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November 26, 2006 The Folly Of IraqToo much has been made by the right of the idea that to leave Iraq now would be a sign of weakness to Bin Laden. It's too late for that. It's already clear to the world that we are weak already, thanks to our leadership's failure to plan. The same country that destroyed the Nazi and Japanese war machine is unable to secure a relative backwater like Iraq in the same amount of time. The same country whose military unleashed hell because we knew our cause was just and that our survival hinged on victory had leaders who went into Iraq on the cheap and let our troops get stuck in a civil war. Justification for the war aside, this thing was winnable, if only President Bush, VP Cheney, Sec. Rumsfeld, and a host of others had not let hubris get in the way and set us up to fail. 3,000 Americans have died for no good reason, with no good strategy behind them and no matter the equivocation of the right-wing, that is a failure and we will all feel the consequences of it (and someone please tell the wingers who keep doing a 1:1 comparison of deaths that it is 2006, not 1944 and if we had the same amount of deaths it would be a heck of a failure of technology, and furthermore they should check out the thousands of injuries we've got that would be deaths in the past - and this in no way makes the current deaths somehow okay). >> For those interested in the history of why we were set up to lose, read "Blind Into Baghdad"
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I'm just saying. Seeking his first win as an NFL starting quarterback, Jason Campbell faced a vital third down with his team trailing late in the fourth quarter.
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Any time these chuckleheads start caterwauling you know you've made a considerably honest hit.
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November 25, 2006 Moment Of IronyOn Thanksgiving, the conservative Republican site Redstate produced an entry lauding the Sierra Nevada along with a painting representing it (along with the obligatory gratuitous dig at Europe) but it is this Republican president that has threatened to log the hell out of those same forests.
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Why am I not surprised that, once again, the Bushes turn to Saudi Arabia? UPDATE: Here's another fixer.
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November 24, 2006 The Democratic Congress Can Deliver Stem Cell ResearchOne interesting element of this is that stem cell research has come down on the Democratic side as a "wedge" issue, used effectively in senate campaigns like here in Maryland (Michael Steele, who lost by 10%, compared the research to Nazism) and in Missouri (where Rush Limbaugh accused Michael J. Fox of faking it, and Claire McCaskill ended up winning by 3%). But unlike the right's endless wedge issues (gay marriage, abortion, etc.) we're actually going to be doing something about it when we're in power.
I want to see this bill written into law because people need help, but if we don't get the amount required to override a veto and Bush (likely) vetoes it -- well, that's yet another great argument in favor of a Democratic president two years from now.
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The facts continue their domination of the game.
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The freedom train keeps rolling on.
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I've previously written about the right trying to co-opt liberal leader Martin Luther King for their own cause, attempting to make him their own without regard to the actual history. In that same vein Mahablog catches cons attempting to make one of the most liberal presidents in history, FDR, a conservative hero. Once again, the facts disagree. But we should ask: why do they keep trying to do this? There's clearly some sort of deficiency with the con icons why they think its a good idea to steal ours.
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As the GOP has been ramming down our throats for years, elections have consequences.
To the minority party, this is called "doing your job". Perhaps if you had done this, more of you would be coming back to Washington in January.
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George H.W. Bush, while a better president than George W. Bush, shows us once again why America could only stomach him for one term.
First off, your idiot son is not America. In fact, the idea that millions of people want to come to America in spite of your son's horrible "leadership" is a testament to the strength of the idea of America in face of a family who only wishes to urinate on that dream. News flash: Your son is going to go down in history as one of the worst and least liked presidents in history. On his watch thousands of Americans have died unnecessarily from terror and war, while an entire city drowned as he yucked it up and the government let corruption run wild. Deal with it.
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This idiot at "The Jawa Report" is blaming the recent explosion of violence in Iraq... on the Democrats. Of course, this same gang of right-wing idiots was blaming the war before the election on the terrorists trying to get Democrats elected. Somehow the violence is never a result of the fact that their president invaded Iraq and botched the occupation for over three years now. Dumbasses. Thank God we took control of the Senate and House before they totally run this country of ours into the ground with their stupidity. UPDATE: Rob Port idiotically says it's also the media's fault for not being "balanced" because a giant bombing is exactly of the same news value as a repainted school somewhere.
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November 23, 2006 Happy ThanksgivingHope everyone has a good holiday!
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November 22, 2006 Statement From Oliver Willis To The Rumors And News Reports That Oliver Willis Is Somehow Involved Romantically With Jessica Alba, That Is, The Rumors That Jessica Alba is Deeply In Love With Oliver Willis Of Takoma Park, MD
-- Oliver Willis (who, according to rumors, is dating Jessica Alba)
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Earlier this week I documented how conservatives were continuing the war on fiction by going after animated characters. Well now the idiots have made the leap from 2D animation to 3D, pushing a concerted effort against "Happy Feet" because they see the toon as some sort of leftist propaganda. I thought it was just Elijah Wood and Robin Williams doing silly voices but I clearly missed the nuance. $44 million worth of nuance, when will it end?!
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He is incapable of not being derisive.
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You should get some further perspective on US Airways, the carrier that apparently decided that a bunch of praying Muslims is a security threat in its own right. They are a horrible, horrible airline. Two Christmases ago I flew US Airways to Jamaica. The plane took off late. The connecting flight was late. Then they lost my luggage. They couldn't tell me where it had been scanned last or where it might be, for two whole days. Stupidly, I booked a flight with them in Summer '05 down to Florida for a friend's wedding. The flight was late again, going both ways. At this point I would rather postpone my travel arrangements until I could afford another airline rather than ever fly on US Airways again. So, you should throw that into your decision matrix on whether they are good guys or not.
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He is the chosen one.
One of the difficulties the left has had with George Bush is that for someone with an insane belief structure he's good at "passing" as a normal human being with a normal religious faith, not an extremist one. With Sam Brownback there is no such fakery.
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November 21, 2006 Crazy TalkI hate white guilt. I really do. Adele Stan writes on TAPPED.
Oh, come on. People are not racist simply because of their race. That's actually kind of a racist thing to say. In my experience as a black American (all my life, ba-dum) of Carribean descent (whenever I go "home to Mom" on Christmas vacation, this is where I go - how kickass is that?) I've probably personally seen more racism from my fellow black people than white people. The idea that every white person should walk around with the legacy of Bull Connor on his or her back is ludicrous, no more than the idea that black people are automatically filled with virtue and sanctity because our ancestors were treated as subhuman (I don't get to act like an ass simply because Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King Jr. were on my team). There's enough racism and discrimination in the real world that we have no reason to heap on the imaginary stuff too. (Also, Adele is wrong about Seinfeld - the funniest comedy ever - was never homophobic. In fact, Seinfeld made fun of Jerry and George's latent homophobia all the time - "not that there's anything wrong with that". And I know I'm an outlier for being a black guy who loves Seinfeld, but it's about a single guy who loves cereal and Superman and cracks jokes. Besides the white thing and the daily diet of supermodels, and the Jewish thing - I am Seinfeld)
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A reader sent me this video. Somehow I don't think our job in Iraq is to taunt little kids with bottles of water.
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Run Obama is a new blog pushing Barack Obama for president. It joins Draft Obama as another online front for the senator's supporters. There are also signs of life on the senator's own site, posting the video for his recent Iraq speech.
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So, since we're yanking imams from flights because of what others have done, is it okay to remove priests from airplanes because they might rape young boys?
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Quarterback Tony Romo, who said his ex-girlfriend broke up with him just hours before he took over the reins of America's Team, recently revealed having a crush on actress and singer Jessica Simpson, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I'm officially releasing the rumor that I have a "crush" on Jessica Alba. I'm willing to go as far to say that "questions swirl" around the fact that I would marry Jessica Alba in a New York minute. Granted, I'm not the quarterback of a legendary sports franchise, but I have played a lot of John Madden football so that ought to account for something. I now await the call from Jessica's "representatives" but feel free to rumor away that she and I are now "an item". UPDATE: See? The story is "out there", it's being "reported". Sources say...
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Jack Del Rio, Jaguars head coach, wore a suit on the sidelines. Apparently he and Mike Nolan had to get a special exception from the NFL to do so.
Frankly it pales in comparison to Hank "Matriculate The Ball Down The Field" Stram.
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I was expecting some mudslinging, but not this soon. Mitt Romney is now officially on the attack.
The lesson the GOP "learned" from the 2006 election is that the voters wanted a "conservative" party, when in fact the people want moderation. The GOP candidates seem ready to all out-winger each other ("I don't support gay marriage", "Well I support killing gays!"), which will set up a great comparison with the center-left mainstream Democratic candidate. ALSO: While it may not be fair, increased visibility for polygamists has got to be the last thing Mitt Romney wants to see in the press right now.
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Conan O'Brien sends up the Iraq war... or does he?
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So I get hit a lot as being a dove because I'm a proud Democrat, but occasionally I get hit as too hawkish from folks to the left of me. Here's some quick thoughts on where I stand. 1. Attack America, get hit back. If you attack America or our aliies expect to get hit back just as hard. I don't believe in turning the other cheek. 2. No bulls (or elephants) in the china shop. Military action is always the last option in diplomatic negotiations. If talking one-on-one with a bad guy will avert having to bomb people, do it - it's not worth acting like a fake macho man with things this important. 3. Going to war? Do it right. I'm a big fan of the Powell Doctrine, which is - overload the enemy with superior firepower, have an achievable goal as your exit strategy. Hit hard, hit fast, get the hell out. 4. Don't torture people. It doesn't work, it's immoral. Being "not as bad as Saddam" is not a reliable benchmark for America. 5. Collateral damage happens, try to avoid it and be sensitive about it. In war, innocent people will die. We should use all our power to avoid that and when it does happen try not to be cold assholes about it. 6. Don't pretend we're angels. No country is without skeletons in the closet, let alone a superpower like America. Go into diplomacy and battle with the knowledge of past mistakes and the mindset to not repeat them again. 7. America isn't the Great Satan. On balance, America's people want to do good in the world. The methods may or may have been sloppy and plodding but the intentions are more often than not pure. Take criticisms with the same grain of salt you take plaudits with. 8. War isn't always the answer, but sometimes it is. You can't take military options completely off the table, especially when our sovereignty is threatened. That said, it shouldn't be the only or the first option in most situations. In case of war, the cause must be just and the reasoning without question - throwing stuff up against the wall and hoping something sticks is not a viable rationale.
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Once Bizarro has made a pact with Alternate-Universe Communist Superman, we have no hope.
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November 20, 2006 Newt Gingrich's MegalomaniaNot to mince words but rarely in American history have we had as odious a political figure as Newt Gingrich. He represents outwardly everything America hates about Republicans and their extremism. He's a tight ball of hate. Via Political Wire, his love for himself is also on display: "I am seeking to create a movement to win the future by offering a series of solutions so compelling that if the American people say I have to be president, it will happen." Dear Republicans - please support this man. I want an easy trip to the White House for the Dems.
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One of the things I learned about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the Ted Koppel special was the intriguing parallel between Bush and his Iranian counterpart. Apparently much of the intellectual class in Iran thinks Ahmadinejad is a bit of a lightweight, heavy on religious rhetoric but not exactly there intellectually. His power comes from the rural parts of Iran, where the poor vote for him and his populist promises and while he hasn't delivered for them fiscally, the religious rhetoric convinces them that he is their "man". Remind you of anyone?
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The draft is just a bad idea, no matter who proposes it and implements it. Compulsory military service is just destined to failure. If people want to join up they will.
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It's possible. At the very least we ought to be able to research it.
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It's intriguing to see the difference from John McCain (Stay The Course) and Hillary Clinton with this development.
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Michael Richards, aka Kramer from Seinfeld, is apparently an insane racist.
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November 19, 2006 Georgia 4th An Embarrasment No MoreMan, am I glad Cynthia McKinney isn't around any more. The man who knocked Georgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney out of Congress said he immediately recognized the name tag of the Capitol Hill police officer he ran into by chance in a congressional hallway this week. |
