You're gonna start now?

From AP via Josh Marshall:

U.S. Said to Develop Strategy for Iraq

It's been rumored for some time, but now we can confirm we're gonna develop one.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has developed a formal written strategy for Iraq that envisions using a mix of diplomacy and military force to try to wrest control of dozens of key cities from insurgents before planned January elections, a senior administration official said Friday. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

Shouldn't you have written something down in . . . say . . . Fall of 2002? This should read,' we're actually gonna do what everyone else in the world wanted us to do from the beginning, but we're too arrogant to care, and now we got to win reelection, so we can do what we want all over again'.

Fucking rat bastids.

Kipling on Afghanistan

Afghanistan is going to have elections any minute. This is a good thing, and the US and NATO actually helped in this effort. To honor this occasion I would like to do something completely Politically Incorrect and inappropriate, and thus the following verses from "The Young British Soldier" by Rudyard Kipling:

If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white,
Remember it's ruin to run from a fight:
So take open order, lie down, and sit tight,
And wait for supports like a soldier.
Wait, wait, wait like a soldier...

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier of the Queen!

I typed that 'cuz it's a long poem, but worth reading. You can read the rest of it at your local library or maybe online somewhere. It's probably not on Ashcroft's list 'cuz the Feds ain't that poetically literate.

Hope your election goes well, Afghanistan. Shit, I hope OURS does.

Get Some, LT

From Bushwars:

Marine back from Iraq says No More Bush

Marine intelligence collection officer Andrew Borene talks about Bush's many failures in Iraq

There was a window of opportunity where the Iraqi people genuinely wanted assistance, and we could have exploited that opportunity and used it to the advantage of the Iraqi people and of the U.S. forces in Iraq.

They spent more time on the information campaign, on deceiving the American people about what was happening in Iraq, than they did on actually trying to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

Another issue I had is, in the last 12 months, $34 billion worth of heroin has been exported from Afghanistan.

And that $34 billion worth of heroin, how does it get exported? It gets exported through clandestine shipping networks, the same kind of clandestine shipping networks that one would need to smuggle weapons of mass destruction. So the bottom line for me is, America is less safe because of the way this administration has prosecuted the war on terror.

I guess I used to be what they call “Republican in name only.” Kind of a Ramstad Republican, you know--socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Unfortunately the issues in this election are just too big for that.

This guy ain't sittin' on no shitter with a magic marker. The Marine Corps is the President's Hell's Angels. When he loses them, he loses.

Turning the corner

------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
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U.S. economy created only 96,000 new jobs in September - In a blow to President Bush, the U.S. economy created only 96,000 new jobs in September, fewer than economists had predicted.

So tell me again how good the economy is, Mr. Bush, you rat bastid.

Doubleplusungood Dick

This from Slate:

And now for your fun headline, only online and only briefly last night from the NYT: "CHENEY SAYS REPORT FINDING NO ILLICIT ARMS IN IRAQ JUSTIFIES WAR."

What more could I possibly add to that? Yeesh.

Scare update

Re: my post from last night.

(ABC News- October 7, 2004) — The Department of Education has sent a letter to educators across the country which will likely cause some concern about how they keep their children safe.

[. . .]

The discovery of the school plans was made in July by the military, but did not take on real urgency until after the September attack on the school children in Beslan . . . [my emphasis]

So, they found this in July. The atrocities in Beslan happened over a month ago. Yet, they wait until now to issue this alert? Jesus H. Christ, did it take you this long to make the 'obvious' connection? And what, were our kids safer in their schools over the month of September than they are now? No, folks, this has the aroma of partisan political dirty tricks.

In the spirit of Lexington & Concord

WHATCOM COUNTY - The FBI wants to know who checked out a book from a small library about Osama Bin Laden. But the library isn't giving out names, saying the government has no business knowing what their patrons read.

The library in Deming isn't much larger than a family home. Located in rural Whatcom County, it hardly seems the site for a showdown with the feds.

[. . .]

Full story.

Yes, indeed. The new Minutemen are the librarians. As the Bush administration prepares to spin book burning in a way the True Believers will swallow whole without question, the Brownshirts are already beginning a preemptive strike against free speech. Thank God the librarians are willing to fight.

Thanks to Kevin at The American Street for the link.

God

This is from one of my dear friends, The King of the Jews, who lives in L.A., and who is a Republican by the way.

Once upon a time, God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael,
the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.

He inquired of God. "Where have you been?"

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction, and proudly pointed downwards
through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put Life on it. I'm going to
call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.

God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example,
northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern
Europe is going to be poor. Over there I've placed a continent of
white people, and over there is a continent of black people."

"Balance in all things," God continued pointing to different
countries.

"This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and
covered in ice."

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land mass
and said, "What's that one?"

"Ah," said God "That's Washington State, the most glorious place on
earth. There are beautiful streams, hills, and forests. The people from
Washington State are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent and humorous, and
they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely
sociable, hardworking, high achieving, and they will be known throughout the
world as diplomats, and carriers of peace."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then proclaimed, "What
about balance, God? You said there would be balance."

God smiled, "There is another Washington...wait til you see the idiots
I put there."

Bush Getting Desperate

This from Howard Fineman of MSNBCand Newsweek

As things now stand, Bush is left with only one argument and justification for having launched a war that has cost 1,000 lives, $150 billion and whatever goodwill America had won in the aftermath of 9/11. His last-resort reason: Saddam Hussein might have developed weapons that he might have given to terrorists that might attack the United States. And even that reasoning is undermined by the new report of the Iraq Survey Group, which says that Saddam's capacities, whatever they might have been, were withering, not "gathering," under the weight of inspections.

We now know to a relative certainty that there were no WMD, no relationship with al-Qaida to speak of, no close ties to other major terrorists, and that, in the view of Paul Bremer — Bush's own man in Baghdad and a fellow Yalie — the Bush administration pretty much botched the occupation.

One new poll out shows that half the American people now think the war in Iraq was a mistake; as that number rises, and it will, Bush's fortunes will decline, as they are now doing. History shows that only one challenger in modern times has been behind in the AP poll on Labor Day and come back to win. That challenger was Ronald Reagan. Now Kerry is no Reagan, not by a long shot. But if people conclude that Bush was profoundly wrong to have gone to Iraq, Kerry doesn't have to be Reagan.

Thank the powers that be.

Cheney won the veep debate on style points — he was suitably grave and grown up — but as the event fades into obscurity it's clear that John Edwards did what he had to do: Remind voters again and again that Iraq is a flat-out mess.

That was my favorite paragraph and I only put it in because it uses the words Cheney and grave in the same sentence! Thanks, Howie.

This Fineman guy ain't exactly no berserk Lefty, but I've noticed that even the mainstream media is starting to notice the obvious. Trained journalists, every one of 'em. Blinder'n bats, a lot of 'em, when it comes to the Cabal, but the scales are falling off their eyes just in time. I hope they can keep it up for a few more weeks. They still have a lot to make up for.

It's worth going to the article just to see the look on Dubya's face.

Time for your weekly scare

They will come with more regularity the closer we get to Election Day. From AP:

WASHINGTON - The Education Department has advised school leaders nationwide to watch for people spying on their buildings or buses to help detect any possibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege in Russia.

The warning follows an analysis by the FBI and the Homeland Security Department of the siege that killed nearly 340 people, many of them students, in the city of Beslan last month.

[. . .]

The safety advice is based on lessons learned from the Russia incident. But there is "no specific information indicating that there is a terrorist threat to any schools or universities in the United States," Hickok said. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

I wonder what excuse Bush will use to kick up the terror alert around Halloween? We'll probably be at Code Red by Election Day, Bush hoping that people will be too scared to leave their houses and vote. Look for a 'terrorist incident' around then too.

Besides The World Going To Hell In A Bucket, It's A Slow News Day....

Steve Harvey's column in the LATimes has this jewel:

Wherefore art thou Plungeo? I won't keep you in suspense any longer. The winner of the Fluidmaster Flush-Off in San Juan Capistrano Wednesday was Corey Rouse of Toluca Lake.

Fluidmaster, a maker of toilet-repair kits, gave Rouse $1,000 for his vocal imitation of a flushing toilet.

In a salute to Shakespeare, Rouse titled his performance: "Plungeo and Swirliet." The drama began with Swirliet, as Rouse made the sounds of what he called a "troubled flush." To the rescue came the kachunk-kachunk-kachunk sounds of "Plungeo." Problem cleared up. Well, it brought a tear to my eye.

Thanks, Steve, I needed that. Only in L.A.

Last reminder

New Yorkers!!!! Tomorrow is your last day to register to vote in the upcoming election. If you haven't, do it.

If you want to know how YOU can help get out the vote, click here.

At Last, Media Asks The Right Question

At long last, the LATimes asks the question that a lot of us have known the answer to for years.

Although neither group likes to say so, some Americans who support President Bush and many who don't support him have concluded over four years that he may not be very bright. This suspicion was not allayed by Bush's answers in the first presidential debate a week ago.

It's bad if a president is incapable of the abstract thought necessary for these mental exercises. If he is capable and isn't even trying, that's worse. It becomes a question of character. When a president sends thousands of young Americans to kill and die halfway around the world, thinking about it as hard and as honestly as possible is the least he can do.

Does it matter? Yes, it matters.

The question remains: Are the American people smart enough to see through this asshole's lies and contempt for them?

We will find out on November 2nd.

The future of the United States depends on American voters getting the answer right.

It's official. He had SQUAT.

From The Talking Dog:

Picking up from David Kay, Chief American Weapons Inspector Charles Duelfer released his long awaited report on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction today, with the report concluding what yours truly told you for the better part of a year before the war of aggression against the Iraqi people in 2003: Saddam had bubkes.

[. . .]

So you read Gordon's post below, and mine from July, and you're wondering just why these poor kids ended up dead, or missing limbs, or as potted plants? Well, it's official now. It was all for nothing. Thank you, President Savior, you've put us, our children, and our grandchildren in hock for nothing. You made war and squandered our children's lives, you've enrichened your cronies and squandered our savings. And now, this winter, heating oil prices will be at record highs, regardless of your influence (or so you told us) with OPEC. And you did this not for the good of the American people, but for political gain. You should spend the rest of your life in jail.

TBI: The Invisible Injury

This is an article everybody should read. I watched "Nightline" last night and it broke my heart.

Marine Lance Cpl. Raymond Warren took shrapnel to his legs, to his stomach, to his arms and to his head, which made the TBI diagnosis easy. He lost much of his memory, and must wear a protective helmet until his skull heals. Warren could neither walk nor talk when he arrived at the Palo Alto facility in July. Now he can do both. But he has dreams of much more. "Get back to running, drive a car, stuff like that," he said. "Just the normal life of Raymond Warren."

The rehabilitation requires months of work with a skilled team. It also requires a great deal of patience. Warren, for example, needed to relearn basic tasks, from brushing his teeth to shaving. A chart reminds him what to do and when to do it.

"The majority of them, they're incontinent, both bowel and bladder, so we have to retrain them when to use the toilet, how to use the toilet," said Alvarez.

Warren is also proud of his service, proud of the Purple Heart he received. But he questions the war that did this to him.

When Warren went home to Los Angeles for a visit, the welcome from his family and girlfriend washed over him like a tonic.

Even so, he still needs 24-hour supervision. In some ways, veterans with traumatic brain injury are like toddlers again, something of a sad irony.

But there are still times when he feels sorry for himself. How does he deal with that? "I just cry."

Please read it.

LCpl. Warren is a typical tough kid Marine grunt. That's good, because he has a hard row to hoe to get back to anything resembling a normal life. Watching him struggle with day-to-day stuff we don't think twice about was heartbreaking for me. I damn near cried. While writing this too.

You can't get this from the article, but you could damn sure see it on TV: The kid was smiling, but his eyes were screaming in pain and bewilderment.

Ray Warren and maybe thousands of other are going to go through shit like that because of a lie. May God damn you to Hell, Bush.

Twofer On DeLay

They're gangin' up on poor ol' Bugsy DeLay. It's about time. From today's NYTimes:

Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, was admonished by the House ethics committee on Wednesday night for the second time in less than a week, this time for appearing to link legislative action to political donations and for sending federal officials to search for Texas legislators during a fracas over redistricting in that state.

And from today's WaPo:

The House ethics committee last night admonished Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) for asking federal aviation officials to track an airplane involved in a Texas political spat, and for conduct that suggested political donations might influence legislative action.

The two-pronged rebuke marked the second time in six days -- and the third time overall -- that the ethics panel has admonished the House's second-ranking Republican. The back-to-back chastisements are highly unusual for any lawmaker, let alone one who aspires to be speaker, and some watchdog groups called on him to resign his leadership post.

"If the Republican Conference wants the American people to believe that it takes ethics seriously," she continued, "it must insist that Mr. DeLay resign his post as majority leader."

Hear, hear. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out, asshole.

So what's Bugsy really been involved in? Well, if it was you or me, we would have been charged with: 1) setting up a major dope peddling deal; 2) political graft; and 3) air piracy. All Federal felonies. I'm sure RICO would have played in the first two.

I'm not sure if they could charge him with misuse of taxpayers' money. That's their lifestyle.

What does Bugsy get. Rebuked. Is that stronger than "admonished"?

We need a "three rebukes and you're out" law.

Short and sweet

[. . .]

It matters, it really does that these abominable men in charge of the war either ran out on their sworn duty or deferred themselves out of military service when it was their turn, and that they hold the lives of our men and women so cheap that they would make war for politics.

[. . .]

From DemVet. Summed up nicely.

Maybe we were wrong

With sponsorship from the National Geographic Society and New York's Wildlife Conservation Society, a team of researchers went to the Goualougo Triangle, a remote forest in the Republic of Congo.

There, they set up remote-controlled video cameras and left them running for six months.

The chimps learned to ignore them — and went on to the much more interesting business of catching termites for lunch.

[. . .]

"To see it — the chimps using tools — and then to see it so clearly, it was a window into their lives that we had thought an awful lot about," Morgan said by satellite telephone. "But to be able to see it and to describe it and understand it a little bit better was amazing."

From ABC News.

So, I guess a chimp could be President, huh? Or did they just find the intelligent side of the Bush family?

This Just In... From OUR George

From George Soros

FactCheck.com Correction
We do not own the FactCheck.com domain name and are not responsible for it redirecting to GeorgeSoros.com. We are as surprised as anyone by this turn of events. We believe that Vice President Cheney intended to direct viewers of the Vice-Presidential Debate to FactCheck.org.

What have you been up to, Fixer?

From the horse's mouth

From Raison de Fem at Corrente:

[. . .]

I, for one, will hand this article to every Deluded Christian for Bush I meet. Especially the poor ones. Like the guy I drove by today--he's got a big revival tent out front, but his house is a rusty trailer and his ride is a busted-ass old Ford 150. And he's got a monstrous BushCheney poster out front. Bet he thinks he's supporting a good, moral party. Wonder if he'd be shocked to learn that he's a "front for the money men," and right from the mouth of one who was inside the machine?

The whole enchilada can be found at Escape from the Elephant House at the DLC site.

Follow this link and read the article. It was written by former McCain and Christian Coalition operative Marshall Wittman who has been rescued from the Dark Side. He gives an insider's view of how the Republicans really work.