You can get away with robbing a bank ...

But you never escape the IRS. Isn't that what finally brought Al Capone down?

Off to work ...

Indeed

George writes to Nancy:

you are an embarassment to americans, nancy. representative stark spoke the truth. you can't get an impeachment investigation of crimes you helped hide for bush but you will attack a democratic representative who speaks for over 60% of the american people.

when the full history of american politics is known, you will be seen as one sad, easily maniupulated puppet of the bush regime.

So can you.

Advice for Dems ...

Since they're a spineless bunch, in general, a little advice from Steve Soto that might help them, being they don't seem to like confrontation:

...

And the lesson for Democrats is this: frame everything as a choice between needs here at home and wasting money overseas on Iraq. If you want to make a dent on Iraq, start talking up the money wasted on corruption, Condi's negligent management, and the money wasted on a failed strategy whose only goal is to take us into the next war in Iran.

I hope they can handle at least that much.

What it's all about ...

Great, great thanks to Maru UL for the pic. Click to embiggen.

That about sums it up ...

Thoughts on the Masthead Art

Every morning, even before the caffeine has kicked my awakeness anywhere close to following my half-open eyelids, I see that lovely Toktong Pass exhibit from the Marine Corps Museum.

It just dawned on me, in true "lights on in yer head, dipshit" fashion: That's US here at the Brain!

Sittin' all alone out in the cold, thanklessly freezin' our beboops off, lookin' for a chance to lob a few at the enemy and praying for a secondary explosion, wonderin' if it's all worth it or if it will make any difference in the scheme of things.

A wonderful and maybe subtle metaphor.

Fixer's a lot smarter than he looks.

Brinksmamship's Just A Pissin' Contest Until Someone Steps Off The Cliff

NYTimes editorial on Turkey v. the Kurds:

...one more widely predicted problem the Bush administration failed to plan for before its misguided invasion — and one more problem it urgently needs to deal with as part of a swift and orderly exit from Iraq.

Exit? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ain't part of the plan, Buckwheat.

Turkey’s civilian leaders are feeling strong popular pressure to lash back. The leadership should realize that the conflict is providing a dangerous opening for Turkey’s generals. The military is determined to regain the upper hand over Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom they detest for his party’s roots in Islamic politics.

Ankara needs to know that an invasion would not only add to Iraq’s chaos and raise the specter of a regional war, it would also do major damage to Turkey’s international standing and finish off its prospects for joining the European Union.

I'm not sure, but the Europeans might actually like to find an excuse to keep Turkey out of the EU.

Washington should also explain the dangerous facts of life to the leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan, who have done nothing to rein in the guerrillas or drive them out of their territory. Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, who is a Kurd, did no good Sunday when he first said he wanted “to solve problems peacefully,” but then declared that Iraq would not even turn over “a Kurdish cat” to Turkey.

The Kurds will find it much easier to prosper if they can live in peace with Turkey, whose businessmen already invest heavily in their region. And Mr. Talabani and other Iraqi Kurds need to understand that their enclave of comparative peace and prosperity will not survive a regional war.

Washington must now try to walk both sides back from this brink. [...]

That's the kiss of death! This administration isn't competent enough to throw a beer party in a brewery, and I hope they never try. The brewery, if it survived, would never again turn out a drinkable product.

With so many other problems in Iraq, the Bush administration apparently thought it could ignore this one. It can’t. If it doesn’t now move quickly, Iraq’s disastrous civil war could spiral into an even bigger disaster — a regional war.

The neocons' wet dream ain't turnin' out exactly like they want. No way, no how, ain't gonna happen. Their WH shills have demonstrated their near-perfect Reverse Midas Touch - everything they touch turns to shit - in the Mideast, and they'll be lucky if they can protect their rich friends in the small Gulf states. Hell, we'll be lucky if OPEC lets us buy the goddam oil at the inflated prices that are resulting from Bush's (and our) deflated dollars, let alone locking it up for our OCs.

Good going, Dick 'n Bush. You fuckers have screwed the pooch as bad as anyone ever has.

Lately I've been reading a lot about the First World War, since I feel that all our Middle East problems today stem directly from it. I mean 'directly' as in 'a straight line'.

One pistol shot fired by a Serbian nationalist killed a man. Normally, murder is handled by the criminal courts, but this murder was seized upon by a warmonger who wanted to crush Serbia once and for all. The whole deal got a little out of hand, resulting in the deaths of 40 millions, the fall of two already-crumbling empires, a couple more that weren't, and the rearrangement of many. many lines on the world map by politicos that shouldn't have, not to mention the most colossal case of PTSD in recorded history, that of a certain Austrian war vet and house painter who later had tremendous influence in today's Mid East. We are reaping now what was sowed then.

If I could go back in time, there are two things I would do. The first is to go back to Sarajevo in June of 1914 and knock the pistol out of Gavrilo Princip's hand just before Ferdy and his ol' lady rolled by in their big Gräf & Stift. If I was successful at that, perhaps I wouldn't have to do the second, which would be to travel to Ie Shima in 1945 and be the most outstanding Japanese anti-aircraft gunner ever. If 41 hadn't gotten out of his plane alive, he'da never been able to conceive 43 and the world would be a better place today.

Who's the Biggest Manwhore?

The Rude Pundit on the most recent Repug candidate panderpalooza. The first paragraph, which you'll have to go read for yourself, describes consensual (I think) acts that I've never even heard of. Frozen cookie dough? Brr.

Everything you need to know about the Republicans candidates for president is contained in this simple fact from last night's Fox "news" debate: they spent more time on gay marriage than on the war in Iraq.

Coming on the heels of the serial rim jobs given by the Republicans to Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council at their Value Voters Summit (motto: "Come for the proselytizing and sanctimony, stay for the non-kosher buffet"), the debate was dominated by a simple question asked of simple men: "Which of you hates more people?" Or, as the Fox "news" correspondents asking the questions put it, "Who's more conservative?"

[...] And when it came to the gays, oh, snap, how they went after each other like old drag queens at a Liza Minnelli yard sale.

About halfway through the debate, the fine Fox-ers got around to asking the candidates what they might actually do as President. On health care, the answers boiled down to: "Give insurance companies everything they want." On education: "Give private schools everything they want." On taxes: "Give rich people everything they want." On foreign policy: "Give the neocons everything they want."

Shorter: Be Bush. That's workin' out just great, huh?

Ron Paul, the sanest one of those morons, which isn't saying very much, went against Repug retard talking points and injected some actual reality into the proceedings and got a typical kool-aid drinkin' response. From a BradBlog post which is worth reading:

PAUL: Well, there's a very big difference, and I think the American people, if we as a party realize this and understand it, 70- some percent of the people in America want the war over with. They're sick and tired of it and they want our troops to come home.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

Mr. Paul is credited with 'winning' the BS-fest, and was roundly dissed by one of the worst of the true believers, a JuliAnnie man supporter.

One of these clowns, from the weakest field in memory. is going to be the Repug presidential nominee and will go up against a Dem nominee from the best field we could hope for. There's not much at stake, just the future of our country and the world.

How could we possibly lose?

Easy. The Dems are good at shit like that.

Dear Harry & Nancy ...

Is this what you are afraid of?

Just 25% of Americans approve of the way President Bush is handling his job as president and 67% disapprove, according to the latest American Research Group survey. This matches the lowest approval rating he's ever recorded in the poll.

When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 23% approve and 67% disapprove. This also matches Bush's lowest ever approval rating for his handling of the economy.

You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Regards,

Fixer

Great thanks to the wonderful Maru for the link.

Quote of the Day

Digby on the imminent war with Iran:

... After all, trying to take over the world has made many a failed leader's historical reputation. Unfortunately, Junior probably doesn't realize that it rarely turns out to be a good one.

How it was ...

[A big Brain welcome to Salon readers.]

Josh Marshall reminds us the United States was not created to be a "Christian nation".

I've sort of gotten tired of explaining that, no, the Founding Fathers actually weren't all born-agains and bible thumpers. Not hardly. (Probably better to say that the great majority ranged from believers in an entirely impersonal God -- Deists -- to believing Christians who nonetheless viewed popular religious enthusiasm with a polite and paternal disdain.) But presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governoer Mike Huckabee, himself a Baptist minister, actually told a crowd yesterday that "most" of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were "clergymen."

...

One was a clergyman. The Rev. John Witherspoon of New Jersey.

One of my heroes, John Adams:

"The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses."

The United States is a secular nation, period. The minute it becomes 'christian' (or any other religion) it no longer remains the United States. The U.S. is a nation of men, not of God.

Adams quote from here.

"...I felt the unity that had been stolen from us in 2003."

Here's the latest from Riverbend:

Syria is a beautiful country- at least I think it is. I say “I think” because while I perceive it to be beautiful, I sometimes wonder if I mistake safety, security and normalcy for ‘beauty’. In so many ways, Damascus is like Baghdad before the war- bustling streets, occasional traffic jams, markets seemingly always full of shoppers… And in so many ways it’s different. The buildings are higher, the streets are generally narrower and there’s a mountain, Qasiyoun, that looms in the distance.

The first weeks here were something of a cultural shock. It has taken me these last three months to work away certain habits I’d acquired in Iraq after the war. It’s funny how you learn to act a certain way and don’t even know you’re doing strange things- like avoiding people’s eyes in the street or crazily murmuring prayers to yourself when stuck in traffic. It took me at least three weeks to teach myself to walk properly again- with head lifted, not constantly looking behind me.

She goes on about her family's trials, travels, and travails. They're safe and settling in.

Thanks, George. You asshole.

Bush's Pentagon Papers

Part of a much longer (so what's new?) Tomgram:

Think of it this way: If Freud believed that dreams were the royal road to the individual unconscious, then the top officials of the Bush administration believed torture to be the royal road to their ultimate dream of unconstrained power, what John Yoo in his "torture memo" referred to as "the Commander-in-Chief Power."

It was via Guantanamo that they meant to announce the arrival of this power on planet Earth. They were proud of it. And that prison complex was to function as their bragging rights. Their message was clear enough: In this world of ours, democracy would indeed run rampant and a vote of one would, in every case, be considered a majority.

Why not? It was a 'majority of one' Supreme who put the Current Sonofabitch into the White House. Why not continue with a proven scam?

Sometimes, it's just a matter of refocusing to see the documents, the statements, the acts for what they are. Such is the case with the torture memos that continue to emerge. Never has an administration -- and hardly has a torturing regime anywhere -- had so many of its secret documents aired while it was still in the act. Seldom has a ruling group made such an open case for its own crimes.

The urge of any criminal regime -- to ditch, burn, or destroy incriminating documents, or erase emails -- has, in a sense, already been obviated. So much of the Bush/Cheney "record" is on the record. As Karen J. Greenberg wrote, back in December 2006, "What more could a prosecutor want than a trail of implicit confessions, consistent with one another, increasingly brazen over time, and leading right into the Oval Office?"

Looking back on these last years, it turns out that the President, Vice President, their aides, and the other top officials of this administration were always in the confessional booth. There's no exit now.

There may be no karmic escape from their crimes, but there are electronic money transfers and corporate jets to extradition-free Paraguay. Bush and Cheney, you should go now.

Homebrewed Helos in Nigeria

As an unreconstructed ol' gearhead, I admire anyone who can perservere enough do this:

Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi, a 24-year-old physics undergraduate in northern Nigeria, takes old cars and motorbikes to pieces in the back yard at home and builds his own helicopters from the parts.

"It took me eight months to build this one," he said, sweat pouring from his forehead as he filled the radiator of the banana yellow four-seater which he now parks in the grounds of his university.

The chopper, which has flown briefly on six occasions, is made from scrap aluminium that Abdullahi bought with the money he makes from computer and mobile phone repairs, and a donation from his father, who teaches at Kano's Bayero university.

It is powered by a second-hand 133 horsepower Honda Civic car engine and kitted out with seats from an old Toyota saloon car. Its other parts come from the carcass of a Boeing 747 which crashed near Kano some years ago.

Go read the rest. It's inspiring. Makes ya wonder how many, or even if, young Americans with all the advantages are doing stuff like this Nigerian kid is. I'll bet not many, more's the pity. A few years back, some inmates at a Nevada State Pen built a helo out of an old 350 Honda, but they got caught before they could find out if it could get up high enough to get over the wall.

I've built motorcycles from the ground up, but I never tried to fly 'em!

This young man gets today's "Gordon's Gyro Gearloose Award".

PKK May Declare Ceasefire

AFP via Raw Story

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Kurdish rebels were set to declare a unilateral ceasefire on Monday, in the face of mounting Turkish threats to strike their bases in northern Iraq.

"The PKK has decided to declare a ceasefire from their side tonight," Talabani told reporters, referring to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, regarded as a terrorist outfit by Turkey and the West.

I think that is a wise decision and I hope they do that. I hope also that it's not too late.

Somebody musta got to the PKK and told 'em to knock off the cheap shit before they fuck everything all the way up. The Iraq Kurds are doing OK for now and a Turkish invasion just might be the monkey wrench in the works that they don't need. None of us need it.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Bush Gets Support From Some Generals
General Electric, General Dynamics, General Motors.

Kurds, Turks Prepare for Battle
Winner takes on winner of Syria-Lebanon, survivor going to regional final against winner of Israel-Iran or Pakistan-India, whichever ends first.

Bush Warns of Threat of World War III
As long as he remains in office.

More.

Makes sense ...

The General's inner Frenchman likes Chris Dodd for most of the same reasons I do:

My inner Frenchman has been an Edwards supporter and a Gore awaiter. Now, he's tired of waiting, and he never really got over the Amanda/Shakes debacle or Edwards' seeming eagerness to adopt the neocon's Iran rhetoric. He wants to support a candidate who shares his values, a candidate who isn't a afraid to stand up to the proto-fascists who would trade a false sense of security for our most basic constitutional rights, a candidate who isn't talking about an Iraq withdraw plan that will take decades to complete, a candidate who believes that universal health coverage doesn't mean shifting the burden from business to the individual, a candidate for whom we can all be proud to support, a true liberal, not one of the DLC's self-styled "progressives."

...

I'm not ready to endorse anybody yet, but Dodd has distinguished himself from the pack.

Off to work ...

Tip o' the Brain to MJS for the link.

The Turks ...

Or, How can Iraq get any more fucked up? Swopa looks at the game of chicken being played on Iraq's northern border:

Note the vicious circle of this logic: Turkey knows that invading Kurdistan would be foolish. But the only way it can achieve its goal of quashing the PKK is to convince the Kurds and Americans that it will invade if they don't do the job.

Except that the threat to invade isn't plausible enough to force the Kurds and Americans to act, since they know (and they know that Turkey knows) that invading Kurdistan would be foolish.

So for Turkey, the only alternative to getting stuffed... is to do the foolish thing and invade Kurdistan.

...

[blink, blink]

Just consider the change in dynamic there if Turkish troops begin to engage the PKK in a full-on effort. The only place that's relatively peaceful, the area our main supply lines run through, will be turned into another dangerous alley for our convoys. A good portion of our air transport missions are run out of Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. If our relations with Turkey suffer, do you think they would be so inclined to allow us to continue on such a scale, if at all?

As far as the Americans, or the Iraqis [snicker], acting to contain the PKK, I ask with what? Troops we don't have enough of to pacify 'Sunnistan' or 'Shiastan', let alone Kurdistan? Blackwater mercenaries who'll only make the situation worse by killing anything that moves? Or will we just ignore it and hope it goes away? But, as of yesterday, that last option has been taken from us. From an NYT article Swopa links to:

...

But the Sunday ambush on Turkish troops was carried out by a much larger force than the P.K.K. typically uses, the Western official said, and appeared aimed at drawing Turkey into [the] conflict.

“I think we’ve passed the threshold,” Mr. [Suat] Kinikli [a lawmaker from Mr. Erdogan’s party and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee] said. “It looks like for two days or three days there will be a holding off and a waiting period. Unless the U.S. comes up with something magic in the next few days, which is highly unlikely, we’ll probably go in.”

...

Yeah, we all know the magic the Chimp can pull out of his ass.

You know, I love all the people who were all 'rah-rah, kill the ragheads' without any thought of the complications arising from our actions. Osama is still free, 6 years after he murdered 3000 people, oil prices are through the roof, the economy is a mess, and now the war threatens to escalate, dragging more in the region, and maybe Europe, into the conflict. Oh yeah, and we're still trying to goad Iran into a fight.

I'm not optimistic we'll be able to stuff this genie back in the bottle anytime soon.

Repug Infighting In CA-04

It's always a good thing when your enemies are fighting with each other. I came across the John Doolittle News which compiles news about my aptly named congresscritter, which led me to an article in the Auburn Journal. Auburn is a town in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and the county seat of Placer County.

GOP rep says Doolittle shouldn't seek re-election

WASHINGTON (AP) - Political pressure on GOP Rep. John Doolittle grew Wednesday as a fellow California House Republican said it would be best if Doolittle didn't run for re-election.

Doolittle, a nine-term conservative from Rocklin, is under Justice Department investigation in the influence-peddling probe involving jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff. His fundraising has slowed and he's drawing Republican primary challengers amid mounting concerns that he would not be able to win re-election next year despite the fact his district is among the most conservative in California.

The 'influence peddling' involved sweat shops and the sex trade in the Northern Mariana Islands, and possibly the firing of the US Attorney for the NMI when he tried to look into it. Details in the archives of Dump Doolittle and Doolittle Facts.org.

GOP Rep. John Campbell of Orange County became the first House member to say publicly Wednesday what other lawmakers and aides are saying privately - that Doolittle should step aside and not run for re-election.

"I am very concerned about the situation in that district and our ability to comfortably hold what is a safe Republican district," Campbell said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Doolittle is facing two declared Republican opponents, one of whom - political newcomer Eric Egland - raised more money than the incumbent in the third quarter of this year. Other Republicans are waiting in the wings and have expressed interest in the race if Doolittle steps aside.

Doolittle has insisted he won't drop out, and said in his statement that he has received local support for his re-election.

He barely won re-election last year against Democrat Charlie Brown, who's seeking a rematch this year and is way ahead of Doolittle in fundraising, with more than $380,000 cash on hand to Doolittle's $77,700.

There you have it. The Repug 'leadership' in DC is ready to toss the Abramoff-related criminal overboard rather than lose the district to a Dem. No Semper Fi in this bunch. They must know the actual facts of the situation, and don't want Doolittle to get re-elected and then have to go to jail during his term. Why, that might make the news!

The Wes' Coas' Faction of Alternate Brain, strategically located in CA-04 (at my house) so as to bring you the latest on the eagerly anticipated, long hoped-for upcoming downfall of Doolittle, is 100% solidly behind retired USAF LightColonel (looks like he got out of the Air Fundies in the nick of time) Charlie Brown For Congress.

Just sayin' ...

I watched Timmeh's interview of Stephen Colbert this morning. I'd have to say it was the hardest-hitting interview he's done in 15 years. Sad.

A big Brain welcome to Sideshow readers.

Real Christians ... again

As regular readers know, I'm probably considered an atheist by most. Though I consider myself a spiritual man, I don't believe in organized religion or the worship of some deity.

That said, I respect people's beliefs. I don't want to do away with religion (just keep it out of my fucking government) and I admire people who who can strictly adhere to their faith's teachings. I admire their commitment and, generally, every religion has a 'Golden Rule' thus bringing out the best in those so devout. Mother Theresa comes to mind, as does Gandhi. My aunt, for example, is a devout Roman Catholic. She doesn't curse (the worst I've ever heard her say was 'shit' and I think she said Hail Mary's and Novenas for a month afterward), she is a good person, participates in charities and events to raise money for the poor, regardless of skin color or faith. If I had any pull with the Vatican (that would be the day), I'd put her up for sainthood.

Then there are those, in this nation and others, who have taken their religion's teachings and perverted them, or ignored them completely, all the while looking down their nose at anyone with differing beliefs or without belief at all. They profit immeasurably, both monetarily and in terms of their personal political power, and these are the folks I have problems with. The Roberts Family, for instance:

...

• As of 2003, Richard Roberts was compensated at the following levels -- $181,469.00 in annual salary from ORU; in excess of $100,000 as Vice President of City Plex; and an additional $41,530/year from the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association. Additional incomes from "Make Your Day Count" could not be verified but are likely.

• According to the Draft report, Richard Roberts stated in a taped phone call, "I have the deck stacked -- I am elected to three year terms and if a Regent appears to give me trouble, I remove him. I stack the deck...." (Draft report cites a numbered tape as documentation.)

• Richard Roberts receives complete housing benefits from the university which includes all associated costs: e.g., 13 internet/cable connections, wide-screen televisions, hot tubs, an Imperial Stove ($15,000), Washer/Dryers ($6,000), and all furnishings. The family selects furnishings for the home, the ministry then pays for the items and arranges for delivery.

• The Roberts home has been remodeled 11 times in the last 14 years. Each time, Mrs. Roberts demands more changes. During the most recent renovation, an $800 bathtub was installed for daughter Chloe.

• Dead bolt locks were installed on all bedroom doors at the insistence of the Roberts' oldest daughter. This was precipitated by Mrs. Roberts repeatedly moving into the home her 16 year old male "friend," which made her daughters uncomfortable.
...

These people prey on and take advantage of the most uneducated, hopeless, and gullible amongst us and what they do is no different from the Osamas and Arafats of the world. The Roberts' mock the beliefs of their followers, waste their donations, and flagrantly disobey the teachings of a man who would most surely frown on their lifestyle.

From what I have seen over the course of my life, I feel confident making the general statement that our 'religious leaders' are the most immoral of us all.