But this is good news for the GOP, right?

Morning Scarecrow.

Josh Marshall has been stuck on this story like glue and doing a Marcy to it. Here’s this morning’s read.

oops—you already linked to it. Never mind.

but the NYT used teh gay arabic translation!

The wheels are seriously coming off this administration.

The diary prototypes look nice. Can’t wait for the enterprise version to come out this afternoon.

Yep.

Obama, in addition to being a ‘fliip-flopper’, is now a ‘cut-and-runnner’. Of course, so is a majority of the American citizenry but none of that matters.

The ’serious people’ of D.C. have decided we are staying and that’s an end of the discussion. Go back to that, ‘Wow, it would be soooo coool to have a black President.’ dialogue.

Or, “If I am given a superMajority I will act!’, Miss Nancy.” delusional bullshit.

Until we replace the majority of our government from the ground up, not the top down, what Malaki and we think should happen in Iraq is….

…..irrelevant.

As are you and I.

Oh, mornin’, Scarecrow.

Call the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaambulance.

Maliki could only stab Krusty in the back thanks to the surge..LOL

There are a couple of interesting things to juxtapose.

McSame was in PA and some woman complained about having to go into Lowes and —oh my god—having to see the word “entrance” written in Spanish!

Then there’s a piece in the Guardian warning Europeans not to be too gaga over Obama—after all, the Americans might paint him as being foreign.

It would seem that we’re in for an escalation of the xenophobia wars. Economic insecurity is going to blow this one up in ways that are going to get really ugly, methinks.

Yeah, but flip-flopping while cutting and running illustrates an amazing ability to multi-task, don’t you think?

Well why wouldn’t the Bush folks pressure al-Maliki on his talking to a German magazine. It worked when they pressured a German politician about Obama’s speech site….

(Oxdown’s off to a good start…here’s to many diaries and comments there too. Jane and Christy and all have done the heavy lifting to give us the opportunity, let’s take part!)

This “misunderstanding” is just what and why the Bush/McCain camp put
up such a howl at the announcement of the Obama trip. Shades of the
Saigon government in it’s attempts to pursue it’s own policy years ago.
Genghis Kahn could not keep all his kings supplied with sleep…

OT - Cynthia McKinney an Rosa Clemente on democracy now! this morning.

The gist of the White House’s explanation is that the Iraqis and Maliki specifically were simply too unsophisticated to grasp the implications of Maliki’s remarks. ~ TPM

I am so sick of the condescending arrogance of this administration, I could just puke. You?

Oh. Good morning.

Economic insecurity is going to blow this one up in ways that are going to get really ugly, methinks.

I do believe you’re right. On the ground we’ve got our work cut out for us.

I love the sound of a smacked down bigot. Sounds like………..victory.

Morning Scarecrow

The gist of the White House’s explanation is that the Iraqis and Maliki specifically were simply too unsophisticated to grasp the implications of Maliki’s remarks. ~ TPM

Maliki’s too unsophisticated to grasp the implications of his own remarks, eh? Seems like one could easily make the same argument about Bush.

Mornin’ Scarecrow.

don’t be so sure. When people are afraid for their own security, they act out. Obama to many people will be much scarier than McSame. And the black/white thing may pale before the “brown people” thing. Immigration is a real hot button before you add economics to it.

So basically what you’re saying is the Hillary Clinton/John McCain stance is we stay in Iraq forever? Wow! Good thing I’m not supporting those two because that goes against everything I’ve fought for over the years. How about you ACitizen? You want to stay in Iraq forever trying to reach those “time horizons” that seem to move as you walk and are you signing up for the service in the meantime?

Okay, going to work. I look forward to reading your well thought out responses this afternoon!

don’t be so sure. When people are afraid for their own security, they act out. Obama to many people will be much scarier than McSame. And the black/white thing may pale before the “brown people” thing. Immigration is a real hot button before you add economics to it.

*******
error message to try again. which means this post may wind up showing up twice. If so, apologies.

Good morning. In California today, and there’s no sun here. Gore was right.

We’re supposed to be starting our new OxDown, Or OxBox incident, or something hopefully not oxymoronic today. I have to find it.

Oh, I know only too well. I’ve got one at work. Everything is the fault of the brown people and even told me not to be surprised if “something happened” to Obama. Also believes US corporations are controlled by the Mafia. There’s no talking sense to him, been tryin’ for almost 8 years. Gets all his info from Faux and that’s gospel far as he’s concerned. Right now he’s not talking to me because I couldn’t help but laugh when he told me his Mafia theory two weeks ago. Thankfully they’re not all like Joe Horn in Texas.

Here. It is hiccuping too.

I hope that we can get the “new comments” feature back. Having to do a total refresh all the time makes for even more hiccups.

You’re up early CA time!

No sun in MN either. Pervasive gloom? Where is/are the diary(ies)?

oxdown front page

I saw something about noon-ish. I’ve peeked but am gonna wait for the launch and instructions. When all else fails read the instructions.

OxBow Incident. Man, I hope not.

He’s right about the Mafia—it’s just a different Mafia.

I have a strong suspicion that Maliki needs to watch his back, more than ever. He is getting entirely too uppity.

Plenty of sun in FL. 80 at 6am.

My prediction: Maliki leaves government before August 1st in order to “spend more time with his family”. That or he’s assassinated.

not enough of a puppet for Darth’s taste.

hi there pal,stitches out still working on my site,and the Goopers teh sukketh,sez it all,oh and President Obama seems like heaven forbid…a DIPLOMAT ..”g”

im SLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWLY,turning some in my community to an ANTI repuke thought process

I have this nagging feeling that a lot of talking has been going on between the factions in Irak. Duh. Sadr has been really quiet for a long time and I got a sense from Mohammed the last time he was here. Reading tea leaves but the Americans may be just about to be handed their walking papers.

FREEDOM must REIGN

Apparently, OxDown doesn’t start until 5:00 Pacific.

should have happened years ago…..sigh all those pretty printed greenbacks

Hi sadly. Nice to hear about both yer hand and site. I figure if I can smarten this guy up there’s hope. Getting tired of beatin’ my head against the wall after each encounter.

As long as they bring back the “new comments” link. Hard refresh is gettin’ really, really old.

The Iraqi’s read the Bush playbook. So has the rest of the world. Not that it’s all that difficult. At some point the Mayberry Machiavellians run up against the real article.

‘Until we replace the majority of our government from the ground up, not the top down, what Malaki and we think should happen in Iraq is….

…..irrelevant.

As are you and I.’
—————————-
Granted, ACitizen. But how do you propose to accomplish this, especially given the citizenry in our authoritarian-corporatist polity here? Revolutions have a nasty way of devouring their children. And a dumbded-down and lethargic citizenry will not effect positive change. The system here has got people so worried about their credit cards and housing and keeping some job of work that citizens think that they cannot afford, in any terms, to effect effective (if you will) change and the sacrifices that will entail. The political system here is loaded and a shameful sham. I can hear Thers (and some other choice specimens) taking us both *rudely* to task, but pish-tosh!

Surely BushCo will smack that down and hide the evidence. Can’t imagine this administration doing a “goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are” exit. Grim Veeper is losing control. Ergo, something bad is about to go down there. Well, badder than now.

smak him upside the haid ,with a velvet soft glove….”g”

same old book as YE OLDE FASCIST DIARY of dirty tricks with no treats…cept for themselves of course

Good Morning Scarecrow and Firedogs,

DoC -

either would be sadly predictable at this point - and so would their ignoring who is pulling the levers in Bagdad

I’d like to be a fly on the wall in the general’s briefing room. They’ve got to be questioning their intelligence sources because of what’s happened lately in both Irak and Afghanistan. Killing the son of a provincial governor, various and sundry other civilians all based on local intel has got to be cause for concern by the American top brass.

scarecrow at 23

i’ve been calling it OXNARD, cuz i like saying that word.

and i was trying to get ’diary tips’, cuz i admit i don’t read a lot of them, i was on dialup and the two sites that had them took too long to load, so , only went there when someone posted a link to a specific one.

wanted to know how many words, how many links, etc……already have two subjects if i write them out. yesterday i was was told can be anything, but i need parameters…..

guess the announcement today will have a few more specifics in it, for those of us who aren’t so savvy in the ways of diary-making.

time for the local call in show……

and top ’o the mornin’ to ya!

Mayberry Machiavellians

Booyah! *g*

the talking points memo link is not loading for me

I’m sorry; Oxdown begins at 9:00 a.m. Pacific, not 5:00 a.m. My mistake.

That’s my take on it too. They are seeing the ‘light at the end of the tunnel.’ Here’s something else to ponder. The invasion was in large part a looting operation. Most of the loot would go to the looters, who put the cost of the operation up front and naturally thought they had a right to a return on their investment. But a small tax on that loot was always intended to go to the puppet government, originally intended to be Chalabi, but in any case someone pliable. What’s happened is that there wasn’t enough loot to make the thing work. The only people who’ve been looted are the American people, or maybe the Chinese if we default on our debts to them, so there isn’t anything other than the exercise of power to bribe the puppet government with. And the power isn’t there. So the Iraqi’s who might otherwise cooperate are striking deals with their opposition to get the foreign looters out.

Apparently, OxDown doesn’t start until 5:00 Pacific.

someone didn’t tell the techies who’ve made it live, jane or all the other diarist who’ve already written diaries and commenters who’ve commented.. *g*

Your mistake? Crikey, you’d make a lousy Repug, making an admission like that. What’re ya thinkin’???

Try this link

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/204829.php

the talking points link opened for me finally, I guess their bandwidth is under pressure, good on them

Off to swim in the great capitalist cesspool.

Hope to be back in time for the launch of the OxCart Xpress.

Be good to yourselves, and all other living things.

Namaste

The Wizard told me this. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. I’m working on a strange computer and still looking for the ENTER key.

*waving bye!*

I wonder if we were supposed to find it. I know they wouldn’t put it up without testing it live and finding it through the profile tool is not something everybody would do. Hard to fool savvy DFH’s most of the time.

does anyone know how “pach” pronounces his name?

does it ryme with “back”?

or does it ryme with “hock”?

in any event, I would like to call his diary the “pach attack”

that was supposed to be for SD who is off to swim in the capitalist cesspool

Paaahch

dude! you’re talking to the person who still can’t find the “shift” key after all these years!

just like Hitler,looting all the EUROPEAN GOLD…same playbook…he also had a great appetite for ART masterpieces as well

had the genuine pleasure and honor to shake Pach’s hand on friday night - he was pronouncing it -Potch

ps - hugged him twice - once for me and once for all of you who could not be there - he hugged you all back

This one has two shift keys; I assume one is for liberals, one for conservatives. There doesn’t seem to be a center key.

Does your screen have an Oxdown link? I don’t see anything. Or were you referring to the earlier trials?

Man doesn’t even know his name. I just bow and try not to let him grab my heart for some ritual.

the new site makes my browser crash faster than fdl, and that’s fast……..took about 18 screens/tries to get one post a diary page to stay…the main page is a little slower, so it worked three times, the diary post page is gonno almost as soon as it appears …so, looks like i won’t be there much until i find out why.

it did this the other day when i was in there, thought it was because they were working on it, so, not just today.

would appreciate it if someone at fdl could address it, mostly happens here and wapo, but at wapo i have plenty of time to stop the page from loading and it won’t do it……here, it’s a roulette wheel whether i can stop it loading before it’s gonna crash, never know if it’s going to work or not.

toolbox > profile > latest diaries > read more

will get you to the homepage.

not the most direct route, but it’s a legit one (ie part of the design vs one found via a search engine)

i’m gonna guess that for the techies to help you, they will need info such as:

computer model type, operating system and browser. probably version numbers wouldn’t hurt.

… just fyi, i’ve found that this site has some funky scripts that cause me problems too (but only on older and slower computers).

I’d sacrifice mine if he had a way to expunge the govt. of Darth and all the republican’ts and fix the mess we’re in.

I know he’s powerful, but I also know he’s not that powerful.

I thought that route led to the little room where the guys from NSA sit.

looks like jane found them and kicked them the hell out.

well thank goodness he’s Incan - imagine the problems if he were one of these Aztec Gods

This is getting better: From Iraq, where Obama just meeting with Iraqis:

Iraq’s government spokesman is hopeful that U.S. combat forces could be out of the country by 2010.

Ali al-Dabbagh made the comments following a meeting in Baghdad on Monday between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, who arrived in Iraq earlier in the day.

The timeframe is similar to Obama’s proposal to pull back combat troops within 16 months. The Iraqi government has been trying to clarify its position on a possible troop withdrawal since al-Maliki was quoted in a German magazine last week saying he supported Obama’s timetable.

The Iraqi government later said the prime minister’s remarks were misinterpreted.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....IOHP4UewgF

Pach is from Pachacutec, and he made quite a point of the pronunciation several months ago in a post - back when he was still posting and not working on other things for FDL.

Excuse me, but I seem to have missed it. What diaries are you talking about? I’ve had the coffee, but it doesn’t seem to be working like it should. Does someone have a link for the FAQ page? …for those of us moving slow this AM.

Oh Scarecrow, good talking point.

Well she didn’t get ‘em all. This site has some very strange actions going on every day. I’ve got at least a T1 link and this site loads slow or sometimes not at all.

The Lake of Fire and Dogs needs some serious pest control it would seem.

I’m sorry for the confusion. FDL will try to start its new Oxdown feature, starting later this a.m., — 9:00 a.m. Pacific — which allows folks to write diaries. There should be an announcement later today.

karnak12 @ 79–i guess your ’karnak skills’ are still in training? lol

http://firedoglake.com/2008/07…..cement-is/

and selise at 27 had a direct link.

Spencer Ackerman follows up on the latest news on al Maliki translation here.

http://attackerman.firedoglake.....amemccain/

ny link was the announcement from friday

Christy’s up

We tend to view political developments in Iraq in terms of the American political scene. This is usually mistaken. My take on this is that Maliki recognizes that Obama is almost certainly going to be the next President and that for domestic political reasons he can not be more pro-occupation than the US is. It was this that ultimately doomed the SOFA and has pushed Maliki to move in Obama’s direction. If it is going to happen anyway then he might as well act as if it was always his position.

pics?

Huh?

Never forget O’Neill’s Law:

“All politics is local.”

al-Maliki changed his mind on the Status of Forces Agreement when the Iraqi parliament was going to hold a no-confidence vote on him. Why? For negotiating on a long-term US military presence in the country. al-Maliki decided he likes being Prime Minister, and so he had to back off the negotiations.

Sorry for the lack of linkies, but I was listening to all this transpire on the BBC World Service as I was driving to a family reunion last month.

As far as Obama being the next president, from your keyboard to God’s monitor … but I think the proper predicate is more like “hopes” or “believes” rather than “recognizes” and drop the adverb “almost certainly”.

BC

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