A Little Less Drafty

Following up on Fixer's previous post, This from the LATimes:

Seeking to dispel suggestions that the war in Iraq could lead to reinstatement of the draft, House Republicans on Tuesday hastily brought the idea to a vote — with the express intent of shooting it down.

"It's putting a rumor to rest," John Feehery, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), said even before the 402-2 vote to reject the bill that would have mandated two years of military or civilian service for all men and women 18 to 26 years old.

"This campaign — which started as a whisper but has since been given voice by the leading Democrats in the country today — asserts without any evidence whatsoever that there is a secret Republican plan to reinstitute the military draft," DeLay said.

DeLay? That's a little suspect right there. I bet he's suspect in a lot of nasty shit.

Some Democrats ain't buyin' it:

Democrats and activists dismissed Tuesday's House action as hollow. Rangel voted against the very bill he wrote and accused the Republicans of "prostituting" the legislative process for political gain

In response, Congress has appeared to be acting to bolster the all-volunteer force. Influential lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.), have questioned the wisdom of drafting reluctant soldiers and the cost-effectiveness of training draftees for only a couple of years of service, as opposed to those who join with a career in mind.

In time of war, draftees have historically made the difference, and in time of peace (the Cold War) they filled out the military 'just in case'.

Today's politicians' main reaction to anything is "don't rock my vote", but in this instance, in this stupid 'Bush's War', they happen to be right not to reinstitute the draft.

Having said that, I am for a National Service Act, which could include the military, and would give the kids a chance to serve the country for a coupla years after High School, something like the Peace Corps. It might teach them what this country is all about, give them some pride in it, and help them to grow up a little before college or the workforce.

Show me da money II

Back in August I posted this:

At least $8.8 billion in Iraqi funds that was given to Iraqi ministries by the former U.S.-led authority there cannot be accounted for, according to a draft U.S. audit set for release soon.

The audit by the Coalition Provisional Authority's own Inspector General blasts the CPA for "not providing adequate stewardship" of at least $8.8 billion from the Development Fund for Iraq that was given to Iraqi ministries.

Today from WaPo:

As little as 27 cents of every dollar spent on Iraq's reconstruction has actually filtered down to projects benefiting Iraqis, a statistic that is prompting the State Department to fundamentally rethink the Bush administration's troubled reconstruction effort.

Between soaring security costs, corruption and mismanagement, contractors' profits, and U.S. governmental costs, reconstruction funding is being drained away, leaving little left to improve the lives of Iraqis, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies. Senior administration officials and congressional experts on the reconstruction effort called the analysis credible. One senior U.S. official familiar with reconstruction suggested as little as a quarter of the funding is reaching its intended projects.

[. . .]

But administration officials, lawmakers and think tanks say major changes are needed not only in what the reconstruction money is spent on but also how it is spent. Too much money has been filtered through major American businesses such as Halliburton Co. and Bechtel Corp. on large-scale electricity, water and oil infrastructure projects, and not nearly enough has gone to smaller, more decentralized reconstruction efforts that could be handled by Iraqis, they say. [my emphasis]

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. VP Heart Condition lied through his teeth last night. Even when he said that Hallibuton was the only firm able to handle such a big contract. My dad did business with the U.S. government, especially the DoD, and I know something about how government contracts are awarded. If the contract is large, like the how-many-billion-now-blank-check we gave Halliburton, most times it is broken up to allow more smaller places to bid on it. Several smaller places could do the same job and also keep costs down. One would be afraid to overbill because it would raise a red flag if the others didn't. This is why Halliburton can charge $45 for a case of soda or hundreds per load of laundry.

Cheney used his influence to facillitate Halliburton's billion-dollar rip off of the American people, period.

Oops, almost forgot. Thanks to Kevin at Lean Left for the link.

Tinfoil Hats....With Wings?

It's fitting that this article should appear in the Ess Eff Chronicle, given that city's reputation for nutty shit.

The U.S. Air Force is quietly spending millions of dollars investigating ways to use a radical power source -- antimatter, the eerie "mirror" of ordinary matter -- in future weapons.

"(But) I agree with them (that) we're just not at the point where we need to be doing any public interviews."

"I think," he said, "we need to get off this planet, because I'm afraid we're going to destroy it."

It's comforting to know the Air Force is all over this like a cheap suit. Things must be going swell at Area 51. At least in the bar of The Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel.

The Straight Poop

In our never-ending quest to leave no turn unstoned, to bear any burden, to rush in where angels fear to tread, in order that we may bring you the very latest breaking headlines so you can plan your day, we feel that we have at last outdone ourselves. From Yahoo!.

Kerry beats Bush ... in US marine latrines

Yahoo's heart is in the right place, no pun intended, but Marines call their bathrooms 'heads' in the finest Naval tradition. Other than that minor detail...

The US military, which traditionally avoids meddling in politics, is expressing its views about the US presidential race in the one place where a soldier can speak his mind freely: the latrines

The bathroom wall vents a surprising amount of anger over Bush, considered by many rank-and-file a great wartime president, and heaps a mountain of cynicism on the US presence in Iraq

"Here I sit cheeks a-flexin'. Bout to make another Texan," one rhyme reads, repeated in multiple stalls.

One diatribe says: "The only thing Bush cares about is a good fight to make a name for himself. If you think he really cares about us you're out of your fucking mind. If you really believe 9/11 is related to Iraq then you're just as delusional as the hippie that thinks there will ever be world peace.


"You're not fighting for America. You're fighting for fucked-up politics. End of story Cinderella."


Another pundit opines: "If you are a retard, vote Bush. He is too!"

Who said Jarheads are dumb?

Commenting on the marines' bathroom debating society, Lieutenant Josh Walton suggested the stalls had a loosening effect on the soldiers, especially the service's smaller number of Kerry supporters

In black magic marker, a soldier scrawled a maxim from Plato that rings true whoever wins the November election: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

This a funny article. Go read it. Having said that, only the last quote got it really right.

Smooth Move, Ex-Veep

Dick Cheney apparently apparently ain't web-savvy enough to know you've gotta be pretty exact when you type in a URL. This from Chris Suellentrop at Slate:

Does Dick Cheney know that he told voters watching the vice presidential debate to go to GeorgeSoros.com? In response to a series of attacks from John Edwards on Cheney's tenure as CEO of Halliburton, the vice president said that Kerry and Edwards "know the charges are false. They know that if you go, for example, to factcheck.com, an independent Web site sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, you can get the specific details with respect to Halliburton." One problem with Cheney's rebuttal: He misspoke. He meant to say "factcheck.org.," rather than ".com." George Soros capitalized on Cheney's error, snatched up the URL, and now if you type "factcheck.com" into your browser, you get redirected to a page titled, "Why we must not re-elect President Bush: a personal message from George Soros."

That level of alertness may be why Soros is rich. I'm glad he's on our side.

Ha!

Got this via Bubba reader gttim:

Gwen Ifill

The consensus: She sucked.

Early morning Veep

Well, I did my damndest to stay awake for the debate. Ha! Was sound asleep before the 8 pm Law & Order was over. Hey, 4 am comes awful early. My first read was my partner Gordon, and then I surfed around the Blogosphere looking for reaction. Here's a sample:

From A Brooklyn Bridge:

Neither did well. Edwards did less well than I expected. Sorry to be contrarian, but there it is.

Lambert at Corrente:

I'm not sure Edwards managed to wrestle Cheney into his coffin, let alone drive a stake through his heart (if any)—but I'd say Edwards held his own, and that's what counts.

Kos:

Incidentally, damn did Cheney dish a lot of bullshit. Edwards was knocked off stride simply trying to keep the record straight. For that reason, the national defense stuff was probably a draw.

Digby:

I predict that once the full scope of the lies Cheney told tonight are artfully dribbled out by the Democrats over the next couple of days, Cheney's respectable "draw" will turn into a rout. This isn't 2000 and the Democrats are not going to stand for this shit this time.

Lean Left:

I am honestly not sure why Tom thinks Cheney came across so much better. Edwards did have some problems, but a lot of the time the debate was "He is lying, no he is lying!" To most people, I think, that comes across as a wash without some sort of knockout blow. And I didn't see either side throw a knockout blow.

Pandagon:

This debate was...weird. Just look at how the usual suspects are falling: Sullivan thinks Edwards owned Cheney, Kaus is calling draw, I'm calling draw, Drum's calling draw, Jesse's calling slight win for Edwards, Political Wire is calling it for Edwards, and Marshall is calling it a big win for Johnny.

I think this much can be said: Cheney was blisteringly effective when attacking on national security. He began to fall apart (some say he "checked out") when talk turned domestic . . .

Bubba:

I call it a tie, with maybe a slight edge for Cheney. As I predicted a few weeks ago, Cheney would draw on his vast experience and stature (and his ability as a consummate liar), and Edwards's trial experience would help but ultimately be no match.

I couldn't believe how many lies and distortions Cheney got away with. Edwards gamely tried to dispel them, and he got in some pretty good licks . . .

Josh Marshall:

Purely on the basis of this evening's debate, Cheney has a mammoth credibility problem. Again and again he said things that were simply false. In the case of the Iraq-9/11 tie, I think there's no question but that he simply lied when he claimed there was never a connection.

Tom Tomorrow:

Isn't there somebody that Dick Cheney is noticably neglecting to mention? Smirky, hunched-over fellow with shifty eyes? Ring any bells?

Democratic Veteran:

American Angina looked ready for some jump-startin' of the pacemaker on stage tonight. I thought he was going to swallow his lips when Edwards brought up Halliburton...it's a-mazing we didn't get a "Fuck You, Senator" out of him right then and there. Decision: Edwards.

Just a Bump in the Beltway:

Unless Something Changes in the next few minutes, this is going to be a tie, at best. Edwards let Cheney set the tone, and John can't win there. Where's that litigators nose for the jugular?

Generally, most of the Liberal blogs call it a draw. I agree with Gord and Josh Marshall, that a even a draw can be considered a win for Kerry/Edwards because Little John effectively countered all of Cheney's 'experience'. Cheney was supposed to win and he didn't. Point, Kerry/Edwards.

The Force runs strong in young Skywalker.

Dick v. The Next Veep

The debate's been over for less than ten minutes. The punditocritous bloviationists are calling it for Dickie.

IF he "won", it was by lying his ass off as per usual. Monkeys still fly out of his butt, and we still haven't seen him with his shoes off. He got in a couple of zingers, but nothing important.

Cheney's performance REALLY made Bush's performance last week look terrible. He was very calm and stuck to the talking points bullshit as we expected him to.

I'M calling it a draw. That means Little John won. I thought he did just fine for being up against the anti-Christ.

Feel free to disagree. Also, feel free to kiss my lily-white ass.

Cloven Hooves & Flying Monkeys...

This is the best take on Cheney I've seen all day, and believe me, I've been looking. Wanted to get it posted before the debate. By Jon Carroll of the Ess Eff Chronicle.

It's the moment we've all been waiting for. This evening, for the first time, we may get an answer to the vital question: Dick Cheney, double- dealing plutocrat or incarnation of evil?

On the other hand, if Cheney is joined onstage by a host of evil flying monkeys and other demons, polytheism is still very much in play. Indeed, the small groups of Democrats who do worship evil flying monkeys would see the manifestation as a gesture to their side, and flock to the polls in higher- than-usual numbers.

The named spokesman insisted that his name not be used. "People get your name, they write it on a piece of paper and put it inside a wax figure and set fire to the figure -- well, you just don't want that to happen," adding that "Dick Cheney" is not the vice president's real name.

Too mucking futch. Or is it S....

I Would If I Could Reach It....

Never one to blow my own horn, I nonetheless do like to think of myself as an actual blogger, albeit a very low-level or even subterranean one, or at least a blogger-in-training (Only the finest sensei for me, eh, Master?) on some level. The Big Time Blogs, i.e. the ones that have been 'discovered' by the mainstream media just recently are the cutting edge of populist journalism. If you have really too much time on your hands, read what Pressthink has to say on the subject.

Veep Debate Buzz

There's lotsa good shit about tonight's debate flyin' around, mostly the goods on Dick.

Cheney's lies and the facts from AlterNet:

"America faces a choice on November 2nd between a strong and steadfast President and his opponent, who seems to adopt a new position every day."

FACT: Cheney opposed invading Baghdad before he supported it. In 1991, Cheney cautioned against U.S. troops advancing into the city, "telling a Seattle audience that capturing Saddam wouldn't be worth additional U.S. casualties or the risk of getting 'bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq.'" [American Progress Action Fund, 9/2/04]

FACT: "An examination of Kerry's words in more than 200 speeches and statements, comments during candidate forums and answers to reporters' questions does not support the accusation ... Kerry repeatedly described Hussein as a dangerous menace who must be disarmed or eliminated, demanded that the U.S. build broad international support for any action in Iraq and insisted that the nation had better plan for the post-war peace ... taken as a whole, Kerry has offered the same message ever since talk of attacking Iraq became a national conversation more than two years ago." [San Francisco Chronicle, 9/23/04]

Etc., etc. Lots more of these.

This by Paul Krugman, a truly mild mannered and sharp brained critic of this administration and defender of democracy:

Now it's Dick Cheney's turn.

Mr. Cheney's manufactured image is as much at odds with reality as Mr. Bush's. The vice president is portrayed as a hardheaded realist, someone you can trust with difficult decisions. But his actual record is one of irresponsibility and incompetence

So here's Mr. Edwards's mission: to expose the real Dick Cheney, just as Mr. Kerry exposed the real George Bush.

This one by Charlie Cray on Alternet on questions that need to be asked about Halliburton:

Halliburton is the largest contractor in Iraq, with over $18 billion in contracts. Halliburton employees have returned with stories about $45 charges per case of soda, $100 per 15 pound bag of laundry, the ditching of $85,000 trucks because of flat tires and other minor repairs, and the use of five-star hotels in Kuwait while the troops sweat it out in tents in the desert. Criminal investigations are underway in association with kickbacks and tens of millions of dollars in excess charges for gas imported from Kuwait. Does Vice President Cheney – and the same should be asked of Senator Edwards – support legislation introduced by Sens. Durbin (D-IL) and Craig (R-ID) to establish a special committee modeled after Harry Truman's World War II committee, to root out corruption and save taxpayers the millions of dollars lost through the kind of waste, abuse and outright fraud seen at his old company?

Those'll do for now.

Incredible

From Atrios:

Republicans - Too Stupid to Breathe

According to the most recent Gallup poll, 62% of Republicans think Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the 9/11 attacks.

Is it stupid, brainwashing, or denial? How can people refuse to look at the facts? I just don't get it, but it's the way the Republicans do business. If you believe in something long enough and hard enough, it will become reality. It'd be nice if Big John coud give 'em a reality check on 3 Nov.

More Draftier, a lot

Josh Marshall:

No, no, no ... we really really don't want a draft.

House Republicans, worried about the traction of charges that President Bush will be forced to reinstitute the draft in a second term, are rushing to the floor this afternoon to vote on the Draft legislation Charlie Rangel (D-NY) introduced early last year.

No hearings, no notice, no nuthin'.

I'll post more as the situation develops.

Imagine if it passes? As Gordon says, cannon fodder and deck apes.

Update: 16:15:

Charlie Rangel:

The Republican leadership decision to place the draft legislation on the Suspension Calendar is a political maneuver to kill rumors of the President's intention to reinstate the draft after the November election.

I am voting no, because my bill deserves serious consideration. It should be subject to hearings and to expert testimony. The Administration should come and tell us about our manpower needs, about recruitment and retention, about the extent to which out troops are overextended. And they should give us their views about shared sacrifice. If they did all of those things in a serious way, they would have to admit that my bill is an option.

[. . .]

Read on.

Draftiest Yet

Colonel David Hackworth, USArmy(ret) has a lot to say about what he feels is a slam dunk, in Soldiers For The Truth.

Recently, when John Kerry brought up the possibility of a return to the draft, SecDef Donald Rumsfeld was quick to respond that Kerry was full of it.

But my take is that Kerry is right on the mark. Not only because Rummy has been flat wrong on every major military call regarding Iraq, but because this is a war that won’t be won by smart weapons or the sledgehammer firepower we see every night on the tube.

So the draft – which will include both boys and girls this time around – is a no-brainer in ‘05 and ‘06.

Israel, a country that has lived under the barrel of the Islamic terrorist gun for decades, has the most combat-experienced counterinsurgent force in the world – and boy and girl draftees are its major resource.

Count on it. We will follow their lead.

In between the quotes is a lot of red meat. This guy knows a lot more about it than I do.

Dubya, Reach Out And Touch Jerusalem

Good news from Truthout:

Influential American evangelist Pat Robertson said Monday that Evangelical Christians feel so deeply about Jerusalem, that if President George W. Bush were to "touch" Jerusalem, Evangelicals would abandon their traditional Republican leanings and form a third party.

"God says, 'I'm going to judge those who carve up the West Bank and Gaza Strip,'" Robertson said. "'It's my land and keep your hands off it.'"

Anything that would split the Republicans into two parties just tickles me plumb to death, and the Republicans could be rid of the phony nutjob Christians and the Bush they rode in on. Hop to it, Georgie, it's win-win.

Sure, I'll Take Off My Clothes, But First...

Talk about your grass roots in the Heartland! Read this article in the NYTimes.

Over the last six months a range of adult performers - from performance art-oriented burlesque dancers at Emo's to harder-core strip clubs to online pornographers - have conducted voter-registration drives.

Now we're gettin' somewhere!

But What Does It All Mean?

Wow, this debate deal won't go away. As long as there's funny shit like this by Will Durst, that's OK. Here are some samples from "What They Say/What They Mean (Debate Edition)":

WTS: "Sending mixed messages isn't good for our troops or our allies or for the Iraqi people."
WTM: "Logic complicates things."

WTS: "It's hard work. We're working hard."
WTM: "Are my two minutes up yet?"

WTS: "The administration at this time has no plans to re-institute the draft."
WTM: "This is a permanent policy that will last right up until after the election."

WTS: "The economy's turned the corner."
WTM: "Then it rolled twelve times, hit a tree and burst into flames."

WTS: "The Iraqi people hunger for democracy."
WTM: "As long as it doesn't include heretical covenants like women driving and stuff like that."

There's a bunch more like that but I had to stop somewhere. Go read it and have some fun.

Molly Does It For Me Again

I noticed this statement by the president (small 'p' on purpose) during the debate and wondered if anybody else did. Molly Ivins did. She never lets me down.

We all had our debate moments, but the one that stunned me was, "It's (Iraq is) hard work. I see it on the TV screens."

Watching it on TV -- boy, that is tough work all right. And what was the "hard work" thing about?

Isn't TV where Dubya says we've been getting our misperceptions and misinformation about his Divinely-inspired, brilliantly led, flawlessly executed, and smoothly running Crusade in Iraq?

Apparently, he feels that only White House disinformation is the correct disinformation.

I am glad the president saw "hard work" on TV. At least he now knows what it looks like. He wouldn't know "hard work" if it bit him on the ass.

She closes her article with:

Sometimes, I get the feeling the whole country is being run by Paris Hilton.

If she were, I could at least stand to look at the person who is screwing me.

Debate tonight or New Yorkers, take heed!

And I'll probably stay up to watch it. Edwards makes the Mrs. all tingly so she'll want to see him give it to Darth Vader.

Vote note:

Attention all New Yorkers. FRIDAY is the last day you can register to vote in New York State for the upcoming election. Get your ass out and get the form and register, goddammit. I'll be going through the phone book and calling each and every one of you, checking to see if you're registered. You don't wanna piss the F-man off by saying no, do you? And I hope you Jersey people beat the deadline of 9 pm last night.