Saturday, September 17, 2005

Let the word go forth from this time and place...

that Robert Kennedy should be our next president of the United States.

The coalition of the dwindling

The newly-elected Prime Minister of Norway has told Bush that he will pull Norway's troops out of Iraq. All twenty of them.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Lest we forget

Here's a dispatch from Iraq, a necessary reminder, because while hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their belongings and some hundreds have lost their lives to a natural catastrophe, a similar number of Iraqis are in the middle of a man-made storm. And while Katrina has passed into meteorological history, the agony the Iraqis are suffering has no apparent end.

Just when you thought they couldn't stoop any lower...

They seek to blame the woeful levee-levels around New Orleans on environmental groups to deflect criticism from their own lack of funding of levee projects. Recall, BTW, that the head of the department that employs all U.S. Attorneys is none other than our torture-lover, Alberto Gonzales.

(The person who leaked this memo to the Louisiana newspaper should be awarded the highest environmental medal, something like the Earth Emblem.)

Thursday, September 15, 2005

A dog in this fight

For weeks I've stayed away from the question of John Roberts' suitability as Supreme Court Justice, now Chief Justice. But having watched and listened to a few hours of his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee (and having all the while squirmed and moaned at the ineptness of the questioning by the "liberals") I have concluded as follows:

1. Roberts is a skilled advocate of legal positions, and has brought those skills to the hearing room to support his own nomination. He argues positions very well.

2. He has no soul. This is apparent not only from his demeanor and the content of his "answers" but from his record as well. As to the latter, consider this analysis by a long-time Washington lawyer, a Georgetown Law teacher who litigated civil rights cases for years.

So, do I think he should be a Supreme? No, because it's a job for a human being, not a robot. And, if you look carefully at John Roberts, don't you get a kind of Stepford-wives feeling, like there's nobody there? So maybe we should dub him John Robot?

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

So far, so mute

The MSM is still silent, as of this writing, on this Reuters story of Iraq's Justice Minister's (Attorney General) complaints about the US detentions of innocents and journalists in Iraq, as well as the legal immunity of our troops. A huge development, showing clearly that our status in Iraq is that of occupier, not liberator. I wish the Justice Minister well--he certainly speaks for "liberty" in his nation--but I'll bet his complaint gets no legs in this nation and is even buried by his cohorts, the puppets, who run Iraq on behalf of the US. Stay tuned.

A rat deserting...?

NYT's Tom Friedman, evil genius of the conservative economy, compares the US to Singapore, and decides the latter is preferable to the America run by his compadres. Is the dike cracking?

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Economic disconnect

If "the economy" is soaring, why do most Americans not believe it? Here's why.

Who's on first?

Depending on whom you listen to--the Rummie or the President of Iraq--the US will pull out "at least 50 or 60 thousand" troops by the end of the year. Or not.

Update: This is what they call a puppet government.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Polling the polls

Here's a list of most recent national polls, showing the percentages who approve/disapprove of Bush's performance as president. All of the disapproval percentages are at an all-time high for his presidency, and so for once the hype in the MSM about his declining numbers isn't just hype--it's real.

Now, wouldn't it be great if the MSM would finally get the guts to tell the truth about his reign, now that it's safe to do so? And maybe if they did, the Democrats in Congress could get some balls too. But don't count on it. Rove's power is still formidable (but recall that the Plame grand jury term will end in October, so that a report on the leak is imminent, maybe with indictments) and both the MSM and the Democrats (most, anyway) have consistently shown no spine when it comes to attacking this administration for its aberrant policies and its lies.

Stay tuned.

She's baaack!

Riverbend, the Baghdad's Burning blogger, has resumed posting, telling us what it's like in that city. If ever there was "fair and balanced" reporting, this is it.

(A)musings on America

Check out the writings on this site, really radical, really righteous.

How's this going to work, exactly?

The US effectively empties and destroys two of the major cities in which the Sunni Muslims reside, Fallujah and now Tal Afar, so that on the eve of the supposed national referendum on the proposed (and Shia- and Kurd-backed) constitution many Sunnis are in refugee status; and then the constitution isn't able to be printed up to be read and debated by the citizenry with but a month to go until the vote on it. And then, when, as is likely, the Sunnis can't muster enough votes to disapprove it, the constitution is adopted and acclaimed by the US as proof of democracy in action. Right. Just like in Florida and Ohio.