From the horse's mouth

Via David at 42:

[. . .]

There is nothing conservative about these positions. To label them conservative is to make the same error as labeling the 1930s German Brownshirts conservative.

American liberals called the Brownshirts "conservative," because the Brownshirts were obviously not liberal. They were ignorant, violent, delusional, and they worshipped a man of no known distinction. Brownshirts' delusions were protected by an emotional force field. Adulation of power and force prevented Brownshirts from recognizing implications for their country of their reckless doctrines.

Like Brownshirts, the new conservatives take personally any criticism of their leader and his policies. To be a critic is to be an enemy. I went overnight from being an object of conservative adulation to one of derision when I wrote that the US invasion of Iraq was a "strategic blunder."

[. . .]

There are no more troops. Our former allies are not going to send troops. The only way the Bush administration can continue with its Iraq policy is to reinstate the draft.

When the draft is reinstated, conservatives will loudly proclaim their pride that their sons, fathers, husbands and brothers are going to die for "our freedom." Not a single one of them will be able to explain why destroying Iraqi cities and occupying the ruins are necessary for "our freedom." But this inability will not lessen the enthusiasm for the project. To protect their delusions from "reality-based" critics, they will demand that the critics be arrested for treason and silenced. Many encouraged by talk radio already speak this way.

[. . .]

Story.

I've been saying this for almost a year. We are quickly becoming Nazi Germany 1937. I'm sorry, but the similarities between this time and then are just too uncanny.

Maybe

I've been batting this around for a while.

[. . .]

Proposed: THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY NO LONGER SERVES THE INTERESTS OF ITS CONSTITUENCIES AND SHOULD BE DISBANDED.

The recent history of the Democratic party has been one of craven retreat from the principles of protection of individual rights, support for the working classes, assistance to the disadvantaged and afflicted, sound stewardship of the environment, and a strong national defense based on economic cooperation and diplomatic alliances.

[. . .]

Maybe we should have term limits. Or start evicting the 'consulting' crowd from their K and M Street offices in D.C. Thing is, there are too many 'professionals' in elected positions in the federal government. The founders of this nation never intended Senators and Congresspeople to serve for 20 years or more. The idea was for common folk to serve a term or two and then go back to their private lives. Our political process has become a one party system. There's one party within the Beltway, and the rest of us out here.

What we know

About Alberto 'Abu Ghraib' Gonzales from the Rude One:

[. . .]

Here's what we know about Alberto Gonzales - what we know, not what we suspect, not what we infer: We know that George W. Bush was arrested for drunk driving in September 1976. We know that he lost his Maine driving privileges for nearly two years, restored in July 1978. We know that in 1978, with a suspended driver's license, he began his run for the House of Representatives (and lost). We know that in 1996 Bush, when he was Governor of Texas, was called for jury duty in a drunken driving case (involving a stripper, which just makes it extra fun). We know that the judge, the prosecutor, and the stripper's attorney have made written statements that Alberto Gonzales asked the judge, in private, to "consider" striking Bush from the jury pool, despite Bush's public statements that he was willing to serve. We know that Gonzales was asked about this in his Senate confirmation hearing and that Gonzales stated he did not recall a private meeting with the judge, but that he did not "request" that Bush be taken out of consideration. In other words, we know that either Gonzales is lying or three other men, in separate statements, are lying. Who would a jury believe?

[. . .]

This guy should be disbarred and someone's trying Via Atrios:

Today, CREW [Citizens for Responsiblity and Ethics in Washington] filed a complaint with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the State Bar of Texas requesting an investigation into misrepresentations White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales made in a written response to a question posed to him by the Senate Judiciary Committee which is considering Gonzales’s nomination for Attorney General.

It's amazing what these people get away with. I hope CREW's complaint goes somewhere, but I doubt we'll hear much more of it.

Not likely

Dave Johnson in response to a wingnut comment:

. . . 'why don't Democratic leaders just go ahead and do something themselves about criminal acts by the Bush administration, if they really think it's so bad?'

[. . .]

The Right currently controls every single investigative and legal agent of our government, from top to bottom.

And, as a result of this, can any of the readers here think of even ONE member of the Bush administration - at any level - who has been held accountable for even one transgression of any kind, whatsoever? One who has even been fired? Even demoted? Even scolded?

[. . .]

Talk about checks and balances. It's 'rule with impunity' in D.C. The teenagers have been left in charge of the classroom.

But Will Gay Couples Get Their SocSec Checks?

The NYTimes has this article:

A coalition of major conservative Christian groups is threatening to withhold support for President Bush's plans to remake Social Security unless Mr. Bush vigorously champions a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

"We couldn't help but notice the contrast between how the president is approaching the difficult issue of Social Security privatization where the public is deeply divided and the marriage issue where public opinion is overwhelmingly on his side," the letter said. "Is he prepared to spend significant political capital on privatization but reluctant to devote the same energy to preserving traditional marriage? If so it would create outrage with countless voters who stood with him just a few weeks ago, including an unprecedented number of African-Americans, Latinos and Catholics who broke with tradition and supported the president solely because of this issue." (my emphasis)

Several members of the group said that not long ago, many of their supporters were working or middle class, members of families that felt more allegiance to the Democratic Party because of programs like Social Security before gravitating to the Republican Party as it took up more cultural conservative issues over the last 20 years.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, declined to talk about the letter, but said, "The enthusiasm to get behind his proposals is going to require that he get behind the issues that really motivated social conservative voters."

Asked to estimate the level of discontent with the White House among the group on a scale from one to 10, Mr. Perkins put it at 8.

Maybe those suckers are startin' to wise up.

I'll put it in plainer terms for them: Bush ain't gonna go for no Constitutional Amendment on gay marriage, because it ain't got a snowball's chance in Hell, and it doesn't look good for his Social Security swindle either. Besides that, now that you poor, beknighted, ignorant, intolerant christians voted the sonofabitch into office, he's got no more use for you than he does for a used condom. You can't elect him again. He's in, and fuck you. I suggest you take your pitchforks and scythes (I know you got 'em) to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and, if you get past the Republican Guard, maybe he'll tell you that in person, you fucking pinheads.

Fear Is Security

James Wolcott has this jewel:

What's on display in Washington today isn't strength, it's fear. Fear the White House wants every American to share, so that they won't mind--will accept--endless rows of men in visored helmets and boots.

If ya wanta read the post, I purposely didn't link to it, to make you read your way down past Karnak and the Gay TV Caballeros. I think James missed a bet, tho', in not bringing up the obvious inter-racial gay theme of the Lone Ranger and Tonto.

Ezra moved

Ezra Klein has started his own blog:

Well, I promised changes and here they are. Today's my last day on Pandagon. In fact, this is my last post on Pandagon. I wish I had an interesting story for you all, virtual fisticuffs or undying enmity between your host bloggers or maybe something involving pirates, but I don't. The reasoning for the move is deadly boring -- Jesse and I talked it over and decided it was time to go in our own directions.

But before I go, some "thank you's" are in order. Jesse has been an awesome host and Pandagon a great home. He's forced me to become a far better, sharper, and more prolific writer, and he's become -- and continues to be -- a close, valued friend. The opportunities that have come from this site -- covering conventions, writing for magazines, actually being read -- have been nothing less than extraordinary. My interactions with you guys have been awesome, educational and, on occasion, enlightening (like yesterday's consensus opinion that I needed more meditation in my life). I hope you'll all come by my new site. Maybe Jesse and I can work out some sort of joint custody arrangement. But until the paperwork finishes on that, the door's always open -- http://ezraklein.typepad.com. Thanks again to Jesse, and to all of you. Pandagon has been a hell of a ride, I'll always appreciate it.

Add him to your blogroll.

But, But, But.....

Molly Ivins' column today is about Bush's revisionist view of history in his inaugural speech. She makes this point, among others:

Nor is democracy necessarily the cure for terrorism. As a British journalist pointed out, if Britain had been following the Bush plan, it would have nuked us years ago for being the largest single source of money for the Irish Republican Army (my emphasis). Reality is so often much more complicated than George W. Bush thinks it is.

Reality? George W. Bush? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Open your wallet . . . again

AP:

WASHINGTON Jan 25, 2005 — President Bush is getting ready to ask Congress for an additional $80 billion for conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as budget analysts prepare new estimates of the federal deficits that would have loomed even without the wars.

An $80 billion request would push the total provided to the Defense Department so far for those wars and for U.S. efforts against terrorism elsewhere in the world to more than $280 billion. An additional $25 billion has been provided to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, all but $4 billion for Iraq.

[. . .]

Hmmmm . . . Yes, let's borrow more money. Our children can deal with the effects. Know what happens with large deficits? This:

[. . .]

The US dollar is down, by approx. 30 percent against major currencies. Further weakening of the dollar is going to upset the international trade by making imports more expensive. A softer dollar will make prices rise internationally.

In a report yesterday the Federal Reserve warned of increasing interest rates ahead, despite the reassurance that inflation was very much under control.

[. . .]

Inflation is not under control if the dollar falls constantly against the euro and other major currencies. With rising deficits and the devaluation of the dollar vs. the euro, inflation will rise. Our national debt automatically gets bigger as the dollar devalues, so guess what? It's a never-ending spiral. My grandmother told me stories about the Weimar Republic and the economic devastation Germany suffered. I still have some of the old 50,000 and 100,000 DM notes that were printed without backing, devalued almost to the point of used toilet paper.

As interest rates go up, the device the Fed is using to curb inflation, it will directly affect the housing market for the worse. Have I mentioned the housing market is resposible for keeping a good part of the economy afloat? This administration's ineptitude is boundless.

Please enlist

I enlisted in the Air Force because I could travel to far off lands, meet new and interesting people, hunt them down, and kill them. Well, not really, but we had t-shirts with that on 'em. Seriously, the Guard and Reserves are in a world of hurt.

Via Gillard.

WASHINGTON - At the current pace of U.S. deployments to Iraq, the Pentagon may be hard pressed by next year to provide enough reserve combat troops suitable for the mission, judging from the military services' own estimates of available manpower.

The notion of running out of reserve troops would have been dismissed only a year ago, but the strain of fighting a longer, harder war than U.S. commanders foresaw is taking a heavy toll on part-time troops of the Army National Guard, Army Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve.

[. . .]

Of the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq now, nearly 50 percent are from the Guard and Reserve. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

Do I have to say it again? We're in this thing hip-deep and the only options we have are cut and run or start the draft. Mark my words. All you folks who voted for (p)resident Dicknose last fall can blame yourselves when they take your teenager, give him green clothes, and hand him a rifle. How many of you Jesuslanders will let them draft your kid?

Knowing Your Enemy Is Un-American?

Doubleday is planning to publish a book of OBL's thoughts for Al-Qaeda. Here's a CNN anchor's thoughts(?) on that. From a transcript. Scroll down past the weather report.

Randy Kaye:...a quote from the publisher of Doubleday. This is a direct quote. The publisher has said, and we're quoting here, "We firmly believe we're doing a great service to America by publishing the innermost thoughts of our gravest enemy."

Now really, what good do either one of you believe or Stephanie I guess, could come from this? Why should we know our enemy?

KAYE: ...for joining us tonight for that debate. And that leads us to our last call question. Should terrorists' literature be published for profit? Give us a call at 1-800-807-2620.

And the winter storm is creating havoc for thousands of passengers trying to fly this weekend. Details on the latest cancellations just ahead.

I think this particular talking head has to speak very loudly to be heard outside his (her?) ass. Very smooth segue back to the weather, though.

"Know thine enemy as thyself." Sun Tzu, The Art Of War.

Pyongyang On The Potomac

I saw that title in an article in Media Citizen about Armstrong Williams. I couldn't care less about his Oreo ass, but I just love the title and the mental images it brings! TeeHee!

Who Are You Guys, And Why Are You Digging A Mortar Pit In My Lawn?

So, have you noticed the camo-ed up folks skulking through your woods lately? Does the clerk at your local convenience store bear more resemblance to G.I. Joe than Mr. Apu of late? Does your postman click his heels before depositing your mail in your mailbox?

Well, probably not, but that's no reason to give up on paranoia yet. There's every chance it'll come in handy soon. King Of Zembla has an excellent post on the use of super-secret commandos within the U.S. Go read. It'll make your day.

Posse Comitatus has never been a favorite of the Reagan-Bush axis; during the Iran-Contra hearings, you will recall, Congress learned of a plan Oliver North had helped to draft for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), details of which included

suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA.

He alleged that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which has long been accepted as prohibiting such deployments, had simply been misunderstood and misapplied.

Gonzales will have a field day with that one, nez pas?

In the two years before the Sept. 11 attacks, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conducted exercises simulating what the White House says was unimaginable at the time: hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets and cause mass casualties.

One of the imagined targets was the World Trade Center. In another exercise, jets performed a mock shootdown over the Atlantic Ocean of a jet supposedly laden with chemical poisons headed toward a target in the United States. In a third scenario, the target was the Pentagon — but that drill was not run after Defense officials said it was unrealistic, NORAD and Defense officials say.

Even if the full extent of their duplicity were known, we doubt the Bush administration would have much to fear from a population of willing -- make that eager -- dupes. But you can certainly see why, if worst came to worst, our beloved leaders might not wish to reject outright the option of interposing an armed division between the White House and the angry, pitchfork-wielding mob.

Keep in mind that all these schemes are just as much to silence you and me as they are to combat "terror". You see, we are just as much terrorists to this administration as a nuclear-explosives-garbed Islamic fundamentalist, the minute we decide not to shut up and drink our Kool-Aid.

Go read. It's a hoot.

Walking Wounded

From The American Conservative on the hidden human cost of Bush's imperialistic war. This is a powerful article, and I recommend you read it.

The observant will have noticed that we hear little from the troops in Iraq and see almost nothing of the wounded. Why, one might wonder, does not CNN put an enlisted Marine before a camera and, for 15 minutes without editing, let him say what he thinks? Is he not an adult and a citizen? Is he not engaged in important events on our behalf?

Sound political reasons exist. Soldiers are a risk PR-wise, the wounded a liability. No one can tell what they might say, and conspicuous dismemberment is bad for recruiting. An enlisted man in front of a camera is dangerous. He could wreck the governmental spin apparatus in five minutes. It is better to keep soldiers discreetly out of sight.

The years will go by. Iraq will fade into the mist. Wars always do. A generation will rise for whom it will be just history. The dismembered veterans will find first that almost nobody appreciates what they did, then that few even remember it. If—when, many would say—the United States is driven out of Iraq, the soldiers will look back and realize that the whole affair was a fraud. Wars are just wars. They seem important at the time. At any rate, we are told that they are important.

These men will come to hate. It will not be the Iraqis they hate. This we do not talk about.

It is hard to admit that one has been used. Some of the crippled will forever insist that the war was needed, that they were protecting their sisters from an Islamic invasion, or Vietnamese, or Chinese. Others will keep quiet and drink too much. Still others will read, grow older and wiser—and bitter. They will remember that their vice president, a man named Cheney, said that during his war, the one in Asia, he “had other priorities.” The veterans will remember this when everyone else has long since forgotten Cheney.

People say that this war isn’t like Vietnam. They are correct. Washington fights its war in Iraq with no better understanding of Iraq than it had of Vietnam, but with much better understanding of the United States. The Pentagon learned from Asia. This time around it has controlled the press well. Here is the great lesson of Southeast Asia: the press is dangerous, not because it is inaccurate, which it often is, but because it often isn’t. So we don’t much see the caskets —for reasons of privacy, you understand.

In 15 years in Washington, I knew many, many reporters and intellectuals and educated people. Almost none had worn boots. So it is. Those who count do not have to go, and do not know anyone who has gone, and don’t interest themselves. There is a price for this, though not one Washington cares about. Across America, in places where you might not expect it—in Legion halls and VFW posts, among those who carry membership cards from the Disabled American Veterans—there are men who hate. They don’t hate America. They hate those who sent them. Talk to the wounded from Iraq in five years.

Arms, legs, eyes, horrible burns, a terrible price to be sure, but the butcher's bill from Bush's stupid and unnecessary ego trip has yet to be presented to the American people - and it will be with them for generations.

Please read the whole article. Print copies and give them to any supporters of Bush's war that you still talk to. Let them know the damage that irrational ideology has done in the name of all Americans and will continue to do throughout our lifetime.

Culpability

TCF:

[. . .]

As much as we are righteous on The Left in continuing to effectively document and expose the wealth of incompetence of the Bush administration, we must not forgive the culpability of those who have overruled us by blindly opted for four more years of it. Before November, our passionately vested European allies were worried but confident that we would shake off this aberration of neo-Fascism, because they separated George Bush from the pragmatic, lone superpower he had temporarily steered off course. But, unfortunately for the 49% percent of us who solemnly swore too on Thursday as Bush took his second oath of office, most of our former allies and moderate Arab states now consider us un-indicted co-conspirators.

[. . .]

Divided We Stand

Thomas Friedman is an unusually thoughtful and experienced Middle-East expert. When he speaks, I listen, because he's not spouting a party line. Go read his Op-Ed in the NYTimes about the upcoming Iraqi election and the division in the West.

Ever since 9/11, I've argued the war on terrorism is really a war of ideas within the Muslim world - a war between those who want to wall Islam off from modernity, and defend it with a suicide cult, and those who want to bring Islam into the 21st century and preserve it as a compassionate faith. This war of ideas is not one that the West can fight, only promote. Muslims have to fight it from within. That is what is at stake in the Iraqi elections. This is the first great battle in the post-9/11 war of ideas.

This war also can't be won with troops - only with turnout. This is a war between Iraqi voters and insurgents - ballots versus bullets. And the people who understand that best are the fascist insurgents. That is why they are not focusing their attacks on U.S. troops, but on Iraqi election workers, candidates, local officials and police. The insurgents have one credo: "Iraqis must not vote - there must be no authentic expression of the people's will for a modern, decent Iraq. Because, if there is, the world will see that this is not a war between Muslims and infidel occupiers, but between Muslims with bad ideas and Muslims with progressive ideas."

And at this key juncture the West stands disunited. Condi Rice told the Senate that the "time for diplomacy is now." Give me a break. The time for diplomacy was two years ago. We would be so much better off now if the entire European Union was actively urging Iraqis to vote, and using its own moral legitimacy in the Arab world to delegitimize the insurgents. The divided West is a real liability.

Both girls I interviewed wore veils and one also wore a full Afghan-like head-to-toe covering; one was of Egyptian parents, the other of Tunisian parents, but both were born and raised in France. What did I learn from them? That they got all their news from Al Jazeera TV, because they did not believe French TV, that the person they admired most in the world was Osama bin Laden, because he was defending Islam, that suicide "martyrdom" was justified because there was no greater glory than dying in defense of Islam, that they saw themselves as Muslims first and French citizens last, and that all their friends felt pretty much the same.

We were not in Kabul. We were standing outside their French public high school - a short ride from the Eiffel Tower.

They've got Al Jazeera. We've got Fox News. No wonder so much ignorance is afoot in the world.

SpongeBush SquarePants

I haven't had a crush like this on anybody since 8th Grade (That was before Junior High existed, let alone Middle School!) Maureen Dowd has made the ultimate connection. Absolutely ridiculous on the surface but right on the money deep down (undersea reference). What is it about Irish redheads?

Dr. Dobson has done the country a service by reminding us to watch out for the dark side of lovable but malleable sponges. He inspired me to fish through the president's Inaugural Address with a more skeptical eye.

Some of the same advisers who filled Mr. Bush's brain with sugary visions of a quick and painless Iraq makeover did mean the speech to be literal; they are drawing up military options for the rest of the Middle East. Once again, the lovable and malleable president seems to be soaking up the martial mind-set of those around him, almost like ... a sponge.

SpongeBush SquarePants!

We can only hope that Dr. Dobson doesn't pick up on the resemblance. SpongeBob, as his song goes, "lives in a pineapple under the sea/absorbent and yellow and porous is he!" SpongeBush lives in a bubble in D.C./absorbent and shallow and porous is he!

Even if he's a little light in the flippers, SpongeBob has brought children good, clean fun. SpongeBush has brought the world dark, endless fights.

I've got a sponge on my kitchen sink that's smarter than Bush. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to start a Permanent War. Go read Ms. Dowd.

We're killing Conservatives

Yeah!!!! The Brain made it on a conservative blog's link list with the disclaimer:

(Don't read these unless you want your blood pressure to rise)

I'm thrilled to do my part and promote hypertension among the wingnut population. Note to Pam, Digby, Big Media Matt, and the guys at Seeing the Forest, you're accomplices as well. I'm so proud of us . . . sniff.

Heh . . .

The 50 Most Loathsome People of 2004. Via Corrente.

Snowed in?

Chapter 9 of Empires is up at creativity . . . Happy reading if you're stuck inside. I'm headed out with the 'manual snow thrower' (© Gordon).