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You can't top this for being disjointed from reality. As the Fifth Sixth Annual Welcomed as Liberators' Week opens (like "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel only with more chum) 'Big Time' comes under cover of darkness to Baghdad at the same time as McCain and his two long-time companions Lieberman & Graham. How festive! I hope they can add Lynn and get their singing group back together.
And the opening line from the Washington Post article about this visit?
Vice President Dick Cheney opened a new U.S. push for political unity in Iraq on an unannounced visit Monday, just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.
Because nobody brings people together more than Dick Cheney. He's like Gandhi with an attitude.
As was noted about a fortnight ago, Iran's Business Casual Leader Ahmadinejad came to Iraq and it went like this:
Ahmadinejad's two-day state visit to Iraq, the first by an Iranian leader since the neighbors fought a bitter eight-year war in the 1980s, highlighted the two countries' deepening ties at a time when U.S. influence in Iraq is seen as waning.
His warm reception by Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders and the pomp and ceremony that greeted him at the start of his well-publicized trip were in stark contrast to the rushed and secretive visits of U.S. President George W. Bush.
So, more than a year after surge was announced, five years after Cheney stated we'd be welcomed as liberators, tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dead, and $3 trillion in, how is Dick Cheney's visit being handled?
For security reasons, Cheney officials divulged few details about the vice president's schedule and asked reporters not to report on his location until he had move on to another.
Um, Huzzah?
(AP Photo/ Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway, U.S. Air Force, HO)
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More like “Whozzat?” if you’re in Baghdad I guess.
So this is a do-over, eh?
Anyway, good morning, and a happy 309!
So what has Darth accomplished with his visit?
“Ahmadinejad’s two-day state visit to Iraq, the first by an Iranian leader since the neighbors fought a bitter eight-year war in the 1980s, highlighted the two countries’ deepening ties at a time when U.S. influence in Iraq is seen as waning.
His warm reception by Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders and the pomp and ceremony that greeted him at the start of his well-publicized trip were in stark contrast to the rushed and secretive visits of U.S. President George W. Bush.”
Did Ahadinejad have 100 U.S troops with Helicopters protecting him? Iran is a terror state. John McCain can’t go to the market like he did last time because the Surge isn’t working but Ahadinejad can walk around in public!
Are we making Iraq safe for terrorist by staying there?
At this rate Ahadinejad will be owning a summer home in Iraq and Bush will still be coming to Iraq in secret at the end of his term. Mission Accomplished!
Cheney is such a. . . . dick.
Another Photo OP
dugg your post attaturk.
cheenee and mccain in Iraq at the same time……..now *there’s* a piece of news to really strike terra in your heart! Wish going back to bed and pulling the covers over your head (or crawling *under* the bed) helped relieve that sinking sensation. And the SCLM will rave about how diplomatic he looks. B@rf now, or later?
Oh, and mornin’, friends….there ain’t no “good” about it.
Suzanne, did that word turn blue simply because of the @? Apologies.
Maybe the dick is in Iraq to announce the new “No Terrorist Left Behind” policy. It dovetails nicely with the hugely successful “No Billionaire Left Behind” policy of the last 7 years.
Good morning all.
yeap, anything that has the @ without a space will trick the software into thinking it is an email address. does not make that a valid email address so no biggie :)
yo
Would have been appropriate if it turned out to be a WH address.
What’cha doin’ up this time of day, darlin’? Not gonna be any surface on those floors when the house sells. *g*
too forking tired to sleep. token had to save a redwood. was hungry.
as if the fates were conspiring against me sleeping this weekend.
Krugman NYT read my mind: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03…..ref=slogin
The Resolution Trust of the 80’s Savings and Loan bailout cost us citizens $3 Trillion. Bush’s brother owned Silverado S&L which was another bailed operation.
This Subprime is a similar scam on a grander scale. These people are flat out crooks. Where in the fuck is the god fucking damned Impeachment? Nancy Peloisi is complicit in all of this shit.
Krugman rightly says that the Bear Stearns rescue is one of many financial institution rescues on the horizon.
Who is rescuing the poor people who got fucked out of their homes 2 million that Bush won’t help but his buddies on wall street get a free fucking ride on the taxpayers backs. The 50 million people homeless, in poverty or near it get zip.
I call bullshit on all Americans that don’t call for Impeachment.
Bear has $13 Trillion in bad paper, the crime is called “paper hanging”.
He is dodging the financial bullets that will be asked this week…how did this happen on your watch!!!!
Hopping mad..the illegal war for $12 billion a month… the decade tax cut for the rich…now the bailout of major banks that have beeen scamming working Americans leaving them high and dry.
Pelosi did not allow impeachment proceedings giving the administration a green light to bilk us beyond our wildest nightmares.
Are we patriots or traitors it is time to draw the line.
Are we gutless yellow self effacing idiots to let them keep screwing us?
Where is the godsdamn limit line at? It is one scam after the other and noone will stand up for our constitution or the American people. Why?
Weimar Republic again?
Now is it time to impeach?
NO.
Well when the fuck is it?
I’m thinking the calls for impeachment will start in earnest around…
….February 2009
Jeeze you are more of a cynic than I. Think the stock market will drop by 400 today?
The Cheney trip may be a witless distraction to avert our eyes from Oil hitting $111.80, markets in Asia down more than 2% on average, European markets are sinking, and the dollar is tanking. Got to take attention off Bush, whose incompetence extends from all things military, domestic, & foreign to appalling song and dance exhibits. The MSM does like shiny objects, and McSame’s chrome-dome is one of the shiniest available.
Good morning, pups. It’s [gag] Kristol, Cohen and Krugman in the NYT. Poisonous Billy Kristol typed a noxious thing called “Generation Obama? Perhaps Not” in which he says in Barack Obama’s political career, there is the calculation of ambition, and the construction of artifice, mixed in with a dash of deceit. Mr. Cohen, who may be psychic or possibly just saw an advance copy of Kristol’s piece of shit, writes about “Obama’s Brother in China,” and says more needs to be written about Barack Obama’s family because, if he gets the Democratic nomination, you know the Republican attack machine will go after his identity. Mr. Krugman’s column is titled “The B Word,” and he asks when the feds do bail out the financial system, what will they do to ensure that they aren’t also bailing out the people who got us into this mess?
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are all ready, and the biscuits are out of the oven. No, they’re not dyed green… Happy St. Patrick’s day.
Good Morning! The overnight stock news can only mean good news for the democratic candidates. McCain’s wish to privatize Social Security will come back to haunt him.
Cheney is no less safe in Iraq than he is in this country.
Good morning Attaturk, good morning dawgs-
I’m off to work today, so it’s just a drive-by hello.
I saw John Adams on HBO last night, and I can tell you that Dick Cheney is no John Adams.
I woke up this morning, turned on my teevee, and was faced with the bloated face of the Doughy Pantload.
Made me want to retch.
Unstated constitutional amendment only democrats can be impeached? Only for consensual sex.
Market will go down 300 points according to some predictions, since it is rigged does it matter which way it goes?
Oh St. Patrick, Patron saint of exterminators
We’ve got SNAKES!
Good Morning.
Look for bright shiney object in NJ where the Governor one upped Spitzer
From the NY Post
Why are you talking about a War that Corporate Journalists are ignoring? We are in Year Two of the Successful Surge and Year Six of Our Great Occupation of Iraq. Move Along, nothing to see there.
There is nothing in this Post about Gender and Race and How Al Qaeda is supporting Democrats. Also there is not one comment about how Obama’s Pastor Rev. Wright. Rev. Wright says it is the rich, white people who promote wars and cause racism. It is important to assassinate the Reputation of Wright. Everyone knows, especially the government controlled journalists of Washington DC, that rich white, people have never started any wars and they have never been racist.
Krugman thinks government will bailout all financials that need it to keep the financial system operating.
A huge team is needed to map out a strategy for fixing this debacle…a think tank outside this neocon man administration. Krugman, Gore and Ian Welch for starters.
German government is complaing that they are holding the Eupoean Union economy together. Financial Times.
We do not have enough printing press capacity to print greenbacks fast enough (without the almighty dollar we are playing from weakness) to keep up with the crsis the whole Gross National Product is $12 to $17 Trillion. The bad paper from just Stears is $13 Trillon…then all the hedge funds and other banks. We are so toast.
Gracious the rich white folks only fight the wars not start them.
Can I add Naomi Klein to that mix?
This is where I get to say
Top o’ the mornin’ to ya!
here’s what’s on
Washington Journal:
7:00 am - Newspaper Articles & Viewer Calls
7:30 am - Ari Melber, The Nation, Correspondent
8:00 am - Michelle Bernard, Independent Women’s Forum, President & CEO
8:30 am - Dave Tomlin, Associated Press, Associate General Counsel
9:30 am - Newspaper Articles & Viewer Calls
Some people say the glass is half empty.
Some people say the glass is half full.
I know that the glass is really half full, but the water is contaminated and if you drink it you may die.
I predict a big drop in the stock market, followed by a not-so-big rally. Then by closing tonight we can brag about the not-so-big rally and ignore the big drop that preceded it…
the viewer calls are on the bailout,
and by the way the Bush family knows so well how to do the bailout, they should be fine. No need to worry about them
Small edit — just trying to capture the essence. [G]
For the Bush market, I’d like to suggest the term “dead rat bounce”
707! Works for me!
Could someone please change Deadeye Dick’s itinerary to take him to the International Criminal Court in The Hague? He’s overdue for a hearing there.
A dead-cat bounce?
That really is much more appropriate than “rally” which is what they have been calling this phenomenon…
…It’s almost as if they want us to think everything will really be OK!
On an optomistic note… Instead of wondering when I can afford to buy a house instead of renting, I can plan to just move into an empty one in a year or so… …McMansion, anyone?
better and better!
Good morning, all.
I’ll be back in a minute. Gotta go get a towel and another cup of coffee.
Where’s Cramer when you really need him?
Perhaps they could initiate landing in The Hague by announcing “SNAKES-ON-THE-PLANE!” and after they slide down the chutes, the Dutch police can determine which snakes need to be taken to the World Court.
Happy St. Patty’s Day. Klien on foriegn policy…Gore on energy…Edwards on domestic policy…Welch and Krugman on monetary policy, rereguation of markets and federal budget. Richard Clarke on National Security. Clean out the DOJ. Put the government back together again.
By the end of the week we may have a decent first string offense and defense. Let’s get ready to right the ship of state and the economy without which we have no government funds.
Reduce balance of payments by 50% stop importing oil. It is called sustainability…living within your resources. Thr wind and sunlight will provide more carbon free energy than we can use. We need to tax the oil companies into compliance. We need to progessively tax the rich until they give us back all they have taken. We need to start good industry with a living wage workforce. Need medical for anyone who needs it.
The taxes and insurance then the repairs for all the stolen plumbing, heating and air conditioning. Just sayin.
Yep. Yep. Yep.
Good morning, all.
I don’t have much to add–feeling rather numb after all the news this weekend. Holy crap.
Good morning everyone. Great piece Attaturk. It’s not surprising that ole Dicky has to arrive in Iraq under the cover of darkness and with the protection of the whole American military and then some. Oh, but when the president of Iran shows up? Now that’s a party for the Iraqis!
What’s wrong with the picture? Oh boy. At this rate, Iraq and Iran will become one big country after all the years of war between the two and the Americans will be hated for another few hundred years.
Heckava job Dicky! Spit.
Lots of nervous energy on CNBC right now.
From Salon, A Nightmare on Wall Street pointing to the WSJ
Now what happened in the 1930’s that would make the fed move so much???
And BigBrother @ 35 - Taxes and insurance only apply when yer buying the house… …you will not I simply said, move in. The wiring and plumbing is a more difficult issue…
Not sure, but I don’t think this is a film of the market action today, I think it’s from a party in Tipperary
Yeah so simple…one big country Iran Iraq the Islamic Revolution
Neocon FUBAR: FUBAR is an acronym that commonly means “Fucked Up Beyond All Repair”, “Fucked Up Beyond Any Recognition,”
Gee and to think we only gave up decades of spying, diplomacy and paid trillions of dollars. about 4K dead military service people with close to 30K wounded, 200K livng under bridges that may collapse on them at any moment.
Now that the layoffs are cranking up the Ian Smith “Downward Spiral” is gaining momentum. So intel reports no pitchforks and firebrands in the street.
Bush policy as of Friday: evrything is fine bidness a usual little bump in the road.
On NPR this morning, from one of the newscasters: We can argue over whether it’s better or worse, but five years later it’s certainly different in Iraq.
better or worse? How could it have been worse than it is now?
‘morning all - coffee is ready… hold out your cups.
looks like we are going to need it.
It could be not just Iraq, but also Iran, Jordan, Syria, parts of Turkey, . . .
The world has a much better view of what is going on in Iraq now. That doesn’t change what it was before we did this.
Hot Damn!
Oil almost at $112
In April McCain was allowed to meander a local market for a few minutes. He was accompanied by one hundred marines, five assault helicopters and a bulletproof vest.
This time he was forbidden his much desired photo op. Yeah things are sooo much better.
Interesting story in today’s NYTimes by Michael Gordon on the dissolution of the Iraqi army. It turns out that in extensive pre-war planning from the Defense Department (which fit into a PowerPoint presentation–I swear I did not make up this part), the plan was to use the infrastructure of the Iraqi army after stripping out bad higher level officers. Bremer appears to have rammed through his decision to disband the army with no discussion among high-level policy types in the government.
Gordon actually interviewed a number of people on the record for this article, including Colin Powell who says he was away in France and unable to attend the meeting in which Bremer announced the dissolution. The article also states that Bremer’s reporting to Bush was through Rumsfeld.
The cynic in me wonders if Dick and Don decided that disbanding the Iraqi army would keep us there a lot longer.
Oh yes, as usual, Georgie is telling his friends connected to Wall Street that everything is fine and dandy and to not panic. Didn’t Ken Lay play the same game with his investors? Oh, but whose noticing that! Georgie wants us to continue to live in HIS bubble where Iraq is a budding success and the economy hasn’t been better in decades!
*holding huge pin to burst his bubble*
I’m sure we’ll here today, “Who could have foreseen this result?”. What a nice defense he’s got going there. Spit.
Between carrying in eating wood I have to say
Whaaaat?
it’s worse in Iraq…it’s the same in Afghanistan, it’s slightly better in Pakistan–at least as of this morning there, where a new parliament has just convened, and it’s worse in Palestine, especially in Gaza…
Oooops I am not a beaver. I meant heating wood
I think Bushie should roll out his Social Security Reform Proposals (invest
in market) today… It could augment the Stimulus Package…
2 million dead and 8 million refugees.
it can always get worse. :(
LOL Nomolos. I was thinking you must be hungry this wintah. ;-)
Mistakes were made….
I’m not trying to justify shit but Iraq under Saddam was fucked too.
I think the problem is foreign debt Bush is not letting foreign banks who bought subprime/prime mortgage debt exchange the debt fot T-bills so I think its the foreigners who are selling.
After Bear Stearns from $170 this year to $2 a share well if that happens to an American firm (I think they are American) then who can blame them.
Mortgage debt needs to be reset at current levels and the mortgages reset at the lower level for home buyers.
This would be cheaper than a 97% loss. Sure banks and hedgefunds would loose allot of money but I bet it would be less than Freakin 97%!
jim - if gordon has written it, i’d take it with a truck load of salt. in my book gordon is just as bad as judith fucking miller ever was.
Is it 5 pm somewhere yet? It’s going to be a long day and tums don’t help!
Now some caller is comparing Obama’s church to the klan..
“the illegal war for $12 billion a month”
All that money could bailout a lot of banks:)
“No one could have predicted
terrorists would fly planesthat the levies would breechthat the market would crash.on cspan
Yes, I know he usually produces crap. What was surprising to me was that he actually interviewed a number of people who are quoted by name. That is so different from his usual pattern of putting out government-sponsored bs attributed to unnamed “officials”.
LOL.
thanks for making me laugh. no, tums don’t help…; but you-all do.
my very sincere apologies… of course, and you even wrote that in your original comment. maybe i’ll be a better reader after some more coffee.
The crimes against humanity will be a story for decades
A million dead
5 Million orpaned children
millions wounded
millions homeless
1 million christian Iraqis refugees
water and waster infrastructure destroyed by us
Electrical not dependable
Hospitals destroyed
Oil the biggest deposit in the world nonproductive
Security: non existing
Roadways, dams and bridges destroyed
Major cities in rubble
Economy: completely destroyed
USA puppet governmet destroyed
Religious factionalism rampant and armed by US Forces
Our middle east policy is lunacy by any standard of evaluation
Now it is breaking our country
Could it get worse absolutely: “Can it get worse” is not a standard to live by
The rational for keeping troops there is it will get worse. It will never heal while we are there. We know the battle is between the Shites and the Sunnis like the Clampets and the McCoys. Could a solution occur with international intervention?
That order could have been recinded until Shite government was imposed and before the Sunnis were run out. No water in that defense. FUBAR bigtime. That decision was made so contractors could make fortunes.
No apology needed. Thank you for pointing out his usual level of drivel. I meant to mention it and left it out.
Stock Futures Plummet as Bear’s Buyout, Fed Move Stun Investors
A Wall Street Journal Online NEWS ROUNDUP
Word Count: 781 | Companies Featured in This Article: Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers Holdings, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs Group, J.P. Morgan Chase, Weyerhaeuser, International Paper
U.S. stock futures slumped Monday, as the fire sale of Bear Stearns and an emergency weekend Federal Reserve move amplified investors’ fears of a credit-related domino effect at firms saddled with atrophied credit investments.
About an hour and a half before the start of trading, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down roughly 200 points at about 11780 and the S&P 500 futures were down 29.7 points at 1263.10. Futures on the Nasdaq Composite Index were down about 37 points at 1689. Changes in futures do not always accurately predict early market moves after the opening bell.
Shares of the …
thanks.
Cheney, Condi, Bolton have not brokered anything but rancor…your not in Kansas anymore.
They groomed and sent Mrs Bhutto to her death as a gambit to put in a puppet government in Pakistan another merciless FUBAR. How many puppet governments have we set up just ask the The United Nations Refugee Organization who have to help them.
We saw it coming “Quelle Tradgedie”
This is all so heart rending to go into a region and destabilise it causing abject misery and destruction of hope for a future of a long list of countries that are all close to desperation.
Why don’t I believe Cheney is there to create political stability? A pre election play and McSame comes back with peace between all parties.
A billion dollar Embassy is not for keeps? 5, Billion dollar military/air bases are not for keeps?
The Sunnis do not want the Iranians…but the Shites and Sadr do and they have eons to fight it out.
The secular society is gone and with it womens right and a professional establishment. FUBAR
Do the Dem congress critters understand this mess? I wonder. Do they know the Russians and the Chinese are impatient with us?
What about the Clintons’ role in this
So the Big Dick went to Iraq.
Is there any Iraqi there who doesn’t break out into laughing when he pulls his Darth Vader routine? Is there one who doesn’t tell him to take off the silly mask and breathe like a man?
Who is he there to intimidate?
Is he briefing Betrayus on the Iran attacks?
Is he reaming Betrayus a new one on his unacceptable remarks on the future of Iraq?
Are there really enough people in the military who don’t gag in his presence to travel with The Big Dick?
BTW… can we impeach him now?
calling Mr. Wexler…
ITMFA
“Because nobody brings people together more than Dick Cheney. He’s like Gandhi with an attitude.”
Attaturk I bow to your succinct word-smithing acumen. Love it.
Check out the bodyguards on the ground. No helmets, and minimal flack vests (that would not stop an armor piercing round, or a steel bullet), but oh, they’ve got their dark glasses on (which doesn’t allow them to see into shadows on a nice bright sunshiny day). Two head shots from anybody half way proficient at a distance, and they’re down. The incompetent idiot (seems to fit though, doesn’t it) running their security should be fired. Heckuva job.
I noticed that righ away and my guess is they’re Secret Service dressed as soldiers ’cause I cannot imagine ANYONE being allowed near him with a loaded weapon.