Really scary

To me the most chilling part of this awful report of the killings in Iraq yesterday is the story about the 47 dead bodies found beside a highway. Apparently, some group (who knows of what, if any, affiliation or identity or purpose) set up a fake roadblock and then mowed down the drivers who stopped. Imagine the terror when, driving along with your family, you spot a roadblock ahead. You can't turn around, and you can't accellerate, for fear of it being a "legitimate" roadblock set up by the US, who routinely shoot at any cars that do that; and if you proceed and it turns out to be a fake roadblock, you're dead.
I suppose all you can do is slowly approach, invoking Allah, bigtime.

The state of the nation

There are many ways to measure how the US is faring, among them its position in the world, its freedoms and security, and the truthfulness, fairness and good will of its representatives. Okay--we're in terrible shape on those counts. But what about our economy, specifically, the condition of our wage-earners, the middle class that for decades has made the US so vital and strong?

Well, I gotta tell ya, it sucks. Check out this report which, from top to bottom, lists scary data about our citizenry. The median income of the middle class is stagnant, its net worth is stagnant, its savings is nonexistent, its debt is at sky-high levels, and the gap between rich and poor is higher than ever--by far. And this is no crazy-liberal report, this is the Federal Reserve's annual fiscal report, as digested by an Associated Press economic reporter.

As it suggests, when the real estate bubble bursts, and as interest rates and inflation rise--as is already happening--the middle class is in big, big trouble. Let's hope they have enough gasoline money to get to the polls.

If it walks like a duck...

Let's see. One hundred twenty-seven dead Iraqis today, slain in various sectarian bombings and shootings throughout the country, but it's not a civil war. What is it, then. A platypus?

On the ground when the bombs went off

Here's an authoritative report from someone who was there (albeit in the Green Zone) when the bombs went off in Baghdad, wrecking the Shiites' major mosque. Read the entire post, please, including the ominous language of Shiite Cleric al-Sistani at the end. If that doesn't mean civil war, I don't know what.

For another on-site report, this from a resident of Baghdad, read this. Does it sound ominous? Kinda like a quote from Anne Frank's diary, maybe?

Call me crazy, call me stupid

In fact, you can call me sick and cynical and things like that, but get this:

You know how I've been saying (posting) repeatedly for years that the continued strife in Iraq is just what Bush wants, because it perpetuates his power and allows the US to remain there, build bases, exercise its dominion over the area. (A corollary being that Osama bin Laden wants it too, because it serves his purpose of fomenting and training his functionaries.) Well, I still believe that's what Bush/Cheney/Rummie and the NeoCon bureaucrats had in mind to begin with, for the first couple of years after the invasion.

But now I think they've had enough, and now earnestly want the battling and bickering between the Iraqis to end because it's becoming an albatross for Republican candidates in the upcoming Congressional elections.

Well, too bad, gang. You've gotten on a horse you can't get off. At this rate, with mosques being bombed, with Sunnis and Shias attacking each other daily, with the Iraq government unable to come up with a cohesive administration, there ain't no end in sight to that nation's unsettled state, and all the reconstruction and investment in the world ain't gonna change that, certainly not in time for the midterm elections in the US, and not even for the presidential elections in 2008.

Well, the cynical part is this. I want the strife to continue now. I want the Iraqis to go through the same turmoil that other democracies have had to endure in order to prevail. France? Ten years of hell, followed by empire and finally relative peace and freedom. The US? Fifteen years between the earliest stirrings and adoption of the constitution, with the War of 1812 as a capper and a bloody civil war to follow. Mexico, Latin America, South America, Africa, Asia--name a nation (besides, maybe, Canada) where the transition to cohesion and democracy was other than turbulent and protracted.

Why do I want this? In large part so that we can get Bush and his gang of warmongers out of office, but also because the situation in the Middle East can no longer be papered over by our Western ways. When the Brits drews the lines in the sand and created various "nations" after World War I, it gave no regard to the aspirations or allegiances of the indigenous people. In Iraq, for example, it lumped together Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds and Assyrians, and told them they were a nation. Well, now we know better. The Arabs have no historical connection to the Kurds, indeed, have strong antipathy; the Sunni Muslims have strong objection to core beliefs of the Shia Muslims, which have been exacerbated by the U.S. occupation; the Assyrians and Turkmen have their own allegiances in the north and northwest of Iraq, and on and on.

Yeah, if there's to be a semblance of cohesion and cooperation in Iraq, it's going to have to come from the Iraqis, not from extortionate pronouncements by the occupiers, and not in a matter of months. Unfortunately, for Bush and the NeoCons, not in a matter of years, either.

Bluffing

Condi and our ambassador to Iraq are telling the Iraqis that they'd better get their act together or we'll pull out our resources, financially and otherwise.
Right.
We'll leave a failed state, to be taken over by terrorists, leaving a hotbed for anti-US militants.
Right.

I love this. Love it even more than the Cheney/quail shooting

Bush's latest blunder, letting Dubai take over our ports. What an idiot lives in the White House!

Shell game

Bush's previous budget cut so much money from research for alternative fuels that the Department of Energy had to lay off 5,000 employees from one of its facilities. But today, Bush is visiting the facility to give a speech to tout his new-found love for non-fossil-fuel sources, and so that facility, really quick, dredged up some money from other projects and hired back the 5,000 researchers in time for Bush's visit. Now that, ladies and gents, is straight out of Goebbels' handbook.

No surprise at all

Jack Straw, British Foreign Minister, makes another "surprise visit" to Iraq, this time to try to iron out wrinkles in the post-election governance. And you think your job stinks? Imagine waking up in the morning to head off to Baghdad, wearing your three-piece suit, to try to make nice with the same folks whom your soldiers have just beaten up on tele. I think I'd rather stay in bed.

Coverage of coverage?

I'm listening to (can't bear to watch) a television show on CNN the subject of which is "was too much coverage given to the Cheney shooting incident?" I suppose next week the networks will air programs asking, "was too much coverage given to the question of whether too much coverage was given to the Cheney shooting incident"? And the following week the question will be...

If you don't believe me...

Believe this study of the political leanings of guests on the Sunday morning talk shows on MSM television showing that the guests, as well as the commentators on the CBS, NBC and ABC shows tilt distinctly to the right. No, tilt isn't the word. Nor is lean. It's wallow. It was so even during Clinton's terms, but since Bush took office it's now even more obvious--and now documented.
And, note, please, that this study doesn't include the most-wallowing, and most-watched network, Faux, which is so right-wing that you can almost hear the Sieg Heil's in the background, so safe for the Bush administration that Cheney was willing to appear on it to "explain" shooting his buddy in the face.
Bush and Cheney lie--but the numbers in this study don't. Just watch tomorrow and make the count yourself.

It makes you want to weep

Is it a case of "unintended consequences"? Is it "the price of liberation"? Whatever it is, the widening of the divide between Sunni and Shia arabs in Iraq is a sad product of our invasion. Sad, sad, sad.

Okay, they've finally got my interest

I've so far stayed away (to the extent it's possible) from the "Cheney-shot-an-old-man-in-the-face" story, including the odd sequence by which it was reported, but these latest two observations have me wondering.
First, why didn't they have Whittington airlifted from the accident site to a hospital? As this post points out, choppers are on standby whenever Cheney's at large, and surely if Whittington's wounds were so serious that they in fact did airlift him to a large hospital within minutes of his arriving--an hour after the accident, by ambulance--at a local hospital, why didn't they airlift him in the first place?
Second--and the possible explanation for everything: the shooting and the various delays afterward--is that Cheney was intoxicated by the mixture of drugs and alcohol. He admitted to having "one beer" at lunch (Who in the world has one beer? How many times have cops heard, "I just had one beer, officer"?) Cheney has to pop so many pills that his "one beer" could well have affected his shooting and/or his judgment. To race to the microphones immediately after the shooting would have been impossible.
I have one more observation. There've been raised numerous questions about the "30 yards" between Cheney and Whittington when the shot was fired, focusing on the severity of the wounds and the scattering of the buckshot at that distance, opining that at thirty yards the shot would have been more widely scattered and would not have penetrated as deeply, through clothing, as it apparently did. Interesting, to me, but not conclusive. To me, what's noteworthy is that if Cheney hit a man in the face at thirty yards, he had to be aiming at ground level, not at all skyward. To be sure, quail, when flushed, do fly low, but that low? I think Cheney was shooting at the birds on the ground, that's what. Sounds just like him, just like bombing WMD-less Baghdad.

The Clinton effect

This essay is right on about the stifling effect on Democratic politics of the McGovern effect ("weakness of national security spells disaster at the polls), and the Nader effect (not supporting a centrist Democrat elects Republicans). To which I add the Bill Clinton effect, viz:

Because Clinton managed to win two presidential elections by sliding toward the center on most issues, Democrats believe that's the recipe for victory. What they forget is that in neither election did he win a majority of the total votes cast (Perot's presence on the ballot accounted for this); and they fail to recognize the effect of his enormous charisma, overwhelming both of his adversaries, Bush I and Dole. Gore and Kerry were no Bill Clintons when it came to charisma, that's for sure, but had they truly taken command of the left and those with lower incomes--had they made the elections a class war--the would have won handily.

Abu Ghraib revisited

Finally, some of the additional photos of the prisoner abuse are emerging. (Viewer discretion advised.) I understand there are others, including video, that are even more ghastly. Just in time, too, because the Muslims' outrage over the Muhammed cartoon mess was dying down.

What's in a name?

Like "permanent bases in Iraq." This article by Tom Engelhardt details not just the obvious fact of Bush/Cheney's plan for a permanent presence in Iraq, but the MSM's utter silence on the issue. Like the air war--the escalation of bombing and missle strikes by drones--the "enduring bases" go unmentioned, ignored, while billions of our tax dollars support them.

I can't believe it

After all that sturm and drang last month over Bush/Cheney's illegal wiretapping, and various lawmakers' calls for Congressional hearings, now it looks like there won't be any hearings after all. The dog and pony show the administration put on has cooled the Republicans on the idea, so we'll never learn details of the program, and, for all we know, it will continue unabated, uninvestigated, unknown.

Come to think of it, I do believe it.

Well, whaddya know!

The American Bar Association, my former colleagues (although I was never a member of that particular body) have told the administration that its warrantless eavesdropping on US citizens is illegal. Not maybe, not kinda. But illegal. Good job.

The way it is

I often cite to Juan Cole's blog, Informed Comment, to learn the status of political developments in Iraq, and it's no doubt a prime authority. Today, however, I found this essay, which presents a wide perspective on the results of the recent choice of Prime Minister Jaafari, and on the prospects for Iraq in the months and years ahead. It's not pretty, not pretty at all, which, as the writer points out is just fine for Bush/Cheney and the NeoCons. Here's the money quote:

"Baghdad - which accounts for 25% of the country's population - has virtually no water or electricity. The Americans for their part may have become more "invisible", retreating from main urban centers, but their air war is even more devastating. The White House/Pentagon policy is now a "back to the future" of turning Iraq into Afghanistan, where warlords, religious or secular, and tribal sheikhs defend their mini-states armed to their teeth, and criminal gangs run parallel to death squads. There isn't a remote possibility of forging a government of national unity under these circumstances. Which suits Washington fine. The only way for the United States to prolong its Iraqi adventure is to perpetuate chaos; Iraq as the new Afghanistan. Few dispute that the US invaded Iraq for its oil resources, mostly untapped, and that it's located in the heart of the world's energy system. Thus, if the US controls Iraq, it extends its strategic power."


This observation comports with my view of the post-9/11 world, as governed by Bush/Cheney. The continuance of a campaign against terr'r, or against anything that they can make Americans fear, perpetuates their power; and so the prospect of another "failed state" in Iraq, a "breeding ground for terrorists" allows them to keep our troops there to control the area and to persuade Americans the administration is protecting us from harm. Brilliant. Big Brother twenty years later.

Searching for a title to this post

"America the beautiful"? "A few good men"? "Support our troops--put them behind bars!"? "Impeachment of Bush/Cheney is too good for them"? "Chain Rumsfeld to the wall!"?
After reading about the Army's criminal prosecutions of those who killed Afghanis by torture, you suggest a title.

A Great White Hope--gone

So--The Democrats are going to hand the next two years, no, make that the next eleven years, to the Republicans, because with actions like this there's no way the Left will get behind any candidate who's favored by the Democratic establishment. Hackett was a perfect candidate for the Senate seat in Ohio: A hard-nosed veteran who opposed the Iraq war absolutely, had already proven his attractiveness in last year's near-win for a Congressional seat, and had previously been urged to run for Senate by the party machinery.

Rove must be loving this, watching the opposition self-destruct.

For any doubters

that the Bush administration's "war on terr'r" is beyond the pale, is internationally illegal (forget about our own constitution, given the recent appointees), check out this UN report about Gitmo. There was never any doubt in the mind of any world citizen that Bush's "enemy combatant" regime, without adjudication, without recourse, was patently illegal. But now that we've been told so by the UN, we're told so by the UN, what will we do? Close it down? Naah. "We're the king of the world!"

History, schmistory

Thirty years after the war in Vietnam was over, we knew--definitively, although most of us suspected it at the time--that LBJ's minions fabricated the "attack" by North Vietnamese gunboats on a US destroyer in order to support the "Gulf of Tonkin resolution" under which our government bombed Hanoi and escalated that awful war that lasted ten years and killed 56,000 American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of people in Vietnam and Cambodia. We've also learned that the intelligence that Ike, and later John Kennedy, relied on to justify the CIA's support of the Bay of Pigs invasion was fabricated by anti-Castro expatriates. We've since treated Cuba like a hemispheric pariah, boycotting it economically and dooming its poor to poverty, unending poverty. We've also learned that our CIA, at Nixon's instance, intervened in the coup in Chile to place the dictator Pinochet in place of the elected president Allende, with the result that for decades that nation was ruled by the iron hand of military domination, only lately to have recovered, somewhat.

What good has all this history done? Have we learned anything? Apparently not, because it's clear--it could not be clearer--that Bush/Cheney had already determined to invade Iraq well before the charade they orchestrated before the UN and the American public, that they lined up any intelligence they could find to support that invasion--lying, cherrypicking, prevaricating, propagandizing--and yet those monsters still rule over our military and our nation. What good will it do when we finally write history, twenty years from now, that establishes their perfidy?

We may never recover from our loss of lives, treasure and historic posture from this demonic act. Indeed, we've signaled our decline as a civilization. And Bush/Cheney will never know it. They'll be too busy on the lecture circuit and on fishing trips and quail shoots.

A benefit from Bush's warmongering

is that we Americans are having to learn geography.

Where's the outrage?

C'mon, guys and gals. Get off your couches, hit the streets. The revolution isn't nigh, it's overdue.

Another month in Paradise

Check out this map, showing the 800-plus deaths linked to the insurgency and the occupation in Iraq in January. During demonstations, I hear from Bush supporters that the death toll isn't any worse than a normal period in the United States, for a comparable area and population. Imagine if in California, which is much larger and more populous than Iraq, there were 100 deaths in a month due to police/military conflict with civilians. We'd be at war--which is just what's happening in Iraq, month after month.

Another day in Paradise

Reported today: Gasoline delivery in Iraq is dwindling because of official corruption and mismanagement. Insurgent attacks are on the increase. The number of nations comprising the "coalition of the willing" is shrinking. The utilities services (water, electricity, sewer) are still below pre-invasion levels, even after sixteen billion American tax dollars have been spent to build infrastructure. And the Iraqi police force that the US Army is training is riddled with corruption and incompetence.

In a little over a month, we will "celebrate" the third anniversary of our "cakewalk" into Iraq.

The Gray Lady Speaks

Two NYT stories about Iraq on the same day--one about graft and corruption in Iraq's oil industry, the other about the developing civil war--both contain bad news for Bush's occupation, and demonstrate that at least one strong branch of the MSM is on the job. After years of lapse, the NYT seems finally to have got it: This war and occupation--which it cheered for--is a disaster.

Bodily fluids or alcoholic fluids

Juan Cole, in this post, compares Bush to General Ripper (played superbly by Sterling Hayden in Dr. Strangelove), and based on the latest memo of his meeting with Tony Blair, I must agree. The President is mad, or drunk, or both.

A long, hard slog

Yup, Rummie, you were right. Those few Iraqi troops that have taken over patrols from our military are still getting their bullets and gasoline from US Army trucks. Seems their vehicles aren't safe or capable, are unreliable; and the Iraqis don't have sufficient supplies for their own troops. We even have to deliver their food to them in the field, in packets we've specifically designed to meet Muslim dietary requirements.

Exit strategy? My ass. We don't even have a presence strategy.

Here's an exit strategy

Perhaps not too long from now other states, like Maine, will be unable to deploy any more National Guard units to Iraq because they've all spent 24 months in overseas duty, which is the legal limit on such deployments. The Commandant of the Guard said he was concerned that the Army might begin picking off new recruits from different states to create ad-hoc units of soldiers to serve overseas.
That would be like a football team changing players before every game, he said. "That's the way it was in Vietnam. When I got there, I didn't know a single person. There was always somebody coming and going."

From Baghdad

Riverbend, an Iraqi woman, author of the blog Baghdad Burning, gives us her take on the election outcome. Notice how similar her description of the politico-religious result is to the state of politics and leadership in the United States. I've said before that Osama bin Laden and Bush are their own best buddies, in that they thrive on the terror each of them stirs up. Add in the religious fervor of their supporters and we've got the perfect storm of eternal war.

I'd like to hear feedback on where you think all this is headed, and how it will end.

Mark Fiore

A cartoonist with wit...and amazing talent. Check out this one about the Empire of Georgelandia

Air America

Here in Santa Barbara, we receive Air America via 1340 am station, a ClearChannel outlet.
We get three hours of Al Franken in midmorning, three hours of Randi Rhodes in late afternoon, Stephanie Miller (I think it is) in early morning, with three hours of a non-Air America personality, Ed Shultz, in between. (Shultz is a liberal, too.) In the evening the lineup reverts to conservative talk, which is what is carried all day and night on the other local ClearChannel station, 990 am.
Franken and Miller are, IMHO, tolerable, Shultz is barely so, and Rhodes is, frankly, unlistenable. In sum, Air America is a bust as a competent alternative to the incessant conservative talk shows. A wasted opportunity, a failed effort in the main.

Two exceptions: Rachel Maddow (who's on our local station only for an hour, between five and six a.m.), and Laura Flanders (weekends).

I received this quote by email recently, attributed to Air America, and it's cute, I gotta admit.

"This year, the State of the Union address and Groundhog Day happened in the same week. It is an ironic juxtaposition of events: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication while the other involves a groundhog."

You say you want a revolution?

It's times like these that drive people to fill wine bottles with gasoline and throw them, or rocks, or sticks of furniture, at tanks. Or line up in scattered rows against redcoat ranks.

All is calm. The war rages on, the scandals and illegalities pile up unaddressed, the press dumbs down--indeed is dumb--and meanwhile we, unrepresented but right, sit at home and type.

Yeah, Molotov cocktails are sounding real fine right now.

Look out, world!

I'm writing this post from a coffee house, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Goleta, CA. I'm using a T-Mobile Wi-Fi connection. Get down, get down. Now, at any time of day, 'most anywhere, I can place my thoughts on this blog as they arise.

Documentaries

Talk about a growth industry. A local group shows a different film--from environmentalist harrangues to antiwar polemics--each week, seems like. And I get LinkTV which plays similar fare day, night out. Some of them are fine films, some quite lame, but the latest darling--"Why We Fight"--is analyzed by Justin Raimondo, here, and I gotta tell ya, this sounds to me like a must-see movie.

Raimondo tells of an opening scene in which an American father of a son who works in the Trade Center is on a train toward New York and sees the towers in flames, fears for his son and later learns the worst. His reaction: Blind revenge.

Would that have been mine, in a similar setting, with my daughter in the towers? I don't know, but I do recall distinctly my reaction to the news of the attacks. I learned about them on my computer that morning, early, but I didn't have a TV and so didn't follow along all that day and during the next weeks as I'm told so many Americans did. But my immediate reaction that morning, which has continued to this day: "Well, that's the price of empire." Indeed, I think I even mouthed that phrase when I learned on the Internet about the strike on the second tower. Yup--that's what I felt. Not far from "we had it coming." Closer to "we saw it coming," but still not blind revenge, not at all. That's what the terrorists felt vs. the US, toward our nation's decades of domination and, in their view, corruption.

Anyhoo--I'm going to see "Why We Fight" and will report in due course, of course.

I don't get it

Down the coast from here, ten miles or so, is Oprah's place. A castle on a large acreage overlooking the Pacific. It cost her fifty million or so, five years ago. A friend of mine and I were discussing it, essentially wondering What the fuck? Who needs--who even wants--that kind of property? Not who deserves it, really (because no one does), but who would bother? I just don't get it--and now, check out Tiger's latest purchase.

What the fuck?

State of the Union

Bush's speech, portions of, and an analysis of, I heard over BBC World Service radio, was much ado about nothing, except I did get a kick out of his assertion that the US is "addicted to oil." Oh, really? Where's he been during the last three decades, and especially during the last five years as president? Thanks to his administration and the Republican Congress, no action has been taken to alleviate that dependency: policies favoring alternative fuel development have been scrapped, rules to reduce gasoline consumption by cars and to support mass transit have been repealed, and anti-environmental regulations have been enacted. It's galling indeed to watch Bush make a political point out of the very addiction he's caused.

As to the Democrats' response by that Virginia governor? Awful. Wussy, fuzzy, absolutely ineffective. Like a good Democrat.

I don't want to sound stupid, but

I've gotta ask: Given that virtually all legal experts, including me (and this of course doesn't include Albert Gonzalez and his minions) know that Bush's argument that he holds plenary power to order spying during "wartime" is an complete crock, who's gonna tell him otherwise? If Congress "disagrees," what can they do but pass some resolution or even a limiting statute, which Bush will, according to him, be empowered to ignore? And if the courts disagree? Well, under the "unitary executive" theory, Bush may ignore that branch too.

Bottom line: Whether his program is declared "legal" or not by Congress and/or the federal courts, Bush will continue it if he chooses to. Only if the courts somehow influence the military branch--or maybe the US Marshal Service, which is under the courts' jurisdiction (at least I think they still are)--to enforce any decree they enter, will the spying stop.

Oh boy--a full-scale constitutional crisis. I can't wait.

Dysfunctional economy, anyone?

On the same day we learn that Americans are saving money at the lowest rate since the depression year of 1933, we are told that an oil company, Exxon, has reported the largest quarterly and annual profit ever achieved by any corporation, ever. Ever in the history of corporations, ever in the history of profits, ever.

Larry King, the most overpaid person on the planet

Okay, maybe the CEO's of Tyco and Enron are in the same league, but this King dude is a blight on the TV screen. I just watched his puffball interview of former president Bush, including a couple of soft questions about the status of the US occupation of Iraq. When Bush said "it's going well, better every day," King didn't even pause before moving to the next soft question. Meanwhile, the Iraqi oil minister is quitting his job after years of failure; while 50,000 US troops are being conscripted to stay extra months on the ground; and scores of Iraqis--and US newsmen--are being killed and injured.

"Better every day?" Mr. former president? Larry--get off the air, and get a job selling Hallmark cards.

This isn't Spinal Tap, it's wiretap

Bad joke. But with a point.

Despite the MSM's characterization, in response to Bush's PR blitz to support his NSA spying program, that the legality of the program is debatable, it isn't. Not even for a moment is there a hestitation, a pause for reflection, on the point.

So now, let's see how Congress--in particular the Republicans--react; let's see if they act with a measure of courage and truthfulness in the face of the lawless administration. My guess: No.

State of the Union

Bush's approval numbers in the recent polls have dropped again, flatlining in the lower forties. In two days he addresses the nation--I'll not watch it (can't bear it to see his face, hear his voice) but I'll read about the speech afterward--and I'll report on what, if any, effect it has on the polls. A president usually gets a bit of a bounce after the SOU speech--and this one will be followed by the Democrats' filibuster attempt on the Alito nomination--so no doubt there'll be some good news for Bush momentarily. But with all the shoes that haven't yet dropped, from Fitzgerald's Plame-gate investigation to the Abrahamoff scandals to the NSA spying hearings to the ongoing negative news from Iraq and elsewhere in the far- and middle-East, I'm thinking Bush had better come up with another terror threat (or, possibly, and attack) sometime this spring. My guess is that he'll create a crisis about Iran (recall, there's been talk about some kind of action against Iran in March on account of that country's upcoming monetary moves in the form of the creation of a bourse), just about when his poll numbers tank again.

We have met the enemy

and he is the US Army.

"Come home, America"

When you get the time, please read this piece about George McGovern. Actually, make the time.

Just so you know I'm not making this up

I recently sent out an email to a bunch of folks I know reminding them of the existence of this blog, a step I don't like to take, but I've received so little response lately, by comment or independent communication, that I thought the folks would appreciate knowing I'm still alive and still have something to say, all negative, about Bush and his wars and his policies.

I admit my bias, but it's fact-based. Just check out this one post, just this one--representing only a portion of the blogger's entries for yesterday (Tuesday) and you'll see just a slice of what's really going on in Iraq. Bear in mind that the author of the blog, Juan Cole, is a distinguished professor, fluent in Arabic, knowledgeable about the Middle East, with no axe to grind.

Eye-opening, eh?

Reaping what we sow

So now it turns out that many of the Shiites in Iraq--and they're the majority--will rise up against the US occupiers if the US attacks Iran. (Recall, Iran is a Shiite nation with a fundamentalist as its president.) So, if Bush (or Israel) decides to take out Iran's nuclear facilities, the US faces reprisals on the ground in Iraq as well as in international forums.

We've boxed ourselves in. Isn't it time we joined the rest of the nations and sought peace in the world? Isn't it time we announced that we would no longer tolerate American corporations exploiting the natural resources of foreign lands (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAR) by paying off the dictators in those nations?

Isn't it time?

What did we expect?

Much blog traffic is being devoted to Bush/Cheney/Rove's hubristic (a word?) effort to justify the NSA eavesdropping regime that (after a year's delay and over Bush's protests) the NYT revealed a month ago. They've published legal memos and hit the stump at full stride, guns ablaze, in an all-out campaign to support the manifestly illegal practices.

They have no choice. They were caught red-handed, without deniability, and so have no choice but to go on the offensive, and Rove's announcement that the 2006 midterm campaign will be waged over the "war on terror" is his signal to Congress (with all of the House and 1/3 of the Senate up for re-election) that the Republican membership had better get on board the administration's bus or be left behind when it comes to support from the White House.

The administration has been given a few weeks to present its case uncontested because any hearings (and we don't know what form they'll take) aren't scheduled until February. By that time, the Republicans may have been brow-beaten enough to authorize only limited inquiry, perhaps classified, to help Bush escape without significant injury, or maybe even with support in some wavering segments of the citizenry, who'll hear only how vital the eavesdropping is to US security. And those lawsuits challenging the practice? They may get a decent hearing, but if so, they'll take place long after Bush/Cheney are in retirement and on the lecture circuit.

I hate to say I told you so

but remember my post about two months ago about the Iranian Oil Bourse? Well, here's a definitive article, detailing how come the US (or Israel as its surrogate) will find some way to stop Iran from diminishing the dollar's hegemony as the world's reserve currency.

Come March (perhaps even on the third anniversary of our invasion of Iraq), we'll be hearing bombs fall again. Only the last letter of the victim nation's name will change.

Some comfort

My worst nightmare--no hyperbole here--would be a 2008 presidential race between Hillary Clinton and John McCain. I won't explain, because if you've followed this blog at all you know why.

But chances are neither of the will win their party's nomination. Hillary because she's a whore; McCain because he's too much a maverick, as evidence, most recently, by his recent remark that Bush's order for warrantless eavesdropping wasn't authorized. The Far Right doesn't trust him, and without them he can't get their money, their delegates and therefore their nomination, and no doubt the Far Right now controls that process.

A blessing in disguise.

I'm pretty crazy

about Arianna Huffington too.

I couldna said it better

Molly Ivins, I adore you.

Somebody, please, do away with this bitch

I've had it with Senator Clinton. She's the worst kind of warmongering hawk, a hawk in liberal's clothing, trolling for votes without principle. God, I hate her.

Not quite as promised

I told you I'd present an analysis of the Supreme Court's "assisted suicide" decision when the opinions were available. They're here, and I did indeed write a long post evaluating the three opinions (Kennedy for the 6 in the majority), plus dissents by Scalia and Thomas, with the Chief concurring with Scalia. But Blogger ate my post and, alas, I didn't save it and haven't the inclination to re-present it in its entirety.
So here's the upshot: Most of the differences between majority and dissent were over statutory and regulatory interpretation and power, with the majority restricting both and the supposed "conservatives" arguing for expansive definitions and intent of federal law. First of all, that's counter-intuitive, right? Second, the dissents were willing to adopt a definition of "medical practice" as "curative" related to the body solely (think Terry Schiavo), whereas the majority didn't pretend to make that judgment, holding that the Attorney General had no such power under the statute. So, what appears to me is that if the issue is a doctrinairre one (medical marijuana, right-to-die, abortion) the conservatives are willing to grant the feds wide authority over Americans' conduct; but if the issue is commerce, they're careful to leave business alone.

Why am I surprised?

In case you missed it

and I'm not surprised you did, given the MSM's inattention to the bloodbath in Iraq, here are a few items from the last couple of days: (1) a killing field north of Baghdad caused by US troops detouring Iraqis to off a main highway--forty Iraqis dead; (2) two bombs in Baghdad kill 23 and wound 26; (3) Iraqi army recruits attacked north of Baghdad--34 dead.

Iraq is a smaller in area and population than California. Can you imagine what condition we'd be in--and what the talking heads would be talking about--if even 1/10 of that carnage happened in this state?

Hmmmm...

I'm thinking... Army's maximum enlistment age upped to 40; enlistment bonus increased to $40,000. I'm 65 and could certainly use some cash. At this rate, by the time I'm 80, they'll reach my age and with the commensurate bonus increases, they could tweak my interest. What the hell, I've always wanted to travel in the Middle East, and by then the safest way--probably the only way--to do so will be by armored Humvee.

A tiny bump on the way to dictatorship

Today the Supreme Court, 6-3, upheld Oregon's "assisted suicide" law, ruling that Ashcroft didn't have the authority to criminalize doctors' prescription of drugs that ended patients' lives. It was a definite rebuff, some have styled it a rebuke, of the Bush administration's position that it's entitled to control by any and all means any Americans' conduct not favored by the Christian Right.
Well, maybe. But mark this: the three dissenters were Scalia, Thomas (known fascists) and--guess who?--Roberts, their new fellow-brownshirt. With the addition of a fourth fascist(appropriately, given Mussolini's second-rate status), an Italian-descent Alito, that decision would have been 5-4.
After I've read the opinion, I'll comment on the dissents (Roberts didn't write one, hiding for the moment behind the skirts of Scalia and Thomas). But this much is certain: We're in for an ugly, ugly time, we liberals and, for that matter, Americans. Anthony Kennedy, a decent guy but no moderate, is going to be the new swing vote on the Court, which means it's going to be a long, long decade.

Say goodnight to Knight-Ridder

Reporting like this has characterized Knight-Ridder's work in Iraq. Rare, almost unique, among major reporters. Some British and Canadian sources--The Independent, the Scotsman, The Telegraph, Reuters--dig around for truth, but not the US MSM, not ever. It's my recollection that UPI--previously a decent wire service--was recently taken over by the Washington Times, a Bush-supporting rag owned by the Rev. Sun Yung Moon's companies; and now I hear that Knight-Ridder might be taken over by one of the MSM conglomerates, Gannet Publishing, that owns many papers, including USA Today. So--how to get the news anymore? The Internet, a few radio stations--KPFK locally, and a few reports from the banal Air America--and that's about it.

Does it begin to feel like 1938 Germany?

What's the value of dried powder?

Until I read this NYT editorial about Bush's two most recent attempts to exercise dictatorial powers (I'd known about them before, just didn't patch them together), I was of the "keep our powder dry" school with respect to the Judge Alito nomination: a filibuster would waste public support for the Democrats, I thought, and wouldn't prevail in any event. But now I'm not sure that the powder's worth saving. Alito, loosed in the Supreme Court with the fascists Thomas, Scalia and Roberts, tempered only by Kennedy's vote, could empower Bush to do almost anything in furtherance of the "war on terror." What good is dry powder if the war's already lost?

Armageddon

Here (read the first comment, too) is a possible outcome of the situation in Iran, with the trigger being Iran's announced intention to start and oil bourse in March. Hold onto your hats. And your your duct tape.

Borrrring

How many times do we have to hear this refrain before we get wise to it?: Each next "democratic development" in Iraq is going to be a "milestone" (there have been five "milestones" so far--three elections, one constitutional debate and one "coalition" formation) and preceding each of these there will be "increased violence" to disrupt it. The latest warning, today's, precedes the formation by the "elected" parliament of its eventual structure, which will, of course, continue to require as its protectors our troops, tanks and airplanes.

Why can't the MSM, for once, draw back a bit from a moment-to-moment account of this ugly, immoral scenario? Is it too much to ask in our democracy that someone wise and informed sees what is obvious?: that Iraq will now, and for decades, continue to be a propped-up state, one that will collapse if we withdraw--and that its condition is precisely what the NeoCons always wanted. A place where our military forces could rest--dug in, implanted in the oil-rich desert and adjacent to Israel--an hour away from any hotspot that might threaten our oil supply or Israel's expansion. It's a corollary to Bush's need for constant fear of attack; Iraq's need for constant American presence.

The NeoCons have won by Iraq's loss of decent statehood. The US will be embedded there--to ensure "democracy"--just as the NeoCons yearned for all along.

Not with a bang, but a drumbeat

This article talks about the increasing mentions of impeachment of Bush in the media, among the liberal grassroots, even in the halls of Congress. It isn't much, I grant, but "the longest journey..."

Our little protest group, and my ubiquitous signage, have for months called for impeachment, to get the word out, make it familiar, part of the discourse. And when we chant, "Impeach Dick Cheney, Impeach George Bush, Toss 'em out, Toss 'em out, Kick 'em in the tush!" we get an increasing percentage of thumbs-up and smiles from onlookers. It too isn't much, I admit, but consider this: It took years to chase Nixon from office, starting with someone first uttering the "I" word, then others, then others. Same with Clinton. (I haven't researched Andrew Johnson, but I'll bet that effort needed lead-time, too.)

Now, we're not likely to get a semen-stain as proof against Bush (although wouldn't that be delightful?); nor conspiratorial tape recordings, as in Nixon's case. So there's probably no "smoking gun," no sudden explosion, that will bring Bush down. But that makes the drumbeat all the more important, first to become too loud to ignore, then to be loud enough to bring down the house. The White House.

The Iran effect

Take a look at these poll numbers showing Bush's "approval ratings." Whatever bounce he may have gotten last month (and it wasn't much) due to his media blitz over Iraq and the elections there, has subsided. (A quick way to check is to compare one pollster's numbers--say, Fox or Ipsos--to its previous poll numbers, shown below on the list.)

But now Bush/Condi have another evildoer in their sights: Iran. True, Bush can't attack it with troops (maybe not missles, either), and must resort to rhetoric, but it will be interesting to see how his poll numbers react to this new "threat." My guess is, given the gullible/torpid American public, Bush will get a boost. Possibly, however, because he can only make noise, not war, the media won't give him as much air time and the public, which doesn't respond to anything on the tube that isn't "visual" won't pay much attention.

This turns my stomach

Yesterday the NYT reports that battles are raging between the Iraqi homegrown insurgency and the outlanders, al Qaeda groups and such, largely over the latter's indiscriminate killing of Arabs, including Sunnis and innocents. Today I hear on cable television that this is a favorable development for the US, because it may mean the disintegration of the insurgency. Indeed, the Pentagon and the administration is talking about this like it's a sign of victory and the cable talking heads are so touting it too.

Does anybody realize how cruel this is? We attack Iraq, attract the "terrorist" outsiders, welcoming them to "bring it on" so that we "fight them there instead of here," and then point to the internecine carnage as a hopeful sign?

I'm ashamed of my country.

Isn't it special?

In the days after Bush and Rummie trumpet the significance of the US Army's handover to Iraqi forces a major Saddam Hussein palace--the place is looted to the walls. The provincial police chief, Hiazza, blames the Iraqi soldiers, and as a result he gets transferred to a distant town.

Hiazza, the provincial police commander, said he started investigating
immediately after police first entered the palaces. "I found everything was
looted, even the electrical switches," he said.
When Hiazza formally accused
Jabara and some members of the provincial council in connection with the alleged
looting, authorities abruptly transferred Hiazza north to Baiji, an insurgent
hotbed. "The reason they transferred me is definitely I will get killed there,"
Hiazza said. He resigned instead.

Pat Buchanan finally gets it

Actually, maybe it's just that he finally got a chance to articulate it to The American Conservative magazine, namely, that the arabs have a point: Bush is really in Iraq for the oil; Isreal is grabbing Palestinian lands; and arabs are being oppressed by both.

Socialism and capitalism

In this piece, Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor under Clinton, in the course of discussing the present state of China's economy, makes a remarkable assertion:

For years, we’ve assumed that capitalism and democracy fit hand in glove. We took it as an article of faith that you can’t have one without the other. That’s why a key element of American policy toward China has been to encourage free trade, direct investment, and open markets. As China becomes more prosperous and integrated into the global market -- so American policy makers have thought -- China will also become more democratic.
Well, maybe we’ve been a bit naive. It’s true that democracy needs capitalism. Try to come up with the name of a single democracy in the world that doesn’t have a capitalist economy. For democracy to function there must be centers of power outside of government. Capitalism decentralizes economic power, and therebyprovides the private ground in which democracy can take root.

Oh, really? The nations of Scandinavia, Britain, India? To name a few. What's Reich talking about?

Cost of medical attention in America

A bit off the Iraq beat. I just watched a PBS News Hour report about the astounding increase of health-care costs in the US, which coincides with an overall decrease in the quality of the care in the US. Much hand-wringing, much puzzlement during the PBS report, especially over the question of why we in the US pay more for medical care than do other western countries, and get less. Much hand-wringing, but not a single observation that we might want to look at the difference between the systems.

Theirs: single-payer plans, funded by taxes. Ours: Private insurance coverage with gigantic profit-driven corporate bureaucracies between the doctor and the patient, and private, profit-driven companies making our drugs and running our hospitals? Has it ever occurred to anyone that capitalism, for all its good qualities in making cars and speedboats, ought to get the fuck out of health care?

Risen is full of shit

Last night I watched Charlie Rose's interview of James Risen, author of a new "expose" of Bush's march to war in Iraq. (A commentary on some of Risen's assertions in the book may be found here, and of course Risen's been all over the tube lately, including The Daily Show.) What struck me was Risen's statement that "everybody" thought Saddam Hussein had WMD's before the invasion, and that, as a result, Risen opined that Bush/Cheney didn't "lie" about their existence, they just convinced themselves of that fact in spite of the absence of hard evidence, a kind of "wishful thinking."

First of all, there was plenty of evidence of the absence of WMDs, as Risen himself states in the portions of the book cited by above-linked article. In addition to the failure of the UN weapons inspectors to find any WMD despite open access to all sites in Iraq, there were repeated prewar statements by Scott Ritter and others--inside Iraq, inside the federal government and outside--that the decade-long surveillance and sanctions on Iraq made it unlikely that WMD's could have been developed. Second--and this pisses me off no end--the issue in the weeks before the invasion wasn't "does Saddam have WMD?", it was, "given that it's still not clear whether he does or not" what is the remedy, the proper course of action?

With UN inspection teams driving in their white vans all over the place (recall those images?), scurrying unannounced and unobstructed in their searches and time after time finding nothing, what should the US do? Invade and bomb, or continue with the inspections, as Blix and al Baradei and all but Britain in the Security Council urged? Saddam was surrounded by our massing forces, his every move was watched, his nation was being scoured for evidence. So--even if it was "wishful thinking" that led Bush to conclude Saddam had WMD, what should he have done as leader of the "free world": Made war--or made certain?

Moving on from MoveOn.org

This article's right on about the war in Iraq and the position of most Democrats and their supporters, including MoveOn.org, about what to do next to cease this grotesquery. I say, to hell with those who call for more arms and soldiers, regardless of party, regardless of their other stances. If you call for more troops, or are silent about the ongoing carnage, you're complicit in America's quest for world dominance. You're worse than a neoCon, because at least they stand for something.

I report, you decide

Was the war about Iraq's oil? (Scroll to near-bottom of article, although the rest of it's illuminating, too.)

In case you're not keeping track

the current death toll (as DOD-reported) of US soldiers in Iraq is over 2,200. In case you think there's any trend here--up or down--check out this graphic graphic.

Okay, gang, keep me posted

Let me know when/if this story of Rumsfeld's misfeasance ever reaches the MSM. How can it not, since the linked-to report is an AP dispatch? Maybe Rummie has kept his job all this while by suppressing adverse news of his performance, via blackmail from information he's gleaned from the Pentagon's spying operation. Otherwise, I have no clue how come he hasn't been fired, and, for that matter, tarred and feathered and roasted on a spit.

I smell a rat

You may recall that I predicted during the summer of 2004, in the months before the presidential election, that Cheney would resign, citing failing health, so that Bush could run with a different vice presidential candidate, given Cheney's unpopularity. It didn't happen, of course, but these latest trips by Cheney to the hospital have me speculating again. Wouldn't it be clever if Cheney "with great reluctance resigned the office due to ill health," and the neocons got a new veep to fill out Cheney's term and hence to have the inside track on the presidential nomination in 2008? They must be horrified by the prospect of loose-cannon John McCain's nomination, and this would be a handy way to come up with a strong, tested successor to their puppet, Bush.

I suggest we raid the hospital and grab Cheney's medical records from this latest visit and check them out. They probably say, "Complains of shortness of breath. Patient, however, is asymptomatic, except for a terminal case of fascist prevarication, as diagnosed on previous visits."

The state of the nation

Not about Iraq or spying or scandals, this time. Although you wouldn't know it from the MSM, it's the economy, stupid. And once the masses get it--if they ever do--the Republicans had better run and hide.

Hearts and minds

What the hell are the US troops doing in Iraq? Raiding Sunni clerics, invading their mosques, painting crosses on the walls?

Those magnetized "yellow ribbons" to "support our troops"

have their origin as celebratory symbols to welcome home imprisoned persons. This website, "Straightdope," one of my favorites, tells the story.

So, it has come to this

Now we're building walls around cities in Iraq. Does this occupation begin to sound like the Nazis in Poland, or the Romans in Jerusalem? Or has it sounded like that for a long time?

A benefit of modern medicine?

Not as many soldiers die in Iraq; their lives are saved so that they can survive horrific injuries and be disabled for the rest of their lives. Oh, goody.

Another fine mess...

So, the Shiites by the thousands are protesting against the US ambassador's "coddling" of Sunnis, blaming them for the hundreds of killings of Shiites in recent days; and of course the Sunnis are deeply resentful of the US occupation, and the most radical of them are doubtless behind the attacks on US troops. As a result, the US is caught in the middle of competing forces in Iraq, taking flak from all sides except the Kurds (until the Kurds take action to split away from the rest of Iraq, taking the oil-rich area around Tikrit with them).

The solution: Get the hell out of there. Now.

Under Cheney's definition, Bush is a traitor

If disclosure of the details of the NSA spying program is traitorous, as Bush, and more forcefully, Cheney, have said, then what about Bush's assertion that the program is "limited," and intercepts only incoming calls from suspected al-Qaeda operatives? Either Bush is lying, or he's telling the truth, and is accordingly revealing details of the program, giving "aid and comfort to the enemy," which is the definition of treason.

Fascism Watch

My earlier-announced Fascism Watch has been in abeyance during the last few months (and may go there again), because of overwhelm: Bush's actions toward corporate/executive/religious dictatorship are too numerous to follow with this posting mechanism. But this item, relatively unnoticed, must be mentioned: After all that hullabaloo accompanying Senator McCain's showdown with the White House over a torture ban, Bush has determined that he'll adhere to the Congressionally-mandated ban--or not.

A day in the life

While the US mourns the death of 11 men in a mine explosion--a sad occurence, without a doubt, and accordingly subject to incessant cable TV news coverage--Iraq suffers through another day of deaths, including the bombing of a funeral procession, killing 36. Puts the scope of Iraq's ongoing trauma into perspective, eh?

Get out your raincoats or snowshoes, depending

It's gonna be necessary to take to the streets this winter. The Iraq occupation is going to wear on, Bush's poll numbers will remain mediocre, and with the latest Republican scandals and investigations, it's likely the Bush administration will find it necessary to create a crisis. In the absence of a terrorist attack on US soil (which I'm sure Bush is praying for), he'll no doubt launch an air attack on Iran's nuclear plants and make sure Syria is sanctioned by the UN for its involvement in the assasination of a popular leader of the opposition. This will elevate the crises in the Middle East to a flashpoint.

So, we'll have to remain vigilant, ready to protest with vigor (civil disobedience, even), to try to stop the madman from his ongoing administration of fear and force. It's going to be a long, cold winter, everywhere.

An interesting development in reporting

and, I think, a favorable one: After, or before, the publication or airing of an interview, the subject of the interview posts the entire transcript on a website to ensure that the aired or published portions not be unbalanced.

NSA surveillance

In the next several days the media will present arguments pro and con about the recently-revealed domestic spying operation authorized by Bush shortly after 9/11. Bush is already lying about it, calling it "a limited program" involving only "a few numbers" of al-Qaeda operatives outside of the Unites States, when the facts are otherwise. It was a widespread, full-net surveillance, its information widely disseminated throughout the federal government's intelligence community.

Let's hope--and I'm certain it's only a hope--that Congress gets its back up on this one, calling for hearings, calling to account those, including Attorney General Gonzales, who persuaded Bush it was legal. And make no mistake: It wasn't, not even close.

You want fine writing?

Sheriff Tate to Atticus Finch:

"I may not be much, Mr. Finch, but I'm still the sheriff of Maycomb County. And Bob Ewell fell on his knife."

One of the finest lines in all moviedom. From To Kill a Mockingbird, of course.

I turned on cable this New Years morning, and although I've seen the film ten times, I couldn't turn it off, couldn't leave the room. Best rendition of a novel to film, ever. IMHO.

Top 10 stories of 2006

A funny post by the Freeway Blogger, whose blog--showing the how-to and results of freeway blogging--is cool.

Yes!!

A list of words to be banished from the English language.

You're not going to believe this

Forty-four percent of those polled by Rasmussen responded that 2005 was a "good" year (or better than "good" because many of those rated it "the best ever" or "excellent").

On what planet do those respondents live? Or could it be they lived only during 1929 and 1941?

Good news

I suppose the fact that the Justice Department has opened an investigation into NYT's publication of the existence of the administration's domestic spying operation should be bad news, showing how quickly an investigation can be started if it suits the administration, as opposed to how languidly the administration reacts to other leaks, such as the Plame case. But for me, this DoJ's decision is good news, ensuring that the story of the clandestine, illegal bugging will remain in the MSM spotlight for months, maybe years, to come.

Quagmire defined

This is how our nation will ensure that it gets dragged into Iraq's civil war.

Who's on first?

Abbott and Costello couldn't create a more comical routine.

Letter to the editor

Some weeks ago I wrote a letter to the editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press that wasn't published in the letters section but in the "Voices" section, so I didn't realize it had made the cut. Recently someone told me they read it and a friend downloaded it for me. (This is in addition to the letter I wrote two days ago.) Here's the earlier letter:

New awareness prompts talk of withdrawal
12/4/05
Voice From Santa Barbara: Erik O'Dowd

With increasing frequency, Americans are asking, "Why are we in Iraq, anyway?"
It is to diffuse this growing doubt about the rightness of our mission there that the administration is now making mutterings of withdrawal.
Twenty-nine months after Bush/Cheney's invasion and occupation of Iraq, after untold thousands of deaths and maimings of Iraqis, Americans and others, and the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars, we are hearing suggestions from some in the Bush administration that "withdrawal" or "redeployment" of some coalition forces is likely, even imminent.
These utterances are no doubt prompted by the growing rejection by the U.S. public of our continued presence in Iraq, which is in turn based on a new awareness among the majority of our citizenry that the reasons the administration gave for the invasion were false: No weapons of mass destruction, no connection of Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda, no "imminent threat" by Iraq to the U.S. or its allies.
With increasing frequency, Americans are asking, "Why are we in Iraq, anyway?" It is to diffuse this growing doubt about the rightness of our mission there that the administration is now making mutterings of withdrawal.
Don't be fooled. The Bush administration's invasion of Iraq was always about establishing U.S. hegemony in the Middle East, and so when they speak of withdrawal or redeployment of forces, they don't mean our troops will come home, or even leave the area. They'll be ordered to stay indefinitely in the region to show U.S. power -- and use it if necessary -- to enforce U.S. interests (read access to oil and natural gas by our corporations). Indeed, we are presently building four "enduring" bases in Iraq to ensure our permanent military presence there.
These bases will only ensure continued attacks on U.S. targets in the region and throughout the world, by those who've long demanded that we give up our designs on the territory and resources of the Middle East. We'll continue to spend billions of dollars and risk innocent lives, just in slightly different locales.
We mustn't grow complacent. We must keep up the drumbeat, continue to demand to "support our troops" -- not by moving them a few miles farther into the desert, but by bringing them home. Home to the United States. Now.
The author
lives in Santa Barbara.

To which I would add, as I've noted before, don't be fooled about the recently-increasing US bombing of cities in Iraq, which may lessen our casualties, but will increase Iraqis', and is equally, if not more, outrageous.

Rogue Nation

Check out this list of international treaties that the Bush administration refuses to honor.

Letter to the editor

Herewith a letter I wrote to the SB News-Press. I've had passable luck getting them published, so long as I adhere to the 250-word limit, as--by 2 words--I've done in this piece. A muted statement, I agree, but what the hell.

Many Americans are in despair, having given up on the political system that twice (maybe) elected Bush/Cheney, resulting in a growing chasm between rich and poor, between ideology and humanity, between truth and lies, between war and peace. But now Bush has gone too far, uniting in outrage both liberals and true conservatives (not, however, their evil cousins, the cabal of neo-cons that have Bush’s ear).

The straw that broke Bush's back?: His secret order authorizing warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency of Americans’ private communications; and, once revealed, his unfounded assertion that the “war on terror” grants him that unprecedented power, followed by his obdurate insistence that he’s entitled to maintain the surveillance, unchecked by courts or Congress.

The Liberals' outrage is predictable, but no less so than that of true conservatives because of their innate distrust of federal power, particularly executive power, power that’s expressly limited by the Constitution’s reservation of lawmaking to Congress and oversight by the federal courts.

To be sure, the Bush/Cheney administration is in for a rough 2006. “Plame-gate” will expand; DeLay and other scandals will ripen; the occupation of Iraq will become even more poisonous; and the economy, now that the real estate bubble has popped and interest rates are rising, will slide into mediocrity.

But Bush’s Achilles heel is his arrogant assertion of executive (read dictatorial) power to intrude, unchecked, into the private communications of Americans. All sensate Americans know where this leads, and they won’t be led there.

Democratic presidential candidates in 2008

Here's a quick analysis of the status of various Democratic candidates for the next presidential election. God, how ugly. Except for Feingold (who's unelectable), the field is awful. Is there no such thing as a charismatic, strong "progressive"?

Meanwhile, back in Iraq

Check out these numbers of Iraqi casualties from our invasion and occupation.

The birth of Jesus

Okay, all my life I've thought about Christianity--Roman Catholicism, mostly, but the other Jesus-based religions, too--and I now conclude that as fine a message as that young man preached (and I suppose he actually walked on the planet at about the time it's said he did), the idea that he was the son of God is a crock (even assuming there's a God, or a god.) The whole tale is absolute bullshit, just as the notion that Muhammed is divine or any other human being has been placed on Earth for some divine purpose.

Indeed, it's more than that I don't believe it, I find the notion abhorrent to the concept of humanity, mean of purpose (to rob humans of their essential human condition), and ruinous in effect.

And the celebration of Christmas--the idea that for a couple of days we should sing and pray and be of good will--it's worse than the recent idea of "black history month." Why is there a weekend for acting benignly, when Christians, as an historical group, are essentially a murderous group of zealots abetted (now, as much as ever) by wimpy believers who do nothing while Jesus' name is used to justify killing of persons all over the world.

Religion, in my mind--and Christianity is as bad as any--is a curse, an evil force.