Lieberman in Iraq ... again

According to Holy Joe, we're "making progress" as he strolls through an Indiana-like market. With all the 'progress' we've made, Iraq should be that "shining city on the hill" 5 times over. Dr. Attaturk says it so well:

...

Y'know if I had a group of armed men surrounding me when I shopped I could get free crap too!

...

Dogs? Art?

See what I get for thinking? I didn't think anybody gave a shit about the little dogs I used to have in the blog title. I came across SFC Peters' work and it moved me and I thought it would be cool to feature the artwork of one of our troops in Iraq. SFC Peters is in Fallujah to be exact. This is primarily a vets issues blog after all.

As I said, I thought nobody gave a shit. I guess some do. Heh ... I'm flattered. Seriously. So, I'll put it to the readers. Cute doggies in BDUs or artwork? Leave your vote in comments and democracy rules. I'll leave voting open until Sunday and I'll make the appropriate adjustments on Monday.

Back later, gotta get the Mrs. from the train.

Gettin' it out in the open. At last.

Seeing the Forest

McCain, O'Reilly: It's About Keeping Jews, Blacks and Women Out Of Power

So...what else is new?

..They want to break down the white, Christian, male power structure...

Gee, O'Rally says that like it's a bad thing...

"Rudy jumped into bed with anyone who could afford a rubber"

Matt Taibbi on JulieAnnie. Today's 'must read'.

Rudy giuliani is a true American hero, and we know this because he does all the things we expect of heroes these days -- like make $16 million a year, and lobby for Hugo Chávez and Rupert Murdoch, and promote wars without ever having served in the military, and hire a lawyer to call his second wife a "stuck pig," and organize absurd, grandstanding pogroms against minor foreign artists, and generally drift through life being a shameless opportunist with an outsize ego who doesn't even bother to conceal the fact that he's had a hard-on for the presidency since he was in diapers. In the media age, we can't have a hero humble enough to actually be one; what is needed is a tireless scoundrel, a cad willing to pose all day long for photos, who'll accept $100,000 to talk about heroism for an hour, who has the balls to take a $2.7 million advance to write a book about himself called Leadership. That's Rudy Giuliani. Our hero. And a perfect choice to uphold the legacy of George W. Bush.

Yes, Rudy is smarter than Bush. But his political strength -- and he knows it -- comes from America's unrelenting passion for never bothering to take that extra step to figure shit out. If you think you know it all already, Rudy agrees with you. And if anyone tries to tell you differently, they're probably traitors, and Rudy, well, he'll keep an eye on 'em for you. Just like Bush, Rudy appeals to the couch-bound bully in all of us, and part of the allure of his campaign is the promise to put the Pentagon and the power of the White House at that bully's disposal.

In his years as mayor -- and his subsequent career as a lobbyist -- Rudy jumped into bed with anyone who could afford a rubber. Saudi Arabia, Rupert Murdoch, tobacco interests, pharmaceutical companies, private prisons, Bechtel, ChevronTexaco -- Giuliani took money from them all. You could change Rudy's mind literally in the time it took to write a check. A former prosecutor, Giuliani used to call drug dealers "murderers." But as a lobbyist he agreed to represent Seisint, a security firm run by former cocaine smuggler Hank Asher. "I have a great admiration for what he's doing," Rudy gushed after taking $2 million of Asher's money.

Did Giuliani know the air at the World Trade Center was poison? Who knows -- but we do know he took over the cleanup, refusing to let more experienced federal agencies run the show. He stood on a few brick piles on the day of the bombing, then spent the next ten months making damn sure everyone worked the night shift on-site while he bonked his mistress and negotiated his gazillion-dollar move to the private sector. Meanwhile, the people who actually cleaned up the rubble got used to checking their stool for blood every morning.

Now Giuliani is running for president -- as the hero of 9/11. George Bush has balls, too, but even he has to bow to this motherfucker.

Just guessin' here, but I think Mr. Taibbi is not Rudy's staunchest supporter.

Deportee

So far, it's a slow news day, so I went over to YouTube to watch my favorites and find some new ones. Ain't you the lucky ones!

In light of all the brouhaha about illegal immigration, the upside of which is it's wreckin' the Repuglicants, there's a downside as well. Or maybe another upside: the only thing the Chimp has got anywhere close to right, and his 'base' doesn't want to hear it, even though his corporate cronies want the cheap labor. Heh. The mojados, of course, are caught in the middle. As usual.

This song was written by Woody Guthrie years ago in response to what he felt was racist treatment of the Mexican victims of a plane wreck in Los Gatos, California. Lyrics here.

A beautiful rendition by Arlo Guthrie and Emmylou Harris.

Enjoy. Think.

Fightin' them over there ...

Ah, never mind:

...

Think of what has happened in only the last week in the Middle East. In northern Lebanon, in the long-established Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, out of the blue arose a new al Qaeda-related insurgent group, Fatah al-Islam. Within days and even hours, the recurring hell of the Middle East was loosed, and refugees poured out of the camp in terror.

There had been none of this kind of terror networking in these northern camps. Indeed, since this camp was established in 1949 to accommodate refugees from northern Palestine after the creation of Israel, it has housed one of the more formal and conservative of peoples.

But it was soon established that these new "insurgents" or "terrorists" – or whatever they really are – had arrived at the camp only recently, that they marched in one day with brand-new weapons, ready to fight.

...

Yes, the American soldier is now a recruiting tool for international terrorism thanks to the Chimp's policies. The thing that's really disturbing is the leader of the world's most powerful nation is ready for a white jacket (the one with really long arms that buckles in the back) and a room with rubber wallpaper:

...

Friends of his from Texas were shocked recently to find him nearly wild-eyed, thumping himself on the chest three times while he repeated "I am the president!" He also made it clear he was setting Iraq up so his successor could not get out of "our country's destiny."

...

Sounds like Hitler in his bunker just before the Russians overran Berlin.

Off to work; thank god it's Friday ...

Great thanks to Walt @ Blondie's.

M-CRAP

Seems those new MRAPs supposedly taking the place of the Humvee need to be up-armored too. Lurch has the details.

...

Waugh! What? I had the distinct impression that we were 86ing the HumVees and going to MRAPs (cost: $25 Billion +) in order to keep the troops safer in Iraq.

...

Apparently not, my friend.

The Bad Pun At The Heart Of Creationism

Tristero

Sam Brownback's ghost writer gives us the Republican candidate's opinion of science and reality. He's against 'em both. On principle. The amount of deliberate misinformation, bad science, and even worse theology in this op-ed achieves a new high on the Idiocies Per Sentence Index (tm). However, while there is plenty of stupidity to unpack in Brownback [update: PZ Myers tears into Brownback with a vengeance], I'd like to focus on only one small rhetorical detail, which is usually ignored during triage by first responders to the latest "intelligent design" creationist atrocity:

If [belief in evolution] means assenting to an exclusively materialistic, deterministic vision of the world that holds no place for a guiding intelligence, then I reject it.

One word interests me here: "materialistic." Brownback, or rather, Brownback's ghost, is punning on the meaning of "materialism." Doing so is a small but important piece of standard "intelligent design" creationism rhetoric. And it highlights exactly how cheap a fraud it is.

What's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing, of course. And that's the point of the creationist's pun, to confuse the everyday notion of evil materialism with the morally neutral meaning of the word within science. In everyday life, we're appalled by materialistic behavior like the vulgar accumulation of vast wealth (GOP excepted). But that is light years removed from being appalled by one of the major operating premises of science, that reality has a natural explanation. Dembski and Brownback deliberately confuse the two, punning on our rejection of materialistic moral values to create sympathy for a rejection of scientific materialism (ie, epistemological standards).

And once you reject scientific materialism and open science up to - their term, not mine - supernaturalism, well, then astrology becomes a scientifically plausible theory. And UFOs. And ESP. And "intelligent design" creationism.

Harrumph! I'll thank you not to lump UFOs in with a fraud like Intelligent Design! I see 'em all the time. Been aboard one or two as well. We'll probe that another time...

Indeed. "Intelligent design" creationism is just a bad joke. A very bad joke. It prizes punning over reality. And no one, Republican or Democrat or otherwise, who puts any credence in this joke should be taken seriously for the position of dogcatcher, let alone president of the United States.

No shit! I don't want my dogs in the hands of that idiot!

Nor my country either, what's left of it. What does that moron think he's doing, anyway?

Creation Myths are pretty universal. The common one we hear about, "On the seventh day...", Adam & Eve, bad snake, etc. etc., is pretty boring as such things go. No pizzazz. I like the Navajo one better.

According to the Diné legend, we're in the Fourth World. Brownback y ilk are in about the twelfth. Or is that their century?

The Polar Bear Memorandum

From the Pacific Spirit Marine Institute

After the Downing Street Memo Came the...

Do not mention a word about climate change, sea ice or polar bears! That is, of course, if you are a biologist or other employee of the US Interior Departments Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fish and Wildlife Service Officials say the 'polar bear memos' as they have become known as, are consistent with a longstanding policy to ensure a coherent position in foreign negotiations and to prevent employees from discussing topics not on event agendas. (Say that 3 times fast!)

I guess they'll say that until they're treadin' water and mopping the sweat off their brows at the same time.

Note to Marine Scientists: while yer treadin' water, watch out you don't get run over by Noah's Ark fulla dinosaurs...

Is there a budding Qim al Jong?

Reuters

President George W. Bush would like to see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat role, the White House said on Wednesday.

The United States has had thousands of U.S. troops in South Korea to guard against a North Korean invasion for 50 years.

And if the North Koreans actually do invade the south, all those U.S. soldiers will likely die, too. They're a tripwire. Probably won't happen.

One difference is that South Korea has a huge well-trained and motivated Army and Marine Corps. They're tougher'n nails, too. I sure wouldn't fuck with 'em.

Another difference is that South Korea and North Korea are individual countries with an actual geographical dividing line.

There's not going to be a DMZ to separate warring factions in Iraq. If you can see how to do that, please tell me. 50 DMZs? 100? Iraq is not really a country, but a primordial soup of hundreds of tribal, religious, ethnic, and political divisions and loyalties and its citizens inhabitants are all mixed together with no common goals except for one group to prevail over the next, with millions of reg'lar folks caught in between. Iraq's 'border' is a boxing ring that isn't doing a very good job of containing the free-for-all.

I am heartened by the thought that that perhaps Bush doesn't want us to stay in Iraq forever. Just for the rest of my lifetime and most of yours, or until all the oil is pumped out.

Ft. Lewis lumps 'em all together

KNDO/KNDU, Yakima WA

So many Fort Lewis soldiers are being killed in Iraq the Army base will no longer hold individual memorial services.

Starting next month Fort Lewis says it will hold one memorial a month for all the dead soldiers.

Those memorial services are going to get bigger and bigger as time goes by.

Damn you, Bush.

"When Are We Going To Get Out Of Here?"

Think Progress

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) made an unannounced trip to Iraq today, telling reporters, "what I see here today is progress, significant progress." Hours later, he was confronted by U.S. soldiers with a very different message: "We don't feel like we're making any progress."

McClatchy reports tonight on Spc. David Williams, who collected questions for Lieberman from 30 other troops.

At the top of his note card was the question he got from nearly every one of his fellow soldiers:

"When are we going to get out of here?"

From one of the comments:

Lieberman's reply:

"I don't know about you, but I'm outta here as soon as I get my picture taken..."

Holy Joe could be standing neck deep in a four-holer and if the White House said the troops shit roses he'd say how nice it smelled and how happy he was to be there. Back on yer knees, Lie-berman.

The one thing I'm glad to see is that the troops are openly questioning the madness they've been subjected to.

Update:

Harper's Magazine

No U.S. senator has made more trips out to Iraq than Joe Lieberman. He's a fixture out there. The regular junket has been a part of his campaign to be "Mr. Iraq" in the Senate. About a year ago, when I was working in Baghdad, I listened to a young captain vent about all the time and energy the Army was forced to expend on the regular visits of CODELs – Congressional delegations. "I guess our democratic process requires it. But I really wish these dopes would open their eyes and actually learn something, rather than use Iraq as a backdrop for speeches that fit in to some preconceived political strategy." I later asked: who were you taking around? And the answer: Joe Lieberman.

Today, it appears, some troops actually worked up the courage to confront Lieberman over his shameless hucksterism. [...]

The troops are not amused by Holy Joe's crap.

Kristol and the Kagans - Lamest Band Name Ever

The Rude One

The Rude Pundit could've gotten a brain-damaged monkey and sat it in front of a giant board filled with squares, each predicting what might happen if the United States invaded Iraq. That brain-damaged monkey could've thrown its shit at the board, and someone could've announced on what square the shit landed, and even if the shit had missed the board entirely, there's a good chance that that brain-damaged, shit-tossing monkey would've been right more often about the war in Iraq than William Kristol or Frederick Kagan.

I love that guy, but for once I gotta call him on it: that's pretty much exactly what happened, only it wasn't a monkey but a brain-damaged Chimp, and it hasn't been right yet. All the neocons are exactly even on Iraq predictions, wrong 100% of the time.

And what happened to the mass quantities of Chimp-flung shit? Our troops are catching it.

A tip o' the brain to 'unbelievable', commenter #40 at Think Progress.

Oy!

Got in late, slept late, so I'll direct you to Greenwald. He's on about right wing pundits' lies regarding Valerie Plame's covert status. A great read, though you know, now that the Agency has confirmed she was covert, you will never hear a retraction from any of them.

Another reason I'm impressed with Joe Wilson. Were someone to make the hassle for my wife the way the White House did to them, I'd be exacting my pound of flesh forthwith, starting with Novakula and working up the line. The restraint on Wilson's part is truly amazing.

Undisclosed and incognito ...

Blogging on my part will be minimal this evening (Updated. See yas tomorrow).

Savage Christians

Stuff about the thankfully departed Jerry Falwall is still trickling in. This one's from Black Agenda Report. Don't miss it!

It seems the corporate media can sanitize and white-wash even the most putrid bigot. Evangelist hit-man Jerry Falwell's career as a racist propagandist was excised from the record, following his death last week. The man who called the Civil Rights Act a "civil wrong" and preached that African Americans were the cursed descendants of Ham, is resurrected as a benign theologian. The pattern fits nicely with the national practice of demonizing all things non-Christian (or Judeo-Christian), while sanctifying the unspeakable crimes of Bible-holders.

The terror attack that took place on September 11, 2001 was an aberration in more ways than one. Muslims were the perpetrators, but that is usually not the case. The purveyors of hate and violence in America are almost always Christians.

Just as it is unfair to smear all Muslims with the legacy of bin Laden, it would be unfair to smear all Christians as disciples of Jerry Falwell. Muslims are constantly asked to denounce their members who are terrorists. Why is there no similar demand of Christians? Will the good Christians, the peaceful ones, ever speak out against their co-religionists who carry bombs in their cars or drop them on civilians in Iraq?

The public reaction to Falwell's death showed how ineffectual the supposedly good Christians have become. Few were willing to point out the numerous examples of his hate speech. An opportunity was lost because of ridiculous prohibitions against speaking ill of the dead. The good Christian soldiers don't know how to fight.

Christians perpetrated the crusades, the inquisition, the slave trade and imperial adventures too numerous to mention. It may be comforting to pat ourselves on the back and consign those behaviors to past centuries. We are living in the 21st century after all. Who would use the name of the Christian God to justify mass killing? A majority of modern day American Christians, that's who.

Perhaps the argument used against Muslims should be applied to Christians instead. Their religion has been hijacked by fundamentalist fanatics while the non-fanatics remain silent. The term clash of civilizations is definitely a misnomer. There can be no clash unless both sides are in fact civilized. Any assertion of American civilization is clearly open to question.

If more of the phony christians would follow Falwell's lead and croak, it'd help. Maybe the real Christians, if there are any, could improve our 'culture' by getting back to Matthew 25:35 instead of worrying about Tinky Winky.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Iraqi Farmers Now Growing Opium Instead of Rice
Transition to democracy nearly complete.

Bush Defends Immigration Plan, Gonzales
Says if it weren't for immigration we wouldn't have Gonzales.

New Forensic Analysis Confirms Oswald Didn't Act Alone
Findings should put matter to rest.

Yeah, like that'll happen!

Secretive Carlyle Group Will Sell Shares to Public
Membership in Illuminati not included.

Executive Order Gives Bush Authority To Seize Absolute Power
Slay enemies, seize their assets, sit on throne.

Democrats Express Sympathy for McCain's Anger Management Problems
Must constantly deal with other Republicans.

Haiku inspired by masthead art

Tank rolls through desert
Sun sets on America
Bush has ruined us

If the pissants can't see it, it ain't happening

Photo from WW2 Database, The Battle of Tarawa. 1 of 24. Good slide show.

Americablog

Bush now banning photo journalism of wounded troops

We quite literally have a government that no longer believes in the very freedoms it claims our troops are dying for.

NYTimes. Am I the only one who sees the awful irony that this article is in the "Media & Advertising" section?

Capturing the brutal realities of war is a tradition in this country dating back at least to Matthew Brady, and it is undoubtedly part of why Americans, regardless of their politics, have come to know and revere the sacrifices that generations of soldiers have made on their behalf.

When this war began, the government attempted to manage images by banning photographs of coffins returning to United States soil. If the government chooses to overmanage the wages of war in Iraq, there is a real danger that when this new generation of veterans, whose ranks grow every day, could come home to a place where their fellow Americans have little idea what they have gone through.

Photos like the one above were not printed in the media until very late in the war when it was apparent that we were winning. There were two reasons for this: the government was afraid they would turn public opnion against the war, just like now, and, even though there was a draft, they were afraid it might hurt recruiting efforts, just like now.

We haven't seen battle carnage in Iraq on the scale of some of the WWII battles like Tarawa. Yet. Looks like we might not if Bush has his way.

When the Green Zone, sort of a plush Dien Bien Phu, falls, we may see some gleeful photos from photogs embedded with the 'insurgents'.

Quote of the Day

Fruitless Daydreams

PNAC got its new Pearl Harbor. What we need now is a new Boston Tea Party.