fotz

hahah..president bruce almightly.

Brilliant.

http://www.thevelvethottub.com
http://www.velvethottub.com

THE VELVET HOT TUB

Man, you guys are fast.

Pitchforks. And more goddamn pitchforks. Exactly.

Been catching up on the previous thread after doing my taxes (ouch – no wonder I put it off) – and gods, what amazing Plameology goes on here! I almost actually grasp the basics from reading all you amazing people. (And thanks Redd for not cleaning up immanentize’s endearing typos.)

Kerry did the same thing with his NYT op-ed piece, IMO.

Newt is an especially shining example of a “family values” republican:

It’s true that Gingrich is no longer in Congress, where he orchestrated the impeachment of the president of the United States over charges rising from Bill Clinton’s sexual dalliances. But Gingrich, through his many public appearances, remains a self-appointed definer of the Republican Revolution, which counted family values at its core. These very values are called into question if the married speaker of the House was having an affair with a much-younger congressional employee who ultimately reported to him.

Critics of Gingrich have long made much of the insensitivity he demonstrated in serving his first wife with divorce papers while she was in the hospital being treated for cancer. Nor did news of his efforts to cut life insurance coverage for the mother of his children always endear Gingrich to his family values supporters, but it was generally assumed that his marital errors were in the past.

This time, his approach was less personal. Marianne Gingrich told the Washington Post that she was informed of the affair and the request for a divorce last May in a telephone call from Newt to her mother’s home, where she was visiting.

After first expressing best wishes to his mother-in-law on her 84th birthday, he asked to speak to his wife, who was soon reduced to tears by Newt’s news.

“I said, ‘Marianne, what’s wrong?’ ” Gingrich’s mother-in-law told the Washington Post, and she said her daughter replied, “He doesn’t want me as his wife anymore.” According to the Post: “There was a second jolt soon afterward. Newt Gingrich, now 56, informed his wife that he was having an affair with a congressional aide, a woman 23 years his junior.”

Marianne Gingrich told the Post she was “totally shocked” by the news, and her attorneys last week obtained court permission to interview Gingrich and Callista Bisek, a scheduler and assistant hearing clerk for the House Agriculture Committee since early 1995. The relationship allegedly began that year.

Jane is too modest – she cut out Billmon’s reference:

Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake has a fairly typical reaction, to wit: How dare that right-wing blowhard asshole advocate withdrawal after sliming as traitors anyone on the left who suggested the same thing!

Now I always enjoy watching people take potshots at Newt Gingrich (and if Cheney wants to take a real one at him with his Bushmaster I wouldn’t mind that either) but in this case the shooters may be missing the real target.

(shooogarp, I swear I just seem to get lucky a lot when I drop in – I like it when I’m working/whatever & can’t get here at all, to catch up later and see what others do when faced with that “no comments” and empty box moment – I got so sick of the “Frist” thing on Atrios, and even did kitt-like bitching about the whole juvenile stupid thing – but for some reason I love the Fitz thing here)

Sharkbabe -

Ouch on taxes is right. The middle class has to come up with close to $250 million dollars a day to run the war in Iraq. I wonder what my bill will be next year when we are in Iran. Maybe money won’t matter next year. Sure make taxes a lot easier. I won’t worry about flossing as much either.

Pitchforks and Flamethrowers!!!

I love the smell of crispy fried NeoCons in the morning!!!

We’ll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again

-The Who

Bilmon———GREAT
Jane, Redd and everyone at FDL—–GREAT

Completely OT – well, maybe not really since this seems right up Newts ally, but in the background I am listening to NPR’s On Point. The topic is what is wrong with the GOP. Its very interesting, all these PO’s “secular” republicans are calling in and backing them up against the wall. A wingnut guest just proposed that that the only way he thinks that the spendthrift congress can be reined in, if the President exercises his executive discretionary spending perogative and just “refuse” to spend the $$ Congress allocates, and presumably he signs! That would solve the problem, he said.

The host responded that had never been done before, but the guy said so what, there is a first time for everything.

I am blown away – these people are bound and determined to turn the presidency into a dictatorship. Sort of along the lines of Mexico, a one party state with the President basically being granted unlimited powers. Or simply to provoke a constitutional crisis with all these power grabs … which would give them an opening to grab even more power.

Totally OT, but do taxes have to be filed by April 15, or do we get a grace period bec. it’s a Sat.? Obviously, question comes from one in denial.

Bingo!!! It’s about regime change. Operation PNAC on track… Scarey stuff!

valley girl – there’s a form you can file to get an extension

Valley Girl -

I believe that your taxes have to be postmarked by the 15th, with the Post Office having extended hours on Saturday. Sorry.

Taxes are due on Monday because the 15th is a Saturday.

Valley Girl 14-

you have until Monday 4/17

For shame, Newt giving aid and comfort to the enemy. He prolly has Osama bin Hiden on speed dial. Defectors from the war effort should be encouraged to the revisiting of their senses. However, anyone who smothered dissent by shrilly screaming, “traitor & terriss sympathizer” should be roundly rebuked, with their previous hyperbolic rhetoric consistently surrounding their name. And, hopefully, when Democrats return to power, we will have an avalanche of subpoenas, sentences and frogwalks to the gallows. None of this shit about “looking forward.” Harsh penalties for all involved in Plame, shake and bake intel, torture, warrantless spying, war profiteering, Katrina, K street et al. Their must be consequences or they will be back for more.

Valley, oh Valley.

You have until Monday. And I believe that Mass residents have until Tuesday because Monday is a State holiday (Patriot’s day). But please do not rely on that!

PS I am three threads behind — trying to catch up!

Thanks you two- #16 #17. So, I will file the extension form during the extended Saturday hours.

Taxes have to be filed by the 17th–Monday. Unless you live in one of the NE states that has a Maine [I think it’s Maine] mailing addy, then you get an extra day to the 18th. But that’s unique because the IRS recognizes their Patriots Day.

If you think you owe taxes, those have to be paid on time, but you can file an extension for the purpose of filling in the IRS form.

A warning I heard today, if you plan to file online, or download anything, don’t put it off–just in case of computer overloads.

What’s more Jane, I’m increasingly down with giving none of these bastards any quarter whatever. Arianna was interesting on the subject toda, and good on her giving you props. But sorry, she’s running the most threadbare has-been gosh-golly-let’s-make-up, we-all-just-want-what’s-best-for-the-country-even-Newt-does.

No no no, and fucking no! Newt DOES NOT. These people are FREAKS and backstabbers, Newt is THE heir to Atwater in dishonest sliming as opposed to honest discourse all through the 90s.

And Jane, I’m better understanding and respecting things like your ferocious taking after WaPo in its attempting to elevate that ridiculous child Ben. Every aspect of this politico-corp media monster must have its ass kicked at every turn as much as possible & twice on sundays.

You do have until the 17th because the 15th is on a Saturday. Heard it on NPR. Also, I always think you all are exaggerating about Rita Cosby and the Aruba case, but I accidentally left the t.v. on after Countdown, and lo and behold, Rita is almost breathless about the Aruba case–it went on and on, and I lept up and shut off the t.v. before my dog Simon grabbed the remote!

freaks and backstabbers

That about says it all, Sharkbabe, but maybe we could even leave off “backstabbers.”

sharkebabe@#24

Yeah, what he said!

Hey, have none of you conspiracy theorists out there realized that Newt is talking this way just as pressure is stepping up on Rumsfeld to resign? Secretary of Defense Gingrich, anyone? Did Newt make a call to his buddies in the Pentagon and say hey, let’s get this guy out and get me in?

If you’ve already paid your taxes, an extension is no big deal. If you haven’t pre-paid, you need to file your return with or without payment — or you will be in a world of hurt with the IRS.

Here is a stunning compilation of quotes by Generals regarding Chimpys GWOT and Crumbsfelds Michael Brown/Don Corleone style leadership of the Pentagon.

http://radamisto.blogspot.com/…..k-out.html

-GSD

#23 #25- Ah, I was hoping that was the case. Not that I need further cheering on for procrastination.

dana,

Is there another White woman missing? Is she young and attractive?

Billmon nails it here. As I responded to Arriana, it is all well and good for Newt, Sullivan, Fukuyama, Buckley and the rest of the gang to realize that Iraq is a mess. However, they still think that they are smarter than all of us and that now that they have figured out how badly they screwed this up, we should trust them to rule the world again. Sorry guys, that’s not the way we play. Everybody who was colossally, irresponsibly, and tragically WRONG on the last war is welcome to join the class now, but they can sit in the back and keep nice and quiet while the big kids talk about PEACE!

peace,
jim

Off topic but wanna know-
Does anyone know how often gas stations get fuel deliveries? The price is going up daily but I find it hard to believe they get deliveries every day to warrant the daily price increases. Does anyone know?

for any texans here:

Senator Feingold will be in Texas next week for a series of events to support congressional candidate John Courage, the winner of our first “Pick a Progressive Patriot” event last year. Next Tuesday, April 18th, John and Russ will hold a joint listening session on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin. As with the nearly 1,000 listening sessions Russ has held in Wisconsin, across the country, and over the internet, the event will be free, open to the public, and a great opportunity for Russ to meet with students and community members and hear first hand about the issues of concern to Texans.

Tuesday evening Feingold and Courage will take advantage of Austin’s reputation as the “Live Music Capital of the USA” with a large rally with Courage supporters at Jovita’s. The event will feature live music and speeches by Courage, Feingold, and special guest Jim Hightower.

y’all are lucky…

immanetize @#32

Damn, that Scott Peterson guy is slick!

zenless at 28. Not likely — Gingrich is not enough of a Bush family player — remember his assault on Poopy (or is it Poppy?) My guess is more a Lieberman DOD replacement — Joe doesn’t seem to have the energy for a contested Senate race and Bush would imagine points for his BOLD BIPARTISAN choice.

Arianna advocates a pragmatic approach. Jane advocates a purist’s. I say we can have both: welcome Newt et al’s conversion to reality-based reality, and use them as temporary bedfellows.

Meanwhile, we work behind the scenes to UTTERLY, FINALLY destroy them. The fact that Gingrich is getting this much airtime is a horror in and of itself. Let’s limit his action space to the next round of the Surreal Life, shall we?

I find the timing of the statements by several Generals denouncing Rumsfeld interesting, to say the least. My first take is: this is a shot across the bow, a strong warning from the higher ups in the military, with the message- DO NOT attack Iran. Too naive? Too hopeful on my part?

cathy @#34

Just ask Oilfieldguy ;D

The price changes reflect the cost to replace what is sold, not the price when they bought it.

As I commented earlier today, I think that if the Bushites can find an excuse to keep their airbases and some troops there, then they do not give a tinker’s damn what happens in Iraq, short of regional blow up. Politicians should be judged by their overall philosophy and approach to a broad range of problems. Gingrich still is way way on the other side of the line there. No making up with him: still wrong on too many things, still untrustworthy on just about everything. And there are many much better Republicans to recruit to the good side, if any of them can ever bring themselves to actually do something beside talk noble on the TV (like ol’ Chuck there -is he ever going to actually do one damn thing to stop BushCo from destroying his party?)

Thank you FDL for calling a spade a spade. Now if can just find a way out of this hole we have been dug into.

Pitchfork at the ready!!!!! I want to spear me some theocratic fascists.

Billmon: I don’t think Newt is criticizing or second-guessing the administration’s policy in Iraq so much as he is front-running it â€“ probably in an effort to polish his credentials as a foreign policy heavyweight

I think that I saw Pat Buchanan’s sister, Angela ‘Bay’ Buchanan also doing that on CNN this afternoon. The subject came up as to whether President Bush even had the power to attack Iran without some authorization from Congress.  Bay seemed to take a "bring it on" attitude toward this saying something about how this would force the Democrats in Congress to show where they stand.   Donna Brazile, Bay’s ‘balance’ person on this segment, jumped to say that it would also be a showdown for the "rubber stamp" Republican congress.
I am not sure that any decision has been made yet, but one of the advantages to bringing the Iran pot to a boil over the summer is that it could provide the mother of all changes of subject if Iraq really falls apart big time before the election.

chisholm #38: your point can be argued. Allowing a vandal like Gingrich into your tent is very risky. Can anything that risky be called pragmatic?

Thanks oilfieldguy. What are your predictions on the cost per gallon this summer?

Chummy Gingrinch reminds me of the scorpion and frog parable. If you don’t know it and are interested, just ask.

The wingers are intent on bankrupting the country any way they can: with infinite wars, tax cuts for the rich, a medicare bill that puts most seniors in hock to the company store (insurers), etc. Pay off your credit cards now and hope you get a life-raft when the ship of state really starts sinking.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.c…..der13.html

Re: statements by Generals and Valley Girl at 39 –

I am not oung nor am I old. I was awake during Viet Nam and (barely) alive during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I have studied history a lot and –

Not since the Civil War have I ever heard of Generals — retired or active — publically breaking with the President while a conflict was going on — or any other time for that matter.

Can any of you big brains here give me any other examples of such behaviour?

Fred in Vermont-
You have to read Glen Greenwald’s post today about authorization to go to war.

cathy @#45

I’m in the oil & gas biness, the mud end of it. So I can even guess, except to say its going up. Wait ’til peak oil gets here. Coming to visit us soon.

Ms. Hamsher: well, I agree with your thoughts from several past articles that folks should not give “any room at the Inn” to ole Newt. I think he’s a Johnny-Come-Lately, and objecting to Iraq policy for his own selfish reasons. But you and others have gone into this idea in good detail. I have nothing to add to your thoughts. But….
I’m going to gently disagree with your choice of this “Billmon” dude as further ammo for your position. I read the stuff from him which you quoted in your article. Honestly, I could make no sense of him. What IS he bitching about? I gave up when I read his reference to “Gotterdammerung”. Huh??? What in hell is he talking about?
And your final comment on the possible “war in Iran” I also disagree with. We’re not going to have any war with Iran. We’ll probably have some air strikes. But no invasion. No Abrams tanks rolling into Tehran. It almost seems to me that your complaint about Newt changes into a projection of total land war in Iran. This Billmon guy “seems” to think the same thing….but I found his quoted article hard to read and frankly, the “Gotter” whatever sounds like some teenager fighting Klingons in his Star Trek fantasies.
It’s good to point out what I call the “two-faced-ness” of ole Newt…but this Billmon guy doesn’t persuade me of anything. best wishes, Ghostman

Fred,

They can change the subjects away from Iraq, but that subject never goes away. It is there, the anchor around the administration. Katrina, wildfires, tsunamis, political campaigns, immigrants rallies….it will occupy some time, but that topic is there to stay.

Just this week, another NH soldier has been sacrifice to the Gods of Hubris, Mammon and Bush Legacy.

It will not go away no matter what they do and the Iran gambit will not make it go away, in some ways, the Iran gambit only puts it in more of a spotlight.

-GSD

Valley Girl, there is something going on in the military…Rumsfled is nearing his judgment day and may very well get a vote of “no confidence” from generals.

Valley Girl 39-

I thought the same thing. I believe these guys were in the loop recently enough that they know how wacky these guys are. And like you say, it’s an SOS, don’t go there anymore. My concern is that they won’t listen this time either and THAT is scarey. Like Boy King says, “fool me once..fool me… don’t get fooled again”

wesgpc

There is the saying, “better to have your enemies in your tent pissing out, than outside the tent, pissing in.”

Wesgpc: Clearly, there are lots of parameters still to be defined with the concept of “bedfellows.” I mean, what do any of the “let’s welcome them into the fold” thinkers think is actually going to happen, anyway? Dean and Gingrich are going to form an anti-Bush 527? I doubt it. But anyway, I think my bigger point here is to step back and see how we can use Gingrich, and then, once done, destroy him. (See how the mind can rationalize backstabbing? If it means stopping the Republicans from doing anymore damage to the country I certainly can!)

“We’re not going to have any war with Iran. We’ll probably have some air strikes”

Air strikes are war. We don’t get to choose what the Iranian response will be. They may choose to respond with a global war on American tourists and financial interests and embassies.

-GSD

Nuke the Newt. Show no mercy. Warmongering scum.

oilfieldguy 46 — that is perfect! I kept thinking there is some way to describe ol’ Newt in our camp, and *that one* just does it up right. Or left. Or whatever, the slimebucket.

The older I get the more I seem to shamble right up to the deadline with taxes, it’s become a single-filer Sharkbabe family tradition.

But having avoided and avoided and finally buckled down to it tonight, there’s something bracing about just facing it all, the numbers and numbing instructions and line 87(a) and the zillion crazy little blanks. I chose to make the whole thing an evening of zen, at least till that final calculation of what I owe the bastards.

And worse, I am sending this money to President Dick the Fuck Cheney.

Ghostman,

War is not just tanks, it is when one nation kills citizens of another for nation-state reasons. Bombing people — killing men women and children — is war. Gotterdamerung is a reference to Wagner, opera and — if you are a geeky type — magic powers in fantasy game play.

I think anyone dumb enough to believe what Bush was saying leading up to the war in Iraq deserves to be slammed.

VG-

Thanks for the reminder. I, too, am procrastinating on my taxes. Mainly because I know that even though I have spent the last year below the poverty line, they are still going to take more money away.

Lord knows I love knowing that I am paying for the murder of innocent civilians in Iraq.

immanentize #54 and chisholm #55: Well, awright then, if it’s going to be one of those monster WWF elimination cage matches, then let him in. Just remember we better be prepared to fight as dirty as he does -which is as dirty as you can imagine. I’ll sit oustide where its safe and watch through my fingers (I am timid and “quease” easily).

Imman #48- interesting question, but (forgive me) beside the point, as we know Bush doesn’t “do history”. Trashing Rummy gets the military issues out there- we did this before in Iraq and it was a failure- so back off on this Iran thing.

GSD #56: I totally agree. The question here is, what would you do if you were the head cleric (whatever the hell his wretched name is)? I’d openly and actively support the insurgents in Iraq (btw-what is this nonsense about establishing bases in Iraq, while it implodes? Are people seriously contemplating armed islands in a sea of chaos as viable? Bush Republicans are utterly incompetent idiots, but are they THAT stupid? F*ck, don’t answer that). Another option would be to attack Israel in the hopes—likelihood?–that other Arab states would engage against it, given that the Israelis would surely respond.

It’s good to hear generals add their criticism of Rumsfeld to those of many others, but let’s face it. It took 3 years for them to do so. Also most of them beyond getting rid of Rumsfeld still have a “the stakes are too high for us to leave” and “we must complete the mission” in Iraq without being very specific or realistic about how to accomplish that.

Ghostman might try a dictionary.

göt·ter·däm·mer·ung or Göt·ter·däm·mer·ung (gÅt’É™r-dăm’É™-rÅ­ng’, gÅ“t’É™r-dÄ•m’É™-rÊŠng’) pronunciation
n.

A turbulent ending of a regime or an institution: “The nation had been flirting with forms of götterdämmerung, with extremes of vocabulary and behavior and an appetite for violent resolution†(Lance Morrow).

This administration has brought me to the point where I will buy my first gun this week. I used to laugh at those “I love my country, but fear my government” bumperstickers. Not anymore. It’s funny that those paranoid anti-government folks living in the middle of Montana were right all along. Well, except for which polital party would eventually want to take their guns.

Attack on the second amendment coming soon. Stock up now.

Gotterdammerung translates as the “twilight of the gods,” I believe, as in the death throes of the once-mighty, armageddon, etc.

immanentize 48 — I think MacArthur had a pretty big blow-up with Truman but I was too young to understand what was going on.

seaside 53 — Rumsfeld showed the soft signs of Alzheimers when he first came on board, and he’s way out of whack now. Actually, I’m from his home district and I always thought he was out of whack… but he’s even further out there now. And, like, listening to other folk was never exactly his strong suit so, yeah, I’m scared he’ll ignore every one of the top brass, too, and maybe even rejoice in their approbation — he’s that looneytunes, I swear it.

Is it just me or does Ronald Dumsfeld look like he probably smells like old tea bags. And no matter what he says, all I hear is “Get off my lawn.” Is he one of those lawn order republicans?

Gotterdammerung: The Apocalypse in Viking?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotterdammerung

TRex-#62- there is some really nice classical music on WABE right now- maybe that will soothe your taxed soul.

chisholm #65:

“Are people seriously contemplating armed islands in a sea of chaos as viable? Bush Republicans are utterly incompetent idiots, but are they THAT stupid? F*ck, don’t answer that).”

I think Bushco seriously contemplating just that. They want them their bases, come hell of high water, or whatever. They thought Chalabi would be the Iraqi Shah, but that plan self-destructed immediately. Since then BushCo has been left to increasingly insance schemes, IMHO. I cannot believe that I even barely believe it, but it is only way I can make sense of what they are doing. But I murmer my thoughts on this only every month or so.

oilfieldguy 71 — Old tea bags!!! aaahhhh, such *perfect* snark. Actually, Rummie was apparently run out of Taos by aggrieved locals but is better-liked on the Eastern Shore (St. Michaels, I think) than Cheyney, who closes down the roads, town and, who knows, maybe all the sailboats, with his motorcade whenever he goes to the local pharmacy. People literally cannot get out of their houses, driveways, etc. What a totally timid twit, in perfect keeping with His Bully-ness and totally masculine baseball-throwing style…

Fukuyama, Buckley and the rest of the gang to realize that Iraq is a mess. However, they still think that they are smarter than all of us and that now that they have figured out how badly they screwed this up, we should trust them to rule the world again. Sorry guys, that’s not the way we play. Everybody who was colossally, irresponsibly, and tragically WRONG on the last war is welcome to join the class now, but they can sit in the back and keep nice and quiet while the big kids talk about PEACE!

worth repeating jim – and what Glenn G and Jane are saying – let’s all scream it a thousand ways – no you do not get off the hook, NO you have the UTTER DESTRUCTION OF A FUNCTIONING SOCIETY OF HUMAN BEINGS JUST LIKE YOURSELF ON YOUR HANDS, you have so much incredible death and horror and misery on your hands, fuck I can’t even write anymore how fucking hideous this all is – every american who still supports this evil, may god blow up your house, may you get a fucking clue

dannyboy – if you are still around, I left you a note on the nest thread down.

Oilfieldguy #71

MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

TRex-#62- there is some really nice classical music on WABE right now- maybe that will soothe your taxed soul.

HA! I get it! “Taxed” soul, indeed.

Yeah, I love this show on WABE right now. That announcer has SUCH a sexy voice. I’ve heard he’s gay and single, too!

65/74 “Bush Republicans are utterly incompetent idiots, but are they THAT stupid?”

Absolutely.

I have always thought that Rummy looked like Skeletor.

I can just imagine him in the deserted halls of the Pentagon late at night pointing with his bony finger and cackling “My powers are beyond your comprehension!”

vALLEY gIRL,

That looks cool with CAP LOCK on.

Anyway, my point was obtuse as usual. I was asking a serious follow up (not snark) to your point. Here is my full thought:

Never before in the modern history of the Union have we had so much dissent from the military. We are an amazingly successful republic in which the military has honorably agreed to follow civilian rule. Remember, Eisenhower, while wildly popular, had to overcome the nation’s aversion to being led by a General to become President.

So what to make of these Generals retiring and then speaking out. I believe there are two things at work here. First, the all-volunteer army has created a new version of the military — a praetorian guard of sorts — a professional military class loosed from democratic constraints. The military is no longer part of our citizenry, it is now a weapons system to be used with the same carelessness as a cruise missile. The older officers remember the citizen military.

Second, this new military has been disrespected. Bush and Rumsfeld have ignored, rejected or insulted every reasonable suggestion made by the professionals. And we are again losing a war because of it and they are beginning to say “told you so.” Because of the “professionalization” of the military, one would think (particularly the Generals) that they should be treated like professionals. It was somewhat easier to spin a citizen military as needing a firm civilian control, but ironically, in this efficiency MBA world, ignoring experts and professionals — even military ones — seems ill-conceived and even stupid (although I firmly believe in civilian control and I actually believe in the democratic value of mandatory service — another post).

So when I see retired Generals complaining that they have been disrespected and suggesting that the civilian leadership is running the country into the ground, I take notice. This might just be a side-line event.

Or it could be the first stages of warning — of an imminent coup.

TRex- haven’t heard that sexy voice yet, but I’m awaitin’. What’s on now (10:18)- if this is Debussy ?? But it sounds so familiar. I tuned in late. Would I be stupid to guess Shubert?

immanentize–is it possible that it’s the same young woman in Aruba that she’s continually reporting on? I mean, what’s with that? If not, how many women go missing in Aruba? Maybe AF1 should fly there. Between that and Wilkerson referring to Powell as a Pachaderm, I’m flummoxed.

Rumsfeld will stay until and if Bush goes. So I continue to wish for ccmask’s prediction to come true. Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Well! That strange word “Gotterdam-whatever” sure evokes alot of comment. We got Wagner, we got opera, we got twilight of the gods, we got apocalypse, and…..we got “magic powers in fantasy game play”….sigh. Klingons, anyone? I couldn’t find that word in my American Heritage Dictionary, but oh well. Perhaps my beef then is really with a stylistic choice of word usage by this Billmon dude. Ok.
#56 says that air strikes ARE war. Well….hmmm. You know, I really think such a debate is almost like a cat chasing its tail. I DO hear you, #56,….I disagree, but ours may be one of those round-about side issues. “What” to call something. I call them air strikes…you say it’s war….we BOTH agree that when it happens, civilians will get killed. Unavoidable.
On Ms. Hamsher’s article, I’d just prefer that she reference someone else. Billmon was not persuasive to me. I just bet she, and others, via research, can bring forward all sorts of historical examples of “Newt-like” figures who were two-faced….and how history judged them. Take care all, Ghostman

immanentize #48:

What comes to mind is the Civil War when McClellan certainly dragged his feet, often vocally, whenever a battle opportunity presented itself. MacArthur while he was Proconsul in Japan circa 1950 had the shoe was on the other foot. He was publically advocating attacking recently-become-red China, and of course penetrating deep into North Korea against orders after the Inchon landing. Top Air Force generals of the late 50s and 60s, such as Twining and LeMay, were excessively belligerant. LeMay went to his death believing that the outcome of the Cuban Missle Crisis of 1962 was a huge strategic setback for the USA. But you’re right in that no examples of this many brass hats going public comes to mind.

danny boy at 70
Re: MacArthur — trua and a good point illustrating my current point. MacArthur split with Truman when Mac wanted to take the Army into China during the Korean War. Mac thought he was politically impervious because of his hero stuff in the Pacific during WWII (”I shall return”). However, when a military General becomes a war monger, the civilian leadership has every right to smack him down. Which is what happened to MacArthur — recalled to the States and really never heard from again — inded, he faded away.

But when the military starts saying it is the civilian leadership that is war mongering and fucking up, THAT is a whole ‘nother ball of wax. Their credibilty and power then comes from acting against type — the danger I think lies in the power these Generals actually have. Think. Murtha was acting at the request/behest of these same Generals….

imman #82- I am so glad that I provoked you into further comment, because what you have to say is so important. A long time back on FDL I said that one of my good friends felt that the only way to restore responsiveness in the public was to restore the draft. I was, at first, shocked by her statement (Vietnam era, me), but then it began to make sense. I got mildly flamed for even posting the idea as up for discussion. But, I read your comment as very illuminating in this context.

More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld’s Resignation

WASHINGTON, April 13 — The widening circle of retired generals who have stepped forward to call for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation is shaping up as an unusual outcry that could pose a significant challenge to Mr. Rumsfeld’s leadership, current and former generals said on Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, on Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call publicly for Mr. Rumsfeld’s ouster. Later in the day, another retired general, Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper, joined in the fray.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04…..r=homepage

timewarp — addy no worky

Immanentize, how bout this for your coup: Cheney out due to health/family/whatever. W nominates Powell for vp, then continues to melt down publically until amendment XXV is invoked. Powell is promoted and then he nominates… whoever, take your pick for new vp. (Condi would be a cute choice.) And then the sane ones in the pentagon and at Carlyle can continue business as usual. And we can all feel good for the Party of Lincoln. And it’s all by the book.

Shoephone 17, the Pols are Enroning us, but we would be less vulnerable if we had not volunteered to be credit serfs.

What actually happened during Gingrich’s tenure at the Pentagon? Considering

(1) his personal history of a big, mean, abusive (?), old stepfather of a Colonel who thought wee Newtie was fat, bookish, useless, and weak, and
(2) his lack of any other military experience,
giving him the whip hand over the Officer corps was an interesting move on the part of the Regimists.

I suggest that there is virtually no chance that the Cheneyites will withdraw a significant number of troops as long as they remain in power.

They’re preparing to sacrifice Rumsfeld and a few lesser others in order to protect their absurd self-delusion that their ideology is still flawless, but on no account do they have any intention of withdrawing the military from Iraq.

I suspect they will attempt to use the appointment of a new Sec. Defense as the pretext for making the argument that “Now we have someone capable to manage things right so of course we shoud stay”.

No wait! It’s Brahms. TRex.???

Pardon me, all, for asking a truly dumb question but all these retired (and potentially other not-yet-retired) generals: if Rummie chooses not to listen to them (which is my guess as to what he’ll do), what, precisely, are their options?

It just seems to me that the younger. not-yet-but-wanna-be-generals, plus a few old whores, will still be happy to go along, and I know the troops from around here, anyway, will still go willingly to their death/mutilation/etc.

So what, exactly, can these Old Brass do, coup-wise?

Oh, and I meant no offense to sex-workers, either.

Valley,

I know it is not a popular opinion, and I myself am of a peculiar age where I was never draft elligible (in between Viet Nam draft and the current required selective service registration regimen) so I am in some senses full of shit.

But, I believe that mandatory service (military or public) has two good effects on the military. First, it increases the understanding that everyone has a stake in military actions. Second, the military itself has to adapt and deal with all types of people who may not necessarily want to be there drilling at 5:00 in the morning. It is the difference between public schools and private. Public schools, for their many flaws, are much more pluralistic and responsive because of their mission. Private schools breed exclusive contempt and a sense of entitled privilege.

dannyboy – should be dot net. How spaced out was that? Thanks!

This Rummy Resign bullshit is such effin bullshit

Like I’m so sure this clown Rummy is the problem.

The permanent air bases we’re building in Iraq is a continuation of the neocon strategy. The thinking is that they will allow a reduction in troop levels and with them a corresponding drop in casualty rates. On this basis, an ongoing US presence in Iraq can be sold to the American people.

As for the Iraqis, the thought is that the reduction in footprint as well as the promised use of these bases in support of the Iraqi government will make them acceptable for the foreseeable future.

In this view, the Iraqis get the security and we get the weapons platforms. The problem is that any side as soon as it establishes a dominant position will order us out yesterday.

What’s on now (10:18)- if this is Debussy ??

Well spotted! Yeppers, it’s the Debussy Trio in G for piano, cello, and violin.

Coming up? Wagner! (Not a nice man, but a hell of a composer.)

Well, I’m late to the party again. I think Billmon’s connected the dots. Newt’s shown no reluctance about military adventures in Iran, as far as I can see. Any military move on Iran is going to put the U.S. forces in Iraq in more danger, and they seem to be stretched pretty thin already. Add in the fact that Iran has a much more difficult terrain for an invasion, and you have a recipe for disaster.

More retired Generals call- hay:
Well that’s the point; they are retired and are now Armchair strategists, Lounge room Commandants; the has been’s and never will bee’s.
Dr Atkinson had several articles some years ago that explained this Ahiatullah Phenomena through out the Officers training within the USA Officer Academies. Not hard work to figure out where it went wrong.
Relevance degradation Syndrome!

Coming up? Wagner! (Not a nice man, but a hell of a composer.)

P.S. Unfortunately for Ghostman, it’s from “Parsifal” and not “Gotterdamerung”.

Like I’m so sure this clown Rummy is the problem.

HA!!

Of course Rummy Clown is A problem. But certainly not THE problem.

immanentize, I wasn’t draft-eligible during Nam because I was the wrong (!) gender. Of course, being female, I never did see it that way but that’s another story…

In any case, I totally agree w/both good public education and a universal couple of years of service of some sort, military or otherwise, post-secondary school and before college.

Sharkbabe – Its an etiquette thing. As it would be unthinkable, according to a military honor codes, to criticize the commander-in-chief. Even though that is what they *really* mean when they rake Rummy over the coals.

Gotterdammerung: The Apocalypse in Viking?

It’s old German not old Norse. The two mythologies are closely related but not the same. The Vikings didn’t give a flying you know what about the Rhine Maidens for example.

Ahiatullah Phenomena?

Dr. Atkinson?

Wasn’t he the overweight diet fellow?

Dana 84:

I have to confess I sometimes have the TV on in the room where my computer is, and it’s not in my direct line of view, I have to turn my head at a 90 degree angle to see the screeen. I do this because what is happening on my computer is usually more interesting than what is on television, but in the case of something like Olbermann, I can swivel my chair and look at the screen. I often forget and leave the TV on after the show I’m watching is over, and thus it is not unusual for me to hear Rita braying in the background and unavoidably hear some of what she is saying. As a result, I believe I can tell you that it has been the same blonde white teenage girl missing in Aruba all these many months; Rita is such a crack reporter that she has gotten an amazing amount of mileage out of the story. I mean no disrespect for the girl’s family, and sympathize with them, both for what probably happened to ther daughter and for the way that Rita has exploited it.

OT TRex- no, wait– Am I listening to the wrong program? Wagner’s on now (nasty man that he was), but I heard the sexy voice, after the end of the first part (Severance Hall sp?) and by golly, what I heard was Brahms- see my #94.

“Newt and other neocons do not intend to back off their broader goals, just change the battlefield — and that battlefield is looking like Iran.”

Exactly!

“The United States, Europe and Israel face massive destruction by a nuclear attack, Gingrich told University of South Dakota students and faculty. “This is one of the great deciding points of history,” Gingrich said, opening a question-and-answer session at Farber Hall. The situation is heightened, Gingrich said, by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s promise to “defeat the Anglo-Saxons and wipe Israel off the face of the earth.”

“How is that deterred, where your religion tells you that dying in Armageddon is cool? Where you have suicide bombers with atomic wea-pons?” Gingrich asked. “You have to take them out. You have to change the regime. Just to take out the (nuclear) facilities is a loser game. When they develop atomic weapons, they will sell them to somebody, and that will be dangerous.”

http://www.plaintalk.net/stori…..3001.shtml

I said this to a dear friend tonite when he said that 5 generals had called for rummmmmy to resign, and said you were right and said you should be proud, angie, bush is going down. I said, rummy is part of the problem, yeah, but they should be screaming with their hearty lungs for the resignation of the commander in chief and the real sec def– cheney. THEY are responsible… he just looked at me and quietly said, you are right, everything is changed now.

Hugh #100: So that is why BushCo wants chronic mild choas in Iraq. If Iraq a chronic problem, then BushCo says he sure would like to leave, as soon a security situation permits, or next president up to take the heat. Batshit crazy, but I have become so cynical that this is my opinion.

Why are there even a dozen people who support them anymore, I do not know.

Valley Girl, immanentize ~
I was listening to AAR this afternoon and Randi Rhodes had clips of various generals as they called for Rummy to step down and/or as they criticized Bush and his Iraq mess. One of the clips was of a general talking to Lou Dobbs and saying that the reason he waited until he retired to speak out, was because a) he would not have been listened to and b)he was what was protecting the troops on the ground from even greater suffering and death. He implied that since others who had made less than favorable comments had been somehow punished, he wanted to be able to stay in Iraq to offer whatever help he could until he retired. (There must be a truckload of generals and other professional military who are retiring just now. ). I wish I had been able to hear who the general was, but I was in and out of the car at that point and didn’t hear. It sounded as if the interview were from yesterday or today.

leslie

p.s. since i, too have put off taxes as long as possible – i’m doing them on Saturday – i have a question about extensions. How do you know how much you have to pay if you haven’t already done the math? And if you’ve already done the work, why bother to file an extension? (no snark please, i’m serious.)
p.p.s does anyone have to first type your comments into a document and then paste the comments into the comment window? When i try using the window alone, it takes forever.

night all, bedtime here

man so much richness here, can’t take it all in

goodnight all you heroes of expression and what America used to be, man do I utterly cling to, love & cherish you

markfromireland 108:

You are correct, I scanned the Wikipedia article too quickly. Here’s part of what it said:

The title is a translation into German of the Old Norse phrase Ragnarok, which in Norse mythology refers to a prophesied war of the Gods which brings about the end of the world in Völuspá. However, as with the rest of the Ring, Wagner’s account of this apocalypse diverges significantly from his Old Norse sources.

We love you, Sharkbabe!

Thanks, neurophius 110. The way Rita “brays” (as you say), you’d think it just happened today. I mean there are other stories out there. Like, didn’t Britney Spears baby just fall on its head and social workers were sent to investigate? That could be a Cosby story. In the meantime, the world is turning upsidedown.

ditto sharkbabe 116,

Including the “goodnight friends,” part.

Love,

immanentize #82

You nailed it pretty good regarding the utter lack of respect that Rumsfeld, Cheney et al have shown the uniformed leadership. Others on this and previous FDL threads have criticized some of the Generals, particularly Newbold, for not speaking out publically when he resigned prior to the invasion of Iraq. However I think one has to take into consideration where they’re coming from. Any officer worth his or her salt is going to be almost as obsesively concerned with the welfare of his underlings as he is with his assigned missions. Newbold, for example, knew that, even though he himself was resigning in protest, his recent subordinates were obligated by oath to carry out the orders they would be receiving, orders he knew would be exposing them to harm. He would have been doing them no favors by giving them reason to doubt the wisdom of those orders, because that would affect their morale, which in turn would negatively affect the likelihood of theier success and healthy survival. Plus, of course, he realized that even though the decision may have been strategically risky and unwise, prediction is an uncertain art when it deals with the future. (Remember, Hitlers generals all thought that invading France in 1940 was lunacy, but it worked spectacularly.)

IIRC Doesn’t something in the Military Code of Conduct prevent the Generals from speaking ill of the President? Wouldn’t they not be court martialed if they did? I believe that might be the reason they haven’t spoken up sooner.

Thanks again Jane and Christy for the time you take in analisying the Libby filings so us common folk can understand it. Great work.

From my comment #90 I meant while on active duty.

PS Leslie, I have that problem on my overloaded computer, but not on my wifi laptop…. It really sucks, no?

By the way, has anyone noticed that I am the only verb around this place?

Sweet dreams!

I have not posted on this subject until now. I doubt I am the first to express my suspicion that the “Iran Problem” helps push the more damaging news of Plame Leaks, Illegal Spying, and the Iraq lies off to the side.

It is certainly a serious matter, however, the attention to it in some way works for the Administration so Americans now get overloaded with news about Bush.

I want investigations, censure, and when politically feasable the impeachment process to move forward.

Oh yeah… and Rumsfeld and Rice have to go.

For all you Hersheyites :-)

The Guardian profile: Seymour Hersh

‘I feel like I did in the Vietnam days – I hate to pay taxes just so they can go and bomb more people’
Reporter whose scoops give the Bush administration sleepless nights

Julian Borger in Washington
Friday April 14, 2006

Bwahhh! Did you guys see Jeralyn’s latest Libby post? Seems ole’ Byron York of the National Review got a copy of Fitz correction letter before anyone else did – before it even showed up on court records! I guess it went right from Libby’s defense team to York at the National Review (who is the world’s biggest Libby apologist). OOPS! This little maneuver has pissed Judge Walton off so bad he is threatening to issue a gag order!

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/014552.html

Thanks National Review!

I think the standard for accepting former war supporters is the same as for truth&reconciliation commissions everywhere — they must express sincere remorse, and they must not have committed serious crimes. Newt fails on both counts.

wesgpc … that’s the reason for the civil war and death squads and all – and it’s been the plan all along. The permanent bases are established and in use now and are strategically located along major oil routes.

tonight would be a good time for folks to visit markfromireland’s Gorilla Guides where he provides updated information on the condition of children in Iraq and provides information on organizations trying to help them.

http://gorillasguides.blogspot.com/

Valley Girl @ 6:39 pm (#39) – Hadn’t made this connection before, but you may be right. The military is in a bad way right now. There’s a shortage of junior officers, and if they have to send the entire army on another rotation, there are likely to be a lot more shortages of critical personnel. Recruiting may be a problem, also, particularly if the job market picks up.

It don’t think Cong. Murtha was exaggerating when he said the Army was in trouble. A quick look down the road is enough to see the trouble ahead.

g’night, all. Am praying.

He might need to go on a diet, but I don’t think it it is the same Dr Atkinson.
It would be this Dr Atkinson: What is the Frankfurt School
by
Dr. Gerald L. Atkinson CDR USN (Ret.)

The Ahiatullah of Rock and roll-a.

Hey, dana 119 is not me. Must be another “dana”?

markfromireland 126:

It is not just us who are paying for the war; with the escalating deficit, it’s our children and grandchildren who will be paying, too.

Speaking of taxes, the IRS return isn’t due til the 17th, but for some crazy reason my state requires us to file by the 15th, and you can’t figure your state taxes until you know how much your federal taxes are. So I’m going to go work on my taxes RIGHT NOW. Talk to you all later.

George A. @ 7:54 pm (#122) – I believe you’re right, but I’ll let the ex-soldiers here answer that one. In practice, I think they’d resign first, then protest if they were going to. It just doesn’t seem to be in the nature of most of them to do otherwise.

*ilson … big storms on the way, time to tie down the garden furniture

Has anyone seen additional coverage of the Intel heads saying Iran will not have a nuke for a decade more or less? this looks like major pushback to W … Bloomberg and NPR ran with it and a San Diego paper but that’s all I’ve seen so far.

weird. #119 now is me, but #125 at first was posted by “dana,” which is not me. But now #125 is Poncho and Lefty. What? Are there pachaderms around here changing handles?

Hi everyone, been reading through and catching up. Interesting Libby filing, what a bunch of whiners, Good for the Judge, I’m glad he’s so sharp.

General Riper was on the radio today saying he doesn’t think any active duty will confront Rummy or the admin, but that one of them, can’t remember his rank or role, has written a paper about the nuke issue (taking it off the table) in Iran and that Rummy “has” to respond to that. I’m interested to know if we will ever see a copy of that.

I think the retired generals are hoping that by speaking out they will influence public opinion, esp in the ultra Repug camp who have respect for the rank and will question the Admin policies a bit more. The 20% so to speak.

Fascintaing discussion today, you guys are great.

And just to weigh in on Jane’s mention of the troll threat, I’ve been a “member” of FDL for many months and have consistently seen excellent moderation by the community when it comes to trolls, with frequent intervention by Jane and Christy in terms of manners and nonsense. The mantra is “Don’t feed the trolls.” And when in doubt, don’t. The community is as responsible as anyone for the quality of the threads and thier ability to be hijacked. It just takes a little self-control and a shout-out for the trexatron to be heated up when appropriate.

Leslie #115- yes, you are right about questioning the point of filing the 1099. Because from prior experience, you do have to figure out how much you owe anyway, and pay to make sure you are not in shortfall. So, if you can figure the taxes correctly… but, when I did previous 1099 filings, I took advantage of the extra time to figure it out more precisely. MY opinion anyway. NOt necessarily to be trusted as I am not good about the tax thing. BUT, I do know that you have to figure out who much you owe and pay that more or less, even with a 1099.

LOL neurophius: For one of my post grad thingies I had to do rather a lot on comparitive eschatology. I’ve also lived in Denmark for rather a while.

siun ~ when Robert Fisk came to Chicago a few months back, he pointed out the pattern of US bases that formed our own home grown version of the iron curtain. Just as you said, it runs from Germany down to the Persian Gulf. And those bases in Iraq were part of the plan to keep the oil and the power. Have I said today that I hate these thugs and I want them impeached and imprisoned – NOW-

Valley Girl #88

I was a draftee in the early 60s. Disliked it at the time but couldn’t complain since I had almost literally countryclub duty. Frankly I support a return of the draft but with two caveats:
1) It should be part of a universal national service program that includes, in addition to military service, options like the Peace Corps, Americorps, Vista, etc as well as some programs like those in the Depression.
2) All descendents of the holders of elected federal office (Prez, Veep, & Congress Critters), as well as Cabinet officers and sub-officers down 2-3 levels, would have to perform their national service in the military. Furthermore, they would have to do so in a combat arm (infantry,artillery, etc. in the Army or Marines, ship-of-the-line in the Navy, etc.). And unless they were on an officer tract at the time their parent assumed office, they would have to serve in the enlisted ranks.

This country needs some such mechanism to assure that morally bankrupt assholes like the Bush-Cheney scumbags put some of their own precious flesh and blood on the line. If Barb and Jenna and Liz Cheney were humping packs and weapons in Iraq instead of staggering from one bar to the next in Georgetown or in some cushy Pentagon job maybe their old man would be a bit less cavalier with young lives.

I am thinking Rumsfeld’s departure would make it quite difficult to start a third war over there in Persia. After all, shouldn’t we have a Secretary of Defense in place when we start WWIII? Even after the new guy is in there, it would take some time for him to get acclimated, and who knows if he’ll be as much of a team player as Rummy? I think the confirmation hearings would be a wonderful time to address why we would possibly want to attack Iran and, by the way, how are you–Mr. Lieberman–going to fix the mess in Iraq.

(It don’t really think Lieberman would be the guy since he’s too valuable to Bush in the Senate and that godawful whiney voice just isn’t the thing to inspire confidence.)

While I think the generals primary motivation is to protect the institution of the Army and the Marine Corps from being destroyed by the Iraq meat-grinder, I wonder if they subscribe to the above logic that getting Rumsfeld out of there would put the brakes on the unfolding disaster that the Persian Expedition would be.

Thanks Cujo359 thats what I thought. It’s another reason why bush always has prep talks in front on the military. Its what one would call a captive audience. They are not allowed to show disrepect to the President.

I don’t post much as I’m 3 hours later than the posts show. Its about time to hit the sack as I get up at 4 to get ready for work. By the time I catch up on some other blogs and than my favorite here at FDL its pretty late. I try to read a little at work, but have to watch my surfing time so as not to get in trouble.

Catch everyone tomorrow. Hope for some more updates on Plame. As far as I’m concerned there all traitors and should be tried for Treason. IMHO

I am still jealous of your Fisk experience Leslie …

I am impressed by the statements of the retired generals – it is such a major step within military culture. Imagine how much they must hate these thugs?

new thread

George A – welcome aboard! isn’t it frustrating how work gets in the way of FDL!

Siun – thanks for the plug :-) Of all the links I list I do emphasise that at present the Quakers are the best bet for any donation doing really good work in Iraq.

Neurophiius I hope you’ll pardon me if I’m considerably less than sympathetic to:

“It is not just us who are paying for the war; with the escalating deficit, it’s our children and grandchildren who will be paying, too. “

I’ve spent my entire military career in the Middle East trying to undo some of the savagery caused by first civil war and the war between neighbouring nations. Both the Lebanese civil war and the Iran/Iraq war were actively fomented by American policy. I’ve lost many much loved friends in Iraq Muslim and Christian alike. My son is risking his life in Afghanistan as a Felix so if your children and grandchildren can’t afford to start any more wars against Muslims from my point of view there’s only civilised reaction possible. It’s a four letter word:

GOOD!

Gotterdammerung is Germanic; Ragnarök is Nordic. Both are Northern European versions of the Apocalypse. The Biblical Armageddon predates these legends by many centuries, and influenced there development.

Billmon is one of the demi-gods of blogging, famous for his clever writing.

Thanks siun…. FDl is like a drug, very addictive. See everyone tomorrow.

mfi– are the tax days in DK still the 11th of June and December– aka the Devil’s Birthday?

Minnesotachuck #142- The caveats that you present are so important. I agree. And, the idea that the sons and daughters of Bushco don’t serve is ignomy. One of my best friends was drafted to Vietnam. Son of a prominent local DA, who could have pulled strings, but didn’t. Father wouldn’t even let him be in the boy scouts earlier bec. it was a pseudo military organization, in his opinion. When the time came, it was clear that Father felt that it was not ethical to step in to prevent son from being drafted, in light of all others serving. Son felt same, and served. Oh, yeah, they’re all Democrats.

Did you have to remind me of that angie?

[And isn’t it interesting he said, going into Irish republican mode, that monarchs and the Devil are the only two classes of creature that have two birthdays :-) ]

Thank you Jane for exposing that hypocritical NeoCon whore. Ginrich has to be the most repulsive person in American politics.

Re #115. The NYT had a story last week on young officers resigning their commissions at unprecedented rates. That speaks to the quality of the Rumsefeld leadership more loudly than anything else.

You are such a dear man, markfromireland! sorry. my birthday is December 11th and one of my sister’s is June 11th, so in my family– it was a thing of fascination and hilarity.

Monarchs and the Devil, yeah. A long time ago, there must have been some good Monarch(s) who cared about his/her subjects; our delightful democratic superpower leaders are more like the Devil incarnate.
Sorry for the awful reminder of the fodseldag (sorry no proper keyboard here), but you in DK and Europe have a better chance to do good for others and your own with your tax dollars than I do. ;( still working, though!

NEWT GINGRICH QUOTES-(and 1 Pat Robinson)

OLDIES BUT GOLDIES!!

“The only exit strategy is victory,†Gingrich says. But not by brute American force. “We are not the enforcers. We are the reinforcers,†says Gingrich. 12-15-2003
—
“Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up like Newt Gingrich wants to do.” –Television evangelist and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson, on wiping out the State Department
—-
I’m not a natural leader. I’m too intellectual; I’m too abstract; I think too much.
—-
“How this president handles the Middle East in general and wins in Iraq in particular will be probably the most important definition of his presidency.â€
—-
Any effort to explain Iraq as ‘We are on track and making progress’ is nonsense, … The left has a constant drumbeat that this is Vietnam and a bottomless pit. The daily and weekly casualties leave people feeling that things aren’t going well.â€
—-
“I don’t think the Congress could move forward only on Lewinsky, unless he had such a clear case, such an overpowering case, … But I think we would be better served to know the whole story.â€
—-
http://en.thinkexist.com/quote…..ich/3.html

So your lucky parents got to claim a full years expenses on you and 6 months on her? Wow – that’s incredibly good timing! :-)))))))))))))

Well let’s hope we can all make a difference angie.

correction, so embarassed, mfi: fodselsdag. sheesh–

yes, could have been spectacular if we were living there instead of elsewhere, but it still makes everyone laugh– hard! To this day! But then again, my parents have so much love and incredible timing…

mfi– you and your family make a difference every day and you and your son are in my thoughts always. I try… I need to do more, lots more. good night.

Go’ Nat kære Angie mÃ¥ du godt gerne fald i sød søvn

Gud velsigne dig, kaere Mark! Mange tak.

“Won’t Get Fooled Again”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The same ones that got fooled last time will get fooled again. willful idiots everyone.

little-dick, bedwetter republicans are overdo for a little more shock and awe.
.

Leslie:

File for the extension and pay the tax in August. IRS will assess an interest payment (very small) sometime in September/October. Last year I filed December 31 because hurricane counties were “exempted” from the other deadlines. But then got hit with late-filing penalties on top of the interest. Exchanged a bit of hate mail with them and got the penalties lifted. Interest OTOH is always due.

edward (#154):

gingrich has a lot of competition to be named “the most repulsive person in American politics.” delay comes to mind first. cheney and bush, etc. are part of the pantheon. jean schmidt! now there’s a piece of work if there ever was one. and she’s been around only a couple of years! finally, sleazy jomentum shouldn’t go unmentioned.
if newt actually became president maybe he would do enough stuff to cinch the title, but for now i’m just not convinced. no doubt he’s one of the most blatantly mean-spirited though………

I think we should face the awful truth: nothing short of massive defeat will stop the American Empire. Seriously: have you ever seen an Empire stop by itself before collapse?

Figuratively, we, on the blogs, are discussing the possible rearranging of chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

Sometimes I fantasize that we can convince the Pat Robertsons, the Falwels, the Cheneys, the Gingrichs, that *The Rapture* has already happened—if that’s what they believe in their “heart†of ice-cold “hearts.†The nutwingers will hang out in their nuclear bunkers with their crackers, their water, their haircuts etc. That way they can leave the sane people of the Republic alone. ‘Tis a dream I have.

Newt seems to be trying for that “second act” that are so rare in American life. I wish every one would read or re-read Joan Didion’s great essay “Newt Gingrich, Superstar” (collected in POLITICAL FICTIONS). It’s one of the most insicive dissections of this inherent loser that I’ve ever read. And while you’re there, read her equally insightful take on Bob Woodward; it’s called “Political Pornography” and it’s in the same collection.

Billmon nails it. Gingrich et al. are advance troops in changing the subject from Iraq mess to Iran threat. Troop drawdown starts late summer coordinated with message campaign for the election. Dumber members of the base are sold ‘give peace a chance/we have democracy in Iraq/let the Iraqi people now run their own country’. Punditrocracy is given to understand this frees us up to pursue true strategic interests in the region, plus (wink,wink,nudge,nudge) we now have permanent bases in Iraq.

With all due respect, I think many of the comments I’ve just read are written by children. From the Götterdämmerung remarks through the Gingrich (sick) ones. The former lives in the human psyche; the latter languishes in well-deserved anonymity. With all of the present devils better to concentrate on the castrated one, the Newt. Not that the neutered one doesn’t harbor dreams of future greatness (though still mourning the wife he divorced on her cancerous deathbed, no doubt.)

That the greater number of you think Iran is not on the table is especially disconcerting — if that word is not too troubling — for no doubt you thought much the same pre-Iraq II. (Will never happen.) It also shows that you have not looked at the maps of the US Empire. FDL had one earlier today: Iran is ringed by US bases. It is not the complete map.

The British Empire required their every servant to know multiple languages and dialects, even to be a postman. Alexander the Great commanded his officer elite to participate in a mass wedding with the conquered Persian royalty, and, to wear native costume. They were by far the most imposing of empires, ones in which respect for the vanquished was prominent.

We have nonesuch regard. The reason is the same one I find the comments here so naieve: we are living in a dictatorship, and a dull/clever one, one so sure of public apathy that election-rigging would not be noticed; that they could be sure that a bogus war would not be either nor the plundering of Halliburton and dozens of other scandals; any one of which might have brought down any other government in the civilized world now or in the past.

If a majority is dominated by an extreme minority of rabid anti-constitutional religious fanatics such as we have, favoring ramming their own agenda down the majority’s throat, then this constitues a dictatorship. Simple. Yet you all miss it.

Instead, you pretend to discuss politics and wind up worrying about paying your taxes on time.

(If you were a billionaire it would be beneath comment.)

The fact is when you have no voice in government, no chance at protestation, nor representation and your biggest concern is paying your taxes to an illegimate regime bent on apocalypse, you are sheep. . . whose herd instincts have created this monstrosity. These discussions once took place in ink on paper and were read by the literate. Here, they are confined to a sad-bovine minority of dilettantes assuming themselves to be politically “involved” while unaware they are living under a clever dictatorship, well, perhaps not so clever but one controling the propaganda machine.

At least the French have the courage to routinely ruin the ambitions of excessively ambitious government, whether you appreciate their historical readiness to take to the barricades or not, or accept the US State media dismissal of all civilized societies not qualifying as our tame corporate carnivores.

But you too have a route to protest, to the barricades, if you don’t worry about your cashmere, merino, or other sheep’s clothing.

If you think the CIA and other intelligence agencies are not quite on board with the dictatorship, or were not in the lead-up to the bogus war, beware. I have lived under a CIA-designer coup. Greece. 1967. There and then, as here and now, the leader seemed a total idiot, mouthing repetitive slogans embecilically. Fortunately a handful of students (and writers and musicians and scientist and exiles) brought them down in seven years. Greece, like Chile, and Honduras, and Guatemala, and dozens of other nations we have engineered regime changes in, have yet to recover from the scars we helped inflict through our big business design.

After you log off to watch “American Idol” ask yourselves who is, from your own neighborhood, facing extreme rendition? You don’t have a clue. Nor will you, unless it be a child of yours. Or a parent. Should that be the case just book a flight to Gitmo, or Syria and get back to me. Just go “baaaa — ” and I’ll know it’s you.