Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran.
He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda...
McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."
Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."
Those extremists are most likely Badr Corps and Mahdi Army militia members, both of these militias have representatives sitting in the Iraqi parliament indeed, in the Iraqi cabinet itself and Mr. Maliki himself owes SCIRI (Badr Corps) his position as Prime Minister.
Now, Mr. McSame, who are the bad guys exactly? And how does Iran figure into the equation? That's right, we handed them the country and they are damned sure going to defend their new found territory. Especially against the 80,000 Sunni's we just bought and paid for with guns and tax payer money.
It's going to be bloody...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
It's Been A Long Time...
It's called being an adult, and the divide between Barack Obama and the rest of the field just got a whole lot wider.
McCain is probably wondering where Obama got this speech from, maybe the Iranians, now, is Obama a Sunni or a Shiite? McCain? He wouldn't know!
McCain is probably wondering where Obama got this speech from, maybe the Iranians, now, is Obama a Sunni or a Shiite? McCain? He wouldn't know!
McDrain
As noted by DKos, this will be trivialized by the 'serious' people as a mere slip of the tongue:
Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran.
He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda...
McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."
Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."
But, and it's not a big but, what if he was deliberately applying this inference to muddy the waters, fool just enough people, those who may only hear or read the first part of this pathetic attempt to re-demonize Iran? It has been a ploy we have seen from the right on numerous occassions, throw something out there, get the sound bite, retract late on a Friday afternoon. The harm has been done. 25% of the idiots on the right, the 'base', imbibe the koolaid and will forever associate Al Qaeda with Iran, even when that proposition is anethema to both parties.
Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran.
He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda...
McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."
Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."
But, and it's not a big but, what if he was deliberately applying this inference to muddy the waters, fool just enough people, those who may only hear or read the first part of this pathetic attempt to re-demonize Iran? It has been a ploy we have seen from the right on numerous occassions, throw something out there, get the sound bite, retract late on a Friday afternoon. The harm has been done. 25% of the idiots on the right, the 'base', imbibe the koolaid and will forever associate Al Qaeda with Iran, even when that proposition is anethema to both parties.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
It's The Stupid... Stupid
However 'temporary' this latest economic manifestation is, it speaks volumes about BubbleBoy and his Gentleman C of an MBA. The Eurozone has caught and passed us in GDP per capita. It's amazing what a non-tax-payer-funded war, tax cuts for the rich and an deregulated financial industry can do for ones economy.
Of course, for the 'serious' people out there, we have been undergoing a sustained period of economic growth unparalleled in American history... riiiiight!
As economic miracles go, I would say this one could have been pulled off by a two bit magician in a very average vaudeville touring show.
Still, the dollar is now on a par with the Albania 'Lek', so there is always hope!
Of course, for the 'serious' people out there, we have been undergoing a sustained period of economic growth unparalleled in American history... riiiiight!
As economic miracles go, I would say this one could have been pulled off by a two bit magician in a very average vaudeville touring show.
Still, the dollar is now on a par with the Albania 'Lek', so there is always hope!
Friday, March 14, 2008
It's Called Backbone...
... and a lot of Democrats appear to have found one!
Good for you House Dems, now, if only the, self styled, greatest deliberative body in the world -the Senate - could, likewise, wipe the fear from their sweating brows and stand up to this recidivist administration we may have a Congress of the United States that actually works for the people of the United States rather than as a rubber stamp for the worst president in American history.
Watch those congressional approval numbers go up... we wanted you to fight them not continually capitulate your responsibilities.
Good for you House Dems, now, if only the, self styled, greatest deliberative body in the world -the Senate - could, likewise, wipe the fear from their sweating brows and stand up to this recidivist administration we may have a Congress of the United States that actually works for the people of the United States rather than as a rubber stamp for the worst president in American history.
Watch those congressional approval numbers go up... we wanted you to fight them not continually capitulate your responsibilities.
Dead Enders
It's getting to the point that I'm not sure who to trust anymore! Seriously, considering the rhetoric coming out of the mouths of this administration and its apologists you'd be right in thinking that we were on the verge of this huge victory over the forces of evil and if we just stuck it out another few months or until St. McCain was elected (Or installed), the cunning genius of our successful plan could finally be revealed.
Well... Not so much.
The military is, once again, at odds with their civilian overlords and seem somewhat reticent to tell the huge glaring lies this administration and its apologists are so fond of.
"The militants are weakened, battered, perhaps even desperate, by most U.S. accounts. But far from being ''routed,'' as Defense Secretary Robert Gates claimed last month, they're still there, still deadly active and likely to remain far into the future, military and other officials told The Associated Press."
Why does our military hate America?
Well... Not so much.
The military is, once again, at odds with their civilian overlords and seem somewhat reticent to tell the huge glaring lies this administration and its apologists are so fond of.
"The militants are weakened, battered, perhaps even desperate, by most U.S. accounts. But far from being ''routed,'' as Defense Secretary Robert Gates claimed last month, they're still there, still deadly active and likely to remain far into the future, military and other officials told The Associated Press."
Why does our military hate America?
Trust Us...
Stealing the money destined to help Republicans take back the House is a form of poetic justice too sublime to contemplate.
Thank you Mr. Ward, you are a true patriot.
Go on... guess who else he worked for?
From the Times:
"Mr. Ward was named treasurer of the national Republican committee in 2003 after serving for several years as an assistant treasurer. He had also been a partner in a political consulting firm, Political Compliance Services, that worked in 2004 on behalf of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group behind advertisements attacking the military record of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential nominee."
The republican party, doing only what it knows best, lying and stealing.
Thank you Mr. Ward, you are a true patriot.
Go on... guess who else he worked for?
From the Times:
"Mr. Ward was named treasurer of the national Republican committee in 2003 after serving for several years as an assistant treasurer. He had also been a partner in a political consulting firm, Political Compliance Services, that worked in 2004 on behalf of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group behind advertisements attacking the military record of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential nominee."
The republican party, doing only what it knows best, lying and stealing.
Trouble In Surge Land
The General paints a very different picture of Iraq than the officially sanctioned, MSM, O'Hanlon, wingnuttia version. Must be his 'Blue Period' or some such.
Of course it all ends very upbeat...
Of course it all ends very upbeat...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Our Robust Economy
Retail Sales fell by a whopping 1.1% in February, the largest drop in five years. The Fed pumping $200 billion in to the lending market is really like throwing a pebble into the ocean when you consider the US economy is a $9 trillion behemoth. Which makes yesterdays 400 point rally on Wall Street seem... silly!
(h/t) Atrios, he keeps an eye on these things.
(h/t) Atrios, he keeps an eye on these things.
Red Admiral
The more significant resignation of the week was that of Admiral Fallon. His star began to wane in White House circles as soon as he began to add a little realism to the middle east mix and therefore came into direct conflict with the pie in the sky usually consumed in our corridors of ineptitude.
Just another unpatriotic, unAmerican, hate America first military leader to have his ass canned by those brave fighting men ensconced at 16oo Pennsylvania Avenue.
Just another unpatriotic, unAmerican, hate America first military leader to have his ass canned by those brave fighting men ensconced at 16oo Pennsylvania Avenue.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
FISA Fight Back
The Dems are showing some backbone and some canniness, in the House at least, with regard to the Protect AT&T Act currently slushing around congress.
The question of retroactive amnesty has always been a straw-man, it is really retroactive immunity for this law breaking administration who's wreckless abandonment of updated FISA laws forced the Telco's, perhaps unwittingly, to break the law. However, QWest's legal reading of the administrations requests sets a precedent, they deemed the requested actions illegal, so why did AT&T, Verizon and Sprints legal departments come to a different conclusion? They probably didn't but were promised, probably by Cheney, that some kind of immunity deal could be worked out later.
(h/t) Daily Kos
The question of retroactive amnesty has always been a straw-man, it is really retroactive immunity for this law breaking administration who's wreckless abandonment of updated FISA laws forced the Telco's, perhaps unwittingly, to break the law. However, QWest's legal reading of the administrations requests sets a precedent, they deemed the requested actions illegal, so why did AT&T, Verizon and Sprints legal departments come to a different conclusion? They probably didn't but were promised, probably by Cheney, that some kind of immunity deal could be worked out later.
(h/t) Daily Kos
Outstanding Issues
The wingnuts and their puppetmasters within the administration, and yes even McSame, keep on telling us that the reasons for going to war in Iraq are now moot, old arguments, inconsequential to the fight with Al Qaeda we are currently embroiled in.
But there are a lot of troops in Iraq and a large portion of the population here in the States who firmly believe that we went into Iraq to fight the same people who flew planes in to the world trade center on 9/11 and that Saddam Hussein had assisted in or bankrolled or perhaps even helped plan the dastardly deed.
He, of course, did nothing of the sort and now an exhaustive report, based on 600,000 pieces of information captured after the fall of Saddam and created by the Pentagon (those commies) solidifies and memorializes these facts.
There was no operational ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, none, repeat, none.
There was no 'Al Qaeda in Iraq' until 2004, one year after the invasion...!
You know... at least Rumsfeld had some shred of dignity left and managed to bring his disgraced tenure to an end through humiliating resignation. Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz? All still stinking up the place.
(h/t) Attaturk - DFH
But there are a lot of troops in Iraq and a large portion of the population here in the States who firmly believe that we went into Iraq to fight the same people who flew planes in to the world trade center on 9/11 and that Saddam Hussein had assisted in or bankrolled or perhaps even helped plan the dastardly deed.
He, of course, did nothing of the sort and now an exhaustive report, based on 600,000 pieces of information captured after the fall of Saddam and created by the Pentagon (those commies) solidifies and memorializes these facts.
There was no operational ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, none, repeat, none.
There was no 'Al Qaeda in Iraq' until 2004, one year after the invasion...!
You know... at least Rumsfeld had some shred of dignity left and managed to bring his disgraced tenure to an end through humiliating resignation. Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz? All still stinking up the place.
(h/t) Attaturk - DFH
Taking It A Little Too Hard
Don Esmonde, a man who's feathers are perpetually ruffled, of the Buffalo News takes Spitzer fall from grace pretty hard. I have no idea why anyone would appear to have invested so much blind faith in a politician. He seems to take it too much like a personal affront, maybe he's enjoying his own self righteous indignity. It wouldn't surprise me, I've always thought of Esmonde as a concern troll anyway.
His 'the end of the world' rhetoric does not take into account that the Lt. Governor is a good man and may well champion a lot of the causes Spitzer had initiated.
These people have deadlines, I suppose they have to write something, but he could have waited for the initial shock to subside and given us something a little more even handed and less quixotic.
His 'the end of the world' rhetoric does not take into account that the Lt. Governor is a good man and may well champion a lot of the causes Spitzer had initiated.
These people have deadlines, I suppose they have to write something, but he could have waited for the initial shock to subside and given us something a little more even handed and less quixotic.
Bernanke Goes Long
The Fed throws a whole new load of cash at the credit crisis and Wall St., predictably, smells blood in the water and starts feeding on itself.
It's all very lemminglike really...
It's all very lemminglike really...
Natch...
Another eight young men slaughtered on the streets of Iraq. Of course, one of the arguments, the right is so fond of, is that about the same amount of young people die on the streets of America on any given day. It's a blood curdlingly gruesome and false comparison and always neglects their whole-hearted 2nd Amendment protectionism that promotes the very gun culture that leads to the plethora of violent crimes in our society but that is an argument for another day.
Now, let's look at civilian deaths over the last six years in Iraq, the low end calculation for civilian deaths, the one this administration haplessly utilizes to hide the horrors thrust upon that nation by our occupation, is 160,000 which represents around 1% of the Iraqi population, 1% of the US population is around 3.15 million, divided over six years that would amount to 500,000 violent deaths a year.
Now, let's take the high number which is touted by that august publication the Lancet, a publication by the way that all previous administrations relied upon to report the atrocities of other nations conflicts but this one cannot bring itself to sanction, calculates a possible civilian death toll of 1.2 million or 5% of the Iraqi population. That would equate to 15.75 million violent crimes over the same six year period or 2.62 million deaths a year in the US.
The streets of America are absolutely nothing like the streets of Iraq... period.
Now, let's look at civilian deaths over the last six years in Iraq, the low end calculation for civilian deaths, the one this administration haplessly utilizes to hide the horrors thrust upon that nation by our occupation, is 160,000 which represents around 1% of the Iraqi population, 1% of the US population is around 3.15 million, divided over six years that would amount to 500,000 violent deaths a year.
Now, let's take the high number which is touted by that august publication the Lancet, a publication by the way that all previous administrations relied upon to report the atrocities of other nations conflicts but this one cannot bring itself to sanction, calculates a possible civilian death toll of 1.2 million or 5% of the Iraqi population. That would equate to 15.75 million violent crimes over the same six year period or 2.62 million deaths a year in the US.
The streets of America are absolutely nothing like the streets of Iraq... period.
The Gov. Is Dead, Long Live The Gov.
Paterson appears to be a competent replacement for Client #9. I wish him the best. He has a good relationship with Mayor Brown and seems to have been a bridge builder rather than a crusading angel.
I hope he keeps the pressure on Albany... about the only good thing to come out of the brief Spitzer administration was his relentless pursuit of that jackass Bruno and his obstructionist cronies.
I hope he keeps the pressure on Albany... about the only good thing to come out of the brief Spitzer administration was his relentless pursuit of that jackass Bruno and his obstructionist cronies.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Just Wow...!
I guess he has to go... I was never a big Spitzer fan, people who throw so many stones usually have something to hide (see 9ui11iani) but this is quite shocking.
Obama - Rezko
For those poor saps still laboring under the delusion that Obama somehow profitted from a land deal he did with Tony Rezko, the facts are startlingly banal.
It appears that Obama bought his home for $300,000.00 less than the original asking price, his agent and the owners agent negotiated the deal, they wanted a quick sale and, although they had received another offer the Obama's offer was accepted. The price was the same as the owners had originally paid for the property.
Rezko purchased the adjacent vacant property the same day, this property had been part of the original parcel but the owner had subdivided and insisted on closing the two deals on the same day.
Obama later purchased a strip of the adjacent property - owned by Rezko - and may have overpaid for that parcel of land but not by much.
In the linked interview Obama rues the appearance of impropriety of that land purchase but the purchase of his own home is beyond reproach, it had little or nothing to do with Rezko.
The whole thing is probably indicative only of a thousand or so such deals transacted everyday in America.
What a scandal!
It appears that Obama bought his home for $300,000.00 less than the original asking price, his agent and the owners agent negotiated the deal, they wanted a quick sale and, although they had received another offer the Obama's offer was accepted. The price was the same as the owners had originally paid for the property.
Rezko purchased the adjacent vacant property the same day, this property had been part of the original parcel but the owner had subdivided and insisted on closing the two deals on the same day.
Obama later purchased a strip of the adjacent property - owned by Rezko - and may have overpaid for that parcel of land but not by much.
In the linked interview Obama rues the appearance of impropriety of that land purchase but the purchase of his own home is beyond reproach, it had little or nothing to do with Rezko.
The whole thing is probably indicative only of a thousand or so such deals transacted everyday in America.
What a scandal!
That Surge Thang
Not that this will get much play in the Main Stream Media (I doubt Faux News will spend anymore that a minute on it) but, the surge appears to be unravelling before our very lying eyes.
This attack happened in supposedly subdued Baghdad...
This attack happened in supposedly subdued Baghdad...
Illinois - 14
The Republican congressional district of IL-14, former Speaker of the House Denny Hasterts seat of power for 21 years and a comfortable 56% supporter of Bush in '04 falls into Democratic hands. Nice job Mr. Foster!
The major issues for the constituents of IL-14, the war in Iraq - they hate it - SCHIP - they are appalled at Republican intransigence and BubbleBoys repeated vetos - the economy - what the hell is going on? And, Obama - they like him and they liked that he showed his support for Mr. Foster.
Basically, old school republicans are rejecting the fallacies of neocon Bush rule. It was bound to happen, if we look at the last seven turgid years of Bush rule and the, almost, 14 years of uninterrupted republican control of congress as a petry dish for conservative 'values' we see the markers for an administration and deliberative body consumed by power, corruption, ineptitude, denial and idiocy.
From the disgrace of the Clinton witch-hunt of the nineties, the failures of this administration leading up to 9/11, the deregulation and cowtowing to corporate America, the implementation and ultimate corruption of the K-Street project, the 'I'm a uniter not a divider' obfuscation, the 'Compassionate Conservative' mendacity, the 'Faith Based Initiatives' attack on the separation of church and state, tax cuts for the rich, the stacking of the Supreme Court with right wing ideologues, the Terry Schiavo debacle, the war in Iraq and the bungling of the embarrasingly simplified notion of a global war on terror, the Katrina aftermath of indifference, tacit rascism and federal thumbsucking, the unconstitutional expansion of the unitary executive, the gutting of the Bill of Rights, the illegal spying upon Americans, the crushing of Habeas Corpus, the torture of prisoners some of whom have been released without charges, the institutional rascism and mysogeny of Trent Lott and his merry band of Islam/Asian/Gay/Anyone who doesn't agree with them haters, the disgusting attacks on Americans who oppose(d) the war as the unpatriotic, unAmerican, hate America first crowd, I believe there's more but I'm getting depressed thinking about it, these themes and policies have been perpetuated by a party of idealogues hell bent on repudiating and trashing the last 200 years of American history and progress and to what end?
We have an economy limping along and probably skidding into recession, we have had six years of war in Iraq with no end in sight and with their new candidate happily expecting 100 more years, (this is a war that we may end up spending $3 trillion on but what price security?) Apparently if we withdraw from Iraq we will end up paying more, I'd like to see the numbers associated with that spectacular piece of propaganda. We have $100+ a barrell oil with $4 a gallon gas predicted for the spring and Exxon breaking all records for corporate profits and ethanol, what the heck is with ethanol, it is perhaps the biggest pile of dung ever thrust upon an unsuspecting and obviously gullible nation. We have lost our moral and intellectual lead over the world, the dollar is in the tank, we have record trade deficits, record national debt, homeowners foreclosing at record numbers, an equity loss of perhaps $600 billion and counting, the creeping spectre of unemployment and a healthcare system that is draining not only the pocket books of ordinary Americans (if they can afford it) but is bleeding corporate America.
America... welcome to the sixteenth century republican world where the men eat meat and the women are barefoot and pregnant. A place where superstition, fear and greed drive, normally rational, people to acts of incredible stupidity.
Viva Mr. Foster, the normally rational people may have finally awoken from this collective, republican inspired, nightmare.
The major issues for the constituents of IL-14, the war in Iraq - they hate it - SCHIP - they are appalled at Republican intransigence and BubbleBoys repeated vetos - the economy - what the hell is going on? And, Obama - they like him and they liked that he showed his support for Mr. Foster.
Basically, old school republicans are rejecting the fallacies of neocon Bush rule. It was bound to happen, if we look at the last seven turgid years of Bush rule and the, almost, 14 years of uninterrupted republican control of congress as a petry dish for conservative 'values' we see the markers for an administration and deliberative body consumed by power, corruption, ineptitude, denial and idiocy.
From the disgrace of the Clinton witch-hunt of the nineties, the failures of this administration leading up to 9/11, the deregulation and cowtowing to corporate America, the implementation and ultimate corruption of the K-Street project, the 'I'm a uniter not a divider' obfuscation, the 'Compassionate Conservative' mendacity, the 'Faith Based Initiatives' attack on the separation of church and state, tax cuts for the rich, the stacking of the Supreme Court with right wing ideologues, the Terry Schiavo debacle, the war in Iraq and the bungling of the embarrasingly simplified notion of a global war on terror, the Katrina aftermath of indifference, tacit rascism and federal thumbsucking, the unconstitutional expansion of the unitary executive, the gutting of the Bill of Rights, the illegal spying upon Americans, the crushing of Habeas Corpus, the torture of prisoners some of whom have been released without charges, the institutional rascism and mysogeny of Trent Lott and his merry band of Islam/Asian/Gay/Anyone who doesn't agree with them haters, the disgusting attacks on Americans who oppose(d) the war as the unpatriotic, unAmerican, hate America first crowd, I believe there's more but I'm getting depressed thinking about it, these themes and policies have been perpetuated by a party of idealogues hell bent on repudiating and trashing the last 200 years of American history and progress and to what end?
We have an economy limping along and probably skidding into recession, we have had six years of war in Iraq with no end in sight and with their new candidate happily expecting 100 more years, (this is a war that we may end up spending $3 trillion on but what price security?) Apparently if we withdraw from Iraq we will end up paying more, I'd like to see the numbers associated with that spectacular piece of propaganda. We have $100+ a barrell oil with $4 a gallon gas predicted for the spring and Exxon breaking all records for corporate profits and ethanol, what the heck is with ethanol, it is perhaps the biggest pile of dung ever thrust upon an unsuspecting and obviously gullible nation. We have lost our moral and intellectual lead over the world, the dollar is in the tank, we have record trade deficits, record national debt, homeowners foreclosing at record numbers, an equity loss of perhaps $600 billion and counting, the creeping spectre of unemployment and a healthcare system that is draining not only the pocket books of ordinary Americans (if they can afford it) but is bleeding corporate America.
America... welcome to the sixteenth century republican world where the men eat meat and the women are barefoot and pregnant. A place where superstition, fear and greed drive, normally rational, people to acts of incredible stupidity.
Viva Mr. Foster, the normally rational people may have finally awoken from this collective, republican inspired, nightmare.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Senator Hothead
Crossed by Elizabeth Bumiller of the Times, McBush, McSame, St John of Nowhere In Particular gets a little testy or is that wheezy, it's hard to tell.
McCain almost crossed the floor in 2000 and had in-depth conversations with Tom Daschle on the subject. In 2004 he pondered an offer to be John Kerry's running mate.
McCain, a maverick or a democrat in hawks clothing? Reagan republicans must be chocking on their own bile. Too funny!
McCain almost crossed the floor in 2000 and had in-depth conversations with Tom Daschle on the subject. In 2004 he pondered an offer to be John Kerry's running mate.
McCain, a maverick or a democrat in hawks clothing? Reagan republicans must be chocking on their own bile. Too funny!
The Underpinnings...
We've been taking the word of a 'Gentleman C' MBA that our economomy is strong and we should all just go out there and buy shit and stuff.
Supply-Side economics is like creationism, it lacks any empirical basis in scientific fact and is in fact an illusion foist upon unsuspecting souls as a way of conning them out of either their money or their grey matter.
The rich will always get richer, they do not need help from government in the form of tax cut hand outs, the people who need the help, and in turn would help stimulate the economy, the middle classes, will always get shafted by supply side, trickle-down mumbo jumbo. It never trickles down, I mean how could it when most of it has been moved off-shore.
The ignorant will always be ignorant as long as organized religion insists upon it and our government tacitly assists them by giving credence to whatever snakeoil they are selling this week.
Your FUBAR republican party at work... feed the rich, starve the poor.
Supply-Side economics is like creationism, it lacks any empirical basis in scientific fact and is in fact an illusion foist upon unsuspecting souls as a way of conning them out of either their money or their grey matter.
The rich will always get richer, they do not need help from government in the form of tax cut hand outs, the people who need the help, and in turn would help stimulate the economy, the middle classes, will always get shafted by supply side, trickle-down mumbo jumbo. It never trickles down, I mean how could it when most of it has been moved off-shore.
The ignorant will always be ignorant as long as organized religion insists upon it and our government tacitly assists them by giving credence to whatever snakeoil they are selling this week.
Your FUBAR republican party at work... feed the rich, starve the poor.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Vive Le Surge
54 dead in Baghdad today, a further 123 injured, in two bombings.
If the security situation worsens, and February was a very bad month with death totals equalling those of 2006, what do we do? I know we have no Plan B, they've already told us as much.
If the security situation worsens, and February was a very bad month with death totals equalling those of 2006, what do we do? I know we have no Plan B, they've already told us as much.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Speaking Of Pragmatism
It appears there is a chink in our shield, those damn socialists in the Czech Republic don't want our radar installations, the noive!
That's going to make installing the ten (10) missiles in Poland somewhat difficult.
The money quote:
"Paroubek said he would not run in the next election due in 2010 alongside any deputy that would break ranks and vote for the radar. The Social Democrats have 71 members of parliament.
"The (military) base simply is not necessary. There is no threat from Iran and if it exists one day, then we modify our political approach," Paroubek told a news conference."
Imagine... modifying ones 'political approach' based on the threat level, what a novel concept!
Those 'old Europeans' still appear pretty savvy...
That's going to make installing the ten (10) missiles in Poland somewhat difficult.
The money quote:
"Paroubek said he would not run in the next election due in 2010 alongside any deputy that would break ranks and vote for the radar. The Social Democrats have 71 members of parliament.
"The (military) base simply is not necessary. There is no threat from Iran and if it exists one day, then we modify our political approach," Paroubek told a news conference."
Imagine... modifying ones 'political approach' based on the threat level, what a novel concept!
Those 'old Europeans' still appear pretty savvy...
Dumb & Dumber
The headline is 'McCain Set To Win Bush Endorsement'. I'm sorry but who else is Bush going to endorse?
Bush I, Bush II, McBush I, it's the circle of life... republican style.
Sorry I can't believe I used the words republican and style in the same sentence, I promise, dear reader, it will never happen again.
Bush I, Bush II, McBush I, it's the circle of life... republican style.
Sorry I can't believe I used the words republican and style in the same sentence, I promise, dear reader, it will never happen again.
Good Riddance
I grew up with Ian Paisley on my TV, I grew up with the 'Troubles' and Bloody Sunday and pub bombings, shopping centers (malls to you yanks) being evacuated and motorbike death squads and young British soldiers being exploded by dark swarthy terrorists in the middle of the night. Seems however much I am removed from that life it's remnants and memories sustain. Paisley is such a remnant and memory, his grey suits and dog collar, the apoplectic delivery, the armagh-geddon rhetoric and the condoning of brutal reprisals, I remember it all, I was as frightened by him as I was the IRA in their balaclavas, NATO jackets, guns thrust in the air as another martyr was buried with full 'military' honors.
The catholic 'martyr' likely died in a shit stained cell after brutal beatings and interrogations by the protestant RUC, at the time it was a story mostly left untold until a more enlightened era, that Paisley was a brutal warmongering sociopath was also, mostly, left unsaid and as much as Gerry Adams was/is the political face of the IRA an ultra Irish Nationalist criminal enterprise, Paisley was the political face of the UDR or UDF both ultra Unionist/Nationalist criminal enterprises. As I grew older and began to understand the dynamics of the "Irish Problem" I always snorted indignantly as Paisley repudiated Adams for his ties to the IRA while denying his own ties to organised violence. After all Paisley was a man of god he could not condone violence, he said, but look into his black lying eyes and you saw another man of god, using his ordained grace to wield the power of life and death over his minions and his enemies alike.
Only later in his life did Paisley show one ounce of humanity, he ratified the accord that would bring a tenuous but, so far, lasting peace to both the North and South of Ireland. Maybe I'm naive in thinking that his concience finally caught up with him and he realized there had to be peace or whether he looked around him and saw the writing on the wall for him and his political ilk and ceded power to the more pragmatic approach necessary to guarantee Unionist survival.
Either way... Paisley, stay retired.
The catholic 'martyr' likely died in a shit stained cell after brutal beatings and interrogations by the protestant RUC, at the time it was a story mostly left untold until a more enlightened era, that Paisley was a brutal warmongering sociopath was also, mostly, left unsaid and as much as Gerry Adams was/is the political face of the IRA an ultra Irish Nationalist criminal enterprise, Paisley was the political face of the UDR or UDF both ultra Unionist/Nationalist criminal enterprises. As I grew older and began to understand the dynamics of the "Irish Problem" I always snorted indignantly as Paisley repudiated Adams for his ties to the IRA while denying his own ties to organised violence. After all Paisley was a man of god he could not condone violence, he said, but look into his black lying eyes and you saw another man of god, using his ordained grace to wield the power of life and death over his minions and his enemies alike.
Only later in his life did Paisley show one ounce of humanity, he ratified the accord that would bring a tenuous but, so far, lasting peace to both the North and South of Ireland. Maybe I'm naive in thinking that his concience finally caught up with him and he realized there had to be peace or whether he looked around him and saw the writing on the wall for him and his political ilk and ceded power to the more pragmatic approach necessary to guarantee Unionist survival.
Either way... Paisley, stay retired.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Stating The Obvious
Reading this, it sounds like Odierno has absolutely no idea what he is talking about...
Iran, a shiite theocracy, is backing Iraqi shiite militias, OK. One of which, the Mahdi Army, recently extended its cease fire, the other, the Badr Corp, is pretty much an extension of the official Iraqi government being allied to SCIRI of which Al Maliki, the Prime Minister, is its representative.
Odierno says that shiites are responsible for most of the bombing going on in Baghdad but if you read the news reports the bombs tend to go off in Shiite market places or are directly aimed at shiite government officials, so my guess would be that it is probably Sunnis doing the bombing.
Where does this leave Al Qaeda? Al Qaeda are Sunni fundamentalists and as far as they are concerned shiites are heretics, now, some of the weapons leaking across the Iranian border may well end up in Sunni hands, probably exchanged for the good old yankee dollar, but Iran would never train a Sunni and vice versa.
Odierno insists on calling shiite militias insurgents, this is demonstrably false, the insurgency is fueled and lead by Sunnis not shiites, so let's get the message straight Lt. Gen. Odierno, the shiites are in power and therefore cannot, by definition, be insurgent.
He does let the cat out of the bag a little with this statement beginning with the false inference that iran is supporting insurgents:
''We have no doubt they are still supporting insurgents,'' said Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the former No. 2 military commander in Iraq, at a Pentagon press conference. Asked if that was the greatest threat to stability in Iraq, he said, ''If you ask me what I worry about most, I do worry about that as a long-term threat. And I think we have to, you know, constantly watch it.''
Iran is not supporting insurgents... it is arming and training shiite militias for the inevitable civil war with the disenfranchised Sunnis and that is what Odierno is worried about 'long term'.
So quit the fricking double-speak and tell the truth.
Iran, a shiite theocracy, is backing Iraqi shiite militias, OK. One of which, the Mahdi Army, recently extended its cease fire, the other, the Badr Corp, is pretty much an extension of the official Iraqi government being allied to SCIRI of which Al Maliki, the Prime Minister, is its representative.
Odierno says that shiites are responsible for most of the bombing going on in Baghdad but if you read the news reports the bombs tend to go off in Shiite market places or are directly aimed at shiite government officials, so my guess would be that it is probably Sunnis doing the bombing.
Where does this leave Al Qaeda? Al Qaeda are Sunni fundamentalists and as far as they are concerned shiites are heretics, now, some of the weapons leaking across the Iranian border may well end up in Sunni hands, probably exchanged for the good old yankee dollar, but Iran would never train a Sunni and vice versa.
Odierno insists on calling shiite militias insurgents, this is demonstrably false, the insurgency is fueled and lead by Sunnis not shiites, so let's get the message straight Lt. Gen. Odierno, the shiites are in power and therefore cannot, by definition, be insurgent.
He does let the cat out of the bag a little with this statement beginning with the false inference that iran is supporting insurgents:
''We have no doubt they are still supporting insurgents,'' said Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the former No. 2 military commander in Iraq, at a Pentagon press conference. Asked if that was the greatest threat to stability in Iraq, he said, ''If you ask me what I worry about most, I do worry about that as a long-term threat. And I think we have to, you know, constantly watch it.''
Iran is not supporting insurgents... it is arming and training shiite militias for the inevitable civil war with the disenfranchised Sunnis and that is what Odierno is worried about 'long term'.
So quit the fricking double-speak and tell the truth.
Hey... Condi's Back In Town
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse in the Middle East, especially between Israel and Palestine, Hamas and Fatah, Condi turns up to add her special kinda diplomacy to the sitchuwashian...
Of course, the fact that she and her idiot savant twin (That's the 'Deciderer' to you) caused this clusterf**k and it is all over the pages of Vanity Fair fills me with huge confidence that her visit will be just fantastic.
"[Palestinian national-security adviser Muhammad] Dahlan says he warned his friends in the Bush administration that Fatah still wasn’t ready for elections in January. Decades of self-preservationist rule by Arafat had turned the party into a symbol of corruption and inefficiency—a perception Hamas found it easy to exploit. Splits within Fatah weakened its position further: in many places, a single Hamas candidate ran against several from Fatah.
“Everyone was against the elections,” Dahlan says. Everyone except Bush. “Bush decided, ‘I need an election. I want elections in the Palestinian Authority.’ Everyone is following him in the American administration, and everyone is nagging Abbas, telling him, ‘The president wants elections.’ Fine. For what purpose?”
The elections went forward as scheduled. On January 25, Hamas won 56 percent of the seats in the Legislative Council.
Few inside the U.S. administration had predicted the result, and there was no contingency plan to deal with it. “I’ve asked why nobody saw it coming,” Condoleezza Rice told reporters. “I don’t know anyone who wasn’t caught off guard by Hamas’s strong showing.”
“Everyone blamed everyone else,” says an official with the Department of Defense. “We sat there in the Pentagon and said, ‘Who the fuck recommended this?’”"
(h/t Attaturk)
Awe inspiring huh!
Update: Abbas rejects continued peace talks... for now.
"Rejectionists"?
''Negotiations are going to have to be able to withstand the efforts of rejectionists to upset them, to create chaos and violence, so that people react by deciding not to negotiate, '' Rice said in Egypt at the start of two days of Mideast meetings overshadowed by the Gaza crisis. ''That's the game of those who don't want to see a Palestinian state established.''
She finished the presser by stating "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some shopping to do"
Priorities...
Of course, the fact that she and her idiot savant twin (That's the 'Deciderer' to you) caused this clusterf**k and it is all over the pages of Vanity Fair fills me with huge confidence that her visit will be just fantastic.
"[Palestinian national-security adviser Muhammad] Dahlan says he warned his friends in the Bush administration that Fatah still wasn’t ready for elections in January. Decades of self-preservationist rule by Arafat had turned the party into a symbol of corruption and inefficiency—a perception Hamas found it easy to exploit. Splits within Fatah weakened its position further: in many places, a single Hamas candidate ran against several from Fatah.
“Everyone was against the elections,” Dahlan says. Everyone except Bush. “Bush decided, ‘I need an election. I want elections in the Palestinian Authority.’ Everyone is following him in the American administration, and everyone is nagging Abbas, telling him, ‘The president wants elections.’ Fine. For what purpose?”
The elections went forward as scheduled. On January 25, Hamas won 56 percent of the seats in the Legislative Council.
Few inside the U.S. administration had predicted the result, and there was no contingency plan to deal with it. “I’ve asked why nobody saw it coming,” Condoleezza Rice told reporters. “I don’t know anyone who wasn’t caught off guard by Hamas’s strong showing.”
“Everyone blamed everyone else,” says an official with the Department of Defense. “We sat there in the Pentagon and said, ‘Who the fuck recommended this?’”"
(h/t Attaturk)
Awe inspiring huh!
Update: Abbas rejects continued peace talks... for now.
"Rejectionists"?
''Negotiations are going to have to be able to withstand the efforts of rejectionists to upset them, to create chaos and violence, so that people react by deciding not to negotiate, '' Rice said in Egypt at the start of two days of Mideast meetings overshadowed by the Gaza crisis. ''That's the game of those who don't want to see a Palestinian state established.''
She finished the presser by stating "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some shopping to do"
Priorities...
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.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Blind Eye
You know... a billion here a couple billion there, pretty soon we're talking some pretty serious Ka-ching.
Seems as long as the boy was in the black, le nabob du banque were willing to look the other way with regard to Monsieur Kerviel's rather large gambling problem.
Seems as long as the boy was in the black, le nabob du banque were willing to look the other way with regard to Monsieur Kerviel's rather large gambling problem.
Chump
Rudy 9ui11iani's campaign has finally come to the grinding halt most had been predicting the last few weeks. And, not for nothing, I could not be more pleased. For sheer cynical exploitation of a single meme his campaign will go down in history, for sheer arrogant delusion it will also go down in history as one of the worst campaigns ever foisted upon this great nation.
Rudy and his advisers showed their complete misunderstanding of the mood of the American people, we're sick of fear Rudy, we've had seven long years of first hand crap from Bush why would we want second hand crap from you?
Judy must be freeeeaking!
Warning: Some of Attaturks postings may not be suitable for small children, small furry friends and rightwing snarkophobes.
Rudy and his advisers showed their complete misunderstanding of the mood of the American people, we're sick of fear Rudy, we've had seven long years of first hand crap from Bush why would we want second hand crap from you?
Judy must be freeeeaking!
Warning: Some of Attaturks postings may not be suitable for small children, small furry friends and rightwing snarkophobes.
In The Mixed
What this report really suggests is that the economic outlook is 'mixed' and noboby really knows what is going to happen next. Which is, for the most part, the worst kind of economy to be in... bears and bulls wandering around in a field unsure as to what to do next. The Fed will cut interest rates again by .5%, the market will clap heartily and ignore the 0.6% growth figure for Q4 2007 afterall, they've been heartily ignoring most bad economic indicators for a year now. What do they care about the economic well being of our nation as long as they can squeeze a buck or two out of the market!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Breaking Them In Two
If the polling can be believed, in Florida, and that is a big if, then we are clearly down to a two horse race in the Repuglican presidential nominating process. Both St. McCain and Willard 'Mitt' Romney have problems coming out of Florida and into Super Tuesday on February 5th and, as a lot of observers have remarked, those problems afflict both front runners.
McCain is despised by a majority of his own party, he is considered too liberal by half, even though he has an 82% conservative voting record, and perhaps just a tad too 'maverick' for his own good. His support for both 'comprehensive' immigration reform (Amnesty) and campaign finance reform irritate the base to no end. Obviously he is a foreign policy hawk and that remains the one abiding factor in his pandering to the extreme right of his party but this must alienate the now left leaning independents who have traditionally vascillated between a moderate republican or centrist democrat and have always expressed the warm and fuzzies for 'The Straight Talk Express' however, the Iraq war remains unpopular and will become a bigger issue as we near November. They were bitten twice by Bush and his supposed 'uniter not a divider', 'compassionate conservative' obfuscation, I doubt they will be so tolerant or gullible again. So where does that leave McCain if he can't rely on independents and centrist democrats as a safety valve as we head into the closed primaries? His strength may lie in his opponent.
Romney is without doubt the most vaccuous candidate left standing and his problems are compounded by a faith that the christianists firmly believe is a devil-worshipping cult and it doesn't matter what Mitt says about it they will never be moved from that stance. Mitt is a flip-flopper extraordinaire and that has not gone unnoticed and the longer this thing goes on and he is still in the race and the MSM takes it's traditional position up McCain's butt then Romney is in for one helluva rollercoater ride into ignomy and self-immolation. Unlike Huckabee, who can hide his private prejudices and most vitriolic beliefs behind the shroud of his ministry, Romney's past positions are there for all to see and read and when the base gets hold of them and the MSM magnifies his self serving dalliances with progressive policy positions, coupled with the whole poisonous LDS pile, he's toast.
So it looks like McCain... now, when that reality sinks in with the base, things could get real interesting.
McCain is despised by a majority of his own party, he is considered too liberal by half, even though he has an 82% conservative voting record, and perhaps just a tad too 'maverick' for his own good. His support for both 'comprehensive' immigration reform (Amnesty) and campaign finance reform irritate the base to no end. Obviously he is a foreign policy hawk and that remains the one abiding factor in his pandering to the extreme right of his party but this must alienate the now left leaning independents who have traditionally vascillated between a moderate republican or centrist democrat and have always expressed the warm and fuzzies for 'The Straight Talk Express' however, the Iraq war remains unpopular and will become a bigger issue as we near November. They were bitten twice by Bush and his supposed 'uniter not a divider', 'compassionate conservative' obfuscation, I doubt they will be so tolerant or gullible again. So where does that leave McCain if he can't rely on independents and centrist democrats as a safety valve as we head into the closed primaries? His strength may lie in his opponent.
Romney is without doubt the most vaccuous candidate left standing and his problems are compounded by a faith that the christianists firmly believe is a devil-worshipping cult and it doesn't matter what Mitt says about it they will never be moved from that stance. Mitt is a flip-flopper extraordinaire and that has not gone unnoticed and the longer this thing goes on and he is still in the race and the MSM takes it's traditional position up McCain's butt then Romney is in for one helluva rollercoater ride into ignomy and self-immolation. Unlike Huckabee, who can hide his private prejudices and most vitriolic beliefs behind the shroud of his ministry, Romney's past positions are there for all to see and read and when the base gets hold of them and the MSM magnifies his self serving dalliances with progressive policy positions, coupled with the whole poisonous LDS pile, he's toast.
So it looks like McCain... now, when that reality sinks in with the base, things could get real interesting.
The Bush "Boom"
Ezra gives excellent graph and has an excellent argument as the economy comes front and center, not only in the presidential primaries but, as one of the Chimperor's myths/legacies. You see his royal Bushness has presided over a period of growth second only to his father in 'gradualness'. Now one may argue that Bush 43 had 9/11 to contend with, therefore his economic achievements may have been hampered, however, 9/11 happened seven long years ago, more than enough time to readjust to the new realities and challenges posed by those trying times. And, it has been four or five years now of Bush touting the underlying strength of our economy, he used it as a bludgeon against Kerry, if I remember rightly. So let's see where he stacks up shall we:
Damn those statistics eh!
Damn those statistics eh!
Friday, January 25, 2008
'Creative Capitalism'
Although some of my friends would brand me a socialist or even a Trotskyite, I am neither. I believe in capitalism, free markets and progressive globalism, so there! However, capitalism, for me, should not be a one way street where all that is good about an expanding economy, wealth creation and technological advancement ends up benefitting only the few with only nominal and shrinking revenue streams affecting the many. I am a Keynesian when it comes to economic policy and that derives from the strength of that theory, wherein Government and the Private Sector can work in combination for the good of all the people, rich and poor. That one regulates the other is as it should be, what we see today is a direct result of deregulation and a free market run amok, unable or unwilling to constrain or protect itself from the ravages of its own greed and excess.
Bill Gates echoes some of my sentiments in his speech in Davos... but does not go so far as to imagine how one would shape such reconstruction.
Right now, corporate America, supply-side economics and this administration's complex interwoven relationship and adoration for the two, rather than tax codes and regulation, is stifling the intellectual and creative engine that has powered this country to greatness. Right now we are merely tinkering with known technologies, enhancing and repackaging known commodities. The few areas that could provide exciting new industries and exponential growth opportunities are considered too expensive or described as futuristic or just plain cooky! Why?
So, where and when does the next Bill Gates explode on to the scene? Perhaps, as noted by one of my commenters, he is in China or India and what does that say about this country? Only that greed and fear has finally damped the creative fires essential in keeping this country at the vanguard of prosperity. Also, the Chinese and Indian economies are not instinctually innovative rather they are immitative, much less likely to provide the next big thing but find a way to mass produce the next big thing for margins we cannot hope to compete with.
Maybe he will come from old, tired Europe... crikey! Then we'll be in trouble!
Bill Gates echoes some of my sentiments in his speech in Davos... but does not go so far as to imagine how one would shape such reconstruction.
Right now, corporate America, supply-side economics and this administration's complex interwoven relationship and adoration for the two, rather than tax codes and regulation, is stifling the intellectual and creative engine that has powered this country to greatness. Right now we are merely tinkering with known technologies, enhancing and repackaging known commodities. The few areas that could provide exciting new industries and exponential growth opportunities are considered too expensive or described as futuristic or just plain cooky! Why?
So, where and when does the next Bill Gates explode on to the scene? Perhaps, as noted by one of my commenters, he is in China or India and what does that say about this country? Only that greed and fear has finally damped the creative fires essential in keeping this country at the vanguard of prosperity. Also, the Chinese and Indian economies are not instinctually innovative rather they are immitative, much less likely to provide the next big thing but find a way to mass produce the next big thing for margins we cannot hope to compete with.
Maybe he will come from old, tired Europe... crikey! Then we'll be in trouble!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Last Of Her Kind
I cannot imagine what it must feel like to be the last of your kind, it must be a very lonely and unsettling place with only memories surviving to warm the heart. I remember seeing Ms. Jones on TV a few years ago, I can't remember the show, maybe it was a National Geographic or a Nova, it doesn't matter, I just remember being very affected by her and her story.
So, today, the last 'Eyak' of Alaska passed away at the age of 89 but, Ms. Jones has left a legacy, her language has been preserved and through her passing perhaps more light may be shed on the many races facing a similar fate.
So, today, the last 'Eyak' of Alaska passed away at the age of 89 but, Ms. Jones has left a legacy, her language has been preserved and through her passing perhaps more light may be shed on the many races facing a similar fate.
Stimulating, Isn't It!
Republicans, at least the ones I know, are always going on about the almighty market and it's ability to overcome all the ills of the world. The market place will take care of this and the market place will take care of that, as long as we decrease regulation, let the full force of the market spread it's wealth across the breadth of the economy. The market will weed out the weak, enrich the strong and provide everlasting dividends to those brave enough and wealthy enough to swim in its languid pools of prosperity and largesse.
Republicans, at least the ones I know, are always complaining about the welfare state and 'hand outs' to the poor being a drag on the economy. Let each person be responsible for their own destiny they cry, the American economy should not be expected to look after it's young, it's poor, it's despondent and it's sick, we cannot afford 'socialized' medicine, social security is anethema to the free market spirit and unbridled capitalist nature of the American psyche.
Republicans, at least the ones I know, believe that every American should be welcomed into the 'ownership society', we should own our homes and have a vested position in the corporate behemoths who only have our best interests at heart.
Republicans, at least the ones I know, believe that creating individual wealth is all that matters and in the creation of that wealth the individual will be able to constantly attain the trappings of wealth where one no longer has to worry about health care costs, I can afford the best. Education, I send my child to the best private school I can afford. Housing, I'm selling the McMansion for another much bigger one. Social security, I'm not worried about retirement I have a portfolio that will provide more cash than I will ever be able to spend.
But those people are not representative of the 98% of Americans who rely on Government to help fill in missing parts of the American Dream that blood, sweat and tears cannot alone provide. And, they are looking at what is going on right now and probably thinking... what the f*** is going on?
Republicans, at least the ones I know, are always complaining about the welfare state and 'hand outs' to the poor being a drag on the economy. Let each person be responsible for their own destiny they cry, the American economy should not be expected to look after it's young, it's poor, it's despondent and it's sick, we cannot afford 'socialized' medicine, social security is anethema to the free market spirit and unbridled capitalist nature of the American psyche.
Republicans, at least the ones I know, believe that every American should be welcomed into the 'ownership society', we should own our homes and have a vested position in the corporate behemoths who only have our best interests at heart.
Republicans, at least the ones I know, believe that creating individual wealth is all that matters and in the creation of that wealth the individual will be able to constantly attain the trappings of wealth where one no longer has to worry about health care costs, I can afford the best. Education, I send my child to the best private school I can afford. Housing, I'm selling the McMansion for another much bigger one. Social security, I'm not worried about retirement I have a portfolio that will provide more cash than I will ever be able to spend.
But those people are not representative of the 98% of Americans who rely on Government to help fill in missing parts of the American Dream that blood, sweat and tears cannot alone provide. And, they are looking at what is going on right now and probably thinking... what the f*** is going on?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
965 Lies
I knew they were lying a lot back in those heady days leading up to the invasion of Iraq, one needed only to browse a European web site or read a Knight-Ridder report to find the truth, but I had no idea of the scale of the collective mendacity emanating from the White House in their successful attempt to bamboozle congress and the American people.
Many good people swallowed it whole and even now refuse to accept that their elected officials - Bush/Cheney and their cabal of co-conspirators, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, Wolfowitz etc. etc. - could be capable of such blatant lying. Many continue to believe that WMD was found or moved to Syria or is yet to be discovered, they belive that Saddam was in direct talks with Osama Bin Laden and ready at a moments notice to deliver the ficticious WMD to Osama for use in his terror operations against the West - it's hard to deliver what you don't have - many still believe that Saddam had an established nuclear program and US cities would evaporate in a mushroom cloud - I still have no idea how he was going to deliver those ficticious nuclear warheads to US cities, maybe in a suitcase or by FedEx or some otherwise dastardly way, it certainly wasn't by one of his rockets, they were found to be not much more than glorified roman candles. Many still cling to the proof offered by mobile biological labs and viles of anthrax, chemically tipped munitions and confirmed meetings in Prague. It's all complete and utter hogwash.
Now, even the most ardent, ideologically saturated supporter of this administration is entitled to their opinion and even entitled to write misleading, factually incorrect, wholly unsupported screeds in whatever medium they chose for their equally dillusional bretheren but the evidence that we were lied to repeatedly by people we had put our ultimate trust in is incontravirtable.
That several other governments and elements within their intelligence agencies agreed with the ass hats in our White House is not a defence, it is merely further proof of a conspiracy against truth perpetrated by the lot of them.
That Saddam was a bad man, yes he was. Is the world a safer place without him? I see no evidence to support that either. It's just another lie...
Many good people swallowed it whole and even now refuse to accept that their elected officials - Bush/Cheney and their cabal of co-conspirators, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, Wolfowitz etc. etc. - could be capable of such blatant lying. Many continue to believe that WMD was found or moved to Syria or is yet to be discovered, they belive that Saddam was in direct talks with Osama Bin Laden and ready at a moments notice to deliver the ficticious WMD to Osama for use in his terror operations against the West - it's hard to deliver what you don't have - many still believe that Saddam had an established nuclear program and US cities would evaporate in a mushroom cloud - I still have no idea how he was going to deliver those ficticious nuclear warheads to US cities, maybe in a suitcase or by FedEx or some otherwise dastardly way, it certainly wasn't by one of his rockets, they were found to be not much more than glorified roman candles. Many still cling to the proof offered by mobile biological labs and viles of anthrax, chemically tipped munitions and confirmed meetings in Prague. It's all complete and utter hogwash.
Now, even the most ardent, ideologically saturated supporter of this administration is entitled to their opinion and even entitled to write misleading, factually incorrect, wholly unsupported screeds in whatever medium they chose for their equally dillusional bretheren but the evidence that we were lied to repeatedly by people we had put our ultimate trust in is incontravirtable.
That several other governments and elements within their intelligence agencies agreed with the ass hats in our White House is not a defence, it is merely further proof of a conspiracy against truth perpetrated by the lot of them.
That Saddam was a bad man, yes he was. Is the world a safer place without him? I see no evidence to support that either. It's just another lie...
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Not So Long Goodbye
Fred Thompson, that rascally rabscallian, the great white hope of the republican party, the aqua velva candidate, the only cure for insomnia I have ever known, drops out of the presidential race.
I guess he stayed in long enough to get McCain past the Huckster in SC. I'm sure that was the plan...
Go now Fred
to Jeri's bosom
and other toys
It's HaiKu baby...
I guess he stayed in long enough to get McCain past the Huckster in SC. I'm sure that was the plan...
Go now Fred
to Jeri's bosom
and other toys
It's HaiKu baby...
Padilla
Even though I am not completely convinced by the governments evidence in this case - considering they have modified their accusations multiple times, dropped charges, stalled in providing defence council the evidence or flat out denied them access, certainly tortured this man and denied him his rights under the constitution until such time as they could no longer support their position and having finally been forced to bring him into the civilian courts against their will - he was at least tried in a court of law and given due process.
He has been found guilty and has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for 'conspiracy' which is a lot different from destroying Chicago with a self-built 'Dirty Bomb' as proclaimed by John Ashcroft at the time of Padillas arrest.
A lot of people may say f*** him, he was a bad boy before all of this, even the Times article refers to his nefarious background in the gangs of Chicago and his long criminal record despite the fact it had nothing to do with the governments case, but no citizen of this country deserves to be treated the way this man was, regardless of the alleged crime. We are a nation of laws whether we are at war or not and once we start bending and manipulating those laws, in an attempt at providing cheap propaganda victories, then, we are no better than the enemy who supposedly is intent on defeating our way of life.
He has been found guilty and has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for 'conspiracy' which is a lot different from destroying Chicago with a self-built 'Dirty Bomb' as proclaimed by John Ashcroft at the time of Padillas arrest.
A lot of people may say f*** him, he was a bad boy before all of this, even the Times article refers to his nefarious background in the gangs of Chicago and his long criminal record despite the fact it had nothing to do with the governments case, but no citizen of this country deserves to be treated the way this man was, regardless of the alleged crime. We are a nation of laws whether we are at war or not and once we start bending and manipulating those laws, in an attempt at providing cheap propaganda victories, then, we are no better than the enemy who supposedly is intent on defeating our way of life.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Pro Life-Support
Has it struck any of Fred Thompson's campaign staff that, perhaps, a large proportion of his supporters may not be 'alive' to vote in November?
Just saying...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Flush After Use
The question is, are we in a recession now, not, are we approaching a recession. The question of how mild or serious a recession it will be is the last part of the debate and if the Fed or this administration, along with Congress, doesn't act soon we should have an answer for that question imminently.
Inflation is rising and two thirds of the economy (consumers) are slowing down their spending.
The banking industry is in complete turmoil and selling out to foreign investors, mostly the Chinese central bank and arab kings and emirs flush with petro-dollars.
The housing market has tanked, foreclosures continue at record pace and house prices are declining quicker than you can say 'subprime'.
All in all, this is pretty reflective of Bush's business years, he couldn't find oil in Texas, he used other peoples money to run a baseball operation (that sold Sammy Sosa before he was Sammy Sosa) and was installed in the Governors mansion in Austen just to keep him out of trouble, Texas governor being the most powerless, titular and ceremonial governorship in the Union.
It's the work of 'Gentlemen C MBA's' and it's starting to tell.
Inflation is rising and two thirds of the economy (consumers) are slowing down their spending.
The banking industry is in complete turmoil and selling out to foreign investors, mostly the Chinese central bank and arab kings and emirs flush with petro-dollars.
The housing market has tanked, foreclosures continue at record pace and house prices are declining quicker than you can say 'subprime'.
All in all, this is pretty reflective of Bush's business years, he couldn't find oil in Texas, he used other peoples money to run a baseball operation (that sold Sammy Sosa before he was Sammy Sosa) and was installed in the Governors mansion in Austen just to keep him out of trouble, Texas governor being the most powerless, titular and ceremonial governorship in the Union.
It's the work of 'Gentlemen C MBA's' and it's starting to tell.
Betray Us
Right now, in Iraq, the US military is doing the exact same thing as is now backfiring in Pakistan.
Forming and arming loose coalitions with 'Awakening Councils' who will swap allegiances like young lovers swap spit.
One of the big problems with this administration is it's seeming inability to learn from history or accept new realities when confronted by them. They have a myopic, unchallengeable perception of their own invincibility, their own intelligence and their own self perpetuating myth.
They are not gods, they are men and they are consistently and inscrutably wrong all of the time. They refuse to learn from history, prefering to revise it or conjour a rhetorical or literal untruth and pronounce it historic.
Forming and arming loose coalitions with 'Awakening Councils' who will swap allegiances like young lovers swap spit.
One of the big problems with this administration is it's seeming inability to learn from history or accept new realities when confronted by them. They have a myopic, unchallengeable perception of their own invincibility, their own intelligence and their own self perpetuating myth.
They are not gods, they are men and they are consistently and inscrutably wrong all of the time. They refuse to learn from history, prefering to revise it or conjour a rhetorical or literal untruth and pronounce it historic.
No One Could Have Imagined...
... back in 2003 that we would be in Iraq for at least 15 years. I remember Cheney and Wolfie and Rummey and Willie "The Bloody" Kristol and the rest of the preposterous, warmongering blowhards at AEI and Heritage telling us we would be greeted as liberators, the fighting would dissipate quickly, it would pay for itself and we would be out of there within months.
Ah... the heady days of 2003, shock and awe, WMD, mushroom clouds, Iraqi links to Al Qaeda, freedom on the march, mission accomplished, all sweet memories.
How seriously has this country been misled by the 'serious' men in and out of this administration, those starry eyed, rosie cheeked arbiters of American patriotism and American exceptionalism, I would say very, very seriously.
"President Bush has never given a date for a military withdrawal from Iraq but has repeatedly said that American forces would stand down as Iraqi forces stand up. Given Mr. Qadir’s assessment of Iraq’s military capabilities on Monday, such a withdrawal appeared to be quite distant, and further away than any American officials have previously stated in public."
NYT - January 15, 2008
But don't worry folks, the surge is working, everything will be fine, freedom and democracy can get a little messy but we're in the home stretch, just 10 more years to go and this whole Iraqi fiasco will be worth it. We'll look back on these days and laugh, phew! That was close for a minute there huh?
Ask yourself, how many trillions of dollars will we have poured into Iraq by then, how many more of our finest and bravest will have died or been brutally injured and how different will the middle east look in another ten years?
I for one can't get my head around the enormity of ten more years of this crap.
Ah... the heady days of 2003, shock and awe, WMD, mushroom clouds, Iraqi links to Al Qaeda, freedom on the march, mission accomplished, all sweet memories.
How seriously has this country been misled by the 'serious' men in and out of this administration, those starry eyed, rosie cheeked arbiters of American patriotism and American exceptionalism, I would say very, very seriously.
"President Bush has never given a date for a military withdrawal from Iraq but has repeatedly said that American forces would stand down as Iraqi forces stand up. Given Mr. Qadir’s assessment of Iraq’s military capabilities on Monday, such a withdrawal appeared to be quite distant, and further away than any American officials have previously stated in public."
NYT - January 15, 2008
But don't worry folks, the surge is working, everything will be fine, freedom and democracy can get a little messy but we're in the home stretch, just 10 more years to go and this whole Iraqi fiasco will be worth it. We'll look back on these days and laugh, phew! That was close for a minute there huh?
Ask yourself, how many trillions of dollars will we have poured into Iraq by then, how many more of our finest and bravest will have died or been brutally injured and how different will the middle east look in another ten years?
I for one can't get my head around the enormity of ten more years of this crap.
Monday, January 14, 2008
The Power Of Denial
Bush, although not entirely rubbishing the NIE on Iran, rubbishes the NIE on Iran and who to? Why Olmert of course, that other sane, 'serious' leader adamantly opposed to reality. Isn't it striking that Bush has spent a week in the middle east, fluffing despots, stroking kings and emirs and soothing Israeli nationalists whilst espousing the beneficial effects of freedom and democracy. That neither freedom nor democracy are available to any citizen of the middle east, with the exception of fortress Israel, and probably won't be for a very long time, who do you think his audience really was, why, it's us shmucks back in the Good 'Ol US of A of course. This is about this idiots legacy, he's pulling out all the stops for one last push at creating something, anything approaching a positive for his two terms of ineptitude, incompetence and betrayal.
I'll willingly cede to the idea that Iran is a sponsor of state terrorism with their links to Hezbollah and possibly Hamas, that they have fostered an antagonistic attitude toward their immediate neighbors and the West and that they continue to be ruled by ignorance, intolerance and bigotry. However, much of the same could be said about Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the numerous emirates surrounding them who's only difference is, they are willing to pay lip service to western leaders in return for international indifference to their closed, sociopathic, absolute monarchies.
Iran is really no different from the rest of the middle east with the caveat that they are less willing to play the game, we in our infinite arrogance, insist they play.
I'll willingly cede to the idea that Iran is a sponsor of state terrorism with their links to Hezbollah and possibly Hamas, that they have fostered an antagonistic attitude toward their immediate neighbors and the West and that they continue to be ruled by ignorance, intolerance and bigotry. However, much of the same could be said about Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the numerous emirates surrounding them who's only difference is, they are willing to pay lip service to western leaders in return for international indifference to their closed, sociopathic, absolute monarchies.
Iran is really no different from the rest of the middle east with the caveat that they are less willing to play the game, we in our infinite arrogance, insist they play.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Our Robust Economy V
The markets responded to Bernanke's spirited talk of another 'substantial' cut in the interest rate later this month by gaining a credible amount yesterday. Today, however, more bad news prevails with Merrill Lynch taking a bigger hit than expected and American Express getting in on the bad loan caravel.
Also, savvy investors, and there has to be some of them out there, realize that cuts to the interest rate are designed to ease credit and borrowing fears essentially in the housing market... the one market where, right now, nothing's going to help until a major reorganization or underwriting of the, as yet undefined, crapload of worthless debt takes place.
It looks and smells like panic!
Also, savvy investors, and there has to be some of them out there, realize that cuts to the interest rate are designed to ease credit and borrowing fears essentially in the housing market... the one market where, right now, nothing's going to help until a major reorganization or underwriting of the, as yet undefined, crapload of worthless debt takes place.
It looks and smells like panic!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tonkin Bay Redux
The BBC (Those Commies) includes video shot from the Iranian side perhaps earlier in a, what appears to be, routine exchange... They really are little speed boats and I understand that you could conceiveably pack them with explosives and ram them into the side of a battle ship but, why?
The disembodied voice at the end just sounds silly and nothing like the Iranian captain communicating with the American ships earlier.
Update: ABC News reports the USN is uncertain just where the disembodied voice came from... as fish tales go, this ones getting a lot fishier. Not that anyone could accuse this administration of making stuff up and stuff, I mean their record is impeccable when it comes to telling the American people the truth!
The disembodied voice at the end just sounds silly and nothing like the Iranian captain communicating with the American ships earlier.
Update: ABC News reports the USN is uncertain just where the disembodied voice came from... as fish tales go, this ones getting a lot fishier. Not that anyone could accuse this administration of making stuff up and stuff, I mean their record is impeccable when it comes to telling the American people the truth!
Greed Is Good
See... Wall Street wants another interest rate cut to provide stimulus to, not the economy but, their bonus packages:
"And then there is self-interest. Wall Street traders and investment bankers are counting on drastic rate cuts to help make stock prices rise, says Albert M. Wojnilower, a consultant to Craig Drill Capital, a hedge fund. Rising stock prices, in turn, help lift year-end bonuses, which were relatively small this past year.
“It is easier for people on Wall Street,” Mr. Wojnilower said, “to cloak their personal desires in a national concern.”"
Go read the whole thing.
Update: What Wall Street wants, Wall Street gets! I feel so much better for those poor guys...
"And then there is self-interest. Wall Street traders and investment bankers are counting on drastic rate cuts to help make stock prices rise, says Albert M. Wojnilower, a consultant to Craig Drill Capital, a hedge fund. Rising stock prices, in turn, help lift year-end bonuses, which were relatively small this past year.
“It is easier for people on Wall Street,” Mr. Wojnilower said, “to cloak their personal desires in a national concern.”"
Go read the whole thing.
Update: What Wall Street wants, Wall Street gets! I feel so much better for those poor guys...
Our Robust Economy IV
Like most republican economic, foreign and domestic policy initiative disasters, most of the damage is self inflicted. Take our current mortgage crisis as outlined by Krugman in a recent NYT opinion piece.
Just for the record:
"But Mr. Greenspan wasn’t the only top official who put ideology above public protection. Consider the press conference held on June 3, 2003 — just about the time subprime lending was starting to go wild — to announce a new initiative aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on banks. Representatives of four of the five government agencies responsible for financial supervision used tree shears to attack a stack of paper representing bank regulations. The fifth representative, James Gilleran of the Office of Thrift Supervision, wielded a chainsaw.
Also in attendance were representatives of financial industry trade associations, which had been lobbying for deregulation. As far as I can tell from press reports, there were no representatives of consumer interests on the scene.
Two months after that event the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the tree-shears-wielding agencies, moved to exempt national banks from state regulations that protect consumers against predatory lending. If, say, New York State wanted to protect its own residents — well, sorry, that wasn’t allowed."
Of course, one must remember that the people described above are the 'serious' leaders your average Repug fetishizes about.
Python got them just about right!
Just for the record:
"But Mr. Greenspan wasn’t the only top official who put ideology above public protection. Consider the press conference held on June 3, 2003 — just about the time subprime lending was starting to go wild — to announce a new initiative aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on banks. Representatives of four of the five government agencies responsible for financial supervision used tree shears to attack a stack of paper representing bank regulations. The fifth representative, James Gilleran of the Office of Thrift Supervision, wielded a chainsaw.
Also in attendance were representatives of financial industry trade associations, which had been lobbying for deregulation. As far as I can tell from press reports, there were no representatives of consumer interests on the scene.
Two months after that event the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the tree-shears-wielding agencies, moved to exempt national banks from state regulations that protect consumers against predatory lending. If, say, New York State wanted to protect its own residents — well, sorry, that wasn’t allowed."
Of course, one must remember that the people described above are the 'serious' leaders your average Repug fetishizes about.
Python got them just about right!
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Obama
I watched both acceptance speeches and all the concession speeches last night, obviously Obama's was transcendant although I thought both Romney and Huckabee came across pretty well, I guess being in a blue state will have that blunting effect on their more hysterical flights of fancy. McCain was absolutely awful whilst Hillary was sufficiently contrite and humble and engaged. But back to Obama and why I want to know more about him, his speech was inspiring and provoking, his cadence almost perfect and the speech itself eloquent and succinct. My favorite 'graph:
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes We Can.
Transcript (h/t Crooks & Liars)
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes We Can.
Transcript (h/t Crooks & Liars)
Hillary
Being a New Yorker for eighteen years (12 in NYC), I feel I know Hillary pretty well, I like her, I have seen her in person and witnessed her charm and personal appeal. I understand she inspires myriad emotions across the political spectrum, she is a Clinton and with that name goes that territory. Although I have stated I like her that does not mean I agree with her on policy or philosophy. I am probably much closer to Edwards policywise than I am to Hillary but I like her and was pleased to see her win in New Hampshire.
Her win gives me the opportunity to get to know someone I really haven't paid too much attention to and that is Obama. I've caught bits of his speeches and compared some of his policy proposals with both Edwards and Clinton and as much as I agree that the Democrats have a great field, I have tended to concentrate on Edwards and Clinton. That now, with Hillary's victory in New Hampshire, will change. Now we have ample opportunity to truly here from these candidates and I for one will be watching and listening.
Her win gives me the opportunity to get to know someone I really haven't paid too much attention to and that is Obama. I've caught bits of his speeches and compared some of his policy proposals with both Edwards and Clinton and as much as I agree that the Democrats have a great field, I have tended to concentrate on Edwards and Clinton. That now, with Hillary's victory in New Hampshire, will change. Now we have ample opportunity to truly here from these candidates and I for one will be watching and listening.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Our Robust Economy III
It's getting really ugly... if Countrywide tries to reorganize under Chapter 11, the rest will follow, the long term problem being that there is a lot of worthless crap on all of their books due to the record number of defaults and foreclosures and no-one will be willing to swallow that, especially lenders and creditors.
From an updated NYT report:
Many traders have been betting recently that the lender might need to file for bankruptcy. Countrywide denied that rumor Tuesday, and its stock partially recovered from a plunge. Still, it remained sharply lower on the day; Lehman Brothers said in a note that Countrywide's earnings power has declined severely, and The New York Times reported the company fabricated documents related to the bankruptcy case of a Pennsylvania homeowner.
From an updated NYT report:
Many traders have been betting recently that the lender might need to file for bankruptcy. Countrywide denied that rumor Tuesday, and its stock partially recovered from a plunge. Still, it remained sharply lower on the day; Lehman Brothers said in a note that Countrywide's earnings power has declined severely, and The New York Times reported the company fabricated documents related to the bankruptcy case of a Pennsylvania homeowner.
Ahhhtishoo...
It will be interesting to see if the old adage 'When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold' still holds true as we slip steadily into recession.
The Eurozone has had mixed economic indicators of late but the Asian economy, led by a still robust China, has shown signs of limping out of its historic economic malaise.
Of course, the denial here in the US is palpable with Wall St. putting on a brave face and the Preznit, once a cheerleader - always a cheerleader, offering only the usual smokescreen of undefined economic stimulae and tacit promises that he will not increase taxes on his rich buddies. As for the rest of the American citizenry... you're on your own kid!
The Eurozone has had mixed economic indicators of late but the Asian economy, led by a still robust China, has shown signs of limping out of its historic economic malaise.
Of course, the denial here in the US is palpable with Wall St. putting on a brave face and the Preznit, once a cheerleader - always a cheerleader, offering only the usual smokescreen of undefined economic stimulae and tacit promises that he will not increase taxes on his rich buddies. As for the rest of the American citizenry... you're on your own kid!
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Surge
As Matt Yglesias explains, all the talk of Victory and Surge success is, well, a little premature. Violence has been reduced in Iraq in the sense that not as many GI's are being blown to sithereens as there were pre-surge. However '07 was the deadliest year for US troop fatalities and the new civilian numbers are horrendous with over 23,000 Iraqi men, women and children dying in the violence.
And, the ultimate strategy of the Surge has failed completely. Matt explains:
The weird thing about the surge is that it's failure has been much more unambiguous. The theory behind the surge was clear. Some people said more troops would bring more security to Iraq. Critics of that idea noted that sending more troops would be logistically unsustainable. Surge theorists posited that a temporary increase in force levels would create a temporary increase in security that would open window of opportunity for political reconciliation that would allow for a permanent increase in security. So the surge was implemented. As of September, the surge had failed to generate the political reconciliation that would allow for a permanent increase in security. Surge supporters told skeptics we had to give it more time. Three months later, the surge has still failed to generate the political reconciliation that would allow for a permanent increase in security.
Now we're near the point of de-surging -- the window is closing rapidly and nobody thinks the opportunity will be seized. And yet surge fans are declaring victory. It's doesn't make sense. The surge's architects laid out admirably clear goals for it. Laid them out and unambiguously failed to meet them.
I have yet to have it adequately explained to me what Victory In Iraq actually is.
The 'Surge' being such a large component of ultimate victory has failed it's mandate... what next?
And, the ultimate strategy of the Surge has failed completely. Matt explains:
The weird thing about the surge is that it's failure has been much more unambiguous. The theory behind the surge was clear. Some people said more troops would bring more security to Iraq. Critics of that idea noted that sending more troops would be logistically unsustainable. Surge theorists posited that a temporary increase in force levels would create a temporary increase in security that would open window of opportunity for political reconciliation that would allow for a permanent increase in security. So the surge was implemented. As of September, the surge had failed to generate the political reconciliation that would allow for a permanent increase in security. Surge supporters told skeptics we had to give it more time. Three months later, the surge has still failed to generate the political reconciliation that would allow for a permanent increase in security.
Now we're near the point of de-surging -- the window is closing rapidly and nobody thinks the opportunity will be seized. And yet surge fans are declaring victory. It's doesn't make sense. The surge's architects laid out admirably clear goals for it. Laid them out and unambiguously failed to meet them.
I have yet to have it adequately explained to me what Victory In Iraq actually is.
The 'Surge' being such a large component of ultimate victory has failed it's mandate... what next?
One Hand Clapping
Rudy is really quite despicable, I don't know how anyone could consider him 'Presidential' no matter how afraid one is of brown people invading the mother country. His campaign is one of fear and intolerance, but my biggest fear about this is having someone as idiotically ill-informed and ill-prepared as Rudy Giuliani in charge of the most powerful country on earth.
I'm sure there are many slips of the tongue on the campaign trail, but not knowing who our combat partners are in Afghanistan is frankly, embarrassing.
I'm sure there are many slips of the tongue on the campaign trail, but not knowing who our combat partners are in Afghanistan is frankly, embarrassing.
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