Asymmetric warfare

Tonight George W. Bush and John F. Kerry square off in a debate. I feel there are far too few of these (3 !?!), and that they are poorly orchestrated, but they are all we can get in America for some reason. Wouldn't it be nice if we had as much time to pick a President as we did a Lord-of-the-Flies/Survivor champion?

C'est la vie!

James Fallows analyzed GWB's and JFK's debates and gave a detailed opinion of what to expect from the upcoming oratory. I think he does a good job and maybe you will too:

In this corner...

George on George

If you would like to hear what George Soros has to say about President Bush, then you can read a transcript of a speech he gave to the National Press Club here:

Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush

Now you know why Bush-heads hate George Soros, as well as why George Soros is spending his money to defeat W.

Clearing muddy water

I periodically like to post polling papers by James Carville's Democracy Corps organization because I think:

A) Carville knows his trade
B) Democracy Corps clarifies muddy waters

Here is their latest analysis of the battle for Pennsylvania Avenue:

Neck and Neck

The short version of their analysis is a statistical dead heat, with each candidate having exhausted their convention bounce. In other words, it'll be a close race.

The upcoming Presidential debates (starting Thursday night) ought to help Kerry syphon off the undecideds, since he was a founder of the John Winant Society (they debate issues) while Bush was a male Cheerleader and avid beer-tipper.

I would advise John Kerry to adopt the words of James Carville while debating President Bush, "If your opponent is drowning, throw him an anchor." I would also advise that he fires anybody that recommends kid gloves with President Bush. You must attack him, kick him when he's down, and call him a whiner when he complains.

An Un-American Way to Campaign

The folks at the New York Times are upset at the way President Bush's campaign continues to insinuate that a vote for Kerry is a vote for Osama.

Gutter politics

Their editorial seems somehow quaint, since I don't think Karl Rove cares a fiddlers fart what those "intellectuals" at the NYT think. He will probably have their movements tracked by a drone and send the FBI to "investigate" their staff. Then they'll sing a song of six-pence by golly.

Another tree falls

Republican and former EPA chief Russell Train says he'll vote for Kerry because of Bush's bad environmental track record.


Russell Train on Bush


It is now safe to say that clear-cutting is going on in the Republican wood. As the trees fall can you hear them?

Double dang

Here are two bits of news.

Oil price hits $50 a barrel.

US forces bomb slum

Neither story supports George Bush's rosy portraits of his own prowess, but then again, he is the one that promised sweets and flowers to our troops and proclaimed "Mission Accomplished" to their parents.

Comparing Bush-speak with the facts

Here is an article which compares President Bush's happy-talk with some cold, hard, contradictory facts in Iraqmire.

Glaring discrepancies

More Happy talk

The happy talk:

President Bush claims that he'll reduce the defecit by half over the next five years (he will conveniently be out of office when it is time to check).

The reality:

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said President Bush's policies would contribute to a deficit rise of more than 3.6 trillion dollars in the next decade.

Rose-scented turd?

I am hopeful fiscal conservatives will abandon Bush the way he has abandoned fiscal discipline for happy talk.

Iraq - It's Worse Than You Think

The folks at Newsweek are starting to realize that Iraq looks like a giant catastrophe born of miscalculation, hubris, and poor planning. If Americans start to realize the same thing, then George Bush's confidence will be exposed as denial.

Course change or catastrophe?

A campaign strategy for Kerry

Joshua Micah Marshall has put forth a campaign strategy for John Kerry that looks like a winner to me. In this article he also talks about the recent attack ads and why Kerry *should be* fighting back mercilessly.

The abbreviated version is this: Explain Bush's policy failings in terms of his moral failings. Because he thought the Iraq war would be a difficult sell, he lied, but we pay the price in dollars and lives. Because he cannot admit tax-cuts aren't working we sink deeper in debt. Because forward planning for the war in Iraq would have made it a tougher sell, he ignored it and we can't establish peace on the ground. Because he cannot admit his mistakes he hasn't attended a single funeral for a soldier.

A battle plan for JFK

I think Josh does do a great job at laying the whole idea out. Whether or not John Kerry uses it, you certainly can when you talk to your friends and neighbors.

Our way works better

Here is a summary of John Kerry's economic policy, and the one I hope will prevail in November.

Kerry's Economic Policy

When you look at his record you see that Bush is all talk. His choices have turned a surplus into a deficit while increasing the trade deficit, lost 1.6 million jobs since January of 2001, made health care less affordable, and led to falling family incomes.

It is time for America to head in a new direction and all it takes is your vote. Kerry is not in the habit of leaving people in trouble behind.

I'll be taking a short break

I'll be back on Sunday after a short break. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Beheadings aren't success predictors

There is a side to the recent beheadings that I haven't seen discussed much by the press. Zarqawi is purportedly demanding that the Iraqi female prisoners should be released.

"Is Zarqawi risking his life in a gesture of chivalry?", I wondered.

DEBKAfile reports that of the five female prisoners two are:

"Dr. Rihab Taha, a microbiologist known as Dr. Germ, and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, head of his anthrax project and member of the Baath ruling command council"

More...

Maybe a neocon should be shot every time something like this happens. Those idols of idiot worshipers would deserve it for cheerleading our soldiers into Iraqmire.

Jimmy Swaggert votes Republican

Jimmy Swaggert does not seem to embody the teachings of Jesus Christ when he speaks thusly about homosexuals:

I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm gonna be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died.


More...

I am going to be blunt and plain: If you vote Republican you will be strengthening the power of men like Swaggart and making it acceptable to gay-bash in America. If you are gay and vote Republican look in the mirror and introduce yourself to an idiot.

Three GOP Senators Urge Refocusing of Iraq Policy (washingtonpost.com)

These Republicans (McCain, Graham, and Hagel) think we're doing a lousy job in Iraq and I agree. We differ on the solution. I suggest getting rid of the incompetent Bush administration and replacing it with one run by John Kerry.

They want Bush to refocus.

Personally I'd like to see President Bush refocus on large-mouth bass and drinking beers with the fellas down in Crawford. If he can't focus on the war he started then he isn't a man I want in the Whitehouse.


Three GOP Senators Urge Refocusing of Iraq Policy

John Kerry Speech at New York University

John Kerry is defining his strategy to fight the war on terror and delivered a speech to New York University on September 20th to that end.

The line I find most interesting is this one:

"...we must have a great honest national debate on Iraq. The President claims it is the centerpiece of his war on terror. In fact, Iraq was a profound diversion from that war and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. Invading Iraq has created a crisis of historic proportions and, if we do not change course, there is the prospect of a war with no end in sight."

I think that is a crucial point and whether or not you agree with it will probably decide where you cast your vote in November. I agree with that assessment, since even the President's administration publicly declares that they think Osama is in Pakistan, not Iraq.

Read the speech here

Republican's like to shadow John Kerry with flip-flops. I think Democrats should start bringing Osama Bin Laden's face on a stick and chant:

Smoke him out!
Bring 'em on!
Mission Accomplished!

Smoke him out!
Bring 'em on!
Mission Accomplished!

Britain's ambassador to Italy snubs Bush

Britain's ambassador to Italy called President Bush "the best recruiting sergeant" for al Quaeda.

If I had to guess why he said that, I'd guess he felt that the invasion of Iraq solidified our enemies and divided our allies. Chances are it was a comment not intended for public consumption and Tony Blair will introduce his foot to Mr. Robert's backside.

The story

Look out Virginia!

There is a bill in the House of Representatives called H.R. 163. whose purpose is:

"To provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes"

I couldn't figure out how to provide a decent link, but if you go to this website and enter HR 163 as the bill number and press search you'll get the full details.

Type "HR 163", press Search

The machine men are coming for the children, including the women folk. Consider yourselves warned.

More happy talk in the face of the sad truth

President Bush makes Stalin look like an amateur in the use of happy-talk in this article.

Bush 'pleased with the progress' in Iraq

Is this what pleases him?

Group threatens to kill hostages

Or this?

Iraq: Signs of desperation

I hope the good Lord is in the mood to answer prayers today. Mine will be offered with conviction and sincerity.

Voices of the grandfathers

American culture has an open contempt for the wisdom of the old that I don't understand. Why shouldn't we look to those who have been and have seen a great deal for guidance?

If we did, this is what we'd hear:

Dean of Senate on Bush

Explosions rock central Baghdad

Are Americans willfully ignoring a catastrophe or are they catastrophically misinformed about Iraq? After all this loss of life, time, and expense we don't even control Baghdad.

More bombs in central Baghdad

Our troops have been forced into hardened bunkers and the fighting now surrounds Allawi. If these Bush administration dreamers are allowed to mismanage things any further Vietnam is going to start looking like the good ol' days.

If we don't change our course we shall go where we're headed. The next exit is called hell and it is fast approaching.

Is Syria in Sudan?

This news article reports that Syria has been testing chemical weapons on the people in Darfur.

I cannot but suspect that the "unnamed western source" quoted in the article is a minion of Douglas Feith since the timing (an October surprise?) and the wolf (Syria) are all too convenient for the Bush final solution, but perhaps I am too cynical.

You decide.

WMD or GWB in Darfur?

It's a close friendship

Ariel Sharon hasn't paid much attention to Bush's roadmap to peace and neither has Yasser Arafat or George Bush himself. Here Ariel Sharon makes an official announcement that he isn't going to be following the roadmap after pulling out of Gaza:

Another obstacle to lunacy removed

I don't think this changes anything on the ground, but it does illustrate how ineffective this President's "vision" is.

Our strategy is succeeding

President Bush fancies himself a modern-day Churchill on a mission from God to save America from terror. Nothing illustrates the gigantic chasm between George Bush's fantasies and reality like this article in which The Guardian talks with senior US military officers on the situation in Iraq:


Vietnamization

U.S. Casualties for August

72 US soldiers died in August. Here are their names:

August Casualties

Slightly over 1,100 US Service Members were Wounded in Iraq:

Violence rising

And George Bush wants to brag.

Spin Cycle

Republicans See Budget Shift on Iraq as Sign of Trouble

The Bush administration announced that it wants to divert $3 billion dollars from reconstruction work in Iraq towards security measures.

Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations committee said that is a sign that the American campaign in Iraq is in serious trouble.

Pay attention

Anybody paying attention knows the campaign in Iraq is in serious trouble. I think it is safe to include Bush among those paying attention. You can see it in his eyes and the way he is sweating of late.

How would you feel if...

How would you feel if it turned out that "evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantánamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary, chose to do nothing about it?"

Seymour Hersh is not done reporting on the prisoner abuse of operation Enduring Freedom (or was that Infinite Justice?).

Bush team knew

It's one thing to torture someone because they have information which can prevent an attack, but it is quite another to do it for fun. Rumsfeld could be looking at a war crimes tribunal over this, and I can't say I'd wish him luck if these allegations are true.

Chocolate rations to increase!

Click photo and see the light 

One by One, Iraqi Cities Become No-Go Zones

Unless you are a crash test dummy, changing the course can be a hell of a smart thing to do. Bush's leadership is producing failure in Iraq, and I can't tolerate talk of stubbornly "staying the course" while we run into a cement wall at high speed.

After losing 1,000 American lives and spending 200 billion dollars and deploying 140,000 American troops we are further away from our goal of stabalizing Iraq than when Bush declared our mission accomplished. Do you realize that city after city is becoming off-limits to US forces in Iraq?

Iraqmire

Are you aware that there has been a large INCREASE of attacks in Iraq recently?

Trouble in bar-graph form

Our troops serve with bravery and honor and deserve a winning game plan. John Kerry has one and the sooner it gets implemented the better. Don't waste your vote in November, cast it for a course change, and give our troops the support they need.

The wall looms nearer and you can't wait too long at this speed.

The Bush recovery

This link takes a look at the economic recovery engineered by the Bush adminstration. It looks like the current recovery is the weakest recovery from a recession in recent history.

Tepid growth

Good news

We're turning the corner:

Battles erupt in Baghdad, at least 13 killed and 55 wounded


George Bush was right after all.

Time flies 

God bless the Eritrean armada.

We all know there is strength in numbers and this principal is what motivates cooperative-minded people to reject the go-it-alone policies of George W. Bush. We see isolation, in fact, as a sign of leadership failure, since one cannot lead without followers.

It seems our coalition has shrunk yet again.

Costa Rica Demands Exit From Coalition

May God bless the Eritrean armada.

The cost of war

If you are one of war's cheerleaders look into the eyes of the fallen and see what you have spent.

If you are one of war's detractors, look into the eyes of the fallen and receive your motivation to keep working.

The Faces of 1,000 Soldiers (Scroll down)

When you finally reach the bottom you'll have a better understanding of my motivation to blog.

Kiss 7,000 more jobs bye-bye

The happy talk:

Bush says economy 'strong and getting stronger'

Economy a castrophic success


The reality:

Delta to slash up to 7,000 jobs

Poverty rising, middle class shrinking, and number of insured declines

EDS to cut 20,000 jobs


Meanwhile, on the horizon:


Insurance premiums rise 11%

Oil prices on the rise after brief decline


I retort, you decide.

A Case Not Yet Closed

Senator Bob Graham claims to have a smoking gun which shows that the Bush administration protected the Saudis involved in 9/11 from investigation.

He has written a new book which explosively charges, "the president coddled the Saudis and pursued a war against Saddam Hussein that only diverted resources from the more important fight against Al Qaeda."

Get out of jail free

Lucky for Bush nobody pays any attention.

When is parody news, and news parody?

Before the RNC got under way the Daily Show produced a video about George Bush's leadership in the war on terror.

It makes you laugh like hell until you realize it isn't a joke. The gag is that every word is true.

Because he says so...

Honoring the fallen

Since George Bush hasn't honored the fallen in Iraq, MoveOn decided to organize some events. Soldiers give a lot for what they ask, and it shouldn't be too much to ask for a little acknowledgement of their sacrifice. Nor should it be too much for the families of the fallen to feel the loss was appreciated.

If you would like to attend or host an event in your area, then check here:

Supporting the troops

If you don't wish to attend anything so formal, simply burn a candle in the window tonight at 8pm. Let's show the troops they are more than a backdrop for a photo opportunity as they have sacrificed 1000 lives in Iraq.

I also suggest performing an action to help visualize the loss. For instance place a penny in a jar for every lost soldier and watch them accumulate. Better yet might be a thousand drops of oil, or a thousand points of light.

George Lakoff on politics

George Lakoff analyzes language, specifically the rhetoric of Republicans and Democrats and tries to fit it into a big picture. I generally find his writing fascinating and expect you will like this article if the other side confuses you:

All in the family

The unwinnable war

11 US soldiers died this weekend in Iraq in a 24 hour period.

Does that sound like turning the corner or success to you?

They didn't die searching for WMDs.
They didn't die removing Saddam from power.
They didn't die hunting Osama bin Forgotten.

So, what did they die for?

1,100 US soldiers were wounded in Iraq in August, the highest total of the war so far.

Does that sound like success to you?


This article highlights the catastrophic portion of our success (to use a Bushism):

The unwinnable war


I'm still waiting for the success portion of our success.

A new low for the party of Richard Nixon

Who said this about George Soros?:

"No other single person represents the symbol and the substance of globalism more than this Hungarian-born descendant of Shylock. He is the embodiment of the Merchant from Venice,"

Answer: GOPAC, an organization that helps elect GOP candidates.

Saying a person is a descendent of Shylock (a character in the Merchant of Venice) is a fancy way to say, "George Soros is a Jewish pig-dog".

Now the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, is calling Soros an illegal drug profiteer, though by making a strong insinuation without a lick of evidence.

Would I be behaving ethically if I were to say, "I don't know where George Bush gets his lavish riches, whether it was from a Nazi supporter named Prescott Bush or not." And if asked to clarify the matter I said, "Well, that's what he's been for a number years – George Bush has been for legalizing corporatism in this country, and Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib are essentially gulags. So, I mean, he's got a lot of ancillary interests out there. ... I'm saying I don't know where groups – could be people who support this type of thing. I'm saying we don't know."

Here is a link to the latest Soros slander:

Crucify him! Crucify him!

The Republican party currently looks like a parade in a cesspool. You might be entertained if you can stomach the smell, but you shouldn't drink the water they sell.

Click picture to learn why 

Bush's camp may cut 1 debate

Arnold would probably call Bush's running away from a debate "girlie man" behavior.

American Idol candidates already get more airtime than Presidential debates. How is that healthy for our democracy?

Cutting and running

Kerry ought to have a field day with this one and I can't wait to hear it.

Choose two: War, Tax-cuts, Compassion

I guess when you go it alone you need to put aside Compassion to pay for your war(s). The Bush administration is now poised to do so by cutting rent subsidies substantially.

Perhaps if President Bush didn't abandon allies as fast as he spent the treasury this wouldn't be happening, but if's and butts aren't candies and nuts.

Deficits matter

I thought President Bush, as a man of faith, believed that "Those who oppress the needy insult their maker."

I guess not.

Mary Cheney's a selfish hedonist

While we're on the topic of GOP gay-bashing Alan Keyes is right on queue. Here is a Republican running for a Senate seat that says homosexuality is "selfish hedonism" and Dick Cheney's daughter Mary (who is lesbian) is a sinner.


Have you no shame, sir, no sense of decency?

I swore a pledge of allegiance to this country that included "liberty and justice for all". I keep my pledges. Some don't.

Burn him/her he/she's a witch/communist/queer

Does anyone else notice similarities between Puritan witch hunting, Joe McCarthy's Communist hunting, and the current round of GOP gay purging?

To wit: Republican US Rep. Edward L. Schrock of Virginia "abruptly announced his retirement" because he is alleged to be gay.

If he were a Democrat, like Barney Frank, he could continue to serve and do so openly. After all, there is no shame in being gay unless you are Republican, in which case you ought to be ashamed to be Republican.

Crucify him! Crucify him!

I confess that it escapes me why anybody would be a gay Republican. To spell it out: your party thinks you are unfit to be of service and is ashamed of you. Wake up before they come after you in the night with flaming torches and blood in their eyes. What do you need writing in the sky? A huge flaming cross on your lawn? Strange fruit hanging in the trees?

For God sakes, man, look at your own damn party platform:

Notice official position on Gay Marriage

Keeping it simple

Click for Iraq analysis 

Another tree falls in the woods

What does Republican General McPeak, who lead the air force during the first Gulf War for H.W. Bush, think of President George W. Bush's leadership (after having voted for him in 2000)?

I was wrong.

Another tree falls in the Republican wood. Can you hear it?

You can get fooled again

Republicans are at it again, and this time it was John McCain giving Michael Moore free prime-time publicity before millions of viewers.

I'm sure Michael loved it. Not only does he get free publicity, but he gets to hear a roomful of Republican's whining.

McCain, Moore, and the GOP

I bet he savors that one for a while to come.