Woot, Fitz, Merry Christmas

Aren’t these the same simple questions Cindy Sheehan has been asking?

He has a secret plan to end the war.

NYMary at 2 — You mean, the ones that Bush never gets to hear because he won’t get close enough to people who will actually ask them?

Why yes, Christy @ 4. Those are exactly the ones I mean.

Where are they going to get the troops…. cynical caller into our local Air America show said… well it might explain the Bankruptcy bill, if a person is found to be in debtor’s hell, offers of enlistment time to pay off the debt.

It has warmed up to a toasty 34 degrees by 9 am!

Unfit for office. Reckless, shallow-minded, arrogant, delusional.

Clearly someone needs to restock the White House magnetic speechwriting kit…

Just finished reading about the safety hazard of kids who swallow magnets including from word kits. Maybe he’s been eating his words, and that’s why so much is missing in his speech.

NYMary - That’s a great lead in to an Atrios Theme: Simple Answers to Simple Questions, “Yes they are!” (Not that I would presume to have any of the skills the master of Eschaton possesses.)

Alcoholocaust @ 7

Unfit for office. Reckless, shallow-minded, arrogant, delusional.

Outstanding name. Is it your first time, or perhaps I missed you earlier.

I heard a presentation the other day saying that the lowering of recruitment standards is directly responsible for the surge in soldiers’ families receiving public assistance. Not sure if I buy that completely, but there has to be some fallout fom the debacle.

Recruiting: there are other sentient mammals besides humans. Problem solved.

Where to begin?

He never disappoints, in terms of incoherent idiocy. I feel like I’m stuck in a PCP-driven bad dream watching and listening to this asshole. Our enemies must be rolling around in delight that we are stuck with this fool for two more years.
_

Emty. Fucking. Slogans.

Desperate. Empty. Fucking. Slogans.

And I’m sure the troops, both those stuck there and those returned to the States, will be quite surprised to hear that they have just been marking time, and not on “a path to victory.”

Amen, Bustednuckles. Been that way goin’ on six years now. Molly Ivans warned us in 1999, “Shrub, he’s a piece of work.”

BobbyG @ 13

Where to begin?

He never disappoints, in terms of incoherent idiocy. I feel like I’m stuck in a PCP-driven bad dream watching and listening to this asshole. OUr enemies must be rolling around in delight that we are stuck with this fool for two more years.
_

Since so many governments use the Parliamentary system, what they cannot understand is why Bush is still in office. It is hard for them to understand why there has not been a vote of no confidence to oust him.

The whole “winning” crap annoys me when nobody has defined what “winning” is. I was so hoping Jon Stewart would ask Bill Kristol that on last night’s The Daily Show after Kristol kept talking about “winning in Iraq,” but he didn’t.

nice, sustinct post

no follow up quetion;

“what does success look like”…he will say a stable democracy, but we know a stable democracy is not on the horizon

not only do they need to ask him what success looks like, they need to hold his feet to the fire;

“I thought success was overthrowing saddam”

“I thought success was finding out if there were weapons of mass destruction”

“I thought succes was an elected government”

“those criteria are already met…does “success” mean a permanent base?”

“does success mean ethnic cleansing of either the sunii or the shiia”

“does success mean every single american troop is in Iraq?”

man, I wish I had some press credentials

Can we hold a “no competence” vote?

-GSD

“Winning” is defined as providing income for their benefactors, Halliburton, pharma and banks.

Not winning is to lose those opportunities.

Simple, really.

Christy, Christy, Christy. *sigh*

Shrub is the Decider Commander in Chief and isn’t required to answer your questions or anybody else’s, for that matter.

This is the man who rode into town saying that he would love to be dictator, and with the help of the Republican Congress, has managed to turn that into a reality (signing statements, wiretaps and eavesdropping, treating the Armed Services like his personal GI Joes).

And you expect him to answer questions?

NYMary @ 15

And I’m sure the troops, both those stuck there and those returned to the States, will be quite surprised to hear that they have just been marking time, and not on “a path to victory.”

Wait til they find out Iraq is not connected to 9/11. Even the President says so now, but a lot of troops still believe.

“Our enemy is innovative and resourceful and so are we. Our enemy never stops thinking of new ways to harm us and our country, and neither do we.”
-George.W. Bush

Alcoholocaust @ 7

Unfit for office. Reckless, shallow-minded, arrogant, delusional.

Hypocrite, liar, cheat, dishonest, stubborn, messianic, daft, and a dunce.

What the hell does “peeance freeance” mean?

Great Photo. There is something different here. Bush’s photo usually include his hands which have been carefully choreographed by Karen Hughes to show he is open and inclusive. The hands are missing in theis photo which forces the viewer to concentrate on his face. Bush’s eyes and eyebrows have his typical bewildered look - the look of someone who is more comfortable in the dunce’s chair in the back of the class than in the oval office. What’s new in this picture is Bush’s mouth. His mouth usually has irritating smirk- that “I am gonna do whatever I want and I don’t have to listen to anyone- so fuck you and everyone who looks like you” look. There is only a hint of a smirk in this photo.

I have no doubt Bush intends to press on with his imperial powers. I expect there will be some showdown after the new Congress is seated. And I’m still worried that Bush/Cheney don’t intend to leave office in 2008. But look at that mouth- is the great destroyer of democracy not up to the fight?

Jay Rosen’s article on the Bush Empire Retreat from Empiricism is a fantastic explanation of the behavior of the White House. The framing and the complete lack of any strategy all make sense with a leader and followers who are radicals who believe only in action and hate the bureaucracy.

Against all empirical evidence, with the Sunnis undefeated, the USA is about to attack the Iraqi Shiites and Iran too.

What is the military code for countermanding a direct order?

Can the Joint Chiefs just tell him, “No.”

Is there a procedure for this is? If the generals refuse to follow his obviously misguided directives, does this constitute a coup/junta?

Does the nit carry a sidearm and have to be disarmed with a shiny object first?

Beuller, anybody?

Phoenix Air America radio has a Sunday show called About Face which is hosted by the local Veterans for Peace. A caller stated his son was just sent on his 5th deployment. He has been bouncing between Afghanistan and Iraq.

Many of the most vocal Anti-war people here are Iraq Vets.

“I’m willing to follow a path that will lead to victory…”

“…put a path in place that will lead to success.”

“We’ll accomplish our objectives.”

And what would that path be, exactly?

There is no path to success or victory because there will not be a success or victory. And there are no objectives.

Again: Who wants to be the last (wo)man to die for a mistake?

Bush is looking as broken as the US military.

-GSD

expanding the military - president bush can’t do this without congress. congress better not go along with this dangerous and stupid idea.

according to chalmers johnson, we already have well over 700 foreign military bases. we don’t need more bases, and we don’t need to divert more of our budget to the military. i posted this link yesterday, and i hope you will forgive me for posting this again… but the military budget is out of control. and now is the time for nice shiny new D congress to get it under control.

Col. Dan Smith (ret.) of the Friends Committee on National Legislation cautions that military spending is rising so fast that it threatens to overwhelm every other aspect of American government.

In addition to the Pentagon’s $436 billion regular budget and the $140 billion spent on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Smith writes on his blog, “The Quakers’ Colonel,” taxpayers will be coughing up $11 billion authorized in prior years to cover the costs of retiree health costs. Military construction and “quality of life” issues for the current forces have grown to $59.8 billion, he says. Military nuclear weapons programs that are funded in the Department of Energy budget add $17 billion more.

In addition, Smith says, “the nation is still paying for past wars. The Veterans Administration is slated to receive $76 billion. The interest on the money borrowed to finance past wars is conservatively estimated at $169.4 billion.”

None of that even counts money spent on the Department of Homeland Security.

Putting it all together, according to Smith, the 2007 costs for past, current, and future wars comes to more than $900 billion–”within hailing distance of the $1 trillion mark.”

From one who should know:

“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.”

~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I am torn on how to read Chimpy’s speeches. On one hand they seem like great abstractions chock full of of stock phrases and BS, on the other hand the speeches are like a pile of worms that need to be analyzed for the administrations true intentions. He *really* thinks bipartisanship will include renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act, as is, reducing the deficit by keeping taxes low, and upholding that “great” Medicare reform. He must have forgot that Nancy Johnson is no longer in office. Chris Murphy has taken her place and HoJoe has been properly chastised.

I found it somewhat interesting that GWB once again pulled out the “hey speak up, I’m Old! card.

Is he maybe clearing a little brush out of the way of an early exit?

egregious @ 23

NYMary @ 15

And I’m sure the troops, both those stuck there and those returned to the States, will be quite surprised to hear that they have just been marking time, and not on “a path to victory.”

Wait til they find out Iraq is not connected to 9/11. Even the President says so now, but a lot of troops still believe.

I have a student, a Marine returned from over there, who insists on that very thing.

Kind of sad, really. But maybe he needs it to go on, you know?

we’re on strike!

[Mod Note; refresh your screen. It should be gone now.]

jayt @ 36

I found it somewhat interesting that GWB once again pulled out the “hey speak up, I’m Old! card.

Is he maybe clearing a little brush out of the way of an early exit?

I thought that’s what the announcement of Laura’s melanoma was for.

Follow up question to Cheney’s appearance:

Mr. President: Is Dick in his “last throes”?

Jack

all the folks on the teevee are ooh-ing and ahh-ing over boosh “admitting” we are not winning.

Why can’t anyone just say that we lost???

Not one more thin dime for this horror should be appropriated by the Congress. NOT ONE.

It’s the only thing we, the people, can do. He’s given us no other choice. And all the parents that have asked boosh to make sure that their child did not die in vain can just heap their blame on this man, his team, the rubberstamp Congress and the snookered and trusting Americans who voted for them— where it belongs.

Gore Vidal in 2000 predicted Bush2 would go down as “The Worst President in History”.

I am agreeing with Harry Reid that essentially Bush is not worth impeaching, But Congressional investigations of Cheney ARE worth pursuing.

jayt @ 36

I found it somewhat interesting that GWB once again pulled out the “hey speak up, I’m Old! card.

Is he maybe clearing a little brush out of the way of an early exit?

Yeah, but he only pulled that old-card out when Scooter Libby was brought up. On other matters, he *considers* himself competent. I’m sure.

Bil @ 42

Gore Vidal in 2000 predicted Bush2 would go down as “The Worst President in History”.

I am agreeing with Harry Reid that essentially Bush is not worth impeaching, But Congressional investigations of Cheney ARE worth pursuing.

I think we need to punish all of them. To show the world that we’re not all assholes… which is what they currently think.

angie @
41

all the folks on the teevee are ooh-ing and ahh-ing over boosh “admitting” we are not winning.

Why can’t anyone just say that we lost???

Not one more thin dime for this horror should be appropriated by the Congress. NOT ONE.

It’s the only thing we, the people, can do. He’s given us no other choice. And all the parents that have asked boosh to make sure that their child did not die in vain can just heap their blame on this man, his team, the rubberstamp Congress and the snookered and trusting Americans who voted for them— where it belongs.

The soft bigotry of low expectations. For Bush to admit any flaws is seen as a great accomplishment for him because he never admits to flaws.

After listening to Mike Allen’s reach around on Bush I am going to go purge and beat my head on the concrete.

-GSD

Biodun @
25

Alcoholocaust @ 7

Unfit for office. Reckless, shallow-minded, arrogant, delusional.

Hypocrite, liar, cheat, dishonest, stubborn, messianic, daft, and a dunce.

The list of derogatory adjetives could fill a large journal and each be appropriately applied. It’s not just the breadth of his unfitness, it’s the depth of his unfitness.

I can’t even muster a chuckle about this situation anymore. Being incompetent or stupid wouldn’t even explain what he and his administration are doing. Through sheer chance, he’d make a good decision once and a while if they didn’t know what they were doing. But it seems as though they are trying to effect disaster, because every single action is reprehensively harmful.

…and yes, egregious, after lurking forever (afraid that the NSA will identify me as a domestic terrorist because of what I think and type) I finally said “fork it” and posted. I borrowed this name from the “list of greatest band names ever.”

i never get tired of this: George W Bush and Andy Dick

angie @ 41

all the folks on the teevee are ooh-ing and ahh-ing over boosh “admitting” we are not winning.

Why can’t anyone just say that we lost???

Not one more thin dime for this horror should be appropriated by the Congress. NOT ONE.

It’s the only thing we, the people, can do. He’s given us no other choice. And all the parents that have asked boosh to make sure that their child did not die in vain can just heap their blame on this man, his team, the rubberstamp Congress and the snookered and trusting Americans who voted for them— where it belongs.

Well it works to Reptilican advantage if they are allowed to frame the Iraq war in terms of Success and Failure. It makes the head reel to think of what kinds of Orwellian meanings quantify success and “freedom” etc. We Dems need to discard this language all together and just try and describe the situation realistically.

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

after lurking forever (afraid that the NSA will identify me as a domestic terrorist because of what I think and type) I finally said “fork it” and posted.

Oh hell. Can’t speak for others, but I just assumed that one some time ago..

Waves to NSA!!

(still - a great handle - I agree w/egregious)

Bush: Stop telling the Iranian people what is
good for them. Are you a grown man?

Jack

“Oil men who own war companies making war in oil countries”

Any questions?

Biodun @
31

“I’m willing to follow a path that will lead to victory…”

“…put a path in place that will lead to success.”

“We’ll accomplish our objectives.”

And what would that path be, exactly?

There is no path to success or victory because there will not be a success or victory. And there are no objectives.

Again: Who wants to be the last (wo)man to die for a mistake?

Hey, hey, hey…. we’re going down that path already….. er…. we know…. er don’t know , er surely know, how long that path is …. er… we can’t be sure where that path is headed to… see?

Ho! Ho! Ho!! Merry Xmas!

GSD at 45 — Mike Allen is so not worth that…

Christy Hardin Smith @ 49

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

Impotent circle-jerk?

twolf1 @ 44

Bil @ 42

Gore Vidal in 2000 predicted Bush2 would go down as “The Worst President in History”.

I am agreeing with Harry Reid that essentially Bush is not worth impeaching, But Congressional investigations of Cheney ARE worth pursuing.

I think we need to punish all of them. To show the world that we’re not all assholes… which is what they currently think.

it’s no longer a question of punsihment

we need to show win back the integrity this administration has lost.

we must hold those to account for what they themselves have done and begin the mending process from the gapping wound, we must hold those to account for what they’ve done to America, to the world, to out children and our grandchildren in order to bridge the great divide created by criminals

Murtha’s come out and said that we’ve lost militarily.
I wonder what it will take for the rest of the more intelligent Congresscritters to admit it.

The GOoPers are pretty much a lost cause.

Declare victory, since all the goals have been met that Bush went into Iraq with, bring the troops home, and impeach everyone who proclaimed (repeatedly) that the war was a good idea!

I think it’s painfully obvious that the Bush white house will never stop, never retreat, never cry uncle, never, never, never. Like the terminator. My nightmare question is, how do the Democrats save the country without Cheney doing something even worse? Even the Repubs can’t make him back down.

An Infinite Number of Monkeys Strategizing

Christy Hardin Smith @ 49

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

You echo my thoughts as the presser finished: I’m generally considered an articulate person, but this man just makes me speechless with, with…, uh — listening to him just makes me speechless. Only conscious thought: Aaaaagh! (credit to Charles Schulz)

Patrick 4/4 (54) — AAaagghhhh!!!!

That mental image needs immediate brain bleach…flabby Republican white men sitting around…aaaagghhh!!!!

Orwellian clusterfuck?

-GSD

Christy Hardin Smith @ 49

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

I think craptastic mess works for me. But we have so many wordsmiths in this group I am 100% certain we can come up with a lot of goodly descriptiveness that characterizes the mess in Iraq.

Kipling said it first:

At the end of the fight stands a tombstone white
With the name of the late deceased
And an epitaph drear,
” A fool lies here who tried
To hustle the East.

Oh mui, you must not have gotten the memo from Pony Blow.

The situation in Iraq is complex.

That’s “Hard Work ver. 2.0″, you know.

Rayne @ 60

Patrick 4/4 (54) — AAaagghhhh!!!!

That mental image needs immediate brain bleach…flabby Republican white men sitting around…aaaagghhh!!!!

It’s just like Bohemian Grove.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 49

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

Neoconic wet dream.

Rayne @ 61

Patrick 4/4 (54) — AAaagghhhh!!!!>

Rayne (see my 61) - I see we are on the same page this morning!

I’m with Murtha, we need to get the fuck out, now…
Six months from now, Bush will change the
strategy again when the next fiasco hits…
Bush: “We are not winning. We are not losing”

Call it a tie, and come on HOME…
If he thinks it will get better, he has his head up his arse…

Jack

Rayne @ 65

Oh mui, you must not have gotten the memo from Pony Blow.

The situation in Iraq is complex.

That’s “Hard Work ver. 2.0″, you know.

Rayne, I always like to forget about Pony Blow.

Bushian shitpile?

-GSD

Katrina on the Euphrates

tejanarusa (67) - I think there are quite a number of us who suffer from the same symptoms anytime Bush has a presser.

I can’t bear to watch them, have to rely on the goodness of folks like twolf1 who’ll live blog the presser and dilute the content with snarkery so that I can choke my way through it.

Otherwise I would quite literally be screaming, AAAaaaggghhhh!!! as I have so often during the last 6 years, frightening my elderly neighbors.

At least when the kids are home after school they know to change the channel as soon as they see Bush; saves their hearing.

BobbyG @
13

Where to begin?

He never disappoints, in terms of incoherent idiocy. I feel like I’m stuck in a PCP-driven bad dream watching and listening to this asshole. Our enemies must be rolling around in delight that we are stuck with this fool for two more years.
_

There is a new Arab TV channel being carried out of Eygpt I believe, that is causing fits to the GreenZone denizens because it shows the insurgents PR take on what’s going on in Iraq. It is full of graphic video of US soldiers being attacked, often to prayers and music.

In one particularly grimsome clip, it shows a wounded US soldier who has just lost his arm, the voice over is mocking the soldier and the US because the soldier appears to be in his late thirties.

The Iraqi commentator is almost laughing that the US has to send “old men” against the Resistance in Iraq, he then says, “What’s the U.S. next move, to send cripples against us?”

This new TV station is Wildly popular with a rapidly growing audience.

The Iraq “government’ and US authorities are desparate to shut this channel down but have been unsucessful so far.

Take about losing control of the message. DVD’s of the videos showing US soldiers being attacked and killed are extremely popular items in Iraq now, many are given as Gifts.

This is the depravity Bushit has lead us into.

Just for fun, drop by and slam this poll over at The Daily Kos.It’s already getting slammed. So what if only progressives see it? Maybe word will get out that we don’t especially think this is a good idea, hmm?

Do you think adding more U.S. troops for One Last Shot in Iraq will give Bush his elusive victory?
Definitely
2% 115 votes
Probably
0% 32 votes
I’m neutral/Not sure
1% 82 votes
Probably not
9% 677 votes
Um…no
88% 6347 votes

| 7253 votes

http://www.dailykos.com/

Bay State Librul @ 51

Bush: Stop telling the Iranian people what is
good for them. Are you a grown man?

Jack

What’s funny about that and I am trying not to swear, but Chimpy talked of alternative energy and how important nukular energy would be for India, China, & er uh . . . I guess he forgot the reasons why the Iranians are working with nuke power in the first place. The neighbors can do it, but Iran can’t. And all those countries are extremely competetive too, tradwise &etc. I am listening to an India economic thing on CSPAN . . .

A tangled weave-a-thon?

Jack

See here’s the thing… Even if follow-up questions were asked, they’d sing and dance around the answer, sticking only to their talking points.
It’s only in leaked memos and the like that we get actual answers.
Sort of.

sorry, a slight epu from last thread;

Rayne @ 192

perris 188 — and here’s Henry Waxman on Dubya’s failure to back up DeadEye on the declassification thing.

I wonder if Henry ever got a reply to his letter?

I never knew about that letter

now that we have the majority, I do believe it’s time we started pressing for the answers he’s asking for

perris @ 79

sorry, a slight epu from last thread;

Rayne @ 192

perris 188 — and here’s Henry Waxman on Dubya’s failure to back up DeadEye on the declassification thing.

I wonder if Henry ever got a reply to his letter?

I never knew about that letter

now that we have the majority, I do believe it’s time we started pressing for the answers he’s asking for

by the way rayne, that’s a great letter and I can’t beleive I didn’t know about it.

I’m gonna do my best to make sure it gets a little more marketing then it’s gotten to date

From previous thread…

mui @ 176

Anyone listening to the caller about more troops like throwing gasoline on a fire, because Bush’s policy is complete failure? Hehhe

1. Bush’s policy is not Bush’s, it is a neocon plan, and Bush is merely the cheerleader.

2. The ‘plan’ is not failing, its doing EXACTLY what it was intended to do, namely create chaos and factions in the Middle East that enable the US and Israel to manipulate the region. There are ‘parts’ of the plan that have failed, but overall the PNAC scheme, of balkanizing the Middle Eastern states surrounding Israel, continues.

3. Think back to that story about the British breaking SAS soldiers out of the Bagdad jail. Those ‘coalition’ soldiers were apprehended with car-bomb making gear. The ‘bombings’ and sectarian violence is not merely being ‘fueled’ by coalition forces, but actively caused by ‘coalition terrorism’.

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/co.....leid=10189

The reason is that a chaotic and feuding Middle East, although it would be a disaster in the view of most informed observers, appears to be greatly desired by Israel and its neocon allies. They believe that the whole Middle East can be run successfully the way Israel has run its Palestinian populations inside the occupied territories, where religious and secular divisions have been accentuated, and inside Israel itself, where for many decades Arab citizens were “de-Palestinianized” and turned into identity-starved and quiescent Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bedouin.

Gormless of Arabia

Sophist (80) — not to mention the bombing of the al-Askari shrine. I don’t believe for a moment that any Muslim of any sect would do this to a mosque and shrine.

{sigh}

I used to have great sympathy for the men who aged well beyond their physical years while occupying the Oval Office.

W? Not so much.

Sophist @ 81

From previous thread…

mui @ 176

Anyone listening to the caller about more troops like throwing gasoline on a fire, because Bush’s policy is complete failure? Hehhe

1. Bush’s policy is not Bush’s, it is a neocon plan, and Bush is merely the cheerleader.

2. The ‘plan’ is not failing, its doing EXACTLY what it was intended to do, namely create chaos and factions in the Middle East that enable the US and Israel to manipulate the region. There are ‘parts’ of the plan that have failed, but overall the PNAC scheme, of balkanizing the Middle Eastern states surrounding Israel, continues.

3. Think back to that story about the British breaking SAS soldiers out of the Bagdad jail. Those ‘coalition’ soldiers were apprehended with car-bomb making gear. The ‘bombings’ and sectarian violence is not merely being ‘fueled’ by coalition forces, but actively caused by ‘coalition terrorism’.

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/co.....leid=10189

The reason is that a chaotic and feuding Middle East, although it would be a disaster in the view of most informed observers, appears to be greatly desired by Israel and its neocon allies. They believe that the whole Middle East can be run successfully the way Israel has run its Palestinian populations inside the occupied territories, where religious and secular divisions have been accentuated, and inside Israel itself, where for many decades Arab citizens were “de-Palestinianized” and turned into identity-starved and quiescent Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bedouin.

yes, yes and yes.

Thanks for that article by Jonathan Cook– it’s a keeper and I will pass it on.

The follow up I long to hear: will anyone from the Bush family be part of the expanded military?

Mr President: Can you please honor all peoples,
and end this senseless war. It is not all about
us…

Honor the sacred.Honor the Earth, our Mother.Honor the Elders.Honor all with whom we share the Earth:-Four-leggeds, two-leggeds, winged ones,Swimmers, crawlers, plant and rock people.Walk in balance and beauty.”Native American Elder

perris (80) — yeah, that letter should become the frontispiece on an investigation within mere days, I would hope.

Having a behind-the-scenes exchange with Stephen Parrish, told him that I thought page 4 is most interesting to me:

“…The articles further report that the White House improperly concealed this President’s Summary as part of a concerted effort to avoid damaging publicity prior to the 2004 election. According to the National Journal, “Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political advisor, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush’s 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged if it was publicly disclosed that he had been personally warned that a key rationale for going to war had been challenged within the administration.”

Mr. Rove’s concern reportedly arose after a review of classified documents by Stephen Hadley, who was then Deputy National Security Advisor and has since been promoted to the National Security Advisor. According to the articles, “Hadley was particularly concerned that the public might learn of a classified one-page summary of a National Intelligence Estimate, specifically written for Bush in October 2002.” His review concluded that President Bush “had been directly and repeatedly apprised of the deep rift within the intelligence community over whether Iraq wanted the high-strength aluminum tubes for a nuclear weapons program or for conventional weapons.”

The articles make clear that national security concerns had little to do with the decision not to declassify the President’s Summary.”…

Waxman labels the White House/OVP efforts at declassification for political purposes as “systemic”; I think this could be interpreted as multiple counts. Wonder if this means RICO could finally apply?

Would that not be the bestest Christmas present ever, even if delayed?

Rayne @ 88

Would that not be the bestest Christmas present ever, even if delayed?

it would indeed be a gift not expected but long prayed for

I got to thinking after yesterday’s story on insurgents “starving” Baghdad of electricity that what they (the insurgents) have is time, lots of time. They can keep blowing up high tension wires from now ’till the Second Coming because there is no way that the entire electrical grid in Iraq can be protected-at least for the long-term future.

The insurgents can just keep playing that game-knock out the electricity, the water supply, anything to do with basic services-and they’ll keep the country in it’s low functioning infrastructure status for years.

Surging more troops doesn’t solve the problem, pulling troops out doesn’t solve the problem.

Insurgents aren’t attacking infrastructure to be a nuisance. There’s a power structure behind their activities, and as such a political solution is the only way out for Iraq.

BushCo, even if it wanted to go the diplomatic route, has burned all its bridges. The U.S. is stuck in Iraq through the Bush presidency-and probably through the next Presidency, and the one after that, too. It will take years to recover the moral and international leadership required to deal with the Iraq mess, the qWagmire.

another ot

I just say the stewart-crystal clip hosted at c&l

man, I don’t understand why crystal comes on, we know stewart has his way with him every time

anyway, crystal says rumsfeld was a terrible sod and cheney is dead wrong praising him

interesting stuff coming from a neo con

Christy Hardin Smith @ 49

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

I think “no-win situation of his own creation” captures it nicely, and undercuts the coming “stab in the back” rhetoric, too.

Billmon’s back, after a month’s break from blogging, offering fresh stocking stuffers of gloom! Hooray!

Christy Hardin Smith @ 49

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

morass, bog, marsh, impasse, conundrum, muddle

here’s another question that needed to get asked…think progress has the entire story so pop over and have a read;

followup should be;

so, given the following, you are saying Kewrry was right and you were wrong?

In a news release, Kerry explained the problem with the Bush approach:

The Bush administration is relying on temporary solutions including “Stop Loss” orders, recalling the Individual Ready Reserve and extending tours to meet our commitments. These temporary measures have increased the burden on our troops and their families without addressing the underlying reality: we need more troops.

As recently as six months ago, President Bush was sticking to his guns. From a June 14, 2006, “Statement of Administration Policy“:

The Administration opposes increases in minimum active Army and Marine Corps end strengths in Title IV, because they could require DoD to maintain a higher personnel level than is needed. The restructuring of the Army and the Marine Corps, plus other initiatives, is enabling our military to get more warfighting capability from current end strength.

rizbiz @ 29

What is the military code for countermanding a direct order?

Can the Joint Chiefs just tell him, “No.”

Is there a procedure for this is? If the generals refuse to follow his obviously misguided directives, does this constitute a coup/junta?

Does the nit carry a sidearm and have to be disarmed with a shiny object first?

Beuller, anybody?

They can (and should) refuse to follow illegal orders, but refusing to follow misguided orders would indeed be a coup.

However, the thing they could and should do is resign en masse if he orders them to do something that they have expressly said would be disastrous. Supposedly, a lot of the (lower-level) military people stay in even if they don’t agree with the administration because they think they can make things less bad for their people. Ignoring the unanimous advice of the Joint Chiefs would clearly demonstrate that they can’t, and they should take the only honorable course.

Craptastic mess is pretty good, but I’m partial to catastrophuck.

Dunno who coined it, but its pure genius.

Could it be? Do we even dare to hope? Are we ever to see the death of the neocon? John Stewart skewered Kristol. BBQ. What we have here, is a failure to communicate. Quote, Unquote. They were caught off guard. Their’s is the pretense of the wall of words sound bite. We have the complexity of intelligence. The main stream press? We are the main stream press! The tubes! Stevens can go to hell. Delay? “Didn’t we already poke you in the ass and decided you were done?” We have to rise above being baited and start to lead. It’s our lives. Let’s lead our lives. Accent on lead. You guys are great!

Redshift @ 92

Christy Hardin Smith @ 49

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

I think “no-win situation of his own creation” captures it nicely, and undercuts the coming “stab in the back” rhetoric, too.

you hit the nail on the head and this is actually the way the debate needs to be framned

we are not going to loose, the president is going to fail in his attempt to conquer countries that pose no threat to America

so that’s the way we frame the discussion, we are not looseing, we will not be defeated

but

“the presidents policy of conquering the midddle east is a policy that was doomed to fail from the start, America didn’t fail, the administration betrayed America and what she stands for and America proved her point”

Rayne @ 83

Sophist (80) — not to mention the bombing of the al-Askari shrine. I don’t believe for a moment that any Muslim of any sect would do this to a mosque and shrine.

{sigh}

Unfortunately though, Rayne, we live in a sad, sad world. The 1994 bombing of the Imam Reza Shrine in Iran seems to have fomented conspiracy theories. Some say MKO, others think it might have been Al Quaeda Shiite haters, government officials and so on and soforth.
Cry, humanity, cry.

mc @ 84

I used to have great sympathy for the men who aged well beyond their physical years while occupying the Oval Office.

W? Not so much.

You’ll also notice that he hasn’t. Other presidents aged quite noticeably under the burden of their duties and trying to do what’s best for the country (Roosevelt and Clinton are two of the most visible.) It was striking how little W aged for most of his presidency, through 9/11, soldiers dying in war, and so forth. A while back he started aging a bit, and if you check, it happened when his poll numbers started seriously dropping.

The only thing that burdens him is concern for himself and his own reputation. As with his “sleeping better than people might think,” it’s easy to carry the burdens of the presidency if you just don’t give a damn about anyone but yourself.

OT–This is what a president in political junkyard can now do. From AP:

President Bush on Wednesday revived some 20 tax breaks, extended trade benefits for developing countries and protected doctors from a big cut in Medicare payments by signing sweeping tax and trade legislation.

The bill is a patchwork of must-do items that were left for the lame duck Congress. It was bundled together and passed by the House and Senate just before adjourning earlier this month.

”This is a good piece of pro-growth legislation,” said Bush, just before putting his signature to the legislation at a White House ceremony.

Republican budget hawks bridled at the measure’s approximately $40 billion price tag, and textile state senators objected to trade provisions benefiting Haiti.

(snip)

Pathetic. Those poor Haitians…

http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin.....-Bill.html

It seems to me that Bush is compensating with this talk of victory for what even the right-wing lacks in conviction at this point. His sense of history did lead him to the conclusion that leaving Vietnam was a mistake, yet he spoke positively on the condition of the country present day…making it all but impossible to figure out whether he meant that if 10 thousand more troops and half a million more Vietnamese had died over there, that somehow they’d be in better shape today because of it…and here is the effect that politics and Vietnam had on the minds of Bush’s generation, as now they are confronted with a war and no Americans to place blame on in a unified way and have it stick.

Jane Fonda hanging out with Viet Cong is no Cindy Sheehan loudly mourning the loss of her son, though the right-wing has certainly tried to equate the two in hopes of promoting the type of widespread emotional retardation that flourished in the 70s and 80s…

He’s not only ignorant to relevance of that time’s rhetoric in regards to the present day’s populace, but deep down he seems to honestly think that once this mess is handed over to a Democrat in 2008, that it won’t all be torn down, packed up and brought home as soon as possible.

Because when that happens, in contrast to Nixon inheriting Vietnam and what he said and did in the years that followed, not only will the history that constitutes his point of reference be buried even deeper into the ground, but the one that this generation will have to reference in the future won’t exist on such a level of deranged emotional resentment harbored by Americans towards one another, but rather it will all be congregated to this one man and his band of retro scum…none of them having grown capable of NOT living in the past, and essentially dooming them in the end to a legacy more shamefull than the one that fueled their madness for so many years.

It’s as simple as…”this message won campaigns and got us into power quite a bit over the years, so if we stay on message, then we too can have a war and trick the people into blaming each other when it fails.”

My take on the issue of troop numbers and Rumsfeld’s exit, the right-wing describing how “easy” it would be to build up numbers and surge is through the link below (4 paragraphs, short piece):

The Gallows of Reality (12/19/06)

I don’t want to come off as looking for visitors, but sincerely think that what I wrote on this is relevant to the discussion.

Peace - deadissue

mc @ 84

I used to have great sympathy for the men who aged well beyond their physical years while occupying the Oval Office.

W? Not so much.

W hasn’t aged much because he has achieved his main, and perhaps only, goal of greatly enriching the family trust funds and enriching family friends like the Saudis. Mission Accomplised!

Biodun @
25

Alcoholocaust @ 7

Unfit for office. Reckless, shallow-minded, arrogant, delusional.

Hypocrite, liar, cheat, dishonest, stubborn, messianic, daft, and a dunce.

Pure poetry.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 49

mui at 48 — but saying “craptastic mess” just gets old after a while. We need some new descriptive terms. Any ideas, gang? *g*

Redd,

I’ve always been fond of Stewart’s Mess O’Potamia.

BC

New thread, for everyone.

new threddage

perris @ 95

here’s another question that needed to get asked…think progress has the entire story so pop over and have a read;

followup should be;

so, given the following, you are saying Kewrry was right and you were wrong?

In a news release, Kerry explained the problem with the Bush approach:

The Bush administration is relying on temporary solutions including “Stop Loss” orders, recalling the Individual Ready Reserve and extending tours to meet our commitments. These temporary measures have increased the burden on our troops and their families without addressing the underlying reality: we need more troops.

As recently as six months ago, President Bush was sticking to his guns. From a June 14, 2006, “Statement of Administration Policy“:

The Administration opposes increases in minimum active Army and Marine Corps end strengths in Title IV, because they could require DoD to maintain a higher personnel level than is needed. The restructuring of the Army and the Marine Corps, plus other initiatives, is enabling our military to get more warfighting capability from current end strength.

I narrowly escaped stop loss myself, though some of my friends were not as lucky. This is a story that has been around since the war began, but it garners zero attention in the MSM, nor is it hammered through the editorials on a consistent basis. I’ve written in the past that what we’ve got here is akin to slavery, and I’ll stand by that to the end.

This is the reason why I’ve been in favor of a draft in response to this war for a while now. As the contract one signs is being dishonestly torn up and public outcry never seems to snowball like it should. Military friends of mine comment at times on how disappointed they are that something like this isn’t taken seriously by anyone in power or in the media.

The level of unfair truly marks how apathetic our society has become in general, though Katrina surely manages to hammer that point home on a consistent basis as well.

perris @
19

nice, sustinct post

no follow up quetion;

“what does success look like”…he will say a stable democracy, but we know a stable democracy is not on the horizon

not only do they need to ask him what success looks like, they need to hold his feet to the fire;

“I thought success was overthrowing saddam”

“I thought success was finding out if there were weapons of mass destruction”

“I thought succes was an elected government”

“those criteria are already met…does “success” mean a permanent base?”

“does success mean ethnic cleansing of either the sunii or the shiia”

“does success mean every single american troop is in Iraq?”

man, I wish I had some press credentials

lest you lie - you’ll comply - why so shy - go apply!

ip ban indeed - woof! *settles back on silk pillow*

mui (100) — I’ve always wondered if there were outside influences involved in the attack on the shrine in Mashad, just as I do in the case of the al-Askari shrine. I’m not ready to subscribe to the idea that any Muslim would do this for sectarian reasons.

On the other hand, historically speaking, would Protestants have done this to Catholic churches and vice versa? Hmm.

Rayne @ 111

mui (100) — I’ve always wondered if there were outside influences involved in the attack on the shrine in Mashad, just as I do in the case of the al-Askari shrine. I’m not ready to subscribe to the idea that any Muslim would do this for sectarian reasons.

On the other hand, historically speaking, would Protestants have done this to Catholic churches and vice versa? Hmm.

During the Counterreformation? Absolutely.

mui @ 112

Rayne @ 111

mui (100) — I’ve always wondered if there were outside influences involved in the attack on the shrine in Mashad, just as I do in the case of the al-Askari shrine. I’m not ready to subscribe to the idea that any Muslim would do this for sectarian reasons.

On the other hand, historically speaking, would Protestants have done this to Catholic churches and vice versa? Hmm.

During the Counterreformation? Absolutely.

Indeed - on the inside, the world is a much smaller place, and the human mind is capable of anything when revenge and God meet up to chat about life every day.

Adie @ 110

ip ban indeed - woof! *settles back on silk pillow*

hmmm…I think you misunderstood my post

perris @ 109

Adie @ 108

whack-a-troll! no mercy ;->

ip ban

that was aimed at the person you were talking to, not to you.

if missunderstood, sorry

mui @ 112

Rayne @ 111

mui (100) — I’ve always wondered if there were outside influences involved in the attack on the shrine in Mashad, just as I do in the case of the al-Askari shrine. I’m not ready to subscribe to the idea that any Muslim would do this for sectarian reasons.

On the other hand, historically speaking, would Protestants have done this to Catholic churches and vice versa? Hmm.

During the Counterreformation? Absolutely.

Oh wait, let me say during the Reformation and the Counterreformation so we can give Protestants and Catholics equal opportunity.
Also the church bombings of Southern black churches may bear some resemblance to today’s terrorsim, because the terrorist/segregationists are 100% certain of themselves that the “other” is fomenting rebellion in his/or her place of worship.

newest thread with a hat tip to rayne

http://www.firedoglake.com/200.....hat-smell/

Our loss in Iraq stems mainly from our miserable execution of the peace. Paul Bremer probably is the major goat in this. But what has been done is done - the victory train has left the station more than 3 years ago and we can’t catch it any more. We lost this war. The end will come when even our President finally will admit to defeat. I know we have to drag him screaming and struggling to such a position. The sooner he admits it, the more American soldier’s lives can be saved.

GSD @
24

“Our enemy is innovative and resourceful and so are we. Our enemy never stops thinking of new ways to harm us and our country, and neither do we.”
-George.W. Bush

:(

Chris at 27: “There is only a hint of a smirk in this photo.”

I heard the news conference on the radio this morning, and I thought, “He doesn’t know what to do. He literally does not know what to do.”

This is where the reporter who is worth a darn says, “Mr. President, isn’t it true that you have no plan whatever to achieve a stable, peaceful, democratic Iraq? Isn’t that true, Sir?”

But we have no reporters at the White House who are worth a darn.

He knows exactly what to do and he is doing it. Occupying Iraq and paving the way for international oil companies to take over Iraq’s fields, and using US troops to keep them there - and we will continue to stay there in this capacity forever. You can’t ‘win’ an occupation - win means pack up and go home. He doesn’t care how many Iraqis and US soldiers die to achieve this goal. Probably he has convinced himself that it is a noble goal to keep all that wealth away from the brown people.

For that matter, he probably doesn’t even want the insurgency to end - not escalate, perhaps, but certainly not die down because then we would have no reason to be there. Maybe inflaming them with Guantanamo and Abu Ghirab was an effort to ensure a good, stable insurgency.

The problem is, he can’t think of a different excuse to be doing what he’s doing, and it’s certainly no good telling the truth.

Christy

Clearly someone needs to restock the White House magnetic speechwriting kit…

Already on it. More, post-it notes!!!

expand the military (and, btw, how do we plan on doing that in a voluntary military when we are barely meeting recruiting goals now?

They will do it the same way they met the goals in FY 2006. They will continue to lower the standards for acceptance, increase the bonuses for enlisting, and then they will continue to retrain instead of washing the failures out of Basic training and Advance Individual training.

See? Not hard at all - until you realize that the girl in the Abu Ghraib pictures (Lindy England??) was not qualified intellectually to get into the active duty military, but the Reserves were already desperate so they gave her the kinds of waivers we are talking about for the active duty military now.

perris @
114

Adie @ 110

ip ban indeed - woof! *settles back on silk pillow*

hmmm…I think you misunderstood my post

perris @ 109

Adie @ 108

ip ban

that was aimed at the person you were talking to, not to you.

if missunderstood, sorry

apologies from here back at ya. Too much ‘on-edge’ here, to the point of frantic for January to come - as if that’ll fix things, groan…
impeachment couldn’t come soon enough in my book of well-deserved back-splash twd the current occupant of that bigwhitecottage.

OT:

If you’re missing atrios you can find his temporary lodgings here. via Josh Marshall.