Remember all of those bumper stickers demanding that we never forget that 2,998 3,017 people died? I'm thinking about making some that say "3-19-03 NEVER FORGET". Wonder how many people would even know what it meant?

Let's take a look back: (viked from DailyKos)

"Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof---the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."
-George W. Bush, 10/7/02

"We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators."
-Dick Cheney, 3/16/03

"There's a certain amount of pop psychology in America that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular."
-Bill Kristol, 4/1/03

"It's amazing that more than two weeks into the liberation of Iraq---as residents in Basra are cheering British forces and Americans occupy Baghdad's airport and Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace---the antiwar crowd is still spinning a doomsday scenario. But it's getting harder and harder to take seriously the claim that freeing Iraq will make it harder to win the war on terrorism. Indeed, there's plenty of evidence to the contrary. [...] Who said war never solved anything?"
-Brendan Miniter, The Wall Street Journal, 4/8/03

"The only people who think this wasn't a victory are Upper Westside liberals."
-Charles Krauthammer, 4/19/03

Ted Koppel: [Y]ou’re not suggesting that the rebuilding of Iraq is going to be done for $1.7 billion?
Andrew Natsios [Agency for International Development]: Well, in terms of the American taxpayer's contribution, I do. This is it for the U.S.
-4/23/03

[Liberals] can't deny that President Bush has won his two wars, and won them resoundingly.
-Paul Mirengoff, Powerline, 4/26/03

"The three-week swing through Iraq has utterly shattered skeptics' complaints."
-Tony Snow, Fox News, 4/27/03

-pb

One of my co-workers belongs to a Friends Meeting that is bringing an Iraqi refugee family over to resettle in the Doylestown area. They'll be arriving March 11th. They're a Sunni couple from Baghdad with three children, ages 10, 8 and 3. The Meeting has gathered all of the clothing and furniture they'll need (which is considerable, as the family will be arriving with basically the clothing they're wearing). However, housing in the Doylestown area isn't cheap (as my cursory house-hunting has amply demonstrated), and they'll only have support of the parent organization for about three months. Any money they can raise to provide for longer than that will extend the amount of time that this family will have to gain a measure of stability.

If anyone out there in flist land wants help out, I'll match all contributions up to $100. Leave me a comment or drop me an email.

-pb

More details of our mercenary army fucking up in Iraq

Blackwater, ahh, the very name raises my bile. From shooting civilians for fun and profit to quietly firing murderers and shipping them home so they'll face no charges, Blackwater is a stain the already tattered honor of this nation... and pretty much all of humanity.

But now, there's word that they dropped CS gas on a crowded intersection to clear traffic. And, they caught U.S. troops in the fallout, directly endangering their lives and curtailing any effectiveness they may have had in patrolling the intersection.

Of course, it was an honest mistake:

“Blackwater teams in the air and on the ground were preparing a secure route near a checkpoint to provide passage for a motorcade,” Ms. Tyrrell said in an e-mail message. “It seems a CS gas canister was mistaken for a smoke canister and released near an intersection and checkpoint.”

CS gas is forbidden for use in a war zone by international law. What the fuck was it doing on a helicopter where it could be mistakenly dropped on a crowd of civilians? What else do they have in there? Mustard gas? Sarin? Didn't we invade Iraq on the flimsiest of suspicions that they were developing this shit?

Of course, even if it was a mistake, and they were just going to drop smoke canisters, what the fuck us up with that?! There's U.S. troops in the area, it's a checkpoint, it's 2005 and everything from cars to women to goats are detonating themselves in a concentrated orgy of violence that may as well be set to some sort of opera music for dramatic effect. So, let's drop smoke canisters so those troops won't be able to see the suicide bomber until he's stealing their lunch for a quick bite before he explodes. Wonderful. We're basically paying a mercenary army to kill our own soldiers.

-pb

I'm on a message board discussing Stewart and Colbert going back on the air, and wow, out come the nutcases. Well, at some point, Bill Clinton came up (like he is wont to do when nutcases abound), and here's a little exchange I think you'll all get a kick out of:

hitlery clinton wrote:
ALL OF THOSE DEMOCRATS LIED WELL BEFORE THEY PUSHED BUSH INTO INVADING IRAQ

To which I replied:

Oh yeah, they pushed him kicking and screaming into invading Iraq.

Remember when Steny Hoyer and Frank Lautenbeg went over to the White House, strapped Bush to his own desk, and took turns punching him the the face and wailing on him with a belt while screaming "CALL THE PENTAGON! ORDER THE INVASION!"? Bush was sobbing and just kept saying "no, no, there's no evidence! Don't make me do it! THINK OF THE POOR IRAQIS!" But they wouldn't stop. They just kept hitting him.

And then Pelosi got on national television and was kicking Cheney in the stones and shrieking about how he was such a pussy for not wanting to invade one little country and that he should just man up. Poor Cheney almost had a heart attack right there, but he stayed strong. "We're not going in!" he declared in that voice that says "I've just been kicked in the stones with a five-inch stiletto heel."

They toughed it out, right up until Barney Frank shot Mary Cheney with the Gay-gun. Dick Cheney just collapsed and was blubbering and moaning "my poor daughter!" as she groped and fondled another woman in unholy lez-lust that no Cheney daughter would naturally come by.

Frank aimed that gun at the Bush Twins, and George, through bloody teeth, finally sighed and picked up the phone.

And that's how the Democrats pushed Bush into invading Iraq. True story. Happened right after that unicorn farted a rainbow on Tom Delay and made him do all those bad things.

-pb

March 17, 2003: "Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing." - George W. Bush, in a televised address to the world.

February 12, 2003: "The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he's indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if he's allowed to take $1 billion" - George W. Bush, speaking privately to lapdog (now former) Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of Spain.

Saddam was indicating that he would leave for $1 billion. Bush decided that instead of Saddam in exile and the possibility for a peaceful transfer of power, he'd take door #2:

$600+ billion, 4,000+ dead U.S. service men and women, 1 million+ dead Iraqis, 4 million Iraqi refugees, and Saddam hanging from a rope.

Lies, murder and treason. The Bush legacy.

-pb

So, why exactly do we have the military in Iraq? I mean, come on, we've got mercenaries blowing up people while defending our people over there, can't we just have mercenaries blow up the rest of the country?

It blew my mind when I found out that Blackwater USA has helicopter gunships. Why do we have a PRIVATE MILITARY operating in Iraq?

So, Blackwater mercs shoot up 20 civilians. Apparently, from reports by Iraqis, Blackwater convoys regularly shoot up anything in their way. One Iraqi traffic cop described "frantically" trying to clear traffic ahead of a convoy, knowing that getting people off the street was the only way to keep them from being gunned down or run down.

So, apparently, 20 civilians at once is the Iraqi government's threshold for tolerance. They decided to kick Blackwater USA out of the country. But, in consultation with the Iraqi governmnent, Blackwater is back in Baghdad.

And, what's more, Blackwater employees are suspected of smuggling weapons into Iraq and selling them to insurgents.

So, no wonder they shoot at anything that moves. They sold weapons to anything that moves, so they logically have to expect that anything that moves is out to kill them. Sounds like a perfect place for a bunch of guys who want to cap them some aye-rabs.

-pb

So, it's official: Republicans don't support our troops (but you knew that). Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), who used to be a Republican and Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, proposed an amendment to a defense spending bill that would require equal time at home to time spent deployed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged against it, Bush threatened to veto it, and Republicans in the Senate managed to keep it under the 60-vote threshold.

Remeber when not supporting the troops was akin to heresy? Ahh, those were the good old days.

-pb

THE WAR PARTY - Ted Rall

Ted Rall tells it like it is, which is, incidentally, something I've been very annoyed about. Democrats are whining about how they can't stop the war because Republicans won't help them override Bush's expected veto. The truth is, if they didn't give Bush a defense budget to veto, they wouldn't have to override it. They'd just have to sit back, wait for the Pentagon to run out of war funding, and then bring the troops home on their own. Republicans like to spin it that Democrats attempting that would be leaving troops sitting in the field with no bullets, but all they're really doing is giving the Dems political cover. "We CAAAAAAAN'T end the war because Republicans won't let us! We have to fund the troops, timetable or not!" Bullshit. What Dems really want is to drag this fucker out until 2008, so they can batter the Republicans with the idea that we're still in Iraq because they wouldn't help bring the troops home.

Newflash: Democrats are extending the war be not cutting off the funding. They're in control. All Harry Reid has to do is say "Nope, we don't have time to work on your defense spending bill."

And, as Rall points out, the media is perpetuating the lie that their hands are tied.

-pb

I've got four things I consider "dealbreakers" when it comes to voting for a candidate:

• Candidate does not support reproductive choice
• Candidate does not support LGTB rights
• Candidate is in favor of capital punishment
• Candidate does not support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and/or supports indefinite deployment of even a token U.S. force in Iraq

I have other dealbreakers, like environmental concerns and so on and so forth, but since these four uniformly eliminate any Republican candidate, but might also eliminate a Democratic candidate, we'll focus on them.

Now, it's become apparent that with the exception of Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel, none of the Democratic candidates currently in the race are free of all of those dealbreakers. Dealbreakers aside, Gravel has some crazy ideas that I'm not down with (like the FairTax initiative, which is anything but), but I agree in principle with 99% of Kucinich's platform. The problem is, he's such an outside candidate that it's not even worth discussing him. I voted for him once, but I'd like to not have to do that again. Also, he's been getting on my nerves with his "Any media, any time, at any moral cost" stance, to the point of being the only Dem candidate to actually call FOX News a legitimate news organization (especially in the face of Edwards calling them on their increasing disconnection from reality).

So, I'm left with ranking the actual viable candidates against my dealbreaker list. And this is what I've come up with:

John Edwards - 100% NARAL voting record, opposes ban on late-term abortion. "Uncomfortable" around gays but supports civil unions. Supports death penalty. Favors a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, but would keep some forces there indefinitely. (0 for reproductive rights, .5 for civil unions, 1 for death penalty, 1 for Iraq)

Dealbreakers: 2.5/4.

Barack Obama - Opposes ban on late-term abortion, supports prevention education, is against Constructionist interpretation of the Constitution. In favor of civil unions that are "just like marriage". Fought against death penalty in legislation but is on record defending it in some cases. Favors a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, but would keep some forces there indefinitely.

Dealbreakers: 2/4 (0 for reproductive rights, .5 for civil unions, .5 for wishy-washing on death penalty, 1 for Iraq)

Hillary Clinton - 100% NARAL voting record and supports education and prevention, but has engendered some pro-life sentiments depending on her audience. Uncertain on death penalty except to mandate DNA testing, so not obviously against. Supports civil unions, but not marriage. Supports blowing up more shit in Iraq.

Deal breakers: 3/4 (.5 for anti-choice chatter, .5 for civil unions, 1 for death penalty, 1 for Iraq)

Joe Biden - 34% NARAL voting record. In favor of civil unions, voted against same-sex marriage but calls it "inevitable". No real position on death penalty. Favors a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, but would keep some forces there indefinitely.

Dealbreakers: 3/4 (1 for reproductive rights, .5 for civil unions, .5 for no position on death penalty, 1 for Iraq)

Chris Dodd - 100% NARAL voting record, opposes ban on late-term abortion. Supports civil unions but voted against same-sex marriage. Called for a moratorium on capital punishment. Favors a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, but would keep some forces there indefinitely.

Dealbreakers: 1.5/4 (0 for reproductive rights, .5 for civil unions, 0 for death penalty, 1 for Iraq)

Bill Richardson - Supports Roe v. Wade. Supports civil unions with full marriage benefits, would call it marriage if possible, aims for "achievable". Supports death penalty. Favors 6-month withdrawal from Iraq with no remaining troops.

Dealbreakers: 1/4 (0 for reproductive rights, 0 for civil unions as a first step, 1 for death penalty, 0 for Iraq)

And just for shits and giggles:

Al Gore - Supports Roe v. Wade, opposes ban on late-term abortion. Supports civil unions but against same-sex marriage. Supports death penalty in certain cases. No official stance on an exit from Iraq, but strongly opposed to involvement there.

Dealbreakers 1.5/4 (0 for reproductive rights, .5 for civil unions, 1 on death penalty, provisional 0 for Iraq)

So, that's what I'm left with. Up until this soul-search evaluation, my favorite candidate in the race was Edwards, but he's hitting over 50% of my dealbreakers. Next would probably have been Obama, hit he's right at 50%. Even my ideal candidate is has 1½ of them.

I want a voice in the primary, a voice other than "none of the above". I want to point to one of these people and say "that one..." Ideally, I'd like to end that with "is the best choice," but right now, I'm going to have to settle on "is the least objectionable." And barring a complete policy shift (which I wouldn't likely trust anyway), that one is Bill Richardson. Aside from his downsides, he's got a number of upsides, too. He's the only Dem candidate with a detailed environmental plan. That detailed plan is also far better than Clinton or Edwards "wish list". Richardson's been to Darfur and has been trying to do what he can to bring an end to the genocide there (a big step for a governor who doesn't have the federal government behind him). He's been to North Korea. He's got actual foreign policy experience. He supports a federal minimum wage for teachers of $40,000, and wants to scrap "Every No Child Left Behind." At the federal level, he's been responsible for the return of Native American land rights and has served as an advocate for them in both the House and at the Cabinet level. He made New Mexico the first state to offer $400,000 in life insurance coverage for active duty National Guardsmen. He's a supporter of regional rail and private space program development. He signed medical marijuana legislation while running for President despite calls that it might hurt him, because it was "the right thing to do". He's a supporter of gun rights. He cut taxes. (Hear that? He's a pro-gun, tax-cutting Democrat.) At the moment I'm writing this, I'm actually more excited for Richardson than Al Gore.

I still want Gore to get into the race, but if that's the case, I want Richardson as VP. Gore was a very hands-on VP, and with someone as well in line with his beliefs as Richardson, I think they'd make a very dynamic team that would get a lot done. But, until Gore gets into the race, I think I've found my horse.

-pb

"You think you're the only one doin' time, Derek? You think you're here all alone? You think I'm not in here with you?"

- Doris Vinyard (Beverly D'Angelo), American History X

We watched The Last King of Scotland yesterday. Great film. Forest Whitaker deserved every ounce of that Oscar, because his portrayal of Idi Amin scared the shit out of me. Nightmare on Elm Street? Aliens? Not even close. The Last King of Scotland is a horror film. The entire movie, I'm on edge because you never know when Whitaker's Amin is going to go from smiling to butcher. Knowing Amin's story kind of helped, but seriously, every scene in that movie (even the very early scenes), I was simply waiting for his visage to shift from a smile to that look that says "someone - maybe that five-year-old - is about to eat a bullet". Without a single shock segueway, The Last King of Scotland managed to keep me jumping the entire time.

But this post isn't about scary movies.

In the same way that Forest Whitaker scared me, fear is often a reaction to an unknown but possibly imminent "really bad thing". It doesn't even have to be something that's about to happen to you, just that it's going to happen, and it's going to affect you.

I didn't really understand that fear, but I've been introduced to it. Now, I don't like fear. I don't like the very concept. Fear is, as I see it, getting all worked up about futures that haven't happened yet and possibly might never happen. Just as I don't live with regret, I try to live without fear. I can't change the past, and there's no sense in fretting over a shadowy "what if". But as opposed to regret, which I diffuse with a simple assessment of my life and knowledge that changing even a single foul-up in my past would have put me somewhere else, I can't so easily dismiss my fears.

I quoted Beverly D'Angelo from American History X from the scene where she's talking to Ed Norton through the prison glass, explaining to him that people that love him are bearing the reality of his imprisonment, in effect, living in a prison of their own. I never really got that line until a few months ago, when my sister-in-law told us that she's shipping out for Iraq in September.

Now, I understand. She's not even gone yet, and I'm already there. I'm already afraid. Every day, it passes my mind that some day I might come home to see two officers standing on my porch. That thought isn't some shadowy "what if", in my mind. That day is tomorrow. They might be waiting for me right now. And that scares the shit out of me.

I just want you to understand the fact that when someone goes off to war, the people who care about them go with them. I might have a nice drive up the Turnpike every day, but once she's in Iraq, I'm going to be thinking less about the roads that I'm driving on and more about the one's that she's driving on. I'm going to be there as much as I'm here. I just want you to understand that we're not just sending 140,000 troops to Iraq, we're sending their families.

Understand?

So, imagine that fear, and now amplify it to a point you can't even comprehend.

Army Spec. Alex Jimenez is in the same division as my sister-in-law. He's one of the three soldiers captured in a raid that left four other soldiers and their translator dead. The body of one of the captured soldiers has since been recovered. Jimenez and the other soldier are still missing. They've been MIA for five weeks. I can't even begin to imagine the daily hell that Spec. Jimenez's wife, Yaderlin Hiraldo, has been going through every day. She knows now what it's like to have those two officers waiting for her, but she's left with the horror of not knowing. She can't begin to mourn yet, because they don't know if he's dead or alive. She can't allow herself the luxury of believing everything's ok, because it's not.

So, Yaderlin Hiraldo has a lot to think about right now. But, as if that wasn't enough, the INS is planning to deport her.

You see, she and Spec. Jimenez met in her native Dominican Republic. She later came to America to be with him in 2001 and married Jimenez in 2004. She's not here legally, but they'd been trying to get her legal status to remain.

An immigration judge has been sympathetic, putting the case on hold since Alex Jimenez was reported missing. But her case is in limbo, and her future in this country uncertain.

The worst part about this is, if she's deported and Spec Jimenez doesn't make it home, she'll never be allowed to enter the country legally to even visit his grave.

Here's two out-of-control trains this country has set in motion violently colliding. One, the disastrous war of aggression in Iraq, and the other, our inhumane immigration policy. Our government is putting our soldiers and their families through hell, and given the chance, they'll do what they can to compound it.

Of course, this government is run by a bunch of people that have never been afraid. Not the way that I'm afraid. Not the way that Yaderlin Hiraldo is afraid. And that scares me even more.

-pb

Dean to Dems: Get your shit in order

"The American people hired Democrats last November to ensure that we end this war," Dean said during the weekly Democratic radio address. "So let me be clear, we know that if we don't keep our promise, we may find ourselves the minority again."

Yeah, ya think?

-pb

So, here's the rant you've probably all been waiting for:

Fuck you, Democrats. Seriously, fuck you. If it weren't for the fact that Pennsylvania doesn't haven an open primary, I'd tear up my registration card into 280 pieces and send one to each Democrat in the House and Senate. They might be trying to convince us that either of the two major bills right now are coated in lube as they shove them up our ass, but no, they're red-fucking hot.

Back in November, America rose up and said "fix this shit". Dems took over at the end of January, and all they've accomplished so far is loosing a game of political chicken with a lame duck moron with approval numbers in the toilet. How fucking dumb do you have to be? They lost a chess match to a blind guy playing on a different board. Great job, assholes. Great fucking job. And you wonder why this annointed Congress has approval numbers just a few points higher than President Fucktard?

Since taking over, Dems have:

• Caved to Bush's demand for unlimited war.


• Blubbered along while Alberto Gonzalez is revealed to be a corpse-fucking vampire who can't tie his shoes without kicking a puppy.


• Claimed that their steaming pile of dogshit immigration legislation was a "great comprimise" and we should all go gaga over it.


• Failed to provide even the illusion of leadership.


• In trying, made themselves look worse and then didn't bother to call anyone on it (Pelosi in Syria)


• Played to the tune of the most corrupt administration since (at least) Nixon's Crooks'r'Us

Way to win, Dems. Way to parley that great victory in '06 into... jack fucking shit. You'll be lucky to hold those seats in '08, and you'll be lucky if this fiasco doesn't drag the eventual nominee down with it.

I'm back to Edwards as my guy. Not only is he the one that I agree with the most (I'm starting to find Kucinich's desire for media at any cost to be a bit desperate), he's one of the few Dems not tainted by this by being in Congress at the moment. Yes, he voted for the war, but he's taken his licks for that. Obama can scream all he wants about not voting for the war, but at the end of the day, he's already said he'll vote for a bill with no timetables because Bush vetoed the first one. That's not leadership. That's not standing up for morals, no matter how unpopular. Fuck that. And Hillary? Not a fucking chance.

So yeah, fuck you, Dems. If you give me someone else besides John Edwards to vote for in the general, I have another candidate already lined up. (Seriously, Thom, it's Edwards or Truelove).

-pb

So, Bush doesn't support the troops. He cut off funding. He hates America. He's giving aid and comfort to the enemy by not providing proper funding for our forces and weakening our position in the world.

Not much else to say besides "ITMFA".

-pb

Majority rules!

And I urge the Senate to act promptly on this important nomination [of Samuel "Cavity Searches for your 10-Year Old Daughter" Alito] so that an up or down vote is held before the end of this year.

George W. Bush, October 31, 2005

Well, only if it's a Republican majority...

[T]oday, a narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law.

Georget W. Bush, March 23, 2007

Remember when he was all about simple majorities? Remember when he though it was soooo horrible to think that his nominees might need 60% of the Senate for approval, instead of his beloved mob rule 50%? We're talking about asking 2/3rds of the Senate (not 1/2) to confirm a guy who could spend the next 40 years affecting our nation, and he thinks that's too much to ask. But, BUT! Tell him that over 50% of the House said "Out of Iraq by August 2008", and what's his response?

"Make it 75% and we've got a deal".

-pb

There was an interesting incident at the vigil this evening. A man walked up the opposite side of the street. As he passed us, he began shouting about how he has a brother in Iraq and how we're all horrible people for protesting the war.

After a few minutes, we started fanning out the the four corners of the intersection. A few minutes after that, the man came back. He walked right up to one of our group, squawking the whole time. He then slapped the candle out of the protester's hand. The protestor, in curious fashion, turned and pushed the guy, almost into the center of the intersection. The man then stalked off. I was taken by the irony of a peace protestor striking someone at a demonstration.

About twenty minutes later, the guy comes back. We're all ready for him to start shouting or whatnot, but he stalks right up to the man he'd tussled with earlier. He puts his hand out, shakes the man's hand, and apologizes. He stayed there for a few minutes and talked to the group on that corner. They hugged it out, and the guy went on his way.

It's one of those moments that reaffirms my faith in humanity, what little of it I have.

-pb

Four years have passed since America launched an unprovoked and illegal act of aggression against a mostly defenseless country. It's cost us over 3,000 men and women, and it's cost Iraq nearly a million with an additional two million displaced.

We'll be at Bridge and Main in Phoenixville at 6:30 for a vigil, if anyone's interested.

-pb

I think I'm getting scandal fatigue.

Fuck that, I have scandal fatigue.

Let's recap 1992-2000, shall we? Feel free to point out things I miss.

Whitewater
Waco
Ruby Ridge
Monica Lewinsky

That's the four major cock-ups of the Clinton years. What was the end result? An impeachment proceeding.

Now, 2000-2007:

Katherine Harris
9/11
Afghanistan
Iraq
More time spent cutting brush than presidenting
Ken Blackwell
Warrantless Wiretapping
Katrina
Secret prisons
Abu Ghraib
Military tribunals
Harriet Miers
Jeff Gannon
Cheney's Got a Gun
Scooter Libby
FBI Patriot Act abuses
Prosecutor dismissals

And that's just the shit I can name off the top of my head. Two stolen elections, two wars, countless violations of the Constitution.

End result? One convicted staffer and a president who thinks that a 30% approval rating is a mandate to ignore the other two branches of government.

I keep thinking "maybe this is the scandal that brings it all down", but I know that it's not. The man was caught lying about a justification for a war that has cost over 3,000 American lives and just south of a million Iraqi lives and over two million refugees. The greatest security breach in American history happened on his watch because he didn't feel like reading a memo, and then any lessons that could have been learned from that were promptly forgotten, leading to the destruction of an entire city.

So no, the scandal du jour is not going to be the one that brings it all down. The only thing that we (hopefully) have to look forward to is January 20, 2009. That is, assuming, that 50.1% of the ballots counted aren't in favor of someone equally as repugnant.

-pb

two monkeys fucking a football
Pronunciation: \ˈtü ˈməŋ-kēz ˈfə-kiŋ ˈā ˈfut-ˌbol\
Function: adjective
Date: March 8, 2007

1: The Democratic and Republican Parties trying to figure out something, anything concerning Iraq.

With over 30% of the electorate begging and pleading Democrats to pull out of Iraq, and the rest of the margin of vicotry at least asking for a new direction, Democrats have pretty much decided that Dubya is more powerful than both branches of Congress, while the Republicans have pretty much said "we can't be held accountable for this war if it never ends! Ha ha!

Good job.

-pb

"Them's fightin' words whar I comes from!"

"Then why don't you fight?"

"'Cuz I aren't WHAR I comes from!"

That's pretty much was Australian Prime Minister John Howard was saying when he called a Barack Obama victory “catastrophic for the West” and stated that Al-Qaeda is rooting for Obama.

Obama wasted no time in firing back: “So if he is ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq”. Just for comparison, Australia has 1400 troops in Iraq. Howard thought it would be bad to pull troops out, stating “Let me make it perfectly clear, if I hear a policy being advocated that is contrary to Australia’s security interests, I will criticize it.”

Uh, yeah. Let me guess, you think that one Australian is worth 10 Americans? Lunatic. Put up or shut up.

-pb

Unfortunately, Russ Feingold has already accepted that a liberal, twice-divorced Jewish man is not the kind of candidate that's going to win a national election. Otherwise, I'd quit my job and join his campaign.

FEINGOLD TO CHAIR JUDICIARY HEARING ON CONGRESS’S POWER TO END A WAR

This is what winning the majority means. Russ Feingold is now able to actually do the things that the people from Wisconson elected him to do.

By the way, our own Bobby Casey voted with the majority against the Dodd bill that would have actually required Bush to give some accounting to his "throw more troops at Iraq and see if they stick" plan. Surprised?

-pb

With a title like that, do you really need a post?

President O'Reilly will fucking shoot you

Bill O'Reilly sums up the entire Iraq excursion by saying that it was a four-year joyride, and now we should hand the keys back. Saddam Hussein, motherfucker knew how to lock shit down! Bill says he'd play it just like Saddam:

"Curfew in Ramadi, seven o’clock at night. You're on the street? You’re dead. I shoot you right between the eyes. Ok? That’s how I run that country. Just like Saddam ran it."

So, what you're saying, Billy, is that the only real solution for Iraq is to put Saddam back in power? Well, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to oblige you. Just open that cell and let him loose. I guess this begs the question: What was the point?

I'm a bit disturbed by not surprised by "I shoot you right between the eyes."

-pb

"How many Iraqi citizens have died in this war? I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis"

~George W. Bush, admitting in a speech in Philadelphia on the 12th that we're still engaging in violence against Iraqis

At last! Some transparency from this administration! (please note the puddles of dripping sarcasm)

-pb

The Iraqi Constitution Refferendum passed. Get ready for the car with the megaphone on its roof to cruise slowly through your neighborhood blasting the following messages:

STAY THE COURSE
DEMOCRACY IS ON THE MARCH
WE'RE SPREADING FREEDOM
WAR IS PEACE
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

This will be in an attempt to make you think that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby were stars of some children's show, and nothing is wrong. Yeah, well, good luck with that. What they're not really getting too worked up over is that the Iraqi referrendum passed by a margin that John Kerry can appreciate. The provision for shooting down the constitution draft was that three provinces had to have a 2/3rds majority saying "No". Two provinces did. Another had 55%. That's 5% short of what they needed. Guess who voted no? Sunnis. Nearly all the no votes were Sunnis. Now, in America, a margin like this protested loudly by the loosers with bumper stickers and perhaps tshirts. In Iraq, however, things are different. These people are ALREADY BLOWING SHIT UP. Do you think that now they have a little piece of paper that says "Sunnis Suck, Kurds Can Fuck Off In Kurdistan, And I Can Cover And Rape My Wife With No One To Say Otherwise" that things will be shiny and happy? Do you think Michael Stipe is going to drop in on a helicopter and start singing in downtown Mosul? You think perhaps Jay Leno will do a stand-up in Baghdad while the camera catches Sunnis and Shiites guffawing and slapping each other on the back?

Think again. This is instant civil war. Just add bullets. Oh, wait, THEY ALREADY HAVE BULLETS. And guess who's there? THOUSANDS OF US SERVICEMEN! Now that we've lost another thousand (remember how the Administration was going to resign in disgrace when we lost the first thousands?!), we're primed and ready to go for another couple thousand to die in a civil war that will make ours, circa 1861-1865, look like day-old kittens fighting over a teat.

Well, we wanted to bring democracy to the region, so MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

There is no good that will come from keeping our people in Iraq for even one more day. It's time to bring them home. We're creating more problems than we're solving.

-pb

Right-wing pundits are screaming, as always, about things that the Left* has said about the fact that New Orleans and Biloxi have been, essentially, erased. "They say that global warming caused Katrina, and if we'd just signed the Kyoto Treaty, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" Right. Of course, these wing-nuts are adding two and two and getting an irrational number.

* - in this case, by 'Left', I mean 'environmentalists and people who can read government reports'

Environmentalists are saying that our pattern of environmental abuse set the stage for this storm. I haven't heard anyone saying that Kyoto would have stopped Katrina. Katrina, at this point, was inevitable. Not a matter of 'if', but a matter of 'when' and 'where'. The where just happened to be the worst-case scenario, and the when didn't really matter, did it? It happened, and it's bad.

Now, global warming aside, there's the man-made part of this disaster. Mer Orleans (I actually typed that by accident. what a freudian slip!) is below sea level and requires extensive levees to keep both Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River from sinking the city on a daily basis. Recently, they've begun improving the levees to be 'hurricane proof'. Of course, that's like calling a ship 'unsinkable', and we all know how that story ends. We don't get to see Kate Winslett topless in this tale, though. The 'hurricane proof' levees actually proved to be hurricane proof. 80% of the federal money slated to make ALL the levees this strong was diverted from Louisiana (our 18th state) to Iraq (our 51st state). While Halliburton is off repairing things that we've blown up in a slow and most inefficient manner, the levees in New Orleans were just left to their own devices. "They're still standing, aren't they? Tell you what. Blow them up, blame it on terrorists, and we'll spot you some cash" seems to be the official party line.

It is possible that when the final count is assesed, there will be more fatalities from Hurricane Katrina than US Casualties in Iraq. George W. Bush just doubled the number of Americans he's had a direct hand in killing.

When he was on the news yesterday talking about how turr-ble this was, and how Loozy-anna was gonna rebuild, I noticed something I'd never noticed before. Of course, I typically get nauseated by the sight of him on TV. His eyes, and even the corners of his mouth, were SMILING. There was not a hint of compassion or shock or simple acknowledgement of the magnitude of devestation. HE WAS SMILING.

How many more Americans have to die for this psychopath?

And when I say psycopath, I mean it. According to a PCL-R, Bush ranks at least a 30, which is enough for a cursory diagnosis of psycopathy. And here are the results. Hundreds of thousands dead in Iraq. Low world opinion. Destructive policies. Thousands of Americans dead at home and abroad. Billions of dollars of damage that could have been prevented. America is burning, and we're setting the world on fire. Nero is fiddling on his ranch.

-pb

But I had this in my head, and it jumped onto the paper.



-js?!

Number of Iraq Casualties is Double Official Figures, Says Puerto Rican Government

One of the comments to this is that families of the dead not listed as killed in action would raise a stink. I don't think so, because this article is easy to substantiate from the media reports. You never hear "Three Marines died at Ramstein AFB in Germany today after...". We only hear about the ones who died on the ground in Iraq. The ones who die from wounds after being airlifted out are not part of the official tally. Soldiers who commit suicide are not part of the official tally. More soldiers are coming back with PTSD than ever before, so this rate is up. There are some sources who say that the actual number of fatalities among troops serving in Iraq may be closer to 9,000. 1,800+? That's a giant "+", there.

Considering the Pentagon doesn't even keep official stats on the civilians that we've shot, blown up, crushed, or raped to death with light bars, who knows how many Iraqis have actually been killed as a result of our invasion? We've been there for two years, and we've had about the same effect of curing arthritis by amputating limbs. Mission Accomplished!

-js?!

Freed Italian journalist wounded, bodyguard killed in Baghdad

Hey, Ronald Dumbsfeld, answer me this: was it a mistake that they fired on her, or a mistake that they didn't kill her?

-pb

So, I'm pretty sure Robert Arial is saying that Jacques Chirac has to eat his words on Democracy not working in Iraq or America failing or us being arrogant unilateralist or Bush being a cowboy.

That doesn't make sense to me because:
a) terrorism is rampant in Iraq, and "democracy" was a bunch of people going to the polls to vote for whichever name happened to sound like a relation,
b) we are still arrogant unilateralist,
c) Bush is still a cowboy.

Conversely, all the stuff on Bush's plate is SHIT HE SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR.

But it's ok, because Chirac is a goddamn Frenchie, and we all know how evil they are!

-js?!

"In one of the grandest events in the history of the world, millions of Iraqis risked death on Sunday to vote in a free, democratic election."

-Ann Coulter, for once displaying a sense of humor.

It's not so much that it's Ann saying this, because she's really saying it tongue-in-cheek (because that's all the action her cheek ever gets), it's that people are actually saying it seriously.

Ok, people, for the record: The Iraqi elections were about as meaningful as Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. It's not so much that the outcome was a foregone conclusion (it was), but the sheer complexity coupled with lack of explanation was astounding.

The media tells you that they voted in a free and democratic election. Ok, well, when we think 'free and democratic', we usually think 'two guys and maybe some third party candidates'. Well, that's not the case here.

This election was not actually for governance. It was to determine the people who get to sit around and smile for photo-ops while we write their Constitution for them (And don't think we won't, because we did it to the Afghans). There were 111 names on the ballot. ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN. We had Kerry (D), Bush (R), Nader (I), Cobb (G), Petrouka (C), and Badnarik (L). Various states had more or less, but those were the six. The Iraqis had 111. Now, that's not 111 candidates, nooooo. That's 111 POLITICAL PARTIES. Each political party represented a group of people, in some cases, as many as 270+ candidates EACH.

And when the Iraqis went to the polls, did they know who to vote for? Nope, because there was no campaign. Why? Because it's hard to campaign when you're a) pinned down by hostile fire, b) being anally violated with a flashlight, or c) already dead. So, no one campaigned because they didn't want to get raped. Or killed. Or raped then killed. Or killed then raped. Some of them didn't even list their name on the ballot.

So, let me summarize: You go to the polls on Election day, and there's a good chance that someone might shoot you or drive a bomb-laden car into the building. Not a good start to the day. Then, you see the ballot. On the ballot are six names:

The Patriotic Front for America
Blessed Christian Council
American People's Union
Pride and Freedom United
Christian Patriotic Organization
American Democracy Action Council

Who do you vote for? Quick, the guy behind you has something in his hand and he's fidgeting.

George Bush keeps pointing out how there was like a 72% turnout for the election. I've got a good theory as to why: Under Saddam, they had elections all the time. The choices were "Saddam: Yes" and "Saddam: No". The guys with guns gave you a clear indication as to which way you should vote. They also made it clear that you better get to the polls. This is old hat to them. "Hey! It's election day! Let's go vote!"

"Who do I pick?"

"No idea. Just go, vote, and maybe we won't get killed."

A whole bunch of people voted for candidates they knew nothing about for reasons they didn't fully understand. Iraq, welcome to American-style democracy.

-pb

-pb

"Based on what we know today, the president would have taken the same action because this is about protecting the American people."

- White House press secretary Scott McClellan, Jan. 12th, 2005, commenting on the end of the WMD search

Yet, conservatives still use Bosnia against Clinton.

Go figure.

I wonder what exactly invading Iraq had to do with protecting the American people, especially considering that the only threat Iraq could have posed to us was WMD, which did not exist.

-pb

Who killed Margaret Hassan?

My belief that there is a massive shadow war being perpetrated by US operatives has once again been bolstered.

-pb

A bad quote hidden within a good idea:

Democrats consider grass-roots campaign, starting with eating at Applebee's to be more like the common man

And then there's this:

"The Democratic Party is at risk of being taken over by the far left,"
- Sen. Evan Bayh, D-IN

'at risk'? Senator Bayh, I don't think you understand. The Republicans have already been taken over by the Far Right. If you think that the Far Left is Michael Moore and Dennis Kucinich, you've got your head on backwards. The "Far Left" is Stalin or Castro.

Granted, the left needs to stop whining about the right. Screw the right! Don't tell me about how Bush broke all his toys in Iraq. Don't continue to harp on the fact that the enconomy is a shit sandwich that we're all enjoying a hearty bite from. Give me solid answers!

Here are my ideas on how to talk to red-state voters:

To all the people who are pro-life : Tell them the FACTS. Abortion is going to happen. Deal with it. It's legal, and it's not going away. You can be pro-life until you're blue in the face, it's not going to change. If you want to vote for a candidate based on how they feel on a subject that's already been decided, then don't complain when you can't afford a new alternator for your 1983 Ford Ranger.

To all the people who are pro-War in Iraq : We need to rethink our strategy there. We need to get everyone in the world to a table and figure out the best way to fix this thing. Yes, we broke it. But we don't have the right kind of glue to fix it.

To all the people who are pro-gun : We've been trying for years to bring about gun control reform. Even when we had the right political atmosphere to do so, guess what? We managed to ban 18 SPECIFIC weapons. Know what that ban did? Nothing. Therefore, you can rest assured that there's not much of a chance you're going to be holding out with cold, dead hands.

To all the people who favor lower taxes : You want a tax cut, Florida? We gave it to you in the form