So, Blue Texan!

jus cogens!

Fuck you, John McCain. Fuck you very much.

Had dinner with a gooper friend a week or two ago whose brother is a noted gooper insider. He claims that the war in Iraq will have some surprises by fall that will aid McBush…US casualties are only 20 for this month…

I think goopers are feeling good about how things are going over there. We’ll see.

McCain: I will never surrender in Iraq, no matter how much you heckle me.

McCain’s brain is being occupied by Bushco.

Somewhat OT, but not by much-

“I Will Never Surrender in Iraq! Never! Never!” McCain

McCain is busy not working in the senate so that goverment doesn’t run properly. What’s to fault?

If “only 20 dead this month” is their idea of good news, they’re fucked.

unjust war
longer deployments
muliple deployments
backdoor draft/stoploss
no clearly defined mission
dismissals of competent generals
Walter Reed
no show at GI Bill
100 year more
advised by Lindsay “active duty stateside” Graham
advised by Joe “dodged vietnam on dove platform” lieberman

why doesn’t McCain support our troops?

So nice to know that they are able to plan the war effort around our elections here to make sure that the goopers win! If only they could extend that to ALL THE TIME SO WE COULD DECLARE VICTORY AND GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! The dumbasses! The question is, will the American people really be that dumb as to fall for their shit again!

He claims that the war in Iraq will have some surprises by fall that will aid McBush…US casualties are only 20 for this month…

I think goopers are feeling good about how things are going over there. We’ll see.

I’m banking on the fact that what goopers know is “good” will blow up in their faces.

MMM–Yeah- maybe. I think they’re fucked anyway- but the “rumor” is suggesting that Clusterfuck will take an active role to make the war less of a campaign issue for goopers- by bringing home more troops and perhaps by holding US troops out of combat during the campaign season…

The good news: Obama is going to trounce this asshat in November.

The bad news: Obama inherits the complete disasters (yes, that’s a plural) that clusterfuck leaves behind.

“noone ever lost money overestimating the gullibility of the american people”

As of today’s WaPo, McCain has missed 60% of the votes, Obama has missed 41.8% of the votes and Clinton has missed 31.7%.

Yeah, we heard that in November ‘06, too. And there will no doubt be some troops coming home.

But it’s too late.

BBQ can be a form of bribery.

I, too, have been made sick at heart by the many mistakes made by civilian and military commanders and the terrible price we have paid for them,

It was Bush who over ruled Gen. Eric Shinseki on troop levels or is McCain talking about General Petraeus and all the happy talk he snowed Bush with about the Surge?

I’ve noticed the increase of positive talk about iraq on the airwaves…I’m thinking if we can bullshit our way into war, maybe we need to let these losers bullshit their way out.

that’s ok with me. But there are still soooooo many other things that bushco has f’ed up that it wouldn’t be enough to set up good will for mccain. In addition, McCain is running for commander in chief and if things are going so swimmingly well, there’s less need for mr. tough guy.

my two cent analysis. it’s probably only wishful thinking on my part,i’ll admit.

OT kind of,
Has anyone seen this?
Bill would pay extra for stop-loss service

He’s deflecting blame over here so he doesn’t have to take responsibility over there.

err…

I’m not sure if it’s too late. It depends upon the next few months. If Clusterfuck gets to August with decreasing casualties, good news, and lots of people coming home- it would give McBush a chance to say- “We’ve got this thing won- and it took nerves of steel to bring us to victory”.

He might not win with this refrain- but he’d be a hell of a lot better off than he is NOW.

He loves Petraeus. He agreed with Shinseki I believe. Must be all those other Generals in-between…Oh, yeah, and how about that Commander-in-chief..

I try to avoid giving opponents too much or too little power (that is either over estimating or underestimating the power they have).

I’m cautiously optimistic about November, but I keep a careful eye on the calendar and what the goopers are likely to do.

St. McCain was so heartsick about those many mistakes made by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld (and all those incompetent “military commanders”) that he fervently campaigned to extend them for two more years. He threw himself behind “stay the course” — strictly for personal, political gain

my bold
I said this earlier today that I think Bush promised McCain the GOP Presidential nomination the next time around if McCain would not run as Kerry’s VP.

Bush was in no position to promise such a thing and McCain would have been a fool to listen to it.

I agree with you. You never know…they have a couple of ways of pulling it off…including Diebold.

Not likely. There’s the price of gasoline (which will be down for the election) and the mortgage crisis that isn’t getting any better. Plus, I can hardly wait for the debates!!!

I hear ya. I’m concerned because I wouldn’t put it past the creeps to try and manipulate us wiht fear again with some kind of ‘attack” that Rummy wished for.

Don’t imagine the military is going to be too happy with McC blaming them for the mess that is Iraq. They have done everything Cheney told them to do. Hope they all get to vote.

More and more McSame is looking like a Goldwater style loser.

I hope we all get to vote.

LS there is a post just up on C&L about voter fraud with a clip from Recount and a snippet from digby. also mentions Mark Crispin Miller author of Loser Take All coming to a book salon soon. FYI

Bush don’t care about the rules and Rove certainly can fix an election plus McCain while smarter than Bush is was near the bottom of his class.

Sure would like to think that was true- latest Gallup has him leading Obama by a few points….

The polls don’t mean anything yet- but I don’t see the “Goldwater style loser” signs anywhere.

What would you point to?

If you are an average American out there that doesn’t pay any attention to politics other than watch the news occasionally…McCain probably sounds like a safe way to vote. Just sayin’.

The army we need numbers on how they feel about this election.

Thanks. I’ll check it out.

I’m really concerned that we are going to have another stolen election.

Officers are historically big gooper voters- just as unions vote dem. Goopers enhance their careers both in and out of the army. Officers would love to spend twenty years in the service and then go to work for a defense contractor complete with double dipping.

Enlisted people may be less predictable. They could go dem.

The average American may not pay attention to politics but they do pay attention to the price of gas, the cost of food, working 2 jobs just to make ends meet or not having a job at all. I could go on but this is hitting home with a lot of people and it’s going to get worse. I don’t think Americans will be fooled by a few hundred troops coming home.

Me too.

Ah, yes, the debates! The debates wherein Obama expounds on policy issues while McBush takes a lot of backhanded snipes at him, calls him a lot of names, and otherwise figures that denigrating his opponent is enough to call himself a winner. He’s had a lot of practice; I think that’s the way he keeps his wife in line.

True. But the kind of coverage McCain is getting in the MSM will address those concerns and make them feel like he’s gonna help them. He isn’t, of course, but they control the message.

Dukakis was way, way up on HW this far out.

I try to avoid thinking that way as there is nothing I can think of to do about it and it just leads to surrender.

EVERY election in history has had cheating and the dems do it too- but if the win is big enough- it makes succesful cheating VERY difficult.

That’s interesting. I wonder though with more and more civilian republicans becoming disgusted, if the officers (who are more directly affected by the mismanagement of this debacle) would not be even more disenchanted with their civilian leadership?

Look at all the recently retired generals who spoke out (!) instead of stoically walking off into the sunset.

It should be interesting to see how that shakes out.

I hope McCain gets all mad during a debate and calls Obama “boy”….

I’d personally like to see his temper.

There’s the price of gasoline (which will be down for the election)

down to what ? $3.50/gal

recall (other than the pronounced gouging in atlanta) post-katrina where $4/gal was a line in the sand none of the pols wanted to see crossed.
anecdotally, in the past when it crept up this high in time for a major holiday the price has mysteriously fallen but not this past week end.

me thinks the extractionists have left messrs cheney and bush in the dust . .you don’t need those pricks when the bubble is sending profits to new heights

That is true too. I’m just worried about the voting machines. There are significant problems.

It takes about 6 months as a rule for any change in the economy good or bad like gas prices to be felt throughout the economy and change people’s buying habits so thats June, July, August, September, October, November.
Maybe Bush has lost control of the situation in regards to oil prices although a sharp drop in November could goose the stock market up…and I’m sure Larry Kudlow and Bobo will then start complaining about how Bush gets no credit on the economy.
Forget wingnut welfare I wonder if every news organization has a government propaganda er conservative hack quota to fill. Does any one remember when Conservatives were actually Right about a few things? Well ok I can’t I’m not that old:)

Sic Temper Infidelis!

Well, I’m going to say it again - given the prices I’m seeing (natural gas is the major component of it) right now(when there are no supply or demand issues), come this fall, there are going to be a whole lot of people out there that are going to be very very ticked off at the GOP. No matter how many people come home from Iraq.

It’s an interesting question—those who become General Officers are not twenty and outs. They’re in for the duration and when they leave they will probably not look for work.

Junior officers may look at things differently.

I have that same fantasy. Not much of a dream but one with possibility.

Jink, LS.

And remember, the professional military, including officers, do NOT go for torture.

When was the last time a Republican took responsibility for what they have said or done? McCain is just following the script.

Enlisted people may be less predictable. They could go dem.

Fort Hood (central texas) is the 2nd largest installation in US - it went Dem on 3/4/8 alright by almost 3 to 1.

further - local congressional candidate outpolled incumbent bushbot congressman by 11,000 votes

I volunteered to be a poll worker in 06 just to watch the machines in action. I left feeling better about them than I had previously. There are more controls than I expected.

This election we’ve gotten rid of em except for one machine per precinct for the blind. They get almost NO use.

But how many officers want to spend the next 100 years in Iraq? I’m guessing a year away from the wife every few years must be killing allot of marriages among officers again we need numbers!
How can I guestimate anything if all the embarrassing numbers are hidden?

Those numbers, I presume, were for ALL military- not just officers?

just need to show the people that still think there is some good remaining in the republicon land, in a way that they can understand (an understatement if ever there was one) just how screwed up mentally and physically this jerk they get to vote for is.
we have to show every voter it is time to end the republican/democratic parties and allow everyone to join the one that they want to be a member of. It would END gridlock because people would then have to make deals to keep things going. At least we might have something positive happen.

It is broken and it has been repaired. It has been repaired so many times that nothing of the original remains and it is subject to daily repair and breakage. It is time to begin again and try to find something that works.

Things are looking good for November- but it’s important that no one get overconfident- particularly the candidates.

Typical. This guy gives frat boys a bad name. And I’ve known a few.

I doubt the military folks are too wild about McCain for not supporting Webb’s bill. Even most goopers went for that. Who’s advising this idiot? George Bush?

Hi TobyWollin just got the Hemp shorts today black roomy comfortable, the shirt itches a bit I’ll try washing it just a little tight I’m waiting for my niece’s birthday this week to try the Hemp (peanut Butter?).

Did you watch Hacking Democracy? They took the card that goes into the machine and showed that when it was fed into Gemsys the main tabulator, it flipped the votes with no trace at all. It’s not the local people running the elections, it is the software which makes hackability very easy.

Army and Marines are hemmoraging officers

Boston Globe

and let’s not forget due to Rumsfeld’s agile force bs, the rate of Officer KIA in Iraq is unprecedented in our history

Mark Penn? Rahm Emanuel are the Hoes jumping ship?

Well there IS a paper trail- a rolling paper tape canister that is saved from the voting and sealed with precint worker’s initials…so there CAN be a recount and if there is no relationship between what’s on the paper canister and what gets recorded- there’s a big problem.

So “easy” is a bit of an overstatement.

updated 1 hour, 22 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Soaring gas prices and weakening job prospects left shoppers gloomier about the economy in May, sending a key barometer of consumer sentiment to its lowest level in almost 16 years.

The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 57.2, down from a revised 62.8 in April. Economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR had expected a reading of 60.

yeppers

The rising exodus is blamed on a number of factors, including the economic lure of the private sector. But interviews with former West Point superintendents, graduates, and retired officers pointed to another reason: the wear and tear on officers and their families from multiple deployments.

http://www.boston.com/news/nat.....high_rate/

In this economy?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “when is too late”.

That is- how late can good news arrive and still help the goopers…

Much economic data is quarterly- so I think it’s too late after June for that- we won’t get 3rd quarter data in time to have much impact.

With the war, I suspect that any improvements after July may be too late. August numbers won’t get reported until September- and by then, most minds will be made up.

It would have to be a VERY dramatic development to have an impact as late as September.

So we’re close to the end of the line, perhaps, for good news for goopers.

(at least that’s how it’s been mushin around in my head).

Who’s advising this idiot? George Bush?

this is the talking point from DoD brass - they claim it’s all about retention rates but they don’t want to give up on all those cold war era hardware contracting programs to which they are addicted

Dang! I keep getting them confused…

The nation’s premier military academy has started offering graduates new incentives to keep them from leaving active duty at their first opportunity.

For example, West Point now guarantees its graduates the home bases of their choice, as well as a chance to go to graduate school, in exchange for a commitment to serve at least three years beyond their five-year commitment.
http://www.boston.com/news/nat.....high_rate/

But the Webb bill is to much?

The Hursti Hack:

“However, during the Dec. 13 2005 testing, Hursti successfully altered the votes on the memory card. His memory card manipulations falsified both the voting machine results tapes and the GEMS central tabulator report. Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho stated that he would have had no way to detect the tampering and would have certified the election.[4]”

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

Not to be too nitpicky, the otherwise pretty good article in the Globe has General Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. as “Benjamin O’Davis”. Sloppy reporting that.

The tape I am talking about is inside the voting machine and visible in a window. A voter can (and SHOULD) look at it to verify that his/her vote was accurately recorded.

That tape is rolled onto it’s canister, removed from the machine, sealed- and sent sealed to the central tabulation facility. I don’t see how it could be messed with.

Why didn’t you know, Benjamin O’Davis of the Irish O’Davis’ (we’re talking Boston here) /s

Naah - it’s not the military’s fault. It’s really the fault of George W. Bush for not properly carrying out the McCain-Lieberman policy toward Iraq. From Joe Lieberman’s speech of February 8, 2003 to the 39th Munich Conference on Secuirty Policy, he says:

I respectfully suggest that the nations of Europe define their positions on Iraq independently and affirmatively - not in reaction to America or its President. As you know, I am a Democrat. In fact, I’m a Democrat seeking to replace George Bush in the Oval Office. But he and I agree on the danger posed by Saddam and the need to do something soon to eliminate that danger to us, to you, and most immediately to his neighbors in the Arab world as do most other Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in the US. In fact, five years ago, after Saddam ejected the UN inspectors, John McCain and I gave up on containment and introduced the Iraqi Liberation Act, which, when it became law, made a change of regime in Baghdad official US policy. You might therefore say that, when it comes to Iraq, President Bush is just enforcing the McCain-Lieberman policy.

The facts here are stark and even more clear after Secretary Powell’s chilling and convincing testimony at the UN on Wednesday. For twelve long years, Saddam has flaunted every attempt to get him to keep his promise to disarm and instead has continued building weapons of mass destruction. If we shrink from challenging his defiance, we will not only leave a ticking time bomb ticking, we will have undermined the remaining credibility of the United Nations, and further diminished the power of NATO to protect the peace of the world.

Same speech, also here.

See - George is merely the enforcer for McCain and Lieberman. Surely no one could have anticipated that he would prove such an inept, incompetent leg-breaker as he did.

Plus, we can’t forget to figure in the “Obama factor”.

“If Barack Obama is the nominee, you can expect to see a lot more people involved in these races than there were before,” Van Hollen predicted. “That’s the big wild card for Republicans. They can’t plan on a conventional turnout scenario if Barack Obama is the nominee.”

As for the congressional playing field, Van Hollen said that he saw 75 seats in play for the fall, the vast majority of which (50) are currently held by Republicans. He sought to downplay expectations that the field would grow in the wake of special election wins in GOP strongholds like Mississippi’s 1st District and Louisiana’s 6th. (For more on Van Hollen’s thoughts on the congressional playing field, make sure to check out Ben Pershing’s “Capitol Briefing” blog.)

By the early 1970s, “a full third of the class was out or dead,” retired Colonel Daniel M. Smith , a member of the class of 1966, said in an interview.

West Point grads have continued to stand out. The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus , graduated in 1974.

But the Iraq War itself, with its repeated tours of duty and often-shifting military objectives, appears to have dissuaded more graduates than in recent history from continuing their military careers — even as the Army has stressed that West Point training has become more important in an era of high-tech warfare.

http://www.boston.com/news/nat.....high_rate/

This is a very False Comparison because in Viet Nam the death rate was much higher so that means that the officers are leaving because either they don’t believe the war is worth it or maybe they think being crippled at Walter Reed is as bad as death.
Could be both again we need reliable numbers.

Supporting the troops:

Foreclosures in Military Towns Surge at Four Times U.S. Rate

Things are really getting tough in the real world and it’s too late for the Repubs to fix it even if they had a clue as to how. My daughter lives in a town of 12,000 and there are no jobs. She works for a credit union and they have been laying off people in batches. She was so worried she couldn’t sleep but was informed this morning that she would be keeping her job. She’s a single mom and her relief is so great.

Iraq Casualty Count

one of the most underreported tragedies - if my link works, this is 10 pages of US casualties - listing rank.

even given that this is not Vietnam with conscripted 19 year old grunts, the loss of so many Sgts., Staff Sgts, Captains, 1st Lieutentants . . .is beyond staggering . . .they make up what is usually referred to as “institutional intelligence”, the guys and gals who know how to get things done and usually through their experience, have a great deal to do with keeping everyone alive . . .a sorely needed resource now gone - thanks to the TANG Frat Boy

Great Catch we need to focus on this when McCain and Bush start pushing against Webb’s G.I bill

“I, too, have been made sick at heart…”

it’s a coronary, not a coronation.

“On the heels of Democratic House wins in crimson districts in Louisiana and Mississippi, and polls showing Sen. Liddy Dole in a dogfight in North Carolina and Democrats competitive in the senate race in Kansas, a new poll shows Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell trailing by 5 points in Kentucky!”

Cliff Schecter

I see people struggling to make house payments. That leads to not going out to eat as much, business at hair salons is down, no one is hiring… .

Great catch.

BT thanks for the post.

Foreclosure Filings Near Military Bases from January to
April, Compared With a Year Earlier:
Columbia, South Carolina: 492%
Woodbridge, Virginia: 414%
Triangle, Virginia: 363%
Oceanside, California: 182%
Norfolk, Virginia: 155%
Havelock, North Carolina: 133%
Carlsbad, California: 131%
Barstow, California: 120%
Columbus, Georgia: 102%
Twentynine Palms, California: 73%
U.S. Total: 59%

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....refer=home

You just know that banks are going to forget all about this in a few months when they ask for a taxpayer bailout.

It’s currently a great climate for dems.

The question was whether there are signs that McBush is already looking like a BIG loser ala Goldwater- perhaps losing 40 states or something. I don’t see it yet.

That leads to not going out to eat as much,

thankfully our little cafe is not seeing a downward trend in guests - however there is a sudden rash of 10% tippers - used to be about one a week - now it’s one a night - $4/gal is some widely spread pain

and don’t forget Vince Fosella. No Gooper wants to run for that one. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05.....ref=slogin

Hmmmm…what does this mean?
Well, if you don’t vote, people can’t yell at you about the way you voted.
And, you have less to defend or speculate about later…well, had I voted, I would have….
It also might help, in part, why Some People are more exhausted than Others.
Apparently, some senators take their current responsibilities more sincerely than others.
I am not anyone’s apologist. Just trying to look at the numbers and wonder what they represent.

Here’s what it means to be a “Goldwater style loser”:

The United States presidential election of 1964 was one of the most lopsided presidential elections in United States history. President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier upon the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, and Johnson had successfully associated himself with Kennedy’s popularity. Johnson also successfully painted his opponent, Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, as a right-wing legislator who wanted to abolish the social welfare programs created in the 1930s (such as Social Security). Johnson also claimed that Goldwater might plunge the country into nuclear war with the Soviet Union. With these factors working for him, Johnson easily won the Presidency, carrying 44 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. As of 2007, Johnson’s 22.6 percentage point-margin of victory in the popular vote is the fifth-largest such margin in Presidential election history (after the margins of the 1920 election, 1924 election, 1936 election, and 1972 election). Johnson won 61.1% of the national popular vote, which was the highest popular-vote percentage won by a U.S.presidential candidate since 1820.

Does this mean that the marketplace was not as safe as he said it was? what a nutjob. I hope his defeat in November is resounding.

utahgirl

oh hell, let’s pile on shall we

let’s not forget the $600,000 they’ve (RNC) spent to date on accounting/legal fees in the case of their theivin’ CFO, that’s $600K they coulda spent beating back the unwashed hordes - bwaaahaaahaaaa!

I’d love to see McCain choose Charlie Crist as his running mate. The numbers I saw recently had Obama only a few points behind McCain and Obama hadn’t campaigned here before last week. Crist pushed through a ridiculous property tax initiative in January and the state economy is headed into the tank big-time. I drove from Orlando to Gainesville last night starting around 6 pm and there was virtually no traffic on the Flordia Turnpike or I75 at a time when holiday traffic should have been unbearable. Many are hurting here and I expect considerable blowback on Crist by November.

The only other Senator who has a not-showing up to vote record that even comes close to McCain’s is Sen. Johnson, who had a stroke. McCain is numero uno in terms of ‘not here’. McCain doesn’t do a good job for the people of the state of AZ - I think Ann and some others who are residents of that state have filled us in quite a bit on McCain’s lackings as representing their interests(vs. the interests of developers and other business interests in AZ).

Isn’t there some problem in Florida with the pension plan having been gutted?

Not all the electronic machines in use have such a paper trail. Some have no paper trail at all, and a “recount” consists of going back to the machine (or to the memory card that was extracted from the machine) and figuratively saying to it, “Tell me again what those numbers are?” And you’ll just get the same numbers.

Yeah, that was Jeb’s parting gift to his buddies. I think it was mostly carried out before Crist’s time.

David Neiwert upstairs with some more on immigration

Honestly, I’d settle for him missing it “by that much”, the operative word being Missing - Loosing — not close enough for even the Supreme Court to overturn it.
And, then….hopefully by that time people in AZ would be so full of remorse for having him as their senator that he loses that too, sooner than later.

I seem to recall the death toll of 18 US troops in Somalia repeated over and over again in GOP circles as an outrage worthy of impeachment. I believe No Surrender, No Retreat John McAnger was a big advocate of getting out of Somalia poste haste after the blackhawk incident.

-G

The GOP is gonna hang Saddam again just for good measure and election publicity.

-G

By the way, I would bet it the GOP insider is talking about good things for the GOP it must involve more war and blood and death.

I assume that they are under the strange notion that a bombing campaign against Iran will ignite the flag waving fervor that the Iraq war brought about.

Not this time, it’ll send the nation sideways.

” Senator McCAIN: That mission, as we all know, changed rather dramatically as the result of the United Nations Security Council resolutions from one of keeping people from starving to peacekeeping, warlord-hunting, nation-building, whatever.

NARRATOR: Another problem, according to Senator McCain, was the Clinton administration’s failure to consult with Congress.

Senator McCAIN: One of them is not coming back to consult with Congress because of the change of mission, but, more impor-tantly, without really thinking through what the consequences of a very dramatically shifted priorities entailed and the possible consequences.”…………

“Senator McCAIN: It’s in our interest to see people being able to survive throughout the world. It’s in our interest to see peace and order. But what we have to recognize is the United States cannot do those things and the Unite