Draft Starts In An Unlikely Place

Me'n Fixer have joked around about how we're likely to meet for the first time tits up under a Humvee in Kuwait. No way Bush's Iraq flusterpluck is going to go on for too much longer without some kind of forced service*, AKA a Draft. It's started, but who knew it would start with the State Department?

Time

At a State department "town hall" meeting on Wednesday, one participant, veteran diplomat Jack Croddy, pointed out the risks of injury and death faced by American diplomats. But he hit closer to the heart of the matter when he told the director general of the Foreign Service, who was leading the meeting, "It's one thing if someone believes in what's going on over there and volunteers, but it's another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment." On Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was traveling, issued a statement saying, "We must go forward with the identification of officers to serve, should it prove necessary to direct assignments. Should others step forward, as some already have, we will fill these new jobs as we have before —with volunteers. However, regardless of how the jobs may be filled, they must be filled."

No wonder, then, that the State Department may resort to a draft to fill its Baghdad roster. The risk to life and limb is real. But the greater worry is that the risks and hardships will be in the service of a cause that is not only frustrating but potentially (HA! - G) futile.

One envisions mass protests like during the Vietnam days, only this time, instead of students, it'll be middle-aged career State Dept. folks.

Note to the protesting State Dept. ladies: This time, don't do the 'no bra' thing. You'll hurt yourselves. And traumatize the rest of us!

*Note to serving members of the military: Didn't know you were gonna be lifers when you signed up, didja? Well, thanks to stop-loss and involuntary extensions, you are.

AGgie Follies

Click to make the ducks even lamer

There's a lot going around today on the AG nomination, including this piece at the WaPo, but BuzzFlash has a good short take:

Bush Goes to Bat for Another "Torture Boy" AG, Using Inane Lies and Deceptions to Justify Mukasey as Transitional DOJ Puppet to a Giuliani Administration. (Mukasey is a Big Bud of Giuliani.) Bush Thinks That We Are Stupid Enough to Believe That Al-Qaeda Would Not Commit a Terrorist Act Because They Don't Know How They Would be Tortured. Explain That to a Suicide Bomber, You Moron.

We'll be better off without an AG for the rest of Bush's term, however long that may turn out to be, than with a Bushbot lawyer who can't commit to what he thinks about waterboarding because he might have to prosecute his boss if he did.

You don't call, you don't write ...

How many times have I said this since we opened up this place?

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The number of foreign visitors to the United States has plummeted since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington because foreigners don't feel welcome, tourism professionals said Thursday.

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"Travelers around the world feel the US entry experience is among the world's worst," Freeman said, calling on the US government to work with the private sector to make visa acquisition more efficient, the entry process traveler-friendly, and to improve communication.

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"What affects travel and tourism affects our economy and our image around the world. Travel and tourism is the face of America, whether it's people coming here or Americans going elsewhere," he said.

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Listen. I'm out of the country twice a year and I started getting this vibe years ago. A lot more Europeans would rather visit Phuket, Thailand than Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Anybody who's had to put up with clearing U.S. customs knows why. For the first time on a cruise, last April I was singled out for 'further interviews' by U.S. Customs in St. Thomas.

The police state mentality and general distrust and disrespect of anyone not speaking English has had a dampening effect on tourism. Along with most everything that defined America, openness and tolerance have been relegated to the trash heap in favor of a false sense of security.

Thank god it's Friday ...

Great thanks to Mr. Philadelphia for the link.

Moving on ...

I can't say I admired Paul Tibbets. I can say I was in awe of the man. I was in awe of the fact he could sleep at night for the past 60 years. I was in awe of the fact he didn't step out of Enola Gay on 6 Aug 1945, chamber a round into his pistol, place the barrel up to his temple, and pull the trigger. I would have.

Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the commander and pilot of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in the final days of World War II, died today at his home in Columbus, Ohio. He was 92.

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It would seem he had no soul.

Madness as Method

MoDo on The Dick. Hmmm, my choice of words there may have been a slight Freudian slip...

Dick Cheney’s craziness used to influence foreign policy.

Now it is foreign policy.

Cheney seems to enjoy giving the impression that he is loony enough to pull off an attack on Iran before leaving office — even if he has to do it alone, like Slim Pickens riding the bomb down in “Dr. Strangelove” to the sentimental tune of “We’ll Meet Again.” He has even begun referring to his nickname, Darth Vader, noting that it “is one of the nicer things I’ve been called recently.”

I'd love to see Cheney doin' the Slim Pickens number! Maybe we can get the guys at Minot to spirit the nuke out of the warhead. I'd like to see the look on Cheney's face in the split second between the time the damn thing didn't go off and before he 'made his mark on the Middle East', so to speak. But if we can't, I'd almost go along with nukin' Iran if The Dick'd ride 'er down just to be rid of his insane ass. I apologize as well to Mr. Vader for the comparison.

As Pat Buchanan noted on “Hardball,” “Cheney and Bush are laying down markers for themselves which they’re going to have to meet. I don’t see how ... Bush and Cheney can avoid attacking Iran and retaining their credibility going out of office.”

In other words, once our cowboys have talked their crazy talk, they have to walk their crazy walk.

My faith in Pat Buchanan is restored! He thinks B & C have credibility. Yeesh.

They may not have credibility, but they have no sanity either. The fuckers will start WWIII (or IV, or V, or whatever number you care to assign to it) if they can.

They need to go NOW. Whatever it takes.

Why, those ungrateful bastards...

Click if you must

NPR’s “Car Talk” Hosts: No More “Fear-Mongering Bull-feathers” from Automakers

My two favorite radio personalities get political. At, of all places, globalwarming.house.gov:

WASHINGTON (October 30, 2007) – The hosts of National Public Radio’s famed show “Car Talk” have sent a letter to Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the members of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming backing a 35 mile per gallon fuel economy standard for America’s vehicles that is currently being considered in Congress. In the letter, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, aka Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, use their renowned wit and vehicle knowledge to knock down the auto industry’s continued resistance to adopt stronger fuel economy standards.

“As any listener knows, Tom and Ray are where common sense begins when it comes to cars, and when they say reaching 35 miles per gallon is feasible and the smart play for the American auto industry, people should listen” said Chairman Markey. “Automakers should stop acting like they’re playing the Tappet Brothers’ game, ‘Stump the Chumps,’ and start supporting higher fuel economy standards in Congress’ energy bill.”

If you've never listened to "Car Talk", you should start. Folks call in with all sorts of questions, and the Tappet Bros' answers range from pretty technical to the likes of "Does it go clankety-clank or tinkle-tankle-tunk?". They're funnier'n shit and know damn near as much about cars as Fixer and Bustedknuckles, whom you can visit along with a certain two-wheel correspondent who only has to know half as much since 'sickles only have half as many wheels thank God and never gets dirty above his elbows, at Fixer & Gordon.

The Air Force Coverup of that Minot-Barksdale Nuclear Missile Flight

If this was a 'mistake' as the Air Force claims, it was made at a very high level.

Dave Lindorff:

"It makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck." -- Pentagon official

There is something deeply disturbing about the Air Force's official report on the Aug. 29-30 "bent spear" incident that saw six nuclear warheads get mounted on six Advanced Cruise Missiles and improperly removed from a nuclear weapons storage bunker at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, then get improperly loaded on a B-52, and then get improperly flown to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana -- a report that attributed the whole thing to a "mistake."

And yet we're asked to believe some low-ranking ground crew personnel at Minot AFB simply walked out of a nuclear weapons bunker with six nuclear armed Advanced Cruise Missiles, not knowing what they were carrying, and labored for eight hours to mount those missiles and their launch pylon on the wing of a B-52 strategic bomber without ever noticing they were armed with nuclear weapons. We're asked to believe that none of those electronic alarms and motion sensors built into the system went off during that whole process.

Vice President Dick Cheney is known to be pressing within the administration for a war with Iran, to be launched before Bush leaves office. According to some reports, Cheney has even, on his own authority (or lack thereof), urged Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, in hopes that Iran might retaliate, thus drawing the U.S. into a war.

Could the nation's war-mongering VP have used his neo-con contacts in the Defense Department or some of the Armageddon-believers in the Air Force to bypass the official chain of command and spring those nukes from their bunker?

Or was there a plan for a so-called "false-flag incident," where a small nuke -- made to resemble a primitive weapon of the type a fledgling nuclear power might construct -- might be detonated at a U.S. target abroad, or even within the U.S.?

These are terrible and terrifying questions to have to ask, but when you have six nuclear weapons go missing, when the military investigation into the incident is so clearly a whitewash or coverup, and when you have a vice president who is openly pressing for an illegal war of aggression against a nation that poses no threat to the U.S., and who, in fact, appears to be conducting his own treacherous foreign policy behind the back of the president and the State Department, these questions must be asked and answered.

They probably won't be, at least while the present criminals are occupying the White House, but I have no trouble at all believing it was a Cheney plan. The question is whether he was just wavin' his weenie or, worse by orders of magnitude, actually intended to use nuclear weapons to start his next failed war. Either way, he should be in prison.

Why Did We Invade Iraq Anyway?

You know the answer, but here's a really good one (long!) page Tomgram on the subject. A definite 5-minute 'must read'.

Why then did the U.S. invade Iraq? Why is occupying Iraq so "vital" to those "national security interests" of ours? None of this makes sense if you don't have the patience to drill a little beneath the surface ? and into the past; if you don't take into account that, as former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz once put it, Iraq "floats on a sea of oil"; and if you don't consider the decades-long U.S. campaign to control, in some fashion, Middle East energy reservoirs. If not, then you can't understand the incredible tenaciousness with which George W. Bush and his top officials have pursued their Iraqi dreams or why - now that those dreams are clearly so many nightmares - even the Democrats can't give up the ghost.

The United States viewed Middle Eastern oil as a precious prize long before the Iraq war. During World War II, that interest had already sprung to life: When British officials declared Middle Eastern oil "a vital prize for any power interested in world influence or domination," American officials agreed, calling it "a stupendous source of strategic power and one of the greatest material prizes in world history."

It is hardly surprising, then, that the new administration, bent on unipolarity anyway and dreaming of a global Pax Americana, wasted no time implementing the aggressive policies advocated in the PNAC manifesto. According to then Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill in his memoir The Price of Loyalty, Iraq was much on the mind of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the first meeting of the National Security Council on January 30, 2001 (my em), seven months before the 9/11 attacks. At that meeting, Rumsfeld argued that the Clinton administration's Middle Eastern focus on Israel-Palestine should be unceremoniously dumped. "[W]hat we really want to think about," he reportedly said, "is going after Saddam." Regime change in Iraq, he argued, would allow the U.S. to enhance the situation of the pro-American Kurds, redirect Iraq toward a market economy, and guarantee a favorable oil policy.

"An American-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and the replacement of the radical Baathist dictatorship with a new government more closely aligned with the United States, would put America more wholly in charge of the region than any power since the Ottomans, or maybe even the Romans."

As worldwide demand for hydrocarbons soared, the United States was left with three policy choices: It could try to combine alternative energy sources with rigorous conservation to reduce or eliminate a significant portion of energy imports; it could accept the leverage conferred on OPEC by the energy crunch and attempt to negotiate for an adequate share of what might soon enough become an inadequate supply; or it could use its military power in an effort to coerce Middle East suppliers into satisfying American requirements at the expense of everyone else. Beginning with Jimmy Carter, five U.S. presidents chose the coercive strategy, with George W. Bush finally deciding that violent, preemptive regime change was needed to make it work. The other options remain unexplored.

So how's it all working out? File the results under "World's Stupidest Criminals" - The Bush maladministration couldn't even pull off what amounted to a grand-scale gas station stickup.

Crossing over ...

With John Edward Cole:

...

I had intended to register independent, but when I got there to do it, I had a moment of clarity- there seemed to be no point leaving the Republican party in protest and joining the unwashed masses. If I really was going to protest, it made no sense to not commit to the opposition party. Besides, as a Republican all these years, I never had any problem voting for libertarians, Democrats, etc., I don’t see why being a Democrat will change anything. And, the 2008 election really is the most important election of my lifetime- the basic foundation of our country has been under assault for a while, now, and I want to vote in the Democratic primary as a Democrat, not as someone with no party affiliation. I want to send a message, and as small as this gesture (which should appropriately be interpreted as a middle finger to the GOP and not as a sloppy wet kiss to Nancy Pelosi) is, I want it to mean as much as possible. There is now one less Republican in WV, and one more Democrat.

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Welcome aboard, Mr. Cole. A little late, but if more Republicans were like him, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today.

Thanks Shakes!

I (heart) NY ...

As many of you know, I have a love/hate relationship with my home. As far as I'm concerned, NY is the greatest city in the world, though the leadership always manage to pull out a bonehead move at the wrong time. One of the best things about NY is our Halloween Parade:

(New York - AP, October 31, 2007) - The theme was "Wings of Desire," but costumes of every kind were on display at Greenwich Village's proudly outlandish Halloween parade.
Ensembles ranged from the usual devils and witches to the unusual - such as the man wearing a box of cereal punctured with plastic knives. Steven Rodriguez, 24, said he was a "serial" killer. Get it?

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There were prison inmates, Catholic priests, even a box of Trojan condoms. Guises were simple (a Freddy Krueger mask), trendy (Idaho Sen. Larry Craig) and imaginative (the late poet Sylvia Plath's head in a kitchen oven).

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The parade, started in 1973 as a neighborhood event for children, has grown to encompass thousands of marchers, floats and giant puppets, with huge crowds of onlookers and television coverage. An unusual admission policy allows anyone wearing a costume to march. All participants have to do is show up at the start line.

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Video at the link.

Update:

And, of course, the boneheads were out yesterday too. Heh ...

MIDDLE ISLAND, N.Y. (AP) — Perhaps it was meant to be a Halloween prank, but police say three teenagers weren't smart about choosing a target.

Police say the 17-year-old and two 15-year-olds peppered a marked police car with paintballs — and were promptly arrested on reckless endangerment and weapons charges.

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Suffolk County police say the teens blasted the police car with several paintballs Wednesday evening in Middle Island, on Long Island. The driver's side window was hit at least twice.

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Ha-ha! Idiots. Betcha the cop shit his pants ...

Raising Sand

I was just listening to a new CD called "Raising Sand" by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

I've been a big fan of Ms. Krauss for many years. Bio here. She was a bluegrass fiddle champion, but she's grown over the years. She sings like a bird.

I've heard of Robert Plant (Bio), but I was never much of a Led Zeppelin fan. I sorta remember him from one of the iterations of The Yardbirds. Memory is a funny thing.

This is another instance of one of my favorite musicians introducing me to a more mainstream artist. Live and learn.

Anyway, a country or bluegrass album this one ain't, although there are some nice overtones. Hit the album link and give it a listen. I like it.

And, oh yeah, it was $12.29 at Costco.

Conflicts of interest ...

Atrios explains in one sentence:

[AG nominee] Mukasey can't say that any of the barbaric things the Bush administration has done is a crime because it would be his job, as Attorney General, to prosecute them all for having done them.

Update:

Creature says it well too.

Let's play 'Zap the Chimp'!

Yahoo! News

PHILADELPHIA - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush's mental health in light of comments he made about a nuclear Iran precipitating World War III.

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board on Tuesday. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."

Click it

Great idea, but my idea for 'shock therapy' for the Chimp involves an old Model T Ford coil, or one of those hand-cranked magnetos that make the rounds in tourist cantinas in Mexico, and a set of jumper cables with very small alligator clips capable of attaching to his raisin-like testicles.

The only reason I can think of to put the 'trodes on his head would be to watch the pretty arc across the high resistance gap between his ears.

Boo!

Just go look at this page at All Hat No Cattle.

"Are your (redacted) still covert?"

There are some things that should be out in the open...

Very scaaary right wing costumes

People For the American Way

Need a scary last-minute costume idea? Terrify your friends and family by dressing up as a member of the Right Wing this Halloween.

Go see. These'll scare the crap out of ya.

On a related note, it is reported that Bush is related to Vlad the Impaler. The rumor is, and I know because I started it, that in honor of this relationship, Bush's costume for tonight will be old-fashioned Romanian evening wear with a huge black strap-on (fitting, I think, given his style of governance) and he will trick-or-treat as "Count Cockula".

Believe it or don't, I did not make up that costume idea. I've seen it.

Ru-dee! Ru-dee!

More 'moral values' ...

Imagine that. Yet another Rethug hypocrite busted:

Good grief. It's an endless flood of GOP sexual hypocrites. In Spokane, an alleged extortion attempt that involves a conservative (and very anti-gay) state legislator and a male escort. The story just reeks of the usual factors -- the closet, self-loathing, and poor choice of rent boy. I'm sure more facts are forthcoming that will "clear up matters."

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Pam has updated several times with all the detail of this sordid business.

Just a hint to Rethugs. If you want the public to believe all the bullshit you shovel, you might want to clean up your acts a bit. Weekly sex scandals don't cut it when you wrap yourselves in the cloak of 'morality'.

Mortgages ...

We've been saying this here at the Brain for years, though the assumption was it would happen earlier. The big 'economic geniuses' thought the gravy train would never stop. I betcha these were the same assholes who invested big money in the 'Internet boom' in the 90s and lost their shirts too:

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from the perspective of the loan officer, these deals were really two fers. sure, the rates were going to skyrocket but no one involved believe that anyone would ever have to face making payments at those rates. the borrowers would clean their credit, season their employment, have a track record on that newly opened company, and/or any of a number of other things that would allow them to qualify for the gold standard of mortgages, a conventional loan. or, barring that (because borrowers are human, after all) the folks would come back in in two years and we’d reset them with a new subprime, thereby keeping payments down in the comfort zone, and every one would be happy and prosperous. [my em[

...

Because, in all their best-laid plans, everyone fails to consider, or even acknowledge, human nature. I don't know about your neighborhood, but in mine, every third house has a 'For Sale' sign on it.

Anybody with any common sense can see this model isn't sustainable and the only surprise is that the mortgage industry didn't collapse sooner. I have friends who are mortgage bankers for some of the biggest firms in NY. They haven't had a weekend off in a couple months. One of 'em even canceled his family vacation in fear of the market completely collapsing under him while he was gone. This bloody mess of a pyramid scheme hasn't even hit bottom yet. Look for a Chrysler-type bailout by the government before it's over.