Friday, February 29, 2008
McPain
It has been suggested that McCain will attempt to abandon his reasons for pushing us in to war in the first place (I suppose it has become undefendable as a political position) and concentrate on the success of the 'surge', which he wholeheartedly supported and even takes credit for, and his 100 year war platform which includes unflinching, uncompromising and continued support for the war on terror even as our allies damp down the rhetoric whilst seeking new ways to define and confront these unique problems.
As an aside Matt Yglesias has a nice summation of where we are right now and how we got here, I particularily like this graf:
The trouble is that ever since 9/11, we've adopted a set of incredibly harmful and counterproductive policies (the war in Iraq has, of course, been considerably more costly in terms of lives lost, people crippled, and stuff destroyed than was 9/11). Rather than taking a focused, disciplined approach to a dangerous-but-manageable situation, the Bush administration has engaged in a series of flailing overreactions that have, improbably, actually made it possible for a relatively small group of people to dramatically alter the course of the world without expending any vast resources. The whole thing's been a disaster.
McCain, of course, wants to perpetuate the 'mistakes' of the Bush administration and utilizes pretty much the same rhetoric and palpably false set of metrics to allude to our success in Iraq and our ongoing confrontation with Islamofascistdeadenders. It is a policy that refuses to adapt as the situation itself becomes more and more complex, one could add that because of the initial ill-conceived and fraudulant nature of the reasons for going to war it was always going to be this way and we should now just concentrate on working with what we've got and try to make the best of a bad situation and that is undoubtedly McCains tack. However, our recent military success in Iraq, or rather the temporary respite from all-out civil war the surge may or may not have accomplished, cannot be measured by the decrease in violent attacks upon US servicemen or Iraqi civilians in this given period, as much as McCain would like that to be so, it can only be taken as a whole with the reasons we are there in the first place as a prime integer and the overarching requirement of political or national reconcilliation as the end goal. This, McCain has, so far, refused to ruminate on and it is blatantly obvious why. His argument for perpetual war relies upon the fallacies and presumptions that we are winning or we can never surrender, the fact that these two statements are mutually exclusive is the conceit of his position. Who exactly are we winning against in Iraq and who would we be forced to surrender to in the GWOT?
Let's take a look, firstly his rash announcements on the political improvements in Iraq have now been exposed as, perhaps, a little premature, with the deBaathification law being denounced by Sunnis and heavily criticized by most arab and western observers as unworkable and the recent 'bundle' of laws outlining the framework for future Iraqi regional governance, hailed by McCain and this administration, being vetoed. So far, democracy in Iraq has anything but flourished and this can be attributed to how this administration initially conceived of Iraq's evolution. Democracy was not the goal, Bush, Cheney and Wolfowitz imagined a compliant client state run by a trusted lackey, a Chalabbi or an Alawi, someone they could rely upon to have their best interests at heart and someone they could 'govern', not exactly the imprimature of freedom expressed in numerous fireside chats on the subject. This initial flaw in pre-war planning and the off-the-cuff mechanism for control of the country cost us time and allies both in Iraq and in the international community, it extended the occupation and allowed the insurgency to gather steam and Al Qaeda to infiltrate and instigate and may ultimately have contributed to the political will being sucked out of Iraq's nascent leaders as they battled each other for turf. Political compromise may never happen and a war torn future for Iraq seems plausible if not inevitable. McCain has yet to respond to these developments and has, so far, not shown the ability to think creatively on the causes and possible solutions apart from the fact that he can see us there for 100 years.
Secondly, and lastly, the military situation in Iraq, surge or no surge, is a tenuous bi-product of various coincidences and good old fashioned grunt work. That the Mahdi Army has pretty much sat this out is indisputable and without that singular happenstance perhaps the entire surge dynamic may have been different, remember the conventional wisdom was that this was going to be pretty bloody with an uptick in American deaths whilst the battle raged. There was no battle, at least in Baghdad, Sadr City remained quiet under the cease-fire and other neighborhoods completed ethnic cleansing, whilst the insurgency proper and the remaining elements of AQI slunk off to greener pastures namely Dhiyala Province. The Awakening Councils, whilst being paid (but now on strike), provided a new security dynamic in Al Anbar, a province we had all but given up on, and managed to force AQI out of the region only to resurface, once again, in Dhiyala. Reports from the field continue to paint the Iraqi army as anything but a well oiled machine with still only passing reference made to them in any operations and then only as back-up to the men doing the real fighting, US GI's and Marines. That our armed forces are once again relying upon large bombing campaigns is never a good sign, it means vast areas are still too dangerous for us to venture into and the easiest way to deal with that is to bomb the crap out of it and be damned the collateral damage, not exactly a hearts and minds winner. Now with the surge a yearling and the expected drawdowns to begin this spring, we are told the troop reductions will not be as large as first described in fact, our troop numbers will remain higher than at any time since the invasion, what does that tell you about the success of the surge?
All told, the political situation is a mess and the surge success is open to 'serious' debate, it's a pretty harsh reality for a guy running solely on his supposed knowledge and experience in this arena. If you're not willing to concede that we have major problems in Iraq and as far as you are concerned, we are winning and yet will never surrender, you can see where your credibility is eventually going to be severly questioned, even by an uninformed layman like me.
As an aside Matt Yglesias has a nice summation of where we are right now and how we got here, I particularily like this graf:
The trouble is that ever since 9/11, we've adopted a set of incredibly harmful and counterproductive policies (the war in Iraq has, of course, been considerably more costly in terms of lives lost, people crippled, and stuff destroyed than was 9/11). Rather than taking a focused, disciplined approach to a dangerous-but-manageable situation, the Bush administration has engaged in a series of flailing overreactions that have, improbably, actually made it possible for a relatively small group of people to dramatically alter the course of the world without expending any vast resources. The whole thing's been a disaster.
McCain, of course, wants to perpetuate the 'mistakes' of the Bush administration and utilizes pretty much the same rhetoric and palpably false set of metrics to allude to our success in Iraq and our ongoing confrontation with Islamofascistdeadenders. It is a policy that refuses to adapt as the situation itself becomes more and more complex, one could add that because of the initial ill-conceived and fraudulant nature of the reasons for going to war it was always going to be this way and we should now just concentrate on working with what we've got and try to make the best of a bad situation and that is undoubtedly McCains tack. However, our recent military success in Iraq, or rather the temporary respite from all-out civil war the surge may or may not have accomplished, cannot be measured by the decrease in violent attacks upon US servicemen or Iraqi civilians in this given period, as much as McCain would like that to be so, it can only be taken as a whole with the reasons we are there in the first place as a prime integer and the overarching requirement of political or national reconcilliation as the end goal. This, McCain has, so far, refused to ruminate on and it is blatantly obvious why. His argument for perpetual war relies upon the fallacies and presumptions that we are winning or we can never surrender, the fact that these two statements are mutually exclusive is the conceit of his position. Who exactly are we winning against in Iraq and who would we be forced to surrender to in the GWOT?
Let's take a look, firstly his rash announcements on the political improvements in Iraq have now been exposed as, perhaps, a little premature, with the deBaathification law being denounced by Sunnis and heavily criticized by most arab and western observers as unworkable and the recent 'bundle' of laws outlining the framework for future Iraqi regional governance, hailed by McCain and this administration, being vetoed. So far, democracy in Iraq has anything but flourished and this can be attributed to how this administration initially conceived of Iraq's evolution. Democracy was not the goal, Bush, Cheney and Wolfowitz imagined a compliant client state run by a trusted lackey, a Chalabbi or an Alawi, someone they could rely upon to have their best interests at heart and someone they could 'govern', not exactly the imprimature of freedom expressed in numerous fireside chats on the subject. This initial flaw in pre-war planning and the off-the-cuff mechanism for control of the country cost us time and allies both in Iraq and in the international community, it extended the occupation and allowed the insurgency to gather steam and Al Qaeda to infiltrate and instigate and may ultimately have contributed to the political will being sucked out of Iraq's nascent leaders as they battled each other for turf. Political compromise may never happen and a war torn future for Iraq seems plausible if not inevitable. McCain has yet to respond to these developments and has, so far, not shown the ability to think creatively on the causes and possible solutions apart from the fact that he can see us there for 100 years.
Secondly, and lastly, the military situation in Iraq, surge or no surge, is a tenuous bi-product of various coincidences and good old fashioned grunt work. That the Mahdi Army has pretty much sat this out is indisputable and without that singular happenstance perhaps the entire surge dynamic may have been different, remember the conventional wisdom was that this was going to be pretty bloody with an uptick in American deaths whilst the battle raged. There was no battle, at least in Baghdad, Sadr City remained quiet under the cease-fire and other neighborhoods completed ethnic cleansing, whilst the insurgency proper and the remaining elements of AQI slunk off to greener pastures namely Dhiyala Province. The Awakening Councils, whilst being paid (but now on strike), provided a new security dynamic in Al Anbar, a province we had all but given up on, and managed to force AQI out of the region only to resurface, once again, in Dhiyala. Reports from the field continue to paint the Iraqi army as anything but a well oiled machine with still only passing reference made to them in any operations and then only as back-up to the men doing the real fighting, US GI's and Marines. That our armed forces are once again relying upon large bombing campaigns is never a good sign, it means vast areas are still too dangerous for us to venture into and the easiest way to deal with that is to bomb the crap out of it and be damned the collateral damage, not exactly a hearts and minds winner. Now with the surge a yearling and the expected drawdowns to begin this spring, we are told the troop reductions will not be as large as first described in fact, our troop numbers will remain higher than at any time since the invasion, what does that tell you about the success of the surge?
All told, the political situation is a mess and the surge success is open to 'serious' debate, it's a pretty harsh reality for a guy running solely on his supposed knowledge and experience in this arena. If you're not willing to concede that we have major problems in Iraq and as far as you are concerned, we are winning and yet will never surrender, you can see where your credibility is eventually going to be severly questioned, even by an uninformed layman like me.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Rats... And The Smelling Of
TPM links to a Roll Call article on the Repugs astonishment and frustration that the telcoms are giving more money to Democrats than them, after all they've done for them as well, oh, the humanity.
Afterall, Rethugs manipulated the PAA to protect telcom ass with retroactive immunity, for crimes committed against the people they are supposed to serve and protect, and all the thanks they get is this. Where's the love, where's the money?
Meanwhine, LameDuck-Bubbleboy wants this excuse for a law passed ASAP or he's going to... do what exactly?
So, are we getting it yet, the Preznit allowed this vital law to lapse even when offered an extension, he then says it is vital that we protect the telcoms from frivolous lawsuits (since when has my privacy become frivolous, one may ask?) as they were only doing the administrations bidding legally or illegally, then the party that crafted this piece of excrement is blubbering because they are not getting the payback from the very people they are trying to protect. And where do you and I, oh gentle reader, come into this? We don't, it's not about us, the PAA was designed to protect AT&T and Verizon and Sprint not you and I. They could have changed the surveillance language in the existing FISA law, they chose not to because FISA could not be amended to protect the telcoms. It's a f***ing disgrace of a law and the republican party and it's leader are disgracefully trying to scare congress into passing it whilst bemoaning the fact they are not getting paid to do so.
Afterall, Rethugs manipulated the PAA to protect telcom ass with retroactive immunity, for crimes committed against the people they are supposed to serve and protect, and all the thanks they get is this. Where's the love, where's the money?
Meanwhine, LameDuck-Bubbleboy wants this excuse for a law passed ASAP or he's going to... do what exactly?
So, are we getting it yet, the Preznit allowed this vital law to lapse even when offered an extension, he then says it is vital that we protect the telcoms from frivolous lawsuits (since when has my privacy become frivolous, one may ask?) as they were only doing the administrations bidding legally or illegally, then the party that crafted this piece of excrement is blubbering because they are not getting the payback from the very people they are trying to protect. And where do you and I, oh gentle reader, come into this? We don't, it's not about us, the PAA was designed to protect AT&T and Verizon and Sprint not you and I. They could have changed the surveillance language in the existing FISA law, they chose not to because FISA could not be amended to protect the telcoms. It's a f***ing disgrace of a law and the republican party and it's leader are disgracefully trying to scare congress into passing it whilst bemoaning the fact they are not getting paid to do so.
Benched
More political reconcilliation not happening...
Reading between the lines, it was a risible law allowing the Prime Minister to fire democratically elected regional Governors if he so wished. Riddle me this, what kind of democracy are we creating in Iraq?
This 'bundle' of laws was hailed as a major success for Iraqi parliamentry democracy and by association, this administration.
Reading between the lines, it was a risible law allowing the Prime Minister to fire democratically elected regional Governors if he so wished. Riddle me this, what kind of democracy are we creating in Iraq?
This 'bundle' of laws was hailed as a major success for Iraqi parliamentry democracy and by association, this administration.
McCain
Maybe St. John should actually read or have his people research in what context his opponent is making those statements he finds so funny. In this case it was a hypothetical question, asked by Timmeh, about Iraq, where the scenario could have easily been based on the fact that we had 'won' (whatever that means) and withdrawn or had just withdrawn without all the ticker-tape and macho crotch grabbing. Either way the question assumed that we were already out of Iraq whatever the scenario.
As for Al Qaeda in Iraq, they are hardly capable of taking over a street corner, never mind a fricking Shi-ite state in close proximity to Iran, Syria, Turkey and Jordan. I doubt those countries have any vested interest in seeing Sunni fundamentalists or as Juan Cole calls them '"Excommunicating Holy Warriors" (Takfiri Jihadis)' gaining control of their neighbor. The entire notion is preposterous.
McCain is coming across as less well informed and advised than his supposed inexperienced opponent, not good for a candidate who only has the Iraq war as his strong suit.
As for Al Qaeda in Iraq, they are hardly capable of taking over a street corner, never mind a fricking Shi-ite state in close proximity to Iran, Syria, Turkey and Jordan. I doubt those countries have any vested interest in seeing Sunni fundamentalists or as Juan Cole calls them '"Excommunicating Holy Warriors" (Takfiri Jihadis)' gaining control of their neighbor. The entire notion is preposterous.
McCain is coming across as less well informed and advised than his supposed inexperienced opponent, not good for a candidate who only has the Iraq war as his strong suit.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Huckleberry
Ol' Huckleberry, a principled man (rare in his party), endorses a 20 year old Coloradoan female who's earnest endeavors, blood, sweat and tears have been spent on getting a ballot initiative on the card in the November elections. The initiative - a 'Human Life Amendment' extending the states constitutional rights to a 'fertilized egg' esconced in it's mummy's womb. It is so sweet that this young 20 year old thought this up all by herself without any prompting from other members of the Colorado Equal Rights group.
I can't imagine what constitutional rights the fertilized egg will truly enjoy, but I'm sure in it's pursuit of happiness the fertilized egg will especially enjoy it's right to freedom of speech, it's right to bear arms, habeas corpus, (whoops, not anymore), it's rights to walk freely over common land, it's rights to privacy etc. etc., the list is as long as my arm. Of course being a fertilized egg is not easy, afterall it is reliant upon a host and eventually after several stages an umbilical cord and a placenta but by that time it is no longer a fertilized egg but a zigote and fetus respectively.
If we are going to give something, anything, constitutional protection should we not ensure that the one receiving it is at least able to exercise those rights? In Colorado, they are going to attempt to give a fertilized egg constitutional rights and the right wing calls Liberals irresponsible and crazy.
Of course gays and immigrants (living, walking, talking conscious entities) are denied any significant rights or protections under the Colorado constitution. Eggs however!
I can't imagine what constitutional rights the fertilized egg will truly enjoy, but I'm sure in it's pursuit of happiness the fertilized egg will especially enjoy it's right to freedom of speech, it's right to bear arms, habeas corpus, (whoops, not anymore), it's rights to walk freely over common land, it's rights to privacy etc. etc., the list is as long as my arm. Of course being a fertilized egg is not easy, afterall it is reliant upon a host and eventually after several stages an umbilical cord and a placenta but by that time it is no longer a fertilized egg but a zigote and fetus respectively.
If we are going to give something, anything, constitutional protection should we not ensure that the one receiving it is at least able to exercise those rights? In Colorado, they are going to attempt to give a fertilized egg constitutional rights and the right wing calls Liberals irresponsible and crazy.
Of course gays and immigrants (living, walking, talking conscious entities) are denied any significant rights or protections under the Colorado constitution. Eggs however!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Evolution
Darwinian Theory (Or 'fact' as the educated classes like to call it), of course, predicted the evolution of our own species in biological terms. Little did he realize that, intellectually we are also evolving away from the mysticism, cultism and exploitation represented by organized religion.
"The report shows, for example, that every religion is losing and gaining members, but that the Roman Catholic Church “has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes.” The survey also indicates that the group that had the greatest net gain was the unaffiliated. More than 16 percent of American adults say they are not part of any organized faith, which makes the unaffiliated the country’s fourth largest “religious group.”"
New York Times - 02/25/08
The fastest growing "religious group" - "unaffiliated", teh funny!
"The report shows, for example, that every religion is losing and gaining members, but that the Roman Catholic Church “has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes.” The survey also indicates that the group that had the greatest net gain was the unaffiliated. More than 16 percent of American adults say they are not part of any organized faith, which makes the unaffiliated the country’s fourth largest “religious group.”"
New York Times - 02/25/08
The fastest growing "religious group" - "unaffiliated", teh funny!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Ho Hum
Another Republican congressman indicted, this time Rick Renzi of Arizona. Just the usual shady land deal, bribes and corporate malfeasance. Can't these people just make an honest buck? Do they always have to resort to crime? I guess that's where the real money is.
From TPM: Renzi is, at least for the time being, a co-chair of John McCain's Arizona Leadership Team (he's one of 24 co-chairs). One imagines he won't be such a public advocate for McCain this election.
Lobbyists and known criminals, seems par for the course for a republican presidential candidate. Mr. McCain is having a very bad week.
From TPM: Renzi is, at least for the time being, a co-chair of John McCain's Arizona Leadership Team (he's one of 24 co-chairs). One imagines he won't be such a public advocate for McCain this election.
Lobbyists and known criminals, seems par for the course for a republican presidential candidate. Mr. McCain is having a very bad week.
Of Course...
...this was the most disturbing story of yesterday.
My own theory is that, like any sport, there has always been a core group of golfers who will always find the time and the money to play... that the game had a huge explosion of interest and indeed, people wanting to take up the game, due to new and expanded television coverage and the revenue and curiosity that that entailed is undoubted, but when reality set in for those who rushed to their nearest or newly built links, that the commitment of time and money was above and beyond their initial enthusiasm and that their game would never improve beyond that of your average 'hacker' and that they would not be finding themselves on the PGA tour any time soon, their interest waned. Those people have slid away, leaving a glut of newly built white elephants. But it was always a false reading for the popularity of the game as a whole, the core is still substantial and should receive more encouragement and incentive from golf club owners to stay in thrall with the game we love.
The core, deal doing, cigar smoking, beer drinking, male bonding hackers remain, content with their games, their friends and the idea of walking around a perfectly manicured simulation of mother nature for four hours, chewing the fat and ceaselessly taking the piss out of each other. It remains a past time not for the feint of heart.
My own theory is that, like any sport, there has always been a core group of golfers who will always find the time and the money to play... that the game had a huge explosion of interest and indeed, people wanting to take up the game, due to new and expanded television coverage and the revenue and curiosity that that entailed is undoubted, but when reality set in for those who rushed to their nearest or newly built links, that the commitment of time and money was above and beyond their initial enthusiasm and that their game would never improve beyond that of your average 'hacker' and that they would not be finding themselves on the PGA tour any time soon, their interest waned. Those people have slid away, leaving a glut of newly built white elephants. But it was always a false reading for the popularity of the game as a whole, the core is still substantial and should receive more encouragement and incentive from golf club owners to stay in thrall with the game we love.
The core, deal doing, cigar smoking, beer drinking, male bonding hackers remain, content with their games, their friends and the idea of walking around a perfectly manicured simulation of mother nature for four hours, chewing the fat and ceaselessly taking the piss out of each other. It remains a past time not for the feint of heart.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Da Fed
The 'Hail Mary' feel to the Fed's strategy of tackling receding growth through rate cuts and leaving inflation unattended until the economy strengthens is intensifying.
Plus, none of the Fed's moves really addresses the huge lurking problem at the root of the present crisis, the loan market. Because banks, lenders and their partners who insure all their loans are still not fessing up to how much bad debt is actually swilling around in their respective industries, any solutions are bandaids on what may amount to be a carcass.
Some of these companies are so extended that it doesn't matter how much cheaper it is to borrow, they just can't.
Plus, none of the Fed's moves really addresses the huge lurking problem at the root of the present crisis, the loan market. Because banks, lenders and their partners who insure all their loans are still not fessing up to how much bad debt is actually swilling around in their respective industries, any solutions are bandaids on what may amount to be a carcass.
Some of these companies are so extended that it doesn't matter how much cheaper it is to borrow, they just can't.
Decanonization
So John McCain is just like the rest of his bretheren on the right, a womanizing, special interest cozying, unethical, warmongering hypocrite.
Oh! John, without your mantle of sainthood, what are you to do?
I suggest a veterans nursing home where you will receive the special care and attention a man of your advanced age and unfaltering service to our country rightly deserves.
I'm serious... it's only February and your campaign could already be in tatters.
Oh! John, without your mantle of sainthood, what are you to do?
I suggest a veterans nursing home where you will receive the special care and attention a man of your advanced age and unfaltering service to our country rightly deserves.
I'm serious... it's only February and your campaign could already be in tatters.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Crikey!!
LameDuck-Bubbleboy is starting to make Nixon look positively 'Mr. Popular'. The kicker is he's completely lost his base with less than 50% of registered republicans enamored with the job he's doing.
Don't know much about ARG and how they conduct their polling but if you look at their tracking, the numbers look pretty much in line with all the other polls I've seen.
McCain, at this point, is practically Bushlite but with those numbers, and these represent the first of the February polls, I can't see him wanting to sustain a campaign based on the status quo, America, quite rightly, is rejecting that position in droves.
(h/t - Atrios)
Don't know much about ARG and how they conduct their polling but if you look at their tracking, the numbers look pretty much in line with all the other polls I've seen.
McCain, at this point, is practically Bushlite but with those numbers, and these represent the first of the February polls, I can't see him wanting to sustain a campaign based on the status quo, America, quite rightly, is rejecting that position in droves.
(h/t - Atrios)
Invading Pakistan!
Obama's position on Pakistan, or rather what he actually said, which was if our intelligence services received actionable intelligence on Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts, he would happily pull the trigger on a 'kill operation' regardless of Pakistan's objections, much to St. John's embarrassment, appears to be official US policy:
In the predawn hours of Jan. 29, a CIA Predator aircraft flew in a slow arc above the Pakistani town of Mir Ali. The drone's operator, relying on information secretly passed to the CIA by local informants, clicked a computer mouse and sent the first of two Hellfire missiles hurtling toward a cluster of mud-brick buildings a few miles from the town center.
The missiles killed Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda commander and a man who had repeatedly eluded the CIA's dragnet. It was the first successful strike against al-Qaeda's core leadership in two years, and it involved, U.S. officials say, an unusual degree of autonomy by the CIA inside Pakistan.
Obama did not say he would 'invade Pakistan' he said he would carry out something very akin to the above.
Either McCain has some very ill-informed people working for him or he himself is unaware of official US policy, either way, he is dangerous.
In the predawn hours of Jan. 29, a CIA Predator aircraft flew in a slow arc above the Pakistani town of Mir Ali. The drone's operator, relying on information secretly passed to the CIA by local informants, clicked a computer mouse and sent the first of two Hellfire missiles hurtling toward a cluster of mud-brick buildings a few miles from the town center.
The missiles killed Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda commander and a man who had repeatedly eluded the CIA's dragnet. It was the first successful strike against al-Qaeda's core leadership in two years, and it involved, U.S. officials say, an unusual degree of autonomy by the CIA inside Pakistan.
Obama did not say he would 'invade Pakistan' he said he would carry out something very akin to the above.
Either McCain has some very ill-informed people working for him or he himself is unaware of official US policy, either way, he is dangerous.
Holiday From History
If one should do anything today to enrich ones mind and understand the frauds perpetuated by the republican party and their reluctantly chosen son, one should read Juan Cole.
Just read the whole thing and marvel at the audacity of these people and their chosen bedfellows.
Just read the whole thing and marvel at the audacity of these people and their chosen bedfellows.
Monday, February 18, 2008
PAA Petulance
From 2001 upto 2007 FISA was amended four times, in line with the presidents wishes and his intelligence services requests. He himself said in 2002 that the FISA amendments, he had asked for, were essential in updating FISA and readying ourselves for the modern world realities of fighting a modern war on terror, he thanked congress and said his intelligence services now had all the tools necessary to prosecute the GWOT to its fullest and most modern extent. It was amended a further three times in order to 'tweek' certain covert intelligence gathering techniques. Then in 2007 - after six years of touting the fact that because we had not been attacked since 911 this administrations record on protecting the 'homeland' was a resounding success and the democrats were traitors, terrorist sympathizers and unpatriotic and only republicans could save us from superhuman jihadis hell bent on our complete destruction - a further large 'tweek' was necessary, hence the 'Protect America Act' was conceived, contrived whatever you want to call it and ejaculated onto the floor of the house with only minutes to spare and less time to read the damn thing.
It was another ruse, the Protect America Act was designed, by Cheney, to be a vehicle of amnesty and immunity for the telecom industry, the super-spying component was superfluous and could have been quite easily dealt with in another FISA amendment but that was not the point. After the PAA was brought to the floor the Democrats, in one of their less tremulous and feeble moments, blocked telcom immunity and sunsetted this abomination in six months. The republicans probably agreed to this thinking they could muscle the votes and manipulate the bill in favor of telcom immunity within the six month time frame. The PAA as it has stood for six months has probably done little if anything in protecting our nation from further terrorist attack as that was not its real intent.
Now the democrats in the house have defied their counterparts in the Senate and sat on this thing again, you see, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to work out that if the president is unwilling to temporarily extend this vital tool of the intelligence community for a further 21 days while details of the telcom payola are worked out, then it can't be that vital in the first place and then to top it all off you have your director of intelligence going on TV and actually admitting that the whole thing was designed to provide immunity to our telcoms so they will comply with future requests from the government to provide the legal or illegal, depending on the preznits mood that day, services that are vital to our security.
That the telcoms have absolutely no choice but to comply to 'legal' government requests in the past, now and in the future is by the by. That they certainly knew that what they were doing way back when was illegal is irrefutable. How do we know this, because not all the telcoms complied in providing information under the administrations requests having run it by their legal teams and coming to the damning conclusion that it was most likely illegal.
Oh, those poor corporations being sued by the 'little people'. What they need is some big time, big government protection from the rabid masses and their unpatriotic lawsuits.
The real conceit here is that the PAA is like some huge, absurd witness protection program for AT& T and Verizon, they are known criminals but because we undoubtedly will need their cooperation in the future we are willing to overlook the crimes they committed willingly and got paid for and offer them immunity from past and future prosecution, regardless of the fact they will have no choice but to cooperate.
Our country is being run by miscreants and liars...
It was another ruse, the Protect America Act was designed, by Cheney, to be a vehicle of amnesty and immunity for the telecom industry, the super-spying component was superfluous and could have been quite easily dealt with in another FISA amendment but that was not the point. After the PAA was brought to the floor the Democrats, in one of their less tremulous and feeble moments, blocked telcom immunity and sunsetted this abomination in six months. The republicans probably agreed to this thinking they could muscle the votes and manipulate the bill in favor of telcom immunity within the six month time frame. The PAA as it has stood for six months has probably done little if anything in protecting our nation from further terrorist attack as that was not its real intent.
Now the democrats in the house have defied their counterparts in the Senate and sat on this thing again, you see, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to work out that if the president is unwilling to temporarily extend this vital tool of the intelligence community for a further 21 days while details of the telcom payola are worked out, then it can't be that vital in the first place and then to top it all off you have your director of intelligence going on TV and actually admitting that the whole thing was designed to provide immunity to our telcoms so they will comply with future requests from the government to provide the legal or illegal, depending on the preznits mood that day, services that are vital to our security.
That the telcoms have absolutely no choice but to comply to 'legal' government requests in the past, now and in the future is by the by. That they certainly knew that what they were doing way back when was illegal is irrefutable. How do we know this, because not all the telcoms complied in providing information under the administrations requests having run it by their legal teams and coming to the damning conclusion that it was most likely illegal.
Oh, those poor corporations being sued by the 'little people'. What they need is some big time, big government protection from the rabid masses and their unpatriotic lawsuits.
The real conceit here is that the PAA is like some huge, absurd witness protection program for AT& T and Verizon, they are known criminals but because we undoubtedly will need their cooperation in the future we are willing to overlook the crimes they committed willingly and got paid for and offer them immunity from past and future prosecution, regardless of the fact they will have no choice but to cooperate.
Our country is being run by miscreants and liars...
Friday, February 15, 2008
Game On
Congressional Democrats finally stood up to Mr. 24% and his lackeys in what could be a turning point for the Constitution, a document that has withstood a battering from this White House for seven long years.
Let's be clear here, it is not FISA that is under consideration but the Protect America Act, a piece of legislation so hastily and clumsily contrived that the house only gave it a six month life span. FISA will go on and our intelligence agencies, by statute will continue to be able to carry out their operations well into the summer and in most instances to the end of 2008.
The PAA, that has just expired, and the extensions and amendments to it, so important and aggressively sought by this WH, enables the NSA to expand warrantless spying on a whole new category of American citizens and gives immunity to Telecom companies for their past illegal complicity in warrantless wiretapping operations. And, it is this part of the PAA that has been so contentious and so spun, that may spell its doom. By giving the telcoms immunity, the administration and the sponsors of this bill in the Senate and the House are tacitly admitting that what occured in the past was illegal but somehow those illegal actions, through the PAA amendment, could be wrapped in an implied patriotic shroud and the whys and wherefores could be argued later in the high courts. Ultimately, it all goes back to the White House and there in lies the rub. Without telcom immunity the illegality in question bounces back to them, with the telcoms as only unwitting accomplices.
High crimes and misdemeanors? For sure... impeach!!!!!!
Let's be clear here, it is not FISA that is under consideration but the Protect America Act, a piece of legislation so hastily and clumsily contrived that the house only gave it a six month life span. FISA will go on and our intelligence agencies, by statute will continue to be able to carry out their operations well into the summer and in most instances to the end of 2008.
The PAA, that has just expired, and the extensions and amendments to it, so important and aggressively sought by this WH, enables the NSA to expand warrantless spying on a whole new category of American citizens and gives immunity to Telecom companies for their past illegal complicity in warrantless wiretapping operations. And, it is this part of the PAA that has been so contentious and so spun, that may spell its doom. By giving the telcoms immunity, the administration and the sponsors of this bill in the Senate and the House are tacitly admitting that what occured in the past was illegal but somehow those illegal actions, through the PAA amendment, could be wrapped in an implied patriotic shroud and the whys and wherefores could be argued later in the high courts. Ultimately, it all goes back to the White House and there in lies the rub. Without telcom immunity the illegality in question bounces back to them, with the telcoms as only unwitting accomplices.
High crimes and misdemeanors? For sure... impeach!!!!!!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Ambivalence
Very near the end of the 'torturous' interview of William "The Bloody" Kristol by John Stewart the subject turned to torture. In what was a throw away line by Kristol as the music came up he said "...I'm ambivalent about torture." There was no follow up by John as the segment was ending and I'm not sure Kristol's statement even registered. It registered with me though.
Ambivalence: Simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action. Websters Dictionary
So Bill Kristol is ambivalent toward torture! How can one be ambivalent about torture? How can one arrive at such a state of mind as to not care whether a human being is purposely having pain or terror inflicted upon them? One is not ambivalent about torture, one is ambivalent about what effing pair of shoes you're going to wear today, not effing torture.
It's a tacit admission by Kristol that we indeed do torture but we only torture the people we don't really give a shit about because, most likely, they deserve to have a bit of pain inflicted upon them, afterall look what the bastards did to us on 9 effing 11.
It's nice Bill, real classy. Your fear and loathing after 911, your initial desire and continued support for the worst foreign policy initiative this country has ever embroiled itself in and your viscious and vaccuous backing of, quite possibly, the most dangerous and despotic president in US history has brought you to a place where you are no better than the people you feel we should be torturing.
There are some bad people in the world, I think every American and freedom loving soul can agree on that, they should be dealt with by our armed forces, intelligence agencies and police in a manner that befits their crimes and nothing more. They should be shot if participating in acts of violence against us, they should be hunted down, rounded up, tried and imprisoned for conspiracy to commit crimes against us and they should be interrogated whenever the opportunity arises. We have laws that govern every facet of how we prosecute the aforementioned. Nowhere does it say we can torture and why? Because torture is not a means of getting exploitable information, it is a form of sadism designed to provide, to the torturor, the answers he wants to hear in order to incriminate the victim. It has no place in modern interrogation methodology because it is anathema to what intelligence gathering agencies are trying to achieve.
Bill Kristol and his ilk however, want to invent news ways, outside the laws that have governed us for centuries to project our new muscle bound, shock and awesome awesomeness upon the world and they assure us, they will go to any lengths or depths, including using torture as a terror weapon against our enemies, to prove they're not kidding around this time.
Our Congress has just finished debating and passing a bill outlawing waterboarding, which is euphemistic language for modern torture techniques, John McCain, in an outlandish and very unmaverick-like pander to Kristol and his neocon trolls, voted against the motion, this from a man tortured in Vietnam, it's tragic.
Ambivalence: Simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action. Websters Dictionary
So Bill Kristol is ambivalent toward torture! How can one be ambivalent about torture? How can one arrive at such a state of mind as to not care whether a human being is purposely having pain or terror inflicted upon them? One is not ambivalent about torture, one is ambivalent about what effing pair of shoes you're going to wear today, not effing torture.
It's a tacit admission by Kristol that we indeed do torture but we only torture the people we don't really give a shit about because, most likely, they deserve to have a bit of pain inflicted upon them, afterall look what the bastards did to us on 9 effing 11.
It's nice Bill, real classy. Your fear and loathing after 911, your initial desire and continued support for the worst foreign policy initiative this country has ever embroiled itself in and your viscious and vaccuous backing of, quite possibly, the most dangerous and despotic president in US history has brought you to a place where you are no better than the people you feel we should be torturing.
There are some bad people in the world, I think every American and freedom loving soul can agree on that, they should be dealt with by our armed forces, intelligence agencies and police in a manner that befits their crimes and nothing more. They should be shot if participating in acts of violence against us, they should be hunted down, rounded up, tried and imprisoned for conspiracy to commit crimes against us and they should be interrogated whenever the opportunity arises. We have laws that govern every facet of how we prosecute the aforementioned. Nowhere does it say we can torture and why? Because torture is not a means of getting exploitable information, it is a form of sadism designed to provide, to the torturor, the answers he wants to hear in order to incriminate the victim. It has no place in modern interrogation methodology because it is anathema to what intelligence gathering agencies are trying to achieve.
Bill Kristol and his ilk however, want to invent news ways, outside the laws that have governed us for centuries to project our new muscle bound, shock and awesome awesomeness upon the world and they assure us, they will go to any lengths or depths, including using torture as a terror weapon against our enemies, to prove they're not kidding around this time.
Our Congress has just finished debating and passing a bill outlawing waterboarding, which is euphemistic language for modern torture techniques, John McCain, in an outlandish and very unmaverick-like pander to Kristol and his neocon trolls, voted against the motion, this from a man tortured in Vietnam, it's tragic.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Bubbles
You know, I'm just an average guy, freezing my balls off in a Buffalo winter, worrying about the future, trying to make a living, trying to provide for the selfish ingrates that constitutes as my family, reading the news, watching the telly, fretting over the course this country has taken over the last seven years and hoping for a better day.
I'm concerned about FISA, I worry about Gauntanamo, I closely watch the economy, I criticize the wrecking crew in charge of our foreign policy, I scrutinize the election race on both sides, I insult republicans because they are knuckle dragging neanderthals intent on dragging not only this country, but the world, back to some dark age where their collective memories and deepest heresies reside. They are to the modern world what shit is to a shoe, something to be scraped off.
I saw LameDuck-BubbleBoy on the telly telling all us smart people what he knew about Obama and as usual he framed the debate in his own petulant, arrogant and ill-informed brain and concluded that Obama would invade Pakistan and negotiate with Iran. Demonstrably false of course but the geniuses on the telly were telling me that this was a piece of vintage LameDuck-BubbleBoy campaign speechifying that no one could stand up against because of its sheer audacity and genius geniusness.
The fact that 24% LameDuck-BubbleBoy is about as politically fetching right now as cold baby sick on the shoulder of an Armani suit is lost on the punditocracy who continue to treat 24%LD-BB with all the affection and respect he has never deserved. He has never been right about anything and all the information he receives in his Oval Office bubble has been sanitized, pasturized and edited for his listening pleasure, its purpose being not to upset his devine right to unfettered self confidence. It is machismo gone mad, a grand idiocy that thrives on its own incompetence, feasts on paranoid delicacies and shits out policy based on nothing but greed and fear. The fact that I knew in 2002 that Iraq probably did not have WMD, had no ties to Al Qaeda and had no Nuclear weapons program is testament to the crap going into that place and in turn being regurgitated to a MSM so wanting to kick someones ass, anyones ass - the Taliban having succumbed too easily to get our full revenge blue railer on - that they would willingly believe just about anything as long as it had the imprimature and 'blessing' of the 'Crusader' president LameDuck-BubbleBoy.
He really has taken this country as far down as it can go, we are now down to the lowest common denominator when it comes to political discourse. He comes down from his ivory tower, uninformed, whitless and without his puppetmaster Rove and makes a preposterously false claim and Candy Crowley and the others on the 'best political team on TV' stares at its collective navel and calls it genius. My stars! I get more gravitas watching Everyone Loves Raymond reruns.
I'm concerned about FISA, I worry about Gauntanamo, I closely watch the economy, I criticize the wrecking crew in charge of our foreign policy, I scrutinize the election race on both sides, I insult republicans because they are knuckle dragging neanderthals intent on dragging not only this country, but the world, back to some dark age where their collective memories and deepest heresies reside. They are to the modern world what shit is to a shoe, something to be scraped off.
I saw LameDuck-BubbleBoy on the telly telling all us smart people what he knew about Obama and as usual he framed the debate in his own petulant, arrogant and ill-informed brain and concluded that Obama would invade Pakistan and negotiate with Iran. Demonstrably false of course but the geniuses on the telly were telling me that this was a piece of vintage LameDuck-BubbleBoy campaign speechifying that no one could stand up against because of its sheer audacity and genius geniusness.
The fact that 24% LameDuck-BubbleBoy is about as politically fetching right now as cold baby sick on the shoulder of an Armani suit is lost on the punditocracy who continue to treat 24%LD-BB with all the affection and respect he has never deserved. He has never been right about anything and all the information he receives in his Oval Office bubble has been sanitized, pasturized and edited for his listening pleasure, its purpose being not to upset his devine right to unfettered self confidence. It is machismo gone mad, a grand idiocy that thrives on its own incompetence, feasts on paranoid delicacies and shits out policy based on nothing but greed and fear. The fact that I knew in 2002 that Iraq probably did not have WMD, had no ties to Al Qaeda and had no Nuclear weapons program is testament to the crap going into that place and in turn being regurgitated to a MSM so wanting to kick someones ass, anyones ass - the Taliban having succumbed too easily to get our full revenge blue railer on - that they would willingly believe just about anything as long as it had the imprimature and 'blessing' of the 'Crusader' president LameDuck-BubbleBoy.
He really has taken this country as far down as it can go, we are now down to the lowest common denominator when it comes to political discourse. He comes down from his ivory tower, uninformed, whitless and without his puppetmaster Rove and makes a preposterously false claim and Candy Crowley and the others on the 'best political team on TV' stares at its collective navel and calls it genius. My stars! I get more gravitas watching Everyone Loves Raymond reruns.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
MSM Meme
As the traditional media gets its 'Dems are divided' groove on, it's good to see that one cog in the MSM machine asked a rather pertinent and telling question. Bill Schneider of CNN, take it away;
Though close, the exit polls suggested that the Democratic base is not bitterly divided over its choice.
Nearly two-thirds -- 72 percent -- of Democratic voters said they'd be satisfied with Clinton as the nominee, and 71 percent said they'd be happy with Obama.
The early exit polls also showed that Obama's campaign message, which centered on "change," resonated among people who voted for him. Nearly three-quarters -- 74 percent -- of Obama voters named "change" as the top quality they were looking for in a candidate, while 11 percent said they were looking for a candidate who "cares about people." Only 3 percent of Obama voters said they were looking for a candidate with experience.
Democrats, are essentially rather happy about either Clinton or Obama being the pick!
Though close, the exit polls suggested that the Democratic base is not bitterly divided over its choice.
Nearly two-thirds -- 72 percent -- of Democratic voters said they'd be satisfied with Clinton as the nominee, and 71 percent said they'd be happy with Obama.
The early exit polls also showed that Obama's campaign message, which centered on "change," resonated among people who voted for him. Nearly three-quarters -- 74 percent -- of Obama voters named "change" as the top quality they were looking for in a candidate, while 11 percent said they were looking for a candidate who "cares about people." Only 3 percent of Obama voters said they were looking for a candidate with experience.
Democrats, are essentially rather happy about either Clinton or Obama being the pick!
Friday, February 01, 2008
Compassionate Conservatism
Bush's traditional targets for slashing and burning fare worse than usual in his $3Trillion budget flim-flam.
He subsidizes the energy industry (see post below), he bails out the mortgage, banking and insurance industries, he fights wars with borrowed money from our children and our childrens children, he borrows money from China and the rest of the far east to compensate for tax cuts only a few of his close buddies have benefitted from and then he tells us it's all good.
Yeah... this pretty much looks like a Bush run business venture.
The thing of it is though, as usual, with this fuck-ups life, he walks away in eleven months unscathed, whilst the rest of us are stuck with this crap for generations to come.
He subsidizes the energy industry (see post below), he bails out the mortgage, banking and insurance industries, he fights wars with borrowed money from our children and our childrens children, he borrows money from China and the rest of the far east to compensate for tax cuts only a few of his close buddies have benefitted from and then he tells us it's all good.
Yeah... this pretty much looks like a Bush run business venture.
The thing of it is though, as usual, with this fuck-ups life, he walks away in eleven months unscathed, whilst the rest of us are stuck with this crap for generations to come.
Exxon
The markets momentarily applauded these gaudy profit numbers coming out of Exxon for Q4, 2007 until they realized that the oil companies are quite likely, DESTROYING OUR ECONOMY.
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