being in "awe" of Tillman's "sacrifice" that has been the American response. Mystified, but not surprised. True, it's not everyday that you forgo a $3.6 million contract for joining the military. And, not just the regular army, but the elite Army Rangers. You know he was a real Rambo, who wanted to be in the "real" thick of things. I could tell he was that type of macho guy, from his scowling, beefy face on the CNN pictures. Well, he got his wish. Even Rambo got shot in the third movie, but in real life, you die as a result of being shot. They should call Pat Tillman's army life "Rambo 4: Rambo Attempts to Strike Back at His Former Rambo 3 Taliban Friends, and Gets Killed."

But, does that make him a hero? I guess it's a matter of perspective. For people in the United States, who seem to be unable to admit the stupidity of both the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, such a trade-off in life standards (if not expectancy) is nothing short of heroic. Obviously, the man must be made of "stronger stuff" to have had decided to "serve" his country rather than take from it. It's the old JFK exhortation to citizen service to the nation, and it seems to strike an emotional chord. So, it's understandable why Americans automatically knee-jerk into hero worship.

However, in my neighborhood in Puerto Rico, Tillman would have been called a "pendejo," an idiot. Tillman, in the absurd belief that he was defending or serving his all-powerful country from a seventh-rate, Third World nation devastated by the previous conflicts it had endured, decided to give up a comfortable life to place himself in a combat situation that cost him his life. This was not "Ramon or Tyrone," who joined the military out of financial necessity, or to have a chance at education. This was a "G.I. Joe" guy who got what was coming to him. That was not heroism, it was prophetic idiocy.

Tillman, probably acting out his nationalist-patriotic fantasies forged in years of exposure to Clint Eastwood and Rambo movies, decided to insert himself into a conflict he didn't need to insert himself into. It wasn't like he was defending the East coast from an invasion of a foreign power. THAT would have been heroic and laudable. What he did was make himself useful to a foreign invading army, and he paid for it. It's hard to say I have any sympathy for his death because I don't feel like his "service" was necessary. He wasn't defending me, nor was he defending the Afghani people. He was acting out his macho, patriotic crap and I guess someone with a bigger gun did him in.

Perhaps it's the old, dreamy American thought process that forces them to put sports greats and "larger than life" sacrificial lambs on the pedestal of heroism, no matter what they've done. After all, the American nation has no other role to play but to be the cheerleaders of the home team; a sad role to have to play during conflicts that suffer from severe legitimacy and credibility problems.

Matters are a little clearer for those living outside the American borders. Tillman got himself killed in a country other than his own without having been forced to go over to that country to kill its people. After all, whether we like them or not, the Taliban is more Afghani than we are. Their resistance is more legitimate than our invasion, regardless of the fact that our social values are probably more enlightened than theirs. For that, he shouldn't be hailed as a hero, he should be used as a poster boy for the dangerous consequences of too much "America is #1," frat boy, propaganda bull. It might just make a regular man irrationally drop $3.6 million to go fight in a conflict that was anything but "self-defense." The same could be said of the unusual belief of 50 percent of the American nation that thinks Saddam Hussein was behind Sept. 11. One must indeed stand in awe of the amazing success of the American propaganda machine. It works wonders.

Al-Qaeda won't be defeated in Afghanistan, even if we did kill all their operatives there. Only through careful and logical changing of the underlying conditions that allow for the ideology to foster will Al-Qaeda be defeated. Ask the Israelis if 50 years of blunt force have eradicated the Palestinian resistance. For that reason, Tillman's service, along with that of thousands of American soldiers, has been wrongly utilized. He did die in vain, because in the years to come, we will realize the irrationality of the War on Terror and the American reaction to Sept. 11. The sad part is that we won't realize it before we send more people like Pat Tillman over to their deaths.

Rene Gonzalez is a UMass graduate student

(Source: www.dailycollegian.com)

.................................................................................................................
I've written before on Tillman so you know my position. I can understand if you are anti-war, although I didn't think there was much opposition to the US invading Afghanistan (where Tillman died), but this is beyond repugnant. I hope when Rene dies that people treat her passing with the respect and human decency that she failed to offer Tillman.

**UPDATE: Apparently, "Rene" is a man. Sorry!!

Good God, Y'all, What is it Good For? Absolutely Everything

The Yin to our Yang over at Cavalry Charge have been bubbling over about the 4.2% GDP growth in the first quarter. This portends a return to the "glory days of Reagan" in their eyes. (Yes, they really said that).

I'm as eager for the economy to return to the glory days of Clinton (remember the concept of fiscal discipline?) as the next American, and 4.2% growth is nothing to shake a stick at (although it fell far short of the 5% growth that most forecasters predicted for the first quarter). Can't you just see the eager consumers out there bustling through the markets, spending their hard-earned buck on fine American products while the GDP needle steadily rises?

If only that were the case. In fact, .7% of the growth in GDP last quarter was the result of my tax dollars and your tax dollars being funnelled into ... wait for it ... Military Spending! How about that. The war in Iraq really does solve every American problem.

Factoring out military spending, the GDP grew at 3.5%. Any growth is good, of course, but one might feel more comfortable shaking a stick at that kind of number.

So there you have it. You and I pay our taxes. The President declares an elective war in which hundreds of our young Americans are killed. The President uses our tax dollars to pay for the war. The Republicans cheer the resulting economic puff, and credit the President's fine domestic policies. And they do it with a straight face.

The Day's Word -- Tartarean

adj. Hellish, infernal
From "Tartarus," the place in Hades reserved for punishing the worst.

Fall in Line

Maybe Cavalry Charge didn't catch the reference...

President Bill Clinton has famously said (or was he quoting U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton?) that Democrats prefer to “fall in love” with their candidates but that Republicans know how to “fall in line” behind the candidate who can win.

To paraphrase a drug-addled teen on his bed listening to headphones in an antidrug ad from the 80's... "We learned it from YOU, alright? We learned it from watching you!"

Medals v. Ribbons v. National Security, et. al.

This kind of makes you understand what Arnold Schwarzenegger may have meant when he said there were certain things he admired about Hitler.

The Republican attack machine -- again -- has made the right calculation: Hit 'em with trivia. Bait the hook with the absurd "issue" of whether it was medals or ribbons that Kerry hurled over the wall when he was a 27-year-old hothead. Then watch the media bite -- they'll do it every time -- and let Kerry rise to it and blow it. Presto, a thrice-wounded, decorated war hero running against a president who went missing from the National Guard is suddenly muddying up his own record on the morning talk shows. Shades of 2000, when Bush jokily bowled oranges down the aisle of his campaign plane while Gore argued about whether he did or didn't say he invented the Internet.

...

"When I watch Kerry trying to swat away the issue of ribbons and medals I see Karl as the Oz figure all over again," Slater told me on the phone. "Rove's technique is always to go for a candidate's strength, not his weakness. In Texas, when Bush was running against Governor Ann Richards, her strength was her tolerance, her inclusiveness. She had brought a lot of women and minorities into government. So suddenly in conservative East Texas there was a whispering campaign about why she had hired so many lesbians and homosexuals. It's the same with Kerry. The war record is his strength -- so instead of leaving it alone, Rove just goes right at it."

HA HA HA HA

HOOOO HO HA HA HA!

What the heck is a "milkshake"?

You know, as in that catchy radio song that goes, My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like "It's better than yours." Damn right, it's better than yours...

Look no further than urbandictionary.com, an excellent source for the latest street lingo.

Milkshake n.
--whatever a female can do to attract a man, as in "like I showed my man my milkshake."
--[put another way,] the things you do/say, the way you move, or the way you act, to attract a man (and it says see also "mojo").

Aaaahhh, I am now sufficiently enlightened. Next week: Dubs.

SI's Stewart Mandel smoking Buddha?

Not to mention that Stew has the Georgia Bulldogs as the top college football team entering this coming season, but he has FIVE Big Ten teams in the top 25, with Minnesota at No. 9!

Well, I sure hope Stew's wrong; otherwise the Illini, or whatever their name is by then, are in for another mighty long season. Illinois was 1-11 last year and 0-8 in conference.

You have to have priorities!

(Copyright © 2002 ATA-BOY, Inc. All rights reserved)

From McSweeney's daily reason to ditch Bush:

In February, 2004, President Bush proposed important new expenditures for education: $100 million for reading programs to help middle and high schoolers who still struggle to sound out basic words; $40 million to assist professionals in math and science make the transition to teaching; and $52 million to bring Advanced Placement classes to more high schools. Yet all of these programs combined would be eclipsed by the $270 million the president wants to devote to a school program promoting sexual abstinence. This despite there being little evidence that such programs reduce teen sex or pregnancies.

(Source: Los Angeles Times March 8, 2004)

I think this speaks for itself. No need to worry about posterity, George. We'll just rely on foreign export and outsourcing.

The Day's Word -- Quotidian

1. everyday, ordinary, commonplace, trivial;
2. recurring daily (as in a quotidian fever).

Antonyms: different, rare, special, uncommon

On Courage...

I was thinking this morning about how much courage it would take to be the President of the United States. You would be required to constantly defend your decisions and face those who disagree with you, especially with the country so polarized. (Aside: Again, this is one of the things that I admired about Governor Racicot. He met with those who disagreed with him, listened, told them their viewpoint had merit, then explained the opposing rationale and why he favored it. He was hugely popular, because even if you disagreed with him, his policymaking was utterly transparent.) It makes me think of moot court in law school, where you had to learn your position inside and out then stand before three judges who hammered you on each of the weakest points of your case. It takes an extraordinary person, in my opinion, to be able to face a divided America -- including its press, congress, and general populace -- and defend each of his policies.

If courage means the will and ability to face your adversaries, it is a quality that is lacking in this President. I don't dispute his will and ability to create adversity, but to face it personally? He simply refuses. The press? He has given the fewest press conferences of any president since the dawn of television. Congress? He first refused to meet with the entire 9-11 commission they created, then consented to private testimony... but not without Cheney there ... and no transcripts or recordings allowed (that would imply a sense of accountability). The people? Three words: "Free Speech Zones." I wonder if Bush is shocked by his abysmal 47% approval ratings, when it sure seems like every public statement he gives is received by maniacal applause. How can this be? Answer: hand picked and carefully screened crowds.

Here's the Administration's spin on this: the President has the courage to declare an elective war and the courage to stick to his plans whether they work or not. All this from the comfort of his office or his ranch. This type of "courage", to quote the Tragically Hip, couldn't come at a worse time.

Crank Yankers.

Call 1-900-FIDEL.

Bush To Iraqi Militants: 'Please Stop Bringing It On'

WASHINGTON, DC—In an internationally televised statement Monday, President Bush modified a July 2003 challenge to Iraqi militants attacking U.S. forces. "Terrorists, Saddam loyalists, and anti-American insurgents: Please stop bringing it on now," Bush said at a Monday press conference. "Nine months and 500 U.S. casualties ago, I may have invited y'all to bring it on, but as of today, I formally rescind that statement. I would officially like for you to step back." The president added that the "it" Iraqis should stop bringing includes gunfire, bombings, grenade attacks, and suicide missions of all types.

The Onion does it again.

The Day's Word(s) -- Star Chamber

A court or group that engages in secret, harsh, or arbitrary procedures.

In searching for a good link to a modern-day Star Chamber, perhaps, a pic of the US Supreme Court (esp. in light of Bush v. Gore), I came across these clowns. You really have to wonder about those guys.

[Note: The original Star Chamber was a royal court that began in England in the Middle Ages. Cases were heard without juries. Under the early Stuart kings, it was known for its tyrannical judgments. The name came from the courtroom’s ceiling, which was painted with stars. Source: Bartleby.]

Idol Bomb

Three words for this evening: cancel the show! Seriously, cancel it.

Worst night in recent memory. Worse than Elton John. Worse than Manilow. At what point did the show's creators think it was a good idea that two gospel singers, a motown man, a raspy crooner, a Hawaiian starlet, and a bumble gum teen, should be singing Miami Sound Machine? Seriously. Are you mad, man?

I cannot in good conscience vote for anyone tonight. No one stood out from the pack. Even Fantasia was bad. If a gun were shoved in my mouth and my eyes Duct taped, I could probably be persuaded to choose Latoya's as the best performance of the night. But that's just on dance, alone, and only after the duct tape. The night was abysmal. A horrible way to follow up the horrible result of last week. (I apologize for the hyperbole, maybe I should sleep on this before publishing....)

...and don't even get me started on the Subway commercial.

Idol jumped the shark with Miami. Blog out.

Two Points for Honesty

Finally your press corps catches on to how repugnant the current Republican attacks on Kerry are. This article is a must read. When you're done, email E.J. Dionne and thank him for his bold honesty.

P.S. John McCain, you have taken Marc Racicot's place in my heart as a Republican statesman I respect.

Hat Tip: Daily Howler (which is exceptional today)

The Day's Word -- Pettifogger

1. A petty, quibbling, unscrupulous lawyer;
2. One who quibbles over trivia.

Synonyms: empiric, pretender, quibbler, ambulance chaser, shyster.

War is Hell

This is the kind of stuff that should be on the nightly news: Iraq War photos (warning, graphic). But as George Carlin would say, what's wrong with graphic? Doesn't graphic mean lifelike, realistic, vivid, accurate? Why should we ever ask for anthing less?

Source: Daypop.

Roll the tape....

The Sludgereport leads with an ABCNEWS report about John Kerry and the service medals he allegedly discarded in protest of the Vietnam war. The report includes an interview with Kerry in '71 that may condradict recent statements about those medals. Roll the tape.

Oh, and while you're at it Drudge and ABC, let's roll the tape of what George W. was doing during the same timeframe--coked up, drunk, and hiding behind his daddy.

Division Street

Tonight I chose to speak from the chamber of the Texas House of Representatives because it has been a home to bipartisan cooperation. Here in a place where Democrats have the majority, Republicans and Democrats have worked together to do what is right for the people we represent....

The spirit of cooperation I have seen in this hall is what is needed in Washington, D.C. It is the challenge of our moment. After a difficult election, we must put politics behind us and work together to make the promise of America available for every one of our citizens.

I am optimistic that we can change the tone in Washington, D.C.

I believe things happen for a reason, and I hope the long wait of the last five weeks will heighten a desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past.

Our nation must rise above a house divided. Americans share hopes and goals and values far more important than any political disagreements.

Republicans want the best for our nation, and so do Democrats. Our votes may differ, but not our hopes.

I know America wants reconciliation and unity. I know Americans want progress. And we must seize this moment and deliver.
--George W. Bush (victory speech dated Dec. 13, 2000)

....oooops. Poor delivery.

Roughly 800,000 abortion rights protestors were in DC this weekend, along with all the splinter groups raising their fists to the World Bank and IMF. The 800,000 was the most since the Million Man March in 1995 and engulfed the Mall, and bottled necked the streets. Early Saturday, I cycled by battalions of police on motorcycles, bicycles, horses, in cars, SUVs, on street corners, guarding monuments, leaning on light posts, as well as the hundreds behind heavily fortified fences barracading blocks and blocks of downtown and near the World Bank building on Penn. Last night, I saw handfuls of hippies out in Adams Morgan passing out political stickers and getting pissed (to use a favorite English idiom).

This past week, my co-blogger Abe was in Baltimore and we met up for an O's game. A co-worker of his, also a former colleague of mine, and another were also in attendance. We too got pissed, in other ways.

Despite prohibitions against it, we talked politics all night. Two deeply entrenched and opinionated liberals pitted against two staunch, unwavering conservatives produced, as you can imagine, little middle ground and tense arguments. Taxes and, of course, foreign policy were topics of choice and if it were not for the strong desires of one of us to find a late-night CRABCAKES! joint, there surely could've been fistacuffs. Thank God for that beautiful crustacean! (Unfortunately, we had to settle for pizza as there must not be too much of a demand among the locals for crabcakes at 3 a.m.)

The WaPo confirms, with a 3-piece series, what everyone already knows, that we are a deeply politically divided country. A divide known as the Reds versus the Blues that has only got worse since the 2000 election. A divide that will likely play out in a bloody, very close presidential election, come November.

One may be inclined (esp. after reading his incredibly hollow words above) to immediately point fingers at the leadership of our country, beginning at the top with the president and his Administration, for the divided environment of the day. But the Democrats are equally culpable with their harsh and vigorous dissent.

Whatever the case may be, as we watch the sides dig in for the upcoming showdown, one thing's for sure, the November election's going to be one helluva fight----Let the best man win.

And remember, in case it gets too ugly, just bring out the crabcakes, whatever the hour.

The Passing of A Statesman

Marc Racicot was the Governor of my home state for eight years. During those eight years I can't remember any scaldingly negative comment about him. Well, that's not true. Certain animal rights groups were furious when he allowed hunters to shoot bison that wandered out of Yellowstone Park. As a hunter myself, I didn't really mind. I was with Racicot.

As a matter of fact, I was with Racicot on almost everything he did. He was a very reasonable guy. I worked for the Montana House of Representatives for a session, and I think I heard more grumbling about Racicot from the Republicans than the Democrats. When the GOP tried to eliminate the tax on business equipment, Racicot scaled back their efforts. When there was a projected surplus, they wanted to give a huge tax cut. Racicot viewed the proposal as irresponsible and threatened to veto it. He was pro-choice. He signed an executive order for a pro-homosexual nondiscrimination policy for state workers and supported pro-homosexual hate crimes legislation. He helped defeat an anti-gay bill the GOP tried to push through the legislature. He opposed school choice, and got the endorsement of teacher's unions. He restricted firearms. He doubled the proportion of women appointed to office in Montana.

Sounds almost like a Democrat, huh? Well, as a matter of fact, he WAS. After serving as Deputy Attorney General for a few years, Racicot wanted to run for Montana Attorney General in 1988 on the Democratic ticket. Racicot approached the Dems, but they had already selected a candidate. Perhaps because the Dems rejected him, perhaps because of the political landscape in Montana, Racicot later ran as a Republican. (UPDATE from the Montana rumor mill: Upon learning that his son was running as a Republican, Racicot's father, a staunch old-school western Democrat, told Marc "I'd sooner you told me you were gay.")

But Mr. Racicot remained moderate and exceedingly bi-partisan, and he was well respected on both sides of the aisle. Not only that, he was always very friendly and personable. My dad, who had been introduced to Racicot somewhere along the line, would stop and chat for a bit whenever he saw Racicot in a Helena gym, and Racicot would ask about the family and everything. Just a good guy. He was one of the few politicians who I viewed as a true statesman.

I guess the point of all of this is that today I am disappointed. Racicot has gone on to lobby for Enron, argue against recounting the votes in Florida, and chair the RNC. Now he heads up the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign, a campaign that has stated that Kerry voted to raise taxes 350 times. I heard Racicot on NPR arguing that Bush actually volunteered to go to Vietnam. I saw him complain that Kerry once "proposed" a 50 cent gas tax. I saw him on Fox News throwing out pithy jabs about Kerry's SUV (sorry about the possessive apostrophe, Mr. Senator).

Whether Racicot's attacks are true spin or blatant falsehoods, it makes me sad to see him reduced to this. I feel kind of like Mr. Smith when he went to Washington and found out that his hero, Senator Paine, was on the take. Marc Racicot once helped me see beyond my own partisanship. Thanks for that, Governor Racicot. I'm truly sorry that era has passed.

Bombing the bomb

Superstar over at CC serves up the latest google bomb as the dish is best served. For kicks, I revisited the first of these bombs -- "miserable failure" linking to President Bush's site -- and discovered that there has been a guerilla attack on this guerilla attack (a meta-attack?). Bush is still in the lead, but he has President Carter, Michael Moore, and Senator Clinton nipping at his heels. Silly.

Guess Who Said ...

"The new administration seems to be paying no attention to the problem of terrorism. What they will do is stagger along until there's a major incident and then suddenly say, 'Oh, my God, shouldn't we be organized to deal with this?' That's too bad. They've been given a window of opportunity with very little terrorism now, and they're not taking advantage of it. Maybe the folks in the press ought to be pushing a little bit." --February 26, 2001

Give up?

This guy. Seriously.

4/22/04 -- A Sad Day.

It was announced today that former NFL All-Pro Pat Tillman turned Army Ranger died yesterday in a firefight in Afghanistan. He was an extraordinary man and will be missed.

In 2002, back when I was an attorney at a large law firm high in the skies of Chicago, I read an article about Tillman quitting the NFL to join the Army Rangers and fight the Taliban. It was an inspiring story. I clipped the article and hung it in the middle of my bulletin board, amongst all my Lexis passwords and late-night pizza menus.

Occassionally, I'd re-read the story as I sat in my office at 2 a.m. finishing up a mass-document distribution for a corporate client. My neighbor at the firm was an ex-Ranger who did mostly Bond work. I'd drop by once and a while and ask, "What are we doing? We are young and bright. What are we doing slaving away at this thankless, many times mindless job when our country is at war. Scandal after scandal is hitting Wallstreet. Our cities are on high terror alert. And we spend 12 hours a day propped up in our chairs high on caffeine, pushing buttons, proofreading prospectuses, and sending off mass mailings, while collecting fat checks that we never have a chance to spend. There must be something better to life."

My neighbor had retired from the Rangers after fighting in Iraq and Kosovo. He was older than me and had two kids and one on the way. He was done with the fight. I was single and bored.

Well, I wouldn't go as far to say that Pat Tillman was the reason I left the firm. But looking at that photo on my bulletin board of a ferocious NFL player and knowing that he gave it all up to pursue something he believed so strongly in, didn't make waking up every morning and trudging off to a job that I despised any easier.

Although I may not believe in everything that the Administration does militarily, I thoroughly respect the men and women of the armed forces who on a daily basis put their lives on the line. I will not forget Pat Tillman. There is one bad MoFo who lived life to the fullest.

It's NOT your FAULT

As we at TGL have noted before, the Congressional Republicans remain loyally wedded to President Bush, even as he continues to abuse and mock them. Well, here's another big chance for this sorry lot to stand up for themselves. It appears that the President took $700 million they had allocated for Afghanistan and wrongfully diverted it to the Iraq effort. Will the GOP allow an investigation? That remains to be seen.

GOP members, there is help available. The President is like other abusers --"they are controlling, manipulative, often see themselves as victims and believe that [the President has] a pre-ordained right to be in charge of all aspects of a relationship." He is the one who is wrong here, not you.

No, no, GOP members. If he loved you, he wouldn't do this to you. And no, it's not your fault that the President abuses you. Perhaps your mentality was wrongfully influenced by the GOP governor of my home state when she told a group of battered spouses that her husband had never hit her, but that she had "never given him any reason to hit [her], either." It's not about giving the President a reason... it's something that is wrong with him.

I do feel sorry for the Congressional GOP; it's hard not to. Maybe if we all support them, they will find the courage to end the cycle of abuse.

...

Finally, Bush says he'll consider requesting additional funding for the escalating costs of the Iraq war.

Sincere props to Bush for his flip flop on this issue. Not that a Congressional vote on another war supplemental isn't without its political benefits as well, but his earlier willingness to let the war chest run dry until after the election was obscene.

My senator's wife is tougher than your senator's wife

"There was a situation involving Wanda last night."

The trial that went from burglary to matrimony

My law school roommate makes headlines.

The article leaves out the best part, however. When the judge asked Mr. Vasquez if he took Ms. Quinones to be his lawfully wedded wife, etc., Mayle leaned over to his client and whispered:

"Buddy, you're about to get a life sentence."

Classic.

Superstarred...

Thanks to Superstar for the positive feedback. With all the heated disagreements between our two blogs in the past, I almost feel like Rocky in Rocky IV:

Rocky: I came here tonight and I didn't know what to expect. I've seen a lot of people hate me and I didn't know what to feel about that so I guess I didn't like you much then either. During this fight I've seen a lot of changing. The way yous felt abot me and the way I felt about you. In here there were two guys killing each other, but I guess that's better than 20 million. What I'm trying to say is that if I can change and you can change, everybody can change....Yo, Adrian!

Gosh, I love that part.

Anyway, I appreciated your comments as to Latoya. I guess I was cooking stew when Simon raised the Battle of the Divas.

But the problem with this scenario playing out is that the public votes who moves on and who doesn't. As a result, I suspect (based on similar styles) that Jen, Fantasia, and Latoya fracture the vote making it hard to get them all in as the last three finalists....evidence by Latoya's surprising poor showing a couple of weeks ago.

Perhaps, maybe that's why Simon et. al are pushing hard for the voters to vote for the Divas so they get the showdown that they inevitably desire.

(Wow, I am spending way too much thought on this......)

For all those who care...

For all those who don't, you don't know what you're missing. American Idol is a fantastic show, despite the excessive and shameful corporate plugs. I cringe at each and every tacky Ford video-mercial, Coca-Cola logo pop-up, and Clairol bubble bath.

It reminds me of when I was walking on M street just before the last Olympics. I had no idea what was going on. All of sudden a large crowd formed as if in anticipation of an after-school fight. A float sped by handing out flags. It must be the Olympic torch (it finally dawned on me). The float was a Coca-Cola float and for every one American flag they handed out, they gave out at least five Coca-Cola flags. The torch came running by. Some no-name. My sights were not on the flickering flame, though. I couldn't keep my eyes off the mindless sheep waving red Coke flags in joyous jubilee.

Well, sorry for the aside. It's my minor/major complaint of the show. (The other is the dizzying amount of plugs for the Fox show The Swan.) As much as the judges with Quentin Tarantino last week were dead-on in their assessments, they were completely off with the addition of the venerable Barry Manilow, who could not even tell Dennis Kucinich that he has a snowball's chance....Anyway.

Forgive me for the background clatter. Without further adieu, my Best Buy top performers of the night....just kidding TGL has yet to gain corporate sponsorship. Seriously, the top performers (best to worst):

(1) Fantasia--dude, a star. She's by far the only one I can say I want to constantly see more of her.
(2) Jen Hudson--she's performing better and better. A totally new participant. Can't help pulling for the Chi-town gal.
(3) John Stevens--okay, he was horrendous last week and should've gone instead of JPL. Maybe should've gone instead of Camille before that. But this time my eyes were welling. I thought he did well, despite what the judges said. Okay, sorry. I turned in my men's membership card there with the welling bit. He was good. Good job, John (insert fist nudge).
(4) Diana--not a big fan of the her, especially after that corny wedding song 2x ago, but did well compared to how poorly the others sang.
(5) George Huff--tried to do too much. He's been a steady performer. Someone needs to implant an earplug in him or some shock-making device for every time he does that stupid facial spasm smile or bouncy dance. [Ear Plug]: "Hey, George, stop it. Be cool, George. Stop smiling. Be like Fonzy. Be like The Fonze, my man. Ok, that's better. No, listen, you have to listen to me, George. I'll help you win this....think Ice Man....who's the best pilot?"
(6) Latoya--I'm sorry her voice does nothing for me. Cute, confident. But I can't get past: above-average Wedding Singer.
(7) Jasmine--the star has faded fast. Quickly, she's a white dwarf. Admittedly, more asthetically pleasing sans the Hawaiian flower. Her performance tonight, though, mirrored Camille's when she bit it. Peace out, Jas.

That's it. Jas is my pick to bite it. The judges would disagree but they were horribly off tonight. I have a feeling they that didn't want to upset Barry. But when was the last time Simon was so restrained? Conspiracy! Let's get Gordon Liddy on it.

Can you SMELLLLLL What the Daschle's Cookin?

Oh man, this is embarrasing.

We got souls, yes we do. We got souls, how about you?

(1) Go to the transcript of the President's speech from yesterday.
(2) Hit Control-F (Ctrl + F) on your keyboard.
(3) Type in "soul"
(4) Pay particular attention to the last hit on the page.

Hat Tip: Whopundit

UPDATE: File this mystery under "solved". Thanks, President Bush!

The Buck Stops Overseas

Yesterday, Josh posted an excerpt from the White House press gaggle about Saudi-Oil-Production-Helping-Overtly-Manipulate-Our-Re-Election-Gate (err.. SOPHOMORE-Gate?). Excerpt from excerpt:

QUESTION: There were no conversations specifically about the President’s reelection?

MR. McCLELLAN: You can ask Prince Bandar to --

QUESTION: But from the point -- I mean, conversations are obviously two ways.
...

QUESTION: So you have no knowledge of such a commitment?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and expressed their view. I'm not going to try to speak for Prince Bandar. You can direct those questions to him.

The concept that the White House did not seem to grasp, even after a reporter was kind enough to spell it out, is that "conversations are obviously two ways." Why does our own government direct us to foreign leaders to learn about their conversations with President Bush?

Well... turns out this kind of thing business as usual for the Administration.

Strange...

We at TGL hate to step into tabloid-land, but Condoleezza Rice's recent slip of the tongue is just super puzzling.

Rice was reportedly overheard saying, “As I was telling my husb—” and then stopping herself abruptly, before saying, “As I was telling President Bush.” Jaws dropped, but a guest says the slip by the unmarried politician, who spends weekends with the president and his wife, seemed more psychologically telling than incriminating.

Atrios provides a sublime picture to accompany this peculiar item.

Now, I, like Rice, have never been married... and I cannot imagine accidentally calling anyone my wife. Even when I end up getting married, it will probably take quite a while before that sounds right rolling of the tongue. "As I was telling my wife..." It kind of gives me the shudders, actually.

Ms. Rice... where have your daydreams been taking you?

Bush Takes Kerry's Advice

Our friend over at Cavalry Charge argues that the plan to turn the situation in Iraq over to the U.N. is "absurd". He argues that because a Jordanian policeman who is a member of the U.N. forces in Kosovo recently killed several other U.N. members, the entire organization is neither fit nor able to control the Iraq situation. Our friend concludes with this punchy line: "Senator Kerry, is this what we can expect in Iraq under your plan?"

I hope that Cavalry Charge cc's us on their letter to President Bush, letting him know that his Kerry-inspired plan to give the U.N. "a central role" in the Iraq transition is "absurd". Perhaps, because of the mutinous actions of two Jordanian-U.N. policemen in the last two years, our friends suggest a return to the old Bush plan: letting the loyal Iraqi forces run the show...

FLASHBACK: As fierce fighting erupted in parts of Iraq in early April, the U.S.-led coalition tried to deploy U.S.-trained Iraqi units to quell the fighting. The results were disastrous: During the violence, many Iraqi police and civil defense personnel abandoned their posts, or joined Shiite militants loyal to renegade cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. What’s more, some soldiers of the first U.S.-trained battalion of the New Iraqi Army (NIA) deserted their unit or refused to follow orders.

Perhaps while the rest of us are reading that both presidential candidates are calling for more U.N. involvement in Iraq, our friend is reading this.

We're all Bush supporters!

Look at what your tax money is paying for! (psst... look at the bottom of the page)

Hmm... haven't we seen this exact language somewhere before? (psst... look at the second to the last bullet point)

That's right. You have contributed to Bush's re-election campaign! And you too!


Hat Tip: Atrios

Iraq Reloaded

Reply to Tony's Guest Blog::
Welcome. Is it really possible, some intelligent insights from the Lone Star State? A couple of comments, observations:

First, your list of falsehoods would make a nifty bumper sticker for John Kerry.

Second, your blog raises many issues:
What if an originally legitimate war is waged but nearly all the original reasons for war are proven false? Is it still legitimate if all-new justifications are created based solely on the fact you brought the war in the first place? (see here and here.) And what does this experience spell for the next time a crisis arises? Will the American public even believe the next time the boy cries that he sees a wolf?

Finally, an eerie parallel comes to mind when reflecting on Bush's world of false premises re: Iraq. It's The Matrix. In particular, I'm reminded of when Morpheus tells Neo that the world he knows isn't real after all.

Morpheus:The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth....
Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

A Sight We Should See

Thank you Two Good Legs for the honor. Lets jump right into the issues.
Here is what W's administration does not want us to see. I suppose if I was in his position, I wouldn't want the American people to know the truth either. The fact of the matter is very little of what my fellow Texan said has been proven true. Although some might admire his straight shooter approach, his philosophy has proven to be disastrous.
Presence of WMDs:False
A True Coalition: False
Iraq's Oil Riches Financing the Rebuilding: False
Iraqis Greeting us as liberators: False
Saddam's Connection with Terrorists: Unproven, So False
Mission Accomplished: False

The biggest insult to the families of our fallen soldiers is to politicize how they are to be returned to American soil. Our democracy depends upon how the public reacts to the issue of the day. The support of the American people is usually crucial to any foreign or domestic policy. When the people are fully informed, they can then address concerns with their elected officials. To hide the visuals of our dead patriots' return in American Flag draped coffins is to again hide the truth in an attempt to hold on to dwindling support. Mr. Bush (with all due respect) has been irresponsible with tax cuts, irresponsible with taking our young men and women to war, irresponsible with economic policy domestically and has failed miserably as a president. As a voter for Bush in his first bid for the Governor's Mansion I once was fooled by W's politics too. I have evolved and I believe many voters will react just like I once did and realize the political game that Bush plays and the fact the he is only out for the gain of his close allies as told here

Mr. President, 76% of Americans prefer Presidents who do not rely on polls... you know what to do.

President Bush loves to tell us how he doesn't rely on polls. This means that 100% of Americans could disagree with his policies, but he'd "stay the course." Err... democracy anyone?

I personally will not believe Bush when he says that he doesn't rely on polls until he (1) fires his staff pollsters and (2) vows to stop paying millions of dollars to boutique polling firms.

Hat Tip: Mr. Screw 'Em

UPDATE: Cavalry Charge takes issue not with the fact that President Bush obviously does rely on polls, but with the propriety of his doing so. I think that if President Bush wants to seek guidance by licking his finger and sticking it up in the wind of public opinion, that is appropriate. Yes, this is a representative democracy, and the President represents us in international affairs, after all. He is our employee, and we ought to be able to guide his decisions rather than just wait years until we can fire him. So come on, Cavalry Charge... lay off President Bush already! So he relies on polls. So what. My point is that he ought to simply admit it.

UPDATE II: Saletan, as always, is on the ball.

WHAT?

Asked whether settlements represent an impediment to Mideast peace, Bush said, "The problem is, is that there's terrorists who will kill people in order to stop the process."

Karl Rove was then heard to whisper to the President: "Um... try giving the 8-ball another shake sir, that one doesn't make any sense. Maybe find one about freedom."

The Hate Library

Richard Nixon resigned as President after the disgraceful Watergate scandal. Ronald Reagan presided over the equally disgraceful Iran-Contra affair, among other scandals, which resulted in 138 members of his administration either resigning under pressure for ethics violations or being criminally indicted. Of course, Reagan explained away his involvement by claiming not to remember anything. You can bet that Democrats were overjoyed to see both men leave office, and were happy to let the old men assemble their Presidential Libraries while the country tried to restore law and order to the highest office in the land.

We all know that Clinton screwed up the Monica thing. He shouldn't have messed around with the woman and he shouldn't have lied about messing around with the woman. Compared to the faults of prior Presidents, though, we're talking small potatoes. Therefore, it's hard to put into words how truly hate-filled and disgustingthis projectis.

HAT TIP: Sean Mc.

Kirk Cameron, Trail Blazer

Thanks to Drudgeretort for finding what Kirk Cameron's been up to since Mike Seaver. (the site is interactive!)

For some reason, I foresee George W. following in Kirk's footsteps when he finishes his term in office....

........

"I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the Earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom."

- President Elwood Bush?

ACU Cries "Bring Back the Hack!"

The American Conservative Union, self-described as the nation's oldest conservative advocacy group, is doing its best to get Manuel Miranda back to work for the Senate GOP. You remember Mr. Miranda. He's the Frist aide who got busted stealing thousands of confidential strategy memos from Democratic computers and was forced to resign. Remember? Then he leaked these confidential memos to sympathetic press outlets? Here is a good sketch of Miranda's activities, for which the Justice Department is considering criminal charges.

To rehire Miranda would be about as wise as hiring a participant in the Iran-Contra scandal as the newAmbassador to Iraq.

Cavalry Crawl towards the Light

Despite the banner campaign ad for Bush/Cheney 2004 displayed prominently on their website, our good friends over at Cavalry Charge have graciously acknowledged that the man that they advertise for, the man whom they would have control the destiny of our country, "clearly has cognitive challenges that sometimes make him appear unsteady and unsure of himself." We at TGL also agree with Cavalry Charge's assessment that "[Bush] doesn't communicate all that well overall..." Indeed, our friends complain that Bush is "frustrating to watch." T'OD wraps up his comments with a less than enthusiastic ode to Bush's sensible intentions.

Last night, as I watched Bush struggle to put coherent thoughts together, I wondered "how can reasonable and intelligent people want this man to lead our country?". I know T'OD is both reasonable and intelligent, and I am somewhat heartened that he is becoming aware of Bush's limitations.

I think it's time to take the campaign ad off the site, friends.

Frist Apology Watch II

We at TGL are still waiting to hear Bill Frist apologize to Richard Clarke for Frist's shameful smear speech on the Senate Floor in which he accused Clarke of perjury.

Even Frist's fellow Republicans readily admit that Frist was out of line. When asked, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said that Clarke had not contradicted himself in his 2002 testimony.

The article in the Hill notes that "Frist has seemed to back off his earlier position, declining to repeat the charge that Clarke contradicted himself."

Not enough, Senator Frist. Clarke deserves a public apology for your bizarre and blatantly dishonest public attack on his character. Of course, we already know how you feel about sincere public apologies.

Say it with me: Sa - Le - Tan!

As we at TGL have noted before, Saletan continues to show the American people the money.
Read it. Understand.

Shaking the 8 Ball

The Daily Howler gives us a little sample of Bush's magic-8-ball-shaking idea of a responsive answer:

"According to Compton, FBI agents were urging the White House “not to split up the law enforcement and the counterterrorism.” No, that wasn’t exactly coherent, but it was fairly clear that Compton was asking about possible intelligence reform. But by the time Bush concluded his stream-of-consciousness reply, he was praising the American people for feeding the hungry in Asia:

BUSH: And as the greatest power on the face of the earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom. We have an obligation to help feed the hungry. I think the American people find it interesting that we’re providing food for the North Korea people who starve. We have an obligation to lead the fight on AIDS, on Africa. And we have an obligation to work toward a more free world. That’s our obligation. That is what we have been called to do, as far as I’m concerned.

“I think the American people find it interesting that we’re providing food for the North Korea people who starve.” There’s a phrase for that: Deeply embarrassing. Let’s just say it: That’s what happens when a president who is wholly out of his depth runs out of scripted points which are even vaguely relevant."

- I agree. And I'll just say it... I miss President Clinton's ability to speak. And think.

The Prez Conference

"A country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught." (Was that chuckling we heard from the press?)

"But there was a -- nobody in our government, at least, and I don't think the prior government, could envision flying airplanes into buildings on such a massive scale."

... Well, maybe he hadn't heard of the Genoa warnings, right? Wrong...

"And the reason I did is because there had been a lot of threat intelligence from overseas. And so -- part of it had to do with Genoa, the G8 conference that I was going to attend."

Oh right... THOSE warnings.

"He was a threat because he had used weapons of mass destruction on his own people."

... twenty years ago... with chemicals we sold him ... after which we loaned him a billion dollars. This is one of the more ridiculous after-the-fact justifications for the Iraq war and I'm a little bit disgusted everytime it is regurgitated to the American public. It directly insults our intelligence.

And finally this example of good old fashioned straight talk....

Q Mr. President, why are you and the Vice President insisting on appearing together before the 9/11 Commission? ...

THE PRESIDENT: ... because the 9/11 Commission wants to ask us questions, that's why we're meeting. And I look forward to meeting with them and answering their questions.

Q I was asking why you're appearing together, rather than separately, which was their request.

THE PRESIDENT: Because it's a good chance for both of us to answer questions that the 9/11 Commission is looking forward to asking us, and I'm looking forward to answering them.

Let's see --
(Hands shoot up all over the room... because Bush has not answered the question)
Q Mr. President --

THE PRESIDENT: Hold on for a minute. Oh, Jim.

Q Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: I've got some "must calls," I'm sorry.

Although the President said "Oh, Jim," he called upon Bill Sammon... a Fox News/Washington Times GOP lackey who was guaranteed to change the subject. And he sure did, serving up a limp and fawning question about how it sure must be tough to be President because people criticize you when you do act pre-emptively and they criticize you when you don't act pre-emptively.

Overall, I thought Bush's performance was close to self-parody. Bush used the words "free" or "freedom" 50 times, by my count, but outlined no semblance of a plan to achieve a peace in Iraq. He answered every question by shaking up his magic 8 ball of stock phrases and throwing a few out there. He even dropped a vague accusation that those who don't believe that his plan to invade Iraq was well thought-out must be racists. He alternated between rabidly declaring that he feels "strongly" about "freedom" and biting his lip in dull silence while shaking that magic 8 ball in his head.

Quotables -- Sorry, Occupied

They're not happy they're occupied. I wouldn't be happy if I were occupied, either.
-- George W. Bush on U.S. Occupation of Iraq (April 13, 2004)

Wait....what??

GAYS FOR GEORGE W. UNITE!

Oh, I know. We've heard the arguments of the gay community against President Bush. Yes, yes, I know... he wants to change the founding document of our country so that it will forever deny you a right the courts have long recognized as fundamental to human dignity. But you obviously haven't considered this gem of an argument lifted from a new favoriteof Cavalry Charge:

...gays and lesbians have more rights today in America than they did when George Bush entered office. For example, you can now engage in buggery in from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Hood. You can say that he's not responsible for this quick expansion of rights, but you cannot deny that the gay community is better off today than it was four years ago.

Log Cabin Republicans, rest easy.

W has held 12.

Still, by this point in their respective presidencies, the president's father, George H.W. Bush, had held 75 solo news conferences, Jimmy Carter had held 55, Bill Clinton had convened 40, Richard Nixon had held 25 and Ronald Reagan had conducted 22. - Even Fox News finds this worthy of mention. Maybe our President will give us a little treat tonight and speak some Mexican.

Happy Easter

From the Gallery of Poor Planning emerges this fool.

... but you'd better do what this President says

As we at Two Good Legs have noted before, the House Republicans have made a habit of acting like abused wives of a punchy President Bush. I'm embarassed for them. These guys should stand up for themselves. Indeed, as a commentator in Southern Partisan magazine once said:

"I'll have to tell you, when the President lines up on something, so many of our guys run to the pole, lower the flag and basically do what he thinks. Frankly, we need to be looking at the substance of things to see if there is something there worth fighting for. If there is, then we ought to take the President on."

Amen, buddy. Now, about the rest of the interview...

How I Spent My Vacation

I spent a long weekend this year on spring break. I also have a sweet fishing trip to Alaska planned this summer with my grandpa (ok,that's not really him). Then I've got my sister's wedding in Oregon and one in Iowa, which pretty much eats the rest of my vacation time for the year. The rest of the time, I am expected to be here at my desk.

Today's WaPo:
This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency.

... and he has the nerve to tell us this.

Who Needs the U.N.?*

Robert Fisk, reporting from Iraq, describes the evolving face of the "coalition of the willing":

What does worry people is that Americans are replacing their troops at the Baghdad International Airport with Chilean forces which we know have been trained in the army there at the time of Pinochet. The real problem is we don't know what their rules of engagement are. We don't know where they stand vis-à-vis the war. If they are ambushed, do they fire back? If they kill innocent people are they responsible? Can they be made amenable to the law if they're guilty?

(snip)

The question many Iraqis were asking, is this the new face of the occupation? The Americans disappear, the British disappear, and this army of mercenaries wearing flak jackets and an assortment of weapons with little badges, some South African, some clearly British and some Americans are now supposed to be the security services? And of course we have the Iraqi police and the Civil Defense Corps, which is the Paramilitary Militia. If you go to Sumara, which I did recently, you get stopped at checkpoints by Iraqi paramilitaries wearing black facemasks standing next to U.S. Troops.

(snip)

Some of the security companies are perfectly above-board. We know their names, and they carry their weapons concealed, but they themselves are complaining that they're worried about some of the other mercenaries coming in. They may not have sufficient knowledge, expertise and certainly the way they walk around in the streets, the way they carry their weapons in vehicles suggests they're not professionals.

(snip)

At night the U.S. troops there are protected by ample security men. In other words, mercenaries are now paid to protect American troops. Outside of these mercenary forces are Iraqis who are armed and paid by the Americans. So, what you have is a kind of double sandbag. You have first of all Iraqis with weapons defending the Americans. Then security service men or security company men or mercenaries, if you like, and then after that, the Americans. It seems that the intention is to save American lives. And use the hired men and indeed Iraqis as sandbags.

Truly... Read the whole thing.

* CORRECTION: Thanks to the ever-watchful eye of Cavalry Charge, the original title of this entry ("We don't need the U.N."- President Bush) has been amended. The quote was missing ellipses! Thanks for helping us with our form, fellas!

As for substance... Bush, in the linked article, said that we didn't need the U.N. to act before we invaded Iraq. We don't need UN approval = we don't need UN troops. Instead we use Pinochet's mercenaries?

Portable Mencken

The worst government is the most moral.
One composed of cynics is often very tolerant
and humane. But when fanatics are on top there
is no limit to oppression.
--H.L. Mencken

Four Wishes from Today's News

(1) I wish that this had been both under oath and televised.

(2) I wish that this would stop.

(3) I wish that God had never created anyone who would threaten this.

(4) I wish the government would leave him alone.

Boaring

Which lends further support for my theory that Germans love wild pigs.

Growing Casualties (Cont.)

Howard Zinn argues that the American public should not just look at the sheer number of American fatalities in Iraq, but should also look at the thousands of American casualties and how their lives are affected forever:

George Bush was eager to send young men and women half a world away into the heart of another nation. And even though they had fearsome weapons, they were still vulnerable to guerrilla attacks that have left so many of them blinded and crippled. Is this not the ultimate betrayal of our young by our government?

Their families very often understand this before their sons and daughters do, and remonstrate with them before they go off. Ruth Aitken did so with her son, an Army captain, telling him it was a war for oil, while he insisted he was protecting the country from terrorists. He was killed on April 4, in a battle around Baghdad airport. "He was doing his job," his mother said. "But it makes me mad that this whole war was sold to the American public and to the soldiers as something it wasn't."....

Of course, they and their families are not the only ones betrayed. The Iraqi people, promised freedom from tyranny, saw their country, already devastated by two wars and twelve years of sanctions, attacked by the most powerful military machine in history. The Pentagon proudly announced a campaign of "shock and awe," which left 10,000 or more Iraqi men, women, and children, dead, and many thousands more maimed.

Is Smithers the new Zinn? Probably not yet, he seems more on the fence fearing the day when the cost of the war outweighs its benefit (that is, whatever benefit the govt's propaganda machine is feeding us at that time).

Versatile Solutions for Modern Living -- Hollywood Swords

Now, I've seen everything. A buddy of mine was telling me that he saw the most ridiculous commercial last night while watching the Dave Chappelle Show. He said the commercial was hocking the all-time greatest "swords from movies": that is, actual swords from Conan the Barbarian, Gladiator, the Highlander, Xena the Warrior Princess, The Lord of the Rings, Zorro. They actually had the names for all the swords. Because of the sheer lunacy of the commercial, he wasn't sure if it were legit.

I did some investigating and low and behold he was right. Check it out. It's simply awesome. My favorite is from the Mummy Returns. Can you imagine swinging that bad mofo? There's also a "sword of the day" and an opportunity to buy shields, suits of armor, daggers, and if you have a deadline coming up for your next coup d'etat , they have what they call "battle ready swords." Gittyup!

Finally, if there's any doubt someone would ever buy from Medieval Weaponry, look no further than the "Sword of Maximus," which is sold out.

I'm sure the practical applications of a "movie sword" are endless: trimming the hedges, dicing tomatoes, shaving the cat, for those hard to reach places, for barbeques, bar mitzvahs, high school graduations, circumcisions...oh, the possibilities.

All Smithers's work may pay off.

Certain individual activities may ward off cancer.

(Link courtesy of Drudgeretort)

Sorry SM, I couldn't resist.

Sorry we killed ya back in 1844!

The Jurist reports that the House Representives for the State of Illinois passed a bill today apologizing for persecuting members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints and allowing the murder of their leader Joseph Smith in 1844.

For those who were asleep in History class, the Mormons moved to Nauvoo, IL, from New York by way of Ohio after they were driven from both states. They then settled in Nauvoo establishing, according to the bill, the tenth largest city in the US. Tensions grew from economic downturn, a perception among other citizens of the state that Smith's Nauvoo was a repressive autocracy, and general bigotry toward the Morman way. When Smith shutdown the local paper, the governor sent in the militia and jailed Joseph and Hiram Smith in a neighboring town. A couple days later, an angery mob murdered both Smiths in their jail cell. The violence escalated resulting in the Mormon's exodus to Utah, led by their new leader Brigham Young (a direct ancestor of QB Steve Young).

It's odd that after all these years Illinois has finally publicly apologized for the past. I can only imagine how it made it's way to the House floor for a vote.

State Rep. 1: Uh, Vern, you knows those Mormons who we pissed off back in 1844?

State Rep. 2: Which Mormons, Jessie?

State Rep. 1: You know the ones that we sicced the militia on, burning their crops, ravaging their homes, assassinating their leader?

State Rep. 2: Ohh, those Mormons. Yeah, so what?

State Rep. 1: Well, they're outside the capitol with pitchforks and baseball bats, and are mighty onery......

State Rep. 2: Hurry, Jes, get that college kid to draft us a bill. They must've heard that we finally got a Dem. as "govna" who won't send in the troops......

With bills like these, I guess the legislature of Illinois has finally solved its budget crisis. It must've been those $1,000 speeding tickets the governor introduced. Well done. (Another Link.)

Psst... it means he's "compassionate"

Don't miss Pictures of George Bush with Black People.

Kamikaze (cont.)

Cavalry Charge attempts to answer our rhetorical question with a motivational speech. Fellas, I'm with you. I stand behind our troops. I pray that the Iraqi people are able to make democracy work. We are united in our resolve to win this war, and now that we're there we should commit serious resources to winning.

However, I disagree with their telling assertion that it is never appropriate to "'reconsider' the cost" to our country. Such a claim defies logic. The justification that was fed to the American people for this war was that it would save American lives. And yet Cavalry Charge now argues that we should sacrifice an infinite number of American lives for this cause? The only way this argument makes any sense is if we differentiate between which American lives are being saved and which are being lost. What the upper-class attorneys who write Cavalry Charge are arguing is that they agree with the sacrifice of an infinite number of young typically lower class American soldiers in order to conduct this experiment in Middle Eastern democracy. I find this appalling.

Cavalry Charge then counters with the question: "What are the costs associated with withdrawal and surrender?" Of course, I have not advocated either. If we lost thousands more of our young men in Iraq, however, and a functioning democratic government seemed nowhere on the horizon in Iraq, I very well might advocate withdrawal. T'OD claims that the cost would be "emboldened terrorists." Emboldened terrorists! Not like the sheepish ones who blew up trains in Madrid. Really, the cost would depend upon the situation in Iraq at the time we withdrew, should it come, and on the international community's willingness to become involved. Let's hope it never comes to that.

Evolving Quagmire

Calvary Charge, with its brazen "Appeasement is not the answer" attitude and stay-until-it's-over approach, overlooks the simple fact that the escalation of violence is due directly to the US's prolonged occupation. Just look at the Shiites, who originally supported deposing Saddam but now are among the staunchest opposing occupation. Yesterday's deaths alone are evidence of that. It's a classic Catch 22 for US forces: stay longer and risk further escalation and bloodshed, leave now and watch the place go up like a powder keg, as factions fight to the nub for power. The best bet now is an overwhelming police force made up of blue helmets. Such a call to the UN, however, would only sound a resounding defeat for the US.

A Safe House

It's a tough job keeping a safe house. There was a rabid dog out there in our backyard that bit us hard in 2001, so we rightfully picked up our biggest stick and took to disposing of the dangerous beast. Halfway through the job, though, we figured we might as well get rid of that hornet's nest in the front yard. It has always bothered us a little bit, especially when the neighbor got stung back in 90. Now, we're in the front yard whacking the hornet's nest while the dog in the backyard nurses its wounds. Or is that the dog now biting our leg again? Hard to tell with all these hornets stinging us. Feel safer yet?

Kamikaze Charge?

Cavalry Charge replies to the "Horror in Iraq" entry below by characterizing it as taking a stance of "appeasement."

We are in Iraq for the noble purpose of freeing millions of people from dictatorship, as well as to make America more safe and secure. Leaving before we finish the job does not serve either purpose.

My blog took no issue with the nobility of the purpose of fighting for democracy in Iraq. The question is: what cost is acceptable? If tomorrow, Iraq somehow rose up and killed every soldier we have in the country, should we simply gather up another 130,000 young men and ship them off to try to create a Middle Eastern democracy? We have to consider the human cost of this experiment. When ideological hard-line hawks act as if this is not an issue, as if no number of American dead could possibly tip the scales, as if there are no scales to be tipped, they start to sound like Muslim extremists sending young suicide bombers off to die for their cause.

Note that I do not think it is time to pull out of Iraq. The point of the post below was to ask a rhetorical hard question... how many American lives are we willing to trade for a Middle Eastern democracy? Cavalry Charge appears to argue that the answer is this.

Holy sch-nikes!

Jackie Chan is 50 today.

Quotables -- This Guy Needs to Speak More Often

Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican.
--George W. Bush (declining to answer questions, from Bushisms)

Let the leash loose, Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rove. The American public deserves his wisdom.

Musing -- Dog Rules

If there's one certainty in the nation's capital, besides bad drivers and tasteless food, it is that there are loads of dogs. Dogs are everywhere. Poop's everywhere. There are dog parks, dog markets, dog boutiques, doggy daycare, and a pub down the street once was named the "Foggy Dogg."

I don't know what it is about D.C. that requires a dog. Maybe it's the crime, but that doesn't make sense because the dogs I always see are named Precious and are toted in purses and brought in nice stores. Not exactly the Cujo type.

Well, I don't have a dog. Maybe I want one, maybe I don't. But from what I've observed, there seem to be certain unwritten rules a man must follow if he ever were to consider owning one.

The type of dog a man owns matters much on how old he is? On one hand, once you get past the college years and enter the twenty-somethings, a guy wants the manly dog. That is, the basset hound or the Labrador retriever. You know, the ones you can wrestle around with in the living room and hope they never decide to bite a pound of flesh out of your arm.

At this age, a man does not want the toy dog. It would clash with his image: rugged SUV, tough dog.

Women, on the other hand, the ones desperately searching for a relationship, also want the manly dog to attract the manly owner (and sometimes for protection). Their image: athletic girl, fun dog. If, however, they aren’t searching for the relationship and have accepted their fate of possibly living their days as a spinster, then they just want a cat. The further they resign themselves, the more cats. Lonely women and cats.

But when the guy gets older, now walking with a slight limp and wearing horrible plad, he then wants the toy dog. You see them everywhere. Old men and toy dogs. Old men and cockerspaniels, chitzues, jack russels, you name it.

Old women, on the other hand, just want more cats.

Gtown's Mum on Coaching Search

Some mixed messages on Georgetown's search for a new head basketball coach. The New York Daily news writes:

Names on Georgetown wish list, according to our guy Clark Francis of Hoop Scoop, include John Thompson III of Princeton, Fran Dunphy of Penn, Billy Taylor of Lehigh, Mike Brey of Notre Dame and Tommy Amaker of Michigan. Apparently, Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins will stay put and appears to be strongest candidate for that job when Mike Krzyzewski steps down five years from now.

Hoyasaxa.com warns:

The search is mentioned in this link to the New York Daily News, though columnist Dick Weiss actually cites "Hoop Scoop", a Louisville-based recruiting web site, for a "Georgetown wish list". Caveat emptor.

The Georgetown search committee numbers only two and neither is talking to recruiting sites. No interviews have been announced to date and no schools have announced permission for Georgetown to interview candidates from their schools.

I wouldn't be surprised if Georgetown takes its time. Before administers fiddle with any short list, the school has to do some serious soul searching on what kind of program it wants to be when it grows up. Right now the the once-storied program is in shambles. Although (like the economy) the decline occured late in the last administration, Coach Escherick drove that program into the ground with his rudderless leadership and undisciplined street ball. I don't know how many games in the last two years where the Hoyas had a commanding lead and then blew it in the homestretch, with missed free throws and turnovers.

Any decent candidate should have serious reservations before accepting the job. Reservation Numero Uno: when will the team move out of the cavernous, always- empty, never-friendly MCI Center and into a newly minted on-campus facility? It's not that the student body lacks an interest. It's more that the team plays at a virtually neutral site on the other side of town. The team, its fans deserve better.

Many of the names listed above I've heard before, except for Brey who entertained several offers last year but opted to stay in South Bend. I've also heard Mike Jarvis's name uttered. But good money is on an inexperienced assistant such as Dawkins and the like. John Thompson III is an intriguing candidate, but would the expectations be too high? It would be similar to Joey Meyer succeeding his father Ray at DePaul in the '80s. The alumni practically ran little Joey out of town with pitchforks and haymakers.

Georgetown also has the option of "officially" abandoning the program altogether and concentrating on academics. The basketball team can downgrade to a lesser division similar to its other programs. It worked for the University of Chicago, which was a perenniel Big Ten champ (first Heisman winner from there) in football until one year it just jumped ship, landing in the netherworld of Division III.

However, somthing tells me Georgetown got used to its golden years and wants to be back on top. Assuming this is the case, Georgetown's best bet is to combine what the U of C did with the golden years. With it's academic reputation already stellar, why not try to emulate Duke, Stanford, and even Northwestern, emphasizing the "student" in student-athlete and becoming the gold standard in academics and athletics for the Big East. What team better to hold the spot?

The problem is now they just have to find the right coach, upstanding players, and a multimillion dollar gym.

Horror in Iraq

A dozen marines killed today. Are they a part of the 130 U.S. troops killed today, or is Sky News off the mark with its numbers? Either way, a tragic day for our country.

I understand that it is necessary to show resolve. In the words of Scott McClellan, "we will not be intimidated." But... by that rationale, should we have kept our troops in Vietnam indefinitely? I realize that comparing any war to Vietnam is a little tired, and I even think that Ted Kennedy jumped the gun a bit by calling this "George W. Bush's Vietnam", but I suppose the question lingering in my head is: how many of these fine young men will we send to their deaths? It appears quite likely that many more of our heroic American troops will die in Iraq.

I think it is necessary to balance the killing of our proud young soldiers against the greater goal of this occupation. What is that goal? Well, it used to be protecting us from Saddam's WMDs... that's what got us there. Now, it is freeing a foreign people from a despotic government, and relying on a sort of reverse domino theory to then spread democracy throughout the Middle East. This is a noble goal. I have to confess, though, that I have no idea how likely it is.

So, we have the scales set. On one side, the loss of our young patriots. On the other, a possible democracy in Iraq, possibly leading to more Arab democracies. How many of our dead countrymen will it take to tip the scales? I genuinely do not know, but I do think that there will be... and that there should be... a tipping point.