General Anthony Zinni's words

This essay in The Nation quotes Zinni at length. His prewar statements are hauntingly prescient. He was in charge of Cent Com from 1997 to 2000, and it's tempting to reflect upon the course of history had he stayed on after 9-11.
Probably nothing would have changed. The Chickenhawk neocons were so bent to attacking Iraq that they would have done so even had Zinni counseled against it, and he would either have dutifully followed orders or slipped into retirement.

But still...

Arcane, but perhaps true

This explanation (scroll down to "It's Good to Be the King" post of 11/13) of the present state of the US economy, in particular, how we manage to stay afloat despite our enormous borrowing and trade deficit, isn't heartening for this Bush-basher. According to Billmon, the "big three" foreign banks will continue to buy our bonds, even at these puny rates of return, because they cannot afford our collapse and they benefit from our trade imbalance. I've read this elsewhere, and the predictions seem to be that this charade can continue for another year or so, viz. until after the election of 2004.

If so, we may have Bush for another four years, and then face twenty-five years of surviving what he's done to our nation's economy and standing in the world.

I hate to say this, but Pray for a Disaster.

If it weren't so tragic...

...it would be hilarious. First, there's "mission accomplished," the disbanding of Saddam's army, and the announcement of a systematic plan for creation of an all-inclusive, democratic Iraq. Then, the first attack of "Saddam loyalists" occurs, then another, then another. Soon, "Saddam loyalists" becomes "foreign terrorists" and "mission accomplished" becomes a call for monetary and personnel assistance from other nations. When this is largely rebuffed, and the attacks cause the UN, the Red Cross and other NGO's to pull out, the effort becomes a "long hard slog" and the US determines that "Iraqization" of the defense force is needed. Then, when the Congress authorizes and additional $87 billion for military and reconstruction efforts, the Iraq Provisional Council is chided for being dilatory and is given a deadline to create a plan for the drafting of a constitution. Then, as the attacks intensify, causing deaths of US soldiers and "coalition" forces in scores, the US determines to prod the council further, to hasten the democracization process and to "outlast" the enemy, whoever it is.

Our modern culture, with its technology, has telescoped history. Wars now take months, sometimes weeks, not years and decades. Explanations--rationalizations--pour forth daily, hourly. In less than eight months, we've seen a tableau of tragedy played out by our evil folly. And, I predict, the pace will continue. By this time next year--election time--all will be known: the madness, the corruption, the deceit , with only one benefit: the casting out of power of the men and women who caused it.

Or not.

The democratization of Iraq or the battle of the Somme?

Rumsfeld has told reporters that we're not going "to leave early," that we're going to maintain our forces in Iraq for "as long as necessary." And straight out of the handbook of most meaningless, brutal bloodbath of the twentieth century, he says this: "We are going to outlast them."

A real shot in the arm for our troops. A rallying cry for the resistance.

Rummie, you're not just evil, you're stupid.

All That Arises ... eventually returns

Readers of this blog may not have been aware, but I've been gone for over a week, spending time with family. Circumstances made contributing to the blog difficult. I'm back, and may eventually have something to contribute again.

I'd like to begin with an observation on Erik's Nov 11 entry, "Who's minding the store?" I suppose a return to the draft is a possibility. I'm 42, fat, and nearsighted ... they won't be coming for me. The bastards missed their chance at my tender years. But my nephew will have to register soon, in April 2019. Should I be concerned?

Is there any hope that in 16 years we will have stopped sending young men and women to make the ultimate sacrifice by dying needlessly for obscure and indefensible reasons? I only ask because he’s enamored of mermaids, Finding Nemo, and a favorite blankie with a design of clouds and sky. I’d like to get a head start, making sure he has the appropriate desert equipment … maybe a Cinderella biohazard mask, little Nemos on his boots, that sort of thing.

Maybe we should check with parents of two year olds now, and arrange for personalized body bags with favorite cartoon characters. And a few gross of prosthetic limbs with the characters from Monsters Inc.

I’m thinking ahead. What else is an Uncle for?

Bedlam in Baghdad

Now we're bombing Baghdad, having switched from months of obtrusive searches, then to more civilian-friendly intrusions, and now to all-out demolition. The explosions that light up the Baghdad sky will have no effect, says an Iraqi administrator, but may enhance the morale of the American troops.
And, in the same WaPo article we learn that a newly-reopened bridge across the Tigris, one that took millions to rebuild, will now be closed. It seems it leads directly into the government complex of Baghdad, and it's too dangerous to leave it open to possible attackers.

So much for the new, thriving Babylon.

And the beat goes on...

The latest target of opportunity in the war against terr'r. Chickens of mass production.

Baghdad blogging

Two observations:
(1) Salam Pax, who hit the bigtime (a column in the Guardian, a book deal) has foresaken his blogroots, having not posted meaningfully for months, and so has forfeited his claim to be the Baghdad Blogger.
(2) The newly-anointed BB (and, to me, always the more incisive, informative and certainly consistent) is Riverbend, whose posts, including her latest one about the "Governing" Council, are so right on that one wants to shout them from the rooftops (or the minarets or whatever).
Write on, Riverbend, right on.

Who's minding the store?

Rumsfeld says he's ready to send more troops to Iraq if his generals tell him they're neeeded. But guess what? We're running out of bodies. Indeed, there weren't enough soldiers stateside to fill out Veterans Day parades. And so, according to this NYT story (last 4 paragraphs), in some cities the ranks were filled by Boy Scouts and local drill teams.

I'm sure glad we're fighting the terrorists in Iraq. If they ever find out we have no soldiers back home, we're in deep poopie.

The House Negro speaks

Colin Powell has picked up Bush's "preach democracy" gambit, confirming the US drive to spread the word throughout the world. No one who's affected by it is buying their blather, of course, and even the BBC is dubious, noting that Bush has spared his allies, many of whom are dictators. Its report of Powell's concurring speech concludes with this sage, if somewhat cynical, observation:

"Both Mr Powell and President Bush are arguing that the fight for democracy is a historic mission, similar to the battle with communism during the Cold War. Their critics will be watching to see if Washington is really willing to condemn and perhaps even to destabilise its allies in the name of freedom."

"Beatings will continue until morale improves."

A concise reaction to the renewed US bombing in Iraq.

Tribune Bremer's "guess"

The first whisper. Tribune Bremer guesses (scroll to penultimate paragraph) that after the Iraqi "government" takes over it will request that US troops remain in Iraq.

Surprise, surprise.

This makes perfect sense

Now we're fighting "Kurdish rebels" in Northern Iraq. The Kurds, who supposedly are our buddies, have a small faction that hangs out in Iraq near the Turkish border and have their sights on rebellion against Turkey, which also has installed a force in northern Iraq to restrain the rebels. The US, which wants to ingratiate itself to Turkey so that Turkey will send troops to Iraq to help fight the Iraqi resistance in the south, has joined Turkey in fighting the Kurds in the north. Got it?
Does this have anything to do with Bush's war on terr'r?

Halliburton vs. the Army

The Corps of Engineers is considering terminating its contract with Halliburton for overcharging on gasoline ($2.65 per gallon). It seems other sources are available at less than half the price. Could this really happen? Stay tuned.

It's a madhouse!

The Army reports that it still isn't certain what caused the Black Hawk helicopter to crash in Tikrit yesterday, killing 6 GI's. Nevertheless, to show the inhabitants that we have "teeth and claws," we have bombed and bulldozed buildings in Tikrit. If we don't know the cause of the crash, these can only be the blind flailings of frustration and rage. And the targets? Empty, abandoned buildings.

Does any of this make sense? Does it begin to feel like Israel/Palestine? Nazis/Paris? Rome/Carthage?

Revisiting yesterday's news

The two stories I referred to in Thursday's post--the Pentagon's rejection of Iraq's last-minute back-channel effort to avoid war, and Jessica Lynch's alleged rape--have indeed found different fates. The first never made it onto the Google News front page (which presents and categorizes the ongoing parade of most-reported stories) while the second was the lead article most of yesterday.

What's in a phrase

Editors at the Los Angeles Times have banned the use of the phrase "resistance fighters" to describe those who are attacking US troops in Iraq, while they admit the phrase may be accurate. It romanticizes them, the paper says.

So?

I can remain silent no longer

I waited through the day and am about to leave for an evening of dining out (I'll be baaaack in four hours or so), but cannot wait to make this observation about our times:

The New York Times reported 24 hours ago that it was possible that the US invasion of Iraq could have been avoided entirely because the Iraqis proffered what amounted to an unconditional surrender (see my post below entitled "Watching the Fur Fly") just about the same time as it was reported that the "biographer" of Jessica Lynch announced (without Jessica's memory of the event) that she was raped.

It's now a full newsday after these announcements, of somewhat differing global dimension, one would think. And guess which is trumpeted by the media (I won't link to the trumpets, because they're everywhere), and which is mute (and hence no links, notwithstanding that the Gray Lady was, after extensive investigation, the source).

Later tonight I'll check to see whazzup with the reporting, but there's no way anything now disseminated, after everybody's locked onto "Friends" or "Enemies" or whatever we TV-addicted idiots will be watching, can displace the rape report.

And so it goes. American media, and its slaves, abiding in the trough.

Deja vu all over again

This pamphlet, Scott Nearing's The Great Madness, was written ninety years ago as America was about to enter WWI. It could have been written yesterday. The plutocracy he describes, the use of a crisis and a claim of the need for national defense to galvanize public opinion in favor of big business as a salvation--my God, where have we heard that before?
Of course he was prosecuted for the pamphlet--which wouldn't happen today, right?

Here is his closing argument in defense of the charge of violating the Espionage Act

It's the jobs, stupid

For a straightforward take on the true effect of the present economic morass, including an illuminating chart that shows the relative job/income performance of the economy during the various cycles of recession/recovery, check out this short, telling article.

Bottom line: Not since records have been kept, through five decades of such cycles, have jobs and incomes continued to remain mired in loss for so long. Indeed, we're now losing ground on real income of wage-earners, long after the "recovery" should have floated all boats.

Watching the fur fly

This article from the NYT, relating in detail the last-weeks-before-the-war overture/capitulation by Iraq (essentially an unconditional surrender) that was conveyed to the Pentagon but not accepted by the US is going to create a firestorm of outrage. From the depth of the investigation, it looks like the NYT has got the goodies on the maniacs in the administration who have now killed thousands when it was likely all could have been avoided. Powerful stuff.
As intriguing as will be watching the administration try to squirm out of this one, will be observing the finger-pointing. From the tenor of the story, it looks like CIA finally put the kabosh on Iraq's overtures. But I'll bet, given the rift between the CIA and the other branches of government, that they won't take it lying down.
Stay very tuned.

Rooney Rocks

Andy Rooney ain't no rad, but this proposed speech for our current president is right on, Rooney.

Is the herd finally catching on?

At long last, a majority of people disapprove of Mr Bush's handling of Iraq, as the floundering war and sickly economy take their toll on his approval ratings. Now if the democrats will stop chewing cud and field a serious candidate or two, there's hope. News

A comparison

Iraq is about the same size as California, with about ten million fewer inhabitants--23 million. The contention that much of Iraq is "back to normal," in that context, seems odd. Consider if during any given day, there were thirty-five armed attacks on police in our state, and the area around Los Angeles experienced a cop killing and three or four bombings per day; and imagine how the Bush administration, after six months of such a situation, would regard California. We'd be immersed in National Guardsmen, and the first time one of them was killed, we'd be an armed camp, a state in a state of siege.
Could it be that what Bush (and Wolfie and Rummie and that whore Condie, not to mention the house-slave Colin Powell) regard what is intolerable for us white folks as "normal" for arabs?
Does this begin to feel a bit like the British Empire, except that our wogs are arabs?

And as if the previous post wasn't enough...

According to Australia's foremost daily paper, two U.S. GI's are facing court martial for having married Iraqi women, both physicians who were working in hospitals where the soldiers were stationed. "Fraternization," or something, is the formal charge.

What the hell? Is this madness, or what?

Can't Bremer do anything right?

With $87 billion to play with, you'd think Tribune Bremer could toss a few sheckles to the Iraq national soccer team, whose field and equipment we demolished, so that they have a chance to make it into the Asia playoff. But no, and the recently-appointed coach has threatened to resign on account of it.

Let me do you a favor

I know there are more important things to blog about (such as the near-score of dead GI's in Iraq today), but if you read this you'll receive an immediate pecuniary benefit: You'll save eight dollars.

Don't see Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill vol. 1.

Or, to save you four dollars: Don't rent it, either.

The ghoul in me

I'm angry--at whom I don't know, precisely. Look, the more dead US soldiers in Iraq, the worse it is for Bush. And the sooner we'll pull out of there. So, when there's a persistent under-reporting of deaths in the media, I'm angered, but at least I'm alive to blog on the subject.

If I were a dead soldier, say the result of a humvee crash or a drowning in the Tigris, I'd be pissed off that my death didn't at least become a statistic that might help to effect a change the course of history. But no, if a soldier dies in Iraq by other than an enemy bullet or bomb, his death counts for nothing, not even in the tabulation of casualties that one day may cause the US citizenry to get rid of Bush and elect a sane president. (This form of refined, limited casualty-counting, BTW, is unique to this war.)
Even in death, I would be really pissed off.

Victims of Arson

I have this to say about Erik's last post:

The Bush administration was right about one thing. We are in danger of being victims of terrorism, right here in the USA.

A bit scary

In spite of neighbors' protests, this Virginia couple installed on their porch a sign stating the number of U.S. military casualties in Iraq. "Egging" of their house, hoots and insults, were followed, one night, by arson of the sign--and as a result, the house.

I march on Saturday mornings, along with a few others, carrying a sign up and down State Street in SB that displays the latest casualty figures, and often, when I park my Volvo in parking lots, I place the sign atop my car, sticking through the sunroof. On one side it says, "Hey, Hey, USA! How many soldiers died today?" and on the other, "'Bring 'em On'-2388 U.S. Causualties-R U Happy Now, W?" I update the number regularly. (Today's total, BTW, is 2470.)

So far, I've received only these reactions: A few notes, half positive, half negative, pinned under my windshield wiper, and a couple of snide remarks ("Dirty hippie," "Get a life") as I install the sign. No egging or keying of my car, no harm to the sign. So far.

Adolph Bush

I recall a WWII photo of Hitler patting the cheek of a child recruit who he was about to send into battle as the Third Reich came to an end. With our present Fuehrer's announcement of quickie training of Iraqi youths to take over for American soldiers, I'm getting an eerie feeling, not of deja vu, but of historical repetition.

Stupid questions

John, an occasional contributor, submits these questions:

I may be stupid but didn't we start this war to deprive Iraq of their WMD? If so, since we now have determined there are no WMD, doesn't this mean we accomplished our mission by default and should simply pack up and go home?

'Nuff said.

Rice-a-loonie

Something's got to be done about this lying bitch.

This is delicious

Okay, so now that Tribune Bremer has by fiat opened up Iraq to commercial exploitation by Bush's cronies, and they flock to Iraq to rip off the locals as well as the US taxpayers (who, it should be noted, are funding Iraq's reconstruction), this happens: Iraq, through its legally-constituted entity (not the CPA-appointed stooges) later decides to renege on some of the deals, leaving Bushies broke and stranded in the desert. All without legal recourse, because Bremer and friends had no legal power or authority to grant the contracts ab initio.
I can't wait.

How much ya wanna bet?

So, the oilfield contract is going to be doubled in monetary scope and put out to bid on a noncompetitive basis. Who do you think is going to be granted the extra billion-plus?

The future of jobs in America looks dim, thank God

This analysis of a Job-is-worth-less economy is, for this Bush-hater (and non-jobseeker) heaven-sent. Indeed, in the face of all of this "recovery" noise, it makes sense.
The other evening, for example, my laptop crashed and I called the requisite 1-800 number for technical assistance (which BTW was timely and effective). As my tech-support person and I were waiting for some fix on my machine to take effect, I asked him where he was located, that is, what city I'd reached with my toll-free call.
"Delhi," he said.
And so it goes.

Cher, Abe & Bush

If we love America, we have to pray for America. Before the president and the neocons trade our community chest for a handful of hate and we finally truly go the way of Rome.

We used to have leaders who would meet the coffins at Andrews AFB, and meet with the families of the dead. Remember Bill Clinton crying in the hanger at Andrews? And lest you think it's a partisan issue, remember Lincoln ministering to the nation's grief at Gettysburg?

"The father grieves for his son, and will not leave the room
where the coffin stands."
--Bly

Throughout the course of human life, it has been a common duty of substantive leadership to lead the people in mourning, and we as a nation have always wept together. Anyone who has seen the Vietnam Memorial wall knows this is true. We are supposed to be led to take "increased devotion" and "highly resolve that (the) dead shall not have died in vain."

Cher is right, and it illuminates the reality that his nation is not being led as the community of people that we thought we were. George W. Bush will not meet the coffins at the airport. He is cynical and drunk with power, obsessed with a vain and illusory victory. He cares little for the price paid by those who bear the duty, and he will not hug their grieving families. His minions have outlawed photos of the arrivals of our dead. It is beyond his poor power to consecrate or comfort, to add or detract. I doubt it's in his heart to even try.

"Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind."
--Crane

Right on, Cher

You've got to read this transcript of a caller to C-Span. (Scroll down to "Cher on Cspan") Now I see what Sonny saw in her.

October surprise & tuna salad sucks, says Salam

Erik's theory that Caesar will attempt to fuel re-appointment by an October Surprise is shared by a man in Baghdad, not quite verbatim.

See the entry beginning, "My cousin, after his third beer ...." dated 10/19/03, on Where is Raed ?

I could'na said it better redux

This fun-written piece, reciting What We Can Do About It All, is uplifting. I wish I could change America by a wink and a nod, but no. However, this I can do.

I could'na said it better

The new Jacobins. The end of America. A synthesis of Nascar Dads, hyperChristians, odd-bent historians, power-hungry sickos and corporations. Yeah--that's who's gonna be voting for Bush in 2004.

I'm baaack!

After a fine sojourn into the Sierras, I've returned to SB and my computer, only to learn that nothing has changed out here in the world. Of the several revelations I experienced on my trip, this is relevant to this blog:
The network and TV news programs are amazingly insufficient to convey what is really going on in the world, certainly with respect to our foreign policy. I don't own a TV, and so on nights that I stayed in motels on my trip, I would watch CNN or Fox or one of the other broadcasts and see nothing other than bites from Bush's trip to the far east, mixed in with stories of missing children, criminal cases in progress and so forth. Nothing of substance about the war, the economy, anything.
In fact, I'm surprised as many people (40%-plus, according to the polls) are opposed to Bush's handling of Iraq, given that so little news of the setbacks is filtered through to the public. If there's a filter at work, I might add, it's such a filter, not the one Bush complains about.

No Media Coverage of Returning Coffins

The Bush Administration, in another quick end-run around the First Amendment and that pesky Fourth Estate, has ordered there will be no media coverage of coffins coming back from Iraq. Shows what the Bushies think of the American people, that when it comes to our war dead, out of sight is out of mind.

Curtains Ordered for Media Coverage of Returning Coffins (washingtonpost.com)

Blood Donations Halted From Our Forces in Iraq

Another great reason to bring our troops home. A nasty parasitic disease.
DefenseLINK News: Blood Donations Halted From Personnel Deployed To Iraq

Perfidious Propaganda and Bush’s Offensive

When you think about it, it’s not such a bad idea. Nefarious and foul, but logical. If you’re military brass and you want to influence the perception of the war back home, you just have the boys in uniform dash off a few letters to their hometown papers, saying all is just ducky in the trenches.

Problem: the boys are busy trying to stay alive. No problem, you just write their letters for them. One letter will do. Just write it, Xerox it, and order some of the guys to sign it. Or not; just mail it to their hometown paper, unsigned. Nobody’s the wiser back in the world, unless somebody catches on.

Now does that stink, or what?

Speaking of stinking, President Bush has a PR offensive going too:

Bush rejected criticism that progress is too slow in Iraq, saying Americans are not hearing the real story. "It's a lot better than you probably think," the president said, adding that people who have been in Iraq are stunned by the stories at home.

He said schools and hospitals are reopening, children are getting immunizations and water and electricity are coming back. "Life is getting better," he said. [Link]

Well sure we’re not hearing the real story. The Bush Administration and its Flying Monkeys of Perpetual War are throwing up a smoke screen, and in some cases using our troops to do it. Let’s hear the "Support the Troops" Republicans comment on that one, while they try to make peace-loving Americans feel un-American for our dissent against it.

The real story is that life still sucks in Iraq, and 70% of the work force is unemployed. And the job market is infested with corruption. If the kids are going back to school, great. They went to school before “coalition forces” attacked Iraq. I’d love to see what would result if you passed out paper and crayons in a Baghdad school, and asked the kids to draw pictures of what life has been like since last spring. Actually, I probably wouldn’t want to see that.

Ministry of Truth

Orwellian Strategy Used to Sell the War

This column from today's SF Chronicle describes the uncanny similarities between the Bush administration's doublethink and that of Orwell's 1984. I truly believe that this could not be more serious. The powers that be are going to nefarious lengths to manipulate the way Americans think. This isn't rhetoric to posit a position, to persuade free thinking people to rally to a cause. It's lies and disinformation, to obfuscate and coerce through fear. It's brainwashing on an epic scale. And I don't buy it. Do you?

Euro, I row, we all row for Euro

So--a switch to the Euro is imminent, is it? Time to buy gold--or anything.

I couldn't resist

Turns out I'm not leaving on my little journey until the morning. (Something about too many beers watching my beloved Sox lose to the hated Yankees again.)
Soo-I get to point out the wildly disparate takes on today's Security Council resolution about Iraq by three nationally-syndicated newspapers. The Washington Post, the Washington Times (part owned by the Moonies, in case you didn't know), and the New York Times. Reading these three essays, simultaneously published about the same event, gives one a startling view of what is truth in our modern world, doesn't it?

Into the Void

I know that we're all going to miss Erik. I want it duly noted that I tried to get him to book his trip through Expedia or Priceline, but he's kinda frugal and insisted on using humanshields.com. No fault of mine.

I'll try to keep the blog alive while Erik's away. But as some of you know, I'm writing a book, and I have another blog called Metaphor. (Link in the left column.) So while Erik's away, if any of our readers want to take a shot at guest-blogging, it's cool with me. Like when Letterman got sick, right?

Just click my name on the left, and send your post in an e-mail.

See ya for a while

I'm going on a brief trip, not taking my Internet connection, and so will not be blogging for a while. (I know, I know, you're heartbroken.)
As a parting shot, I must observe this: The happy-happy reports that the US-sponsored resolution about Iraq was "unanimously passed" by the Security Council today are amazingly distorted. What really happened was that Colin Powell finally wore down the opposition by a water-torture of tiny alterations in the language until finally the opponents to the marginally-amended resolution gave approval. It wasn't a victory for the US, in the sense that we gained acceptance of our conduct, just that we conquered the opposition by diplomatic pestering.
The most telling part of the story is carried in the last paragraph of the WAPO article (WAPO will, I trust, in later editions explain this more fully), namely that none of the big countries, France, Germany, Russia, China, are going to contribute one whit--not a body, not a Euro, nothing--to help the US out of the quagmire Bush has created.

When I return to cyberspace I'll see if America has been told how Phyrric this victory is. Meanwhile, when a soldier is killed, it's still 10 to 1 it's an American, and when a dollar is spent, it's yours and mine.

Who Dathunkit

The war in Iraq has "swollen the ranks of Al Qaeda and galvanized the Islamic militant group's will." I seem to recall predictions to this effect, seem to recall they were drowned out by the Administration's jack-booted march to war.

Certainly this is but a baseless claim of a scorned predicter, a wild-eyed nay-sayer, a flower-bedecked peacenik. Who, besides such a misfit, would make such an assessment?

The International Institute for Strategic Studies, the "British-based think tank" that annually produces the "bible for defense analysts," that's who.

The actual document--The Military Balance--must be purchased, but Dr. John Chipman's summary of the state of terrorism today (a chilling one, to be sure), may be found here by clicking on his "remarks" (Adobe Reader required).

Cost of War

Cost of War

Click here to watch the cost climb. It's sobering.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

--President Dwight D. Eisenhower
April 16, 1953

I'm not as crazy as I think I am

Today's essay by NYT economist Paul Krugman is a mildly-written warning of the economic forecasts that this blog has been not-so-mildly presenting over the last few days.

I smell a rat at AOL News

This headline and story clearly indicate that Bush has experienced a huge -- 10 points or more -- jump in his approval ratings lately, that he's "rebounded" to 56% approval per a CNN/USAToday/Gallup poll from "around 44 percent." Other indications (plus the "frame" of the story, see my post immediately below about "framing" a news story) were that he was doing fine in his numbers.

These observations didn't square with other polls, and I couldn't find such conclusions on the websites of any of the three sponsors of the poll, so I located the poll results here.

As is clear, there is no such rebound. Bush's job approval rating actually dropped 4 points, from 60 to 56 since the last poll in August, his "deserves to be elected" percent dropped 10 points, from 62 to 52, since the last poll a year ago, and his "will definitely vote against him" percent increased from 35 to 38, and is now larger than his "will definitely vote for" percent (35).

Furthermore, Bush's job approval ratings have never "hovered around 44 percent." According to Polkatz's colorful chart, 56 percent is just about where the average of all Bush's polls are presently.

Question 1: Who wrote that AOL News story? It's not just biased, it's patently false.
Question 2: Why am I surprised?

Of Frames, Nascar Dads and Strict Fathers

This analysis of The Governator's election is supplemental to the story I cited in my post dated 10/8, "Let Them Eat War." The Nascar Dad syndrome and the Strict Father analysis do indeed feel like they complement each other, and must cause Democrats to sharpen their focus, as well as their imagery, in capturing thus-inclined voters, because they're breeding like crazy, and Bush's fear-based campaigning is nurturing them.
Also illuminating, to me, is the article's observation of the difference between Democrats' issue-based campaigning and Republican's impulse/instinct-based packaging. When I think of the present Democratic Presidential candidates, I must admit I'm drawn less to issues of the particular candidate (Gephardt, for example, holds to many of the positions I agree with), than to the aura the candidate evokes in me (Dean--tough, no-nonsense, smart; Clark--sharp, in-command, experienced).
I agree with the article's conclusion, that unless the Democrats likewise adopt such packaging, such "framing" of their candidates and issues, there's gonna be four more years of Nascar Dads and Strict Fathers in office in America.

ship of fools

If what you say about our economic vulnerability is true, Erik, and given that we find our ship of state becalmed in the horse latitudes of protracted and disillusioning recession and in the throes of a housing frenzy, can anyone explain to me why we have a "bring 'em on" militaristic radical in command of our leaky boat?

Saving the best for last

This article, which is clever and cogent--although a bit too long--has a last line worth waiting for:
"After all, if we're not an empire, why didn't we hand Iraq to the Iraqis on May 2, 2003?"

In over my head, I know, but...

I flunked econ in college. So why, you ask, do I keep bringing up the subject. Dunno. Just this last blast, okay?

We Americans are living beyond our means, borrowing like crazy, refinancing our houses, buying cars on long-term leases and eight-year finance packages, because of the low interest rates and because, well, we're spoiled. While that's happening, Bush is spending like crazy and cutting taxes, so we're incurring huge fiscal deficits and, as we have for years, gigantic trade deficits. So where is the US getting money from to handle this shortfall, these 500 billions this year, and more the next?

The same place we overspending individuals are: borrowing. And from whom? China and Japan.

So all China, Japan and Russia have to do is to decide that in one week they should switch to the Euro, and the Far East should call in some of its trillions in loans, and we're ruined.

It's the Cold War all over again, except they're the ones with the usable weapons of mass destruction.

When All Else Fails, Try Bribery

If the Iraq Governing Council resists the US use of Turkish troops as "peacekeepers," and the Turkish people are outraged about it, why, do you think the Turkish government has decided to send their Army into Iraq?
As they said in the Watergate days, "Follow the money."

More about Euros

For a more extensive report about Russia's possible switch to Euros for oil trade, see this article.

I must say, I'm not certain how all this will work out, but it does feel to me that sands are shifting, that more and more sentiment exists out there--in Latin America, in the middle east, in Europe, even in Africa--that America's the world pariah, or at least the bothersome bully on the block. Surely not the fine, high-principled nation of freedoms the present Administration claims.

Money still talks

According to Salam Pax, who's finally back in Iraq, things haven't changed at the border with Jordan since the Saddam Hussein days. You're still well advised to bribe the guards at the border--and if you do, you'll get in without a luggage search.

Apparently there's no Patriot Act in Iraq. And, as we know, no security either.

Conspiracy theories redux

In earlier posts, I posited a "summer surprise" followed by an "October surprise" that Bush would spring on the Demos. In July, during the Demo convention, Cheney would announce he wasn't running after all (too sick, or something, to endure another term), which would divert attention from the Demo convention while the press speculates on Bush's veep (a woman, possibly?); to be followed by his announcement of "victory" in Iraq and the repatriation of the bulk of our troops (except those needed to guard the oil supply of course) with flags waving and trumpets blaring.

But I like Richard's theory better: They've got Osama and Saddam already in their sights, maybe even have laser lights focused on their foreheads, just waiting for Karl Rove's signal. Another, more macabre version: They've already killed both of them and have done the DNA confirmation and are now just waiting for Rove to tell them when it's most propitious to "discover" the bones.

Richard Presents Observations from the Sonoran Desert on the "Look Out Below" post

An economics essayist wrote recently of a "silver bullet" that's going to secure CommChief George's re-election: The Devaluing of the Dollar, that is, weakening it against foreign currencies.
Under this theory, a cheaper dollar will bring about higher prices on imported items which will cause domestic goods to look more attractive to buyers (Take that, you Rising Sun, patent-stealing, auto dumpers!) This will in turn generate more jobs for Americanos (and their border-crossing companeros); which gets the Dow back over the 10.5K level that George inherited from Bill (for the benefit of the high-dollar, Elephantine donor, insider-trading market manipulators) and helps American global corporations' goal of LOWERING our standard of living; and allowing them (Eisenhower's "military/industrial complex” now redesigned as the corporate/political complex) to keep American workers union-protection deficient and low paid.

It will also make us look more supportive and less evil to our Euro brethren; and bring the Europeans into thesqueezee play we're trying to put on the Chinois' artificial tinkering with their currency (as our exported bucks build their massive weapons/army).

End result? JefeJorje gets to look wondrous in dealing with "... the economy, stupid..."
about 4-5 months from now, after terrific holiday shopping and spending numbers and as the Donkeys are scrambling to find issues, any issues, that will stick during their 9 member, barnstorming roadtrip, trying to find a starting pitcher possessing that good, live, high-and-tight, knockdown-pitch fastball.

And just to feed the conspiracy freak in all of us, don't you know as an absolute certainty that US Army Special Ops and dark projects people are tracking Saddam and Osama and will snatch them in October '04 just when Gjunior needs to seal the re-election deal?

Richard

Look out below

This pre-Iraq war article about the relationship between oil, the dollar and the euro is one of many that suggest that there is an international move afoot to loosen the longstanding tie between oil pricing and the dollar, such that a shift to pricing (and selling) oil for euros could start a dramatic decline in the value of the dollar by diminishing its importance as the currency in which international reserves are held. Venezuela, as well as some middle eastern countries (Iraq, before the war, among them) had begun to price its oil in euros. And now, the world's second largest exporter (after Saudi Arabia), namely our good old buddy Russia, may be considering doing so.
The current exchange rate between the euro and the dollar is 1/1.17, that is, one euro buys $1.17, which is near an all-time high of about $1.18 reached last June. It will be interesting to see what this latest news about Russian oil (if it's effected) will do to the relationship between the currencies.

The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace

My friend Erik has brought up something very scary. I wonder how it happened that it was dumped in the media during Christmas week last year? If you're going to report something without much public notice, that's the time to do it. And I have no doubt that George Orwell would be profoundly impressed. Here's the whole story on The President's own official Web site. And the original story from the NY Times.

I'm not going to read it all right now. While I was over at my bookcases looking for my copy of 1984, I noticed several new books I haven't read yet, including a few new ones on dogs. I love dogs. I also noticed my clock, a 1930 Telechron, which keeps great time. It's very late.

In the mean time, Hey! Big Brother! Can you see the gesture I'm making in front of my monitor? Don't have that technology down yet? Well, I'll just keep making it until you do. And incidentally, I'm not doing my calisthenics, you totalitarian bullies.

The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace

So many outrages, so little blog

Notwithstanding the title of this weblog, All That Arises, I'm trying to limit my posts to comments upon Bush's warmongering. There's surely plenty to write about on that subject. But that doesn't mean I'm not also enraged at the other manifestations of his madness, such as fostering commercial exploitation of endangered species and monitoring the Internet. In fact, it seems like Bush is going out of his way--in some demented expression of gratuitous fascism--to despoil our planet and destroy our freedoms.
But, as I said, I'm trying to keep my posts limited to his warmongering, so I won't say anymore about the maniac's other mania. Unless...

Now wait a goddam minute

Our soldiers, behind the wheels of bulldozers and to the amplified sound of jazz music, are ripping out Iraqis' orchards? Isn't this the same despicable conduct that Israel engages in?
If ever there was doubt that we are an occupying army--not a whit different from Nazis in Belgium in 1943--this report must dispel it.
Will we read about it in the American press? Let's just wait and see.

Robertson's nuke comment

Pat Robertson is crazy, has been for years. I mean he's really insane. The question is why he hasn't been arrested so he can get a little court-mandated treatment. Dissent and free speech are vital, but nobody has the right to advocate the violent overthrow of the government using weapons of mass destruction, resulting in incalculable devastation. Scary!Salon.com News

Phases of the Moon

Thanks for sharing the piece about the moon, Erik. I noticed it rising as I was driving home this evening, big and pale orange. This time of year, it seems to rise from Lake Casitas, reminding me of happy times fishing there with my Dad and our dogs. Anyway, it was the harvest moon, alright. I checked the Navy's moon phase calendar, and it was full a little under two hours ago.

This is my favorite time of year, the days growing shorter, more contemplative, but not yet the crisp, bluewhite elegy of winter.
Phases of the Moon

Rebel Without Applause

In the past two months, Erik and I have had a string of e-mails from a person who disagreed with us, and from her posse. See “Dear Persons …” on 10/6/03, below. We declined to post her opinions, then changed our minds, as Erik explained on 10/6. We also have opinions. We posted hers, we posted ours. But we are still hearing from her, now through her sister, demanding that we explain ourselves. I thought Erik did a great job of that on Monday.

Apparently, they expected we would post Kerry's opinions, and not post our own. This is getting weird. And ever the fan of the absurd, I thought I’d play Kafka and share it with our friends. Take it to the people, in the spirit of our new governor-elect. My thoughts:

• It's our personal blog - we get to put stuff on it. And decide what goes up.

• If you want to know why we disagreed, read our blog. That's what it's for.

• I never understood why Kerry wanted to be on our Web site in the first place. She's not going to change our minds about that prevaricating pretender in the White House or his flying monkeys. I don't mean that in a bad way. I say it with all due respect.

• I don't know how many people are reading our site, but I think it's basically just our friends and relatives. A few random surfers. If Kerry thinks she’s getting her opinion out to a big audience on All That Arises, she’s mistaken. Our readers are few, but we love them. Saying so probably won’t get me a beer, but it’s worth a try.

• What’s most bizarre, why does Kerry care what we think about her opinions? Why are our opinions of her opinions of any value to her at all? She obviously has no respect for us or our thoughts, and we’ve been clear the feeling is mutual.

• As I've told Kerry three times now, she can get her own free blog. On every blog, you will find a link that takes you to the company that hosts it. Click it, and go and sign up and Viola! You're a published Internet writer just like us. It's easy.

• Or you can send your opinions to the newspaper, or cnn.com, or time.com, or www.whitehouse.gov. Be creative. Hey, I'll bet Rush Limbaugh would love to get letters in rehab.

• Now that we have this person’s problem solved, I don't seen any need for her and her sister, their mother and friends to write to us anymore. They don't need us to get published. And I don't think we're gonna be friends and go our for coffee and stuff. So it's better if we just break this off now. Don't feel bad, it's not you, it's us. We just can’t make the commitment to a protracted dialog with fascism incarnate right now. Another blog will come along and make you all forget all about our little personal web site. Thanks for understanding. Be happy, and have a good life.

• BUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED!

Hunters' Moon

As I was surfing the Internet, which is a thing I do as a normal, early 2000's person in America, I stumbled on this series of definitions of the various full moons we observe during the year. I highly recommend you go there, and read the deeply-moving descriptions of what our forebearers knew and felt--and reckoned--as each moon moved through their lives.
Did they concern themselves with which football team was number one, or which Nascar driver was in the lead? Did they await the arrival of the NYT on their doorstep or the latest stock market report? I think not. They lived lives so much truer to truth than we. Could we ever go there again, as a race, as a culture, as a world?
No.

Don't look now

Don't look now, but apparently America is circling the drain, overdue for a head-on collision with apocalypse. This according to some folks in the UK.

Hey hosers, let all like move to Canada, eh. I like Moosehead and back bacon, ya know. Time to take off, hosers, for the land of comped medical and no Mexican food.

Rumsfeld on the run

Condoleezza Rice has stolen Rumsfeld's comfy chair at the head of the Iraq restoration table. He so wants to avoid the issue, he's apparently staying in his room to cry into his pillow. I have a hunch things will be tense at the neocon haloween party this year. I'm guessing Rice will go as Joan of Arc, Rumsfeld as Alfred E. Newman. Looks like Rumsfeld, doesn't he?
CNN.com - Rumsfeld avoids questions on Iraq role - Oct. 9, 2003

Justin's Waffle

Check out Justin's Waffle, a blog at justinalexander.net. He's a young British consultant with Jubilee Iraq in Baghdad. He comes recommended by Riverbend, and rightly so.

Here's a sample, which I rather enjoyed:

"Met with the Kurdish Islamic Party today. They were cute. Some people might assume they would be religious fanatics hardened by centuries as an oppressed people without a country of their own. Maybe they are. But they also laugh a lot, particularly at my attempts at Kurdish ... They even had a stack of Pokemon (Japanese childrens cartoon) exercise books for their official notes!"

Troubles in River City

What, I've been wondering, happened to the complaints by Tribune Bremer-appointed Iraq Governing Council's about his awarding reconstruction contracts to American firms, when local firms stood ready to do the work? Well, silly me, I should have known. The same thing that happened to the Council's complaints about training Iraq policemen in Jordan; and the latest outrage, his bringing Turkish troops into Iraq as "peacekeepers."
What happened to these complaints, you ask? They were buried--Bremer refused to allow the Council to publish its complaints about them.

Please, just for a moment, imagine how it felt to be in Vichy France in 1943. The only thing missing is jackboots. But of course we have night-vision goggles.

Arranging deckchairs on the Titanic

Bush's latest manipulation of unreality, the creation of the Iraqi Stabilization Group, to be headed by Condie Rice; and the administration's deluge of speeches touting progress in Iraq, would be comical if it weren't so tragic. As one commentator said, to the claim that Iraqi children were going back to school, "They went to school before we made war on them."

It doesn't get any worse than this

I've blogged chiefly about international outrages of our present administration, but this news item about the barbarity of our criminal law must be revealed. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that it constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment to execute a person who's too crazy to comprehend the nature of his punishment, a lower court in Arkansas has determined that it's legal to inject such a person with drugs in order to make him sane enough to satisfy the sanity test for execution--and then execute him! (The Supreme Court declined to hear the man's appeal.)

Gorby speaks out

Yah know, after the Soviet Union broke up, we ended up with the wrong leader. This guy's right on.

A New NYT Columnist, a laugh a minute

After I read two recent op-eds by David Brooks, I had to check his bio, because I wasn't quite sure if he was serious or a clever satirist of Bush-licking columnists. Perhaps, I thought, the Gray Lady had decided to spread some cheer on its editorial page.
Well, I was wrong. By God, this guy, who's a brand-new addition to the Times, comes straight from The Weekly Standard, and he really means what he says. His piece about Hummers and Harleys is, therefore, even more hilarious; but his latest, about the rosy prospects of the various factions' agreement during the drafting of Iraq's constitution is absolutely side-splitting.
For example, after telling us how well the process is proceeding (BTW, it's not being written yet; all that the Council is considering is how to create a body to draft it) Brooks concedes "gigantic problems remain." Things like the role of religion in government, distributing power among the various factions, little things like that. The biggest laugh, though, is his observation that women might be a bit concerned if the document doesn't address some of the thorny social issues, such as "polygamy and honor killings."
Yeah, if I were an Iraqi woman, I might be concerned too.

Let Them Eat War

This essay is the most incisive I've read on the question of why blue-collar males are tending to vote Republican, especially pro-Bush. It posits the concept of the "Nascar Dad," whose long-suffering losses in money, stature and hope have caused the undifferentiated anger that Bush appeals to with his macho imagery, his bullying ways.
I've written the author at the website where the article appears and suggested that the phenomenon she describes has now crossed into the Latino community, as evidenced by its recent pro-Arnold vote, creating a new category of disaffected, angry voters for the far right to exploit, the "Oakland Raider Dad."

We liberals are very slow to learn

Look, my fellow liberal/progressive/Bush-haters, why do you decry the Justice Department's one-day delay in ordering production of the White House records in the Plame-gate case, and, for that matter, the months-long delay in the actions of the White House to track down the leak of Valerie's name to Novak? Why do you rail against the obfuscation of the President's Press Secretary, Scott McClellan; and the obstruction caused by possible White House claims of "executive privilege?" I say, let the rascals have at it--the more delay, denial and obstruction the better.

Remember, please, that the exquisite bliss of Watergate summer was the Chinese water-torture of it. We were treated to months of delight, from Judge Sirica's pronouncements of suspicion, to WaPo's breathless reports, to Sam Ervin's crafty phrases and delicious drawl, to the fabulous daily drip of tapes, to Chairman Rodino's eventual raps of the gavel announcing the articles of impeachment.

So revel in Bush's recalcitrance, celebrate his truculent resistance and nay-saying. This is the stuff of which enduring scandals are made.

Here's how Hitler did it

He controlled the media. Imagine, getting Reuters to run a ten-inch story about how the President plans to present his case for the invasion of Iraq even before he does it. Followed, of course, by days of reports of his doing so.

How can the opposition prevail over that? Will truth prevail? Will justice and right and goodness? If we draw any lesson from this evening's recall election, it is this: No. Resoundingly no.

So why am I now committed to be more strident than ever in my opposition to Der Fuehrer?

Because I must be.

Statement by Governor Dean on the Recall

Sorry if I offended anyone with my previous post. I don't retract my remarks, because the election is absurd. But I didn't have to be so frank about it.

Here's what Howard Dean has to say about it; he's much clearer-headed than I am:
Blog for America : Statement by Governor Dean on the California Recall | October 07, 2003

Ritter for President

Please, if you wish to hear a powerful right-on voice on the subject of WMD's, give a listen to this incisive BBC interview with Scott Ritter, a former US military man, formerly a UN weapons inspector in Iraq. This guy's the real thing and his message is strong and sound.

Oh No

A word to anyone surfing by, who voted for Schwartzenegger:

You fools. You ridiculous, asinine fools. You voted for him 'cause he's cool, didn't you, you morons? You voted for him despite his glaring lack of any redeeming qualifications for the job, and utter lack of relevant experience. You voted for him out of anger and ignorance. In fact, you didn't vote for Ahhnold so much as you voted against the recession, and that, you miserable, short-sighted jerks, is bald stupidity.

Well, thanks, you great band of unwashed idiots. Now we've got the government we deserve. And God protect the children of California, because they can't all sell souvenirs at Disneyland.

I'm scared, really scared

The numbers favoring recall and electing Arnold are frightening. A landslide, which the demographers will, I predict, determine cut across ethnic, economic, social lines. Arnold Schwarzenegger (regardless of his beliefs and principles, which are, even now, unknown) carried all facets of California's voting population because he had name recognition and a body of motivated, well-financed supporters.

Does such a scenario call another election to mind, like maybe the 2004 Presidential one? Does Arnold's election presage upcoming campaigns where money and minority motivation translate into skillful and pervasively-presented packaging and resultant victory?

I am now so frightened by the prospect of George Bush winning in 2004 that I am driven to choose. Either I wade in and scream and claw against it; or I resign from the fray and seek refuge in the nation of my forebears (if they'll have me), Sweden.

I'll let you know what I decide when I decide.

Damn it

We've got Bush on the run and now this: Wesley Clark shoots himself in the foot again.

Look, my fellow ABB ("Anybody But Bush") citizens, we've got to get our act together or that idiot/demon/warmonger will win by default, just as he's won everything else he's ever won in his life.

Damn, this irritates me. Makes me want to enter politics just to get a handle on this madness and, for once, do the right thing.

Nevermind. I don't have the stomach or the temperament for it. As someone once told me, "We don't elect the best person President, we elect the best politician."

A Buddhist lawyer (I know, I know--it's a contradiction) offers wisdom

The following principles--so profoundly simple--are to me those to which we must aspire in this very life. My good friend and fellow attorney, Leonard, has reminded me that they apply now more than ever in the present world of constant armed conflict between mind-blessed beings.

Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a corrupt mind, suffering follows,
As the wheel follows the hoof of the ox pulling a cart.

Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind, created by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a serene mind, happiness follows,
As surely as one’s shadow.

He abused me, mistreated me, defeated me, robbed me.
Harboring such thoughts keeps hatred alive.
Releasing such thoughts banish hatred for all time.

Animosity does not eradicate animosity.
Only by loving-kindness is animosity dissolved.
The law is ancient and eternal.

An impeachable lie

Okay, I'm an active anti-Bushie, but I've never subscribed to the impeachment talk, largely because of its unlikelihood, also because of its impact on America right now. But most significantly because I've not found a directly impeachable offense in all of Bush's lies and conduct, however evil. Not impeachable, I've reasoned, because not involving moral turpitude, and not amounting to "high crimes and misdemeanors."

But the lies he repeatedly told about Saddam Hussein's links to Al Qaida, his scare tactics that goaded the Congress and the public into war, came close. And now this, a lie by omission, pushes the case against him over the top. The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) he claims to have relied on in making war, contained the clearly-stated conclusion that Saddam was not likely to attack the US, or join with terrorists to do so, unless he was desperate; in other words, unless Iraq was attacked, or in imminent danger of being attacked.

Not a peep about this CIA conclusion, because it flew in the face of Bush's plans to invade Iraq. But that's not the indictable, impeachable part. What Bush did was lie to the Congress (this conclusion was not included in the censored version of the NIE that the White House allowed the Congress to read) and the rest of us, over a matter which jeopardized our lives and property. He deliberately failed to tell us that attacking Iraq would, in the judgment of the intelligence he knew, place us at greater risk for harm and the spread of terrorism to our shores, than if we did not attack.

And that, mein dammen und herren, is treason.

What a revoltin' development this is!

According to the ticker on Islam Online, the Turkish Parliament has approved sending Turkish troops into Iraq, as the US has requested. According to the same ticker, the Governing Council of Iraq (the Bremer-appointed bunch of Iraqis), has unanimously vote to reject Turkish troops. I haven't seen these developments reported anywhere else yet, but if true (a) it will be interesting to see how they're covered, and (b) even more fascinating to see how Tribune Bremer and his bosses Bush and Rummie (and now Condie Rice) deal with it.

WMDs?

It has been suggested that we post a balance of reactions to David Kay's report about his WMD search. Instead, herewith is a link to the entire interim report delivered to Congress a few days ago.

If, after reading it, anyone still believes an invasion costing billions of US dollars and thousands of lives -- as opposed to continued UN monitoring and inspections costing perhaps a few million UN dollars and no lives -- was worth it, well, for such person I suggest therapy.

The American Saddam

A report from "on the ground" in Iraq. The numbers (of dollars spent on American contractors as opposed to Iraqi companies; of schools repaired and still untouched, and so forth) are staggering. And the disdain with which Tribune Bremer and his minions treat the people we are supposed to have liberated is sad indeed.

Tolerating the intolerant

Kyle and I have, after some deliberation, posted the preceding entry ("Dear Men and Women..."), by "Kerry," notwithstanding its intolerant, offensive content. We did so because we were told that otherwise we would be guilty of censoring posts to our blog; and I, for one, felt it wise to alert readers to the type of thought I find we have no obligation to purvey. After all, the person who wrote this entry has an equal opportunity to create her own weblog or otherwise to spread her thoughts to all who want to read them.

What saddens me--and first gave Kyle and me pause in spreading this person's thoughts--is the writer's expressed desire, as a self-professed "student of history," to live in a world in which "we must play dirty against dirty players," in which "Saddam is a terrorist who deserves death," and in which the French are labeled "cowards and double talkers, just like they were in W.W.II." These are not the thoughts of anyone I care to be around. They are the babblings of a distorted, demented mind.
The saddest part of it is that although such writers are entitled to the same freedoms of expression that we all enjoy, they consider themselves students of history when they know nothing, and have learned nothing from the past. Even worse, they have a vote in America, just as do those thoughtful caring citizens who truly deserve to participate in our democratic system.

Dear men and women of the same simplistic thinking

An Opposing Viewpoint received by e-mail:

Dear men and women of the same simplistic thinking.

Like other presidents, including LBJ and Kennedy--who got us into
Vietnam--and Carter--a nice guy who extended our problems with Iran for 40 times longer
than they needed to be, I think we can assume that Bush's justification for war
was exaggerated if measured by tangible evidence.

However, it is foolish to believe that weapons of mass destruction did not
exist in Iraq as early as 16 months ago, nor that they would not have returned
to Iraq and been employed, probably against Israel and the US, had the invasion
not taken place.

It is foolish to believe that Saddam would not have directly or indirectly
financed a nuclear bomb against the US in the future.

Weapons of mass destruction are not why we needed to invade Iraq. It goes
much deeper than that, and the WMD excuse was erroneously cited as justification.

We must realize that our new enemy is not a single country, it is an
extremist religion known by several names including Jihad. We must rigorously pursue
this enemy in whatever country harbors its infrastructure or members. We must
not "play fairly" and be the fools that Saddam and his peers rely on us to
be. We must play dirty against dirty fighters.

Saddam is a terrorist who deserves death.
At the very least, he paid families of martyred bombers a $25,000 reward for
their acts of terrorism. This is sponsoring terrorism.
He had WMD in the past, using them against his own people and others.
He cannot show where these WMD were destroyed or where they are now.
In 1991 he moved his weapons to his brother in hate, Iran, because he knew we
could not pursue them there. This is probably where the WMD are now. Or they
are in Iraq, hidden--a simple task considering that Iraq is the size of
California (would it be hard to hide 20 semi trucks in California, if you had 2
years to do so? Get real)
Saddam invaded Kuwait without provocation, then set its oil wells afire,
causing an environmental disaster and economic devastation for other Arabs. He
should be hated by liberals and conservatives.
Saddam had over a dozen UN resolutions that would have saved him from
invasion. He chose to obey none of them.
The Sept 11 attack and other attacks against American troops came at us when
we had invaded no Muslim country.

And you think that not attacking terrorist nations will cause that to stop?

Had France lost it's Louvre in a Sept 11 type raid, I wonder how much peace
they would be promoting now. Actually, probably a lot, as they are cowards and
double talkers, just like they were in W.W.II. In fact, at the time that
Hitler invaded them, their military was as strong in all measurable ways as that
of Germany. It was their cowardice that cost the world hundreds of thousands
of lives. If they are attacked again, by whomever, they should be left on
their own.

Pan Arab hatred for Americans is based mostly on our support of Israel. Such
support may be wrong, but it will not change. Get used to it. If it does
change, the Arab extremists, for the most part young men who do not want to work
for a living and are involved in the power of a cult, will use history as
their hate justification. They will always find a reason to do what they do,
because it makes them feel important.

The war against Iraq, and against any nation that harbors terrorists, is not
only justified, it is necessary. Bush, poorly equipped in many ways, is
courageous however for rooting out the enemy in the face of such irrational yet
powerful resistance by a minority of uninformed citizens who I suspect hate
their own country, and for the most part, their own lives.

Doing nothing against a clear aggressor sounds wonderful, but our own
personal lives with bullies, and world history, has shown us time and time again that
it does not work. The only thing that men like Saddam and Quadaffi fear is
the loss of their harems, property, power, and lifestyles.

Sincerely,

Kerry, a student of history [e-mail]

Israel attacks sites in Syria

News

I'm too tired to write about the truly weighty issues raised here, such as the right to national self defense, the crime of state-sponsored terrorism, or the sovereignty of international borders. But I can't help wondering if Washington knew about the attacks beforehand. And whether the Bush administration has finally really lost influence over Israel.

Of Avocados and Kalashnikovs

Today I attended the annual Avocado Festival in Carpinteria, ten miles east of SB. It's a typical "festival," with craft and food booths, live bands, strolling locals and tourists--always with ocean-cooled breezes and late-afternoon warmth. I meandered up and down Linden Avenue holding aloft my sign--a five-foot pole bearing an erasable placard that presently asks on one side, "Hey, Hey, USA, How many soldiers died today?" and on the other, "Bush-Cheney: $87 billion more--R U Nuts?"

The Festival was mobbed. I stood on the sidewalk in silent vigil for some of the time, but mostly walked through it, sign aloft, for two hours. The Democratic Party had a booth; the Republicans too (with a lifesized photo of the Terminator on one side, of Bush on the other), and so I wasn't the only political voice there--although it felt like it a lot of the time. When I first started my stroll, a security guard moved to my side, spoke these words quietly, "Look buddy, I agree with your sign--don't get me wrong. But if you get into a ruckus over it, move away, just move away, okay?" I said, "Okay." He could not have been more direct, helpful and right on. I did not want to lose any teeth or limbs--not with yet a year to go until we get rid of Bush!

Of those who commented on my message, 30% were unfavorable (from "Shove that sign up your ass!" to "Those soldiers are dying for your freedom!" (?) ); and 70% were pro, some with a quickly-flashed peace sign or supportive whisper, some with a kind tap on the shoulder, a few with strident agreement, including, often, the comment, "You've got a lot of guts-right on!" Ninety-nine percent said nothing, indicated nothing. Needless to say, I kept my teeth. Kept my sign, too. Illuminating experience for me. Look for me at your local shopping center.

The side of my sign that questioned the death toll drew the most comments, pro and con, but the side protesting the money thing--the 87 billion--drew comments like, "What a waste," and "What can we do?"

I shrugged, could only shrug. Long ago, when I learned the law (see previous post for my confession that I was a lawyer) I was told that the House of Representatives held the purse. And yet nowadays these humungous monetary sums are presented by the Executive Branch and approved without meaningful hearings and attention by Congress, even though those for whom the monies are being expended are protesting that it's too much! Why indeed must we buy thousands of new rifles for soldiers who already have rifles? Why must we build Iraq from scratch, using American specs, American workers, when there's a hungry labor force in place and an eager industrial base ready to build?

The war was madness. The peacekeeping is madness. The rebuilding is madness. The madness of King George.

Eating Crow with Wild Rice

Faced with the inescapable fact that plans have gone to hell in a halftrack in Iraq and Afghanistan, the president (Secret Service codename "Big Stetson") has ordered a major reorganization of efforts Over There. This includes the creation of an "Iraq Stabalization Group." And here's the sweet part: that's headed by NSA Condoleezza Rice.

It couldn't be better. Mr. Bush is simply not going to learn to cut loose his liabilities. And until he does, he's doomed, and the odds of getting a Democrat in the White House improve. Go get 'em, Connie! Cowboy up!

Yeah, sure it's like baseball ... isn't everything? It's like watching a pitcher throwing wild, beaning batters ... and the coach just won't take her out.

Daily Kos: Do Over in Iraq and Afghanistan

He ain't heavy, he's my...

I, Erik, one of this blog's co-authors, confess to this: I spent three decades as a lawyer in private practice. In that capacity I came to know many lawyers, none of whom, however, approaches John--a contributor to this blog from time to time (including the following insight)--in terms of dedication to the true value of law practice: to help those in need. This man, who happens to be my older brother (I'm "outing" him, I know, but that's in vogue lately), offers this post:

"Despite our society's remarkable achievements in the area of representative democracy, we are aware, as lawyers, of the tremendous obstacles posed by the people in power, Republicans or Democrats, who have the instruments of wealth or politics at their disposal.

"Greed and political power drive our society and, as lawyers, we can occasionally provide a measure of justice to the poor and oppressed through the exercise of our abilities to access the courts and the media. But the battle will never be won, because the basic nature of human society reflects the values of a secular society, not St Augustine's City of God."

See what I mean? How'd you like to have a brother who thinks and writes like that?

'Scuse the rant, but it's to announce there is a God

Well, maybe not. But the Cubbies have made it to the second round of the playoffs and the Red Sox have a chance to advance too. Okay, the Giants are gone and the Yankees have advanced, but what if--just think about it, America--what if the World Series is between Boston and the Chicago Cubs. The two most exquisite also-rans in American sports history! Screw the recall election: The real news on this planet is Major League baseball.

And (as if it matters) our friend David Kay (any relation to Danny Kaye? I guess not, but who knows in these days of nose-jobs and other alterations of nature) reports that he needs more time (read more time sucking on the public tit) to investigate stuff. What stuff?

Maybe he needs time to shuck his fellow WMD-seekers for a moment in order to plant some more botulism (Shit--I probably have botulism growing somewhere in my fridge right now!) or maybe some athlete's foot fungus.

This is insanity, what we're being asked to accept as reality. This is no longer "spin." This is lying, slimy-crotched bullshit.

Sure, Saddam was a bad guy with a nasty regime, but all this other crap is bullshit. We--that's you and me, folks--have elected (kinda) a leader who has led us to make war--aggressive, offensive war--on a sovereign nation in violation of international law.

How does that feel, America? Isn't it time we turn this around or die, as all other evil empires have died? It's our choice.

Labor Force

Labor Force Grows Slightly (washingtonpost.com)

Labor force ... hmm ... that gives me an idea. Maybe the Dept of Defense could cut down on younger jobseekers by drafting them into military service. And if they have recent college degrees, they could be drafted into service as teachers for ISNI -- the Ideal Society for a New Iraq. Hey, maybe they could get Wendy Kopp on the project, since Pres Bush hosed her by defunding Teach for America.

So many good ideas for energizing the economy for middle-agers like myself. For example, this company looks like a good investment. You gotta love their motto, "No order too large or too small."