MR. PHONE SEX LIES AGAIN!!!

On Monday¹, Bill "Falafel" O'Reilly claimed that the NY Times didn't put the JFK Muslim terrorist story on page one because the Times is hell-bent on getting a Democrat elected President in 2008:

Over the weekend, four Muslims were accused of planning to blowup JFK Airport here in New York City. That comes on the heels of six Muslims arrested for planning to kill U.S. soldiers in New Jersey. But hey, don't be alarmed. According to John Edwards and "The New York Times," this is no big deal. In Sunday's "Times", editor Bill Keller put the JFK story on, ready, page 37 right above a story about kids playing at Fuddrucker's restaurant. Every other New York City paper had the Muslim suspects on page one, where they should have been.

[SNIP]

Now why did "The New York Times" do that? It's not hard to figure it out. The war on terror is perceived to be a Republican strong point. GOP candidates come off tougher in this area than their Democratic counter parts. Since "The New York Times" desperately wants a Democrat to be elected president in 2008, "The Times" is going to play down every terror story unless we get attacked again. Then "The Times" will say despite the fascism of the Bush administration, it could not protect us. So "The Times" wins both ways. The paper diminishes the war on terror by putting it on page 37, but if something bad ever happened, it can attack President Bush. Now this is the hallmark of the far left.

BOR is wrong yet again! ThinkProgress has the pic of the front page:

¹SHOW: THE O'REILLY FACTOR 8:00 PM EST
June 4, 2007 Monday
TRANSCRIPT: 060401cb.256
SECTION: NEWS; Domestic
LENGTH: 1106 words
HEADLINE: Talking Points Memo and Top Story
BYLINE: Bill O'Reilly

ONLY ONE THIRD!!!

If we've only gotten 1/3rd of Baghdad neighborhoods reasonably safe, then we won't we anywhere near done by September. The report below shows that we are now playing "whack-a-mole" in Baghdad neighborhoods and the Iraqi police are often part of the problem.

Commanders Say Push in Baghdad Is Short of Goal
By DAVID S. CLOUD and DAMIEN CAVE
Published: June 4, 2007
NY Times

BAGHDAD, June 3 — Three months after the start of the Baghdad security plan that has added thousands of American and Iraqi troops to the capital, they control fewer than one-third of the city’s neighborhoods, far short of the initial goal for the operation, according to some commanders and an internal military assessment.

The American assessment, completed in late May, found that American and Iraqi forces were able to “protect the population” and “maintain physical influence over” only 146 of the 457 Baghdad neighborhoods.

The operation “is at a difficult point right now, to be sure,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the deputy commander of the First Cavalry Division, which has responsibility for Baghdad.

In an interview, he said that while military planners had expected to make greater gains by now, that has not been possible in large part because Iraqi police and army units, which were expected to handle basic security tasks, like manning checkpoints and conducting patrols, have not provided all the forces promised, and in some cases have performed poorly.

“Until you have the ability to have a presence on the street by people who are seen as honest and who are not letting things come back in,” said General Brooks, referring to the Iraqi police units, “you can’t shift into another area and expect that place to stay the way it was.”

The problems facing American troops are illustrated in troubled western Baghdad. In the Rashid district there, the First Battalion, Fourth Brigade of the First Infantry Division has been working since March to carry out the security push.

When the battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. Patrick Frank, moved in, it was replacing a lone American Army company of 125 soldiers. Yet even with three times as many soldiers patrolling the area, violence has worsened. Last month, 249 bodies were found in the sector, up from 98 the month Colonel Frank arrived, according to statistics compiled by the battalion.

The battalion’s troops, augmented by more than 2,000 soldiers in armored Stryker vehicles, went block by block through the neighborhood, arresting suspected insurgents and destroying arms caches.

But since the Stryker unit has moved on to a different area of Baghdad, “there’s been a reinfiltration” by Shiite fighters and intimidation squads, who had left the area when the operation began, said Capt. Tim Wright, the company commander responsible for the neighborhood.

The local commander of the Iraqi national police, a force run by the Shiite-run Interior Ministry, has been replaced three times since March.

In Shula, a neighborhood just east of Kadhimiya, north of Rashid, American troops in March discovered a group of Iraqis in police uniforms setting up an E.F.P. near a bridge. They were using police vehicles to provide cover.

The American soldiers killed two of the bomb planters. They later discovered that one had a badge granting him wide access to the Green Zone, the fortified area in central Baghdad where the American Embassy and most Iraqi government buildings are situated.

FATS ON THE PLAME LEAK INVESTIGATION

This is one of the most bizarre remarks I've ever heard Fats say:

"The whole case was based on lies told by Joe Wilson who was never held accountable for them."

With a delusion this strong, there's no point in trying to set out the facts of the matter and his listeners eat it up, 5 days a week.

IS TANCREDO ALSO AN "ENEMY OF THE STATE"?

The question at the June 5, 2007 GOP Presidential Debate was "If you're elected president, what would you ask your predecessor to do?" and Rep. Tancredo (R- Colorado) put Pres. Fredo in a Rovian perspective:

TANCREDO: Thank you. Some time ago, in 2003 I think it was, that I got a call from Karl Rove, who told me that, because of my criticism of the president, I should never darken the doorstep of the White House. I have been so disappointed in the president in so many ways since his -- actually for the last several years, not just the immigration issue, but several other things, including the No Child Left Behind and the massive increase in government that we call prescription drug -- Medicare prescription drug, that I'm afraid I would have to tell the president of the United States -- I mean, as president, I would
have to tell George Bush exactly the same thing Karl Rove told me.

SURGE REPORT

Atrios has written a few times that there's no way we will be drawing down on or after this coming September and I thought for a bit that he was mistaken because of the country's desire to get the fuck out but I now see that he is correct.

Petraeus has said that we won't have enough data in September to make a judgment about the Surge and Odierno said the same thing. The Pentagon has prepared to have as many as 200,000 troops there by the end of 2007.

FDR: SAINT OR SATAN?

If you listened to wingnut talk radio today, you'd think FDR had suddenly been transformed from the Great Socialist Satan into another Savior of the Country. On this anniversary of D-Day, the list of extremists who played or read FDR's D-Day evening radio address puzzled me. I heard Slots Bennett, Fats Limbaugh, Moralistic Medved, and Insannity rave about the speech and I suspect there were many others who did the same.

If you were thinking that they would use this to at least for a moment transcend partisan differences, you would be wrong. One key line of attack used these words by FDR:

"And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God:"

The divisive talking point was that no Democrat would use these words today because, as Fats put it, "they normally hate you people [Christians]."

MORAL RELATIVISM? IOKIYAR!

Rusty Humphries was tryng to defend Liar Libby by comparing him to Sandy Berger and Bill Clinton even though there is no relevant legal comparison. Humphries also claimed that Valerie Plame was not covert and that Libby's trial was like something we would find in the old Soviet Union. This is pretty much what all the other Talk Radio Republicans have been saying.

BTW, if you don't know, "IOKIYAR" stands for "IT'S OKAY IF YOU ARE REPUBLICAN"

DONNER PARTY OF IGNORANCE

From Jen Sorenson at Working for Change, hat-tip to Elcymoo at AOL.

ROMNEY IS A LYING WAR WHORE

FROM
CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL
Republcian Presidential Debate
Aired June 5, 2007 - 19:00 ET

When asked if he thought the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, Romney lied about what happened in the lead up to the war:

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS: ... if you're saying let's turn back the clock and Saddam Hussein had opening up his country to IAEA
inspectors and they'd come in and they'd found that there were no weapons of mass destruction, had Saddam Hussein therefore not violated United Nations resolutions, we wouldn't be in the conflict we're in. But he didn't do those things, and we knew what we knew at the point we made the decision to get in.

The inspectors WERE back in and they were going to sites that we suggested. As Hans Blix put it,

"among the 700 inspections that we performed, none brought us any evidence of weapons of mass destruction."

Pres. Fredo also lied about the inspectors.

THEY AREN'T WLLING TO HELP

On Monday, June 4, Anne Garrels of NPR reported from Baghdad and found that the Iraqi police can't be trusted. You can find the audio at the link above and here's the relevant part of the transcript from Lexis-Nexis¹

GARRELS: The crew in the lead vehicle checks out the suspected bomb from a safe distance and radios back. There's nothing. This was once an area where Sunnis and Shiites live together. Militants, many associated with the Mahdi Army of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have resumed the push to drive Sunnis from their few remaining enclaves here. And the Shiite militias are attacking U.S. forces. They are increasingly using explosively formed penetrators know as EFPs - powerful bombs able to pierce armor. Major Erick Overby(ph).

Major ERICK OVERBY (U.S. Army): If an EFP is constructed well, if it's emplaced well and if it's detonated correctly, the results are disastrous for us. That's just the way it is.

GARRELS: And the battalion knows that members of the police who were supposed to be working with them are among those planting the roadside bombs. Angered by attacks on his soldiers, the battalion commander ordered a video camera hidden along a main road where American patrols had been hit repeatedly. The video showed Iraqi police laying a bomb that subsequently blew up as an American Humvee approached. Six Iraqi police have since been arrested. Troops are based in the midst of the community in combat outpost. Conditions are spurting. There's no Internet because no provider will dare come to this part of Baghdad. There's no TV hook up. Ferocious games of dominoes are one way to let off steam, and it's steamy. Frustration is the word heard most often from the soldiers. Captain Jay Wink (ph), the battalion intelligence officer, says as soon as one Shiite militia commander is removed, he's quickly replaced.

Captain TIMOTHY RITE (U.S. Army): It's frustrating. When we're trying to secure this area and everybody just kind off want s to close your eyes and pretend like they don't see what's going on.

Maj. OVERBY: As many cashes as we uncover, there's always more. There's an awful lot of weapons around. And still there's an awful a lot of very angry young men that really don't want us here.

GARRELS: A night patrol leaves the combat outpost in Amel and is immediately hit by gunfire and grenades.

GARRELS: Tit-for-tat attacks by Sunni and Shiite groups sometimes breakout into fierce battles. Many of the Masque have been bombed. Stores are largely shuttered, people living here just hide in their houses. On this night, the soldiers don't find any bodies. But last month, they found 249 - up from 98 when the battalion first arrived in March.

GARRELS: Capt. Reffino says these men are caught between a confusing array of players: al-Qaida, Shiite Militias, criminal gangs, terrified local people and Iraqi security forces he cannot always trust.

¹National Public Radio (NPR)
SHOW: All Things Considered 9:00 PM EST
June 4, 2007 Monday
LENGTH: 1147 words
HEADLINE: Violence Rages in Western Baghdad
ANCHORS: Rebecca Roberts, ROBERT SIEGEL

PRESCIENT PAUL BREMER

I can't get the original article but I did find this AP write-up from 2004:

At a McCormick Tribune Foundation conference on terrorism on Feb. 26, 2001, Bremer said,

"The new administration seems to be paying no attention to the problem of terrorism. What they will do is stagger along until there's a major incident and then suddenly say, 'Oh, my God, shouldn't we be organized to deal with this?'

"That's too bad. They've been given a window of opportunity with very little terrorism now, and they're not taking advantage of it."

Bremer made the speech after he had chaired the National Commission on terrorism, a bipartisan body formed by the Clinton administration to examine U.S. counterterrorism policies.

A few months after Bremer made those statements, the Administration officially states that Osama isn't in their focus:

WOODRUFF: The State Department officially released its annual terrorism report just a little more than an hour ago, but unlike last year, there's no extensive mention of alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. A senior State Department official tells CNN the U.S. government made a mistake in focusing so much energy on bin Laden and "personalizing terrorism." CNN, Inside Politics, 4/30/2001

NEO-CON WAR WHORES PROTECT EACH OTHER

William War Whore Kristol comes to Scooter "The Liar" Libby's defense:

Who, Me?
Bush evades his responsibility with respect to Libby.
by William Kristol
06/05/2007 3:55:00 PM

I FEEL TERRIBLE for Scooter Libby's family. Millions of Americans feel terrible for Scooter Libby's family. But we can't do anything about the injustice that has been done.

Unlike the rest of us, however, George W. Bush is president. Article II, Section Two of the Constitution gives him the pardon power. George W. Bush can do something to begin to make up for the injustice a prosecutor appointed by his own administration brought down on Scooter Libby. And he can do something to avert the further injustice of a prison term.

Many of us used to respect President Bush. Can one respect him still?

BACKGROUND FROM THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR:

Lewis "Scooter" Libby


Mr. Libby is currently chief of staff and national security advisor for Vice President Dick Cheney. He's served in a wide variety of posts. In the first Bush administration, Mr. Libby served in the Department of Principal Deputy Under Secretary (Strategy and Resources), and, later, as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.


Libby was a founding member of the Project for the New American Century. He joined Paul Wolfowitz, William Kristol, Robert Kagan, and others in writing its 2000 report entitled, "Rebuilding America's Defenses - Strategy, Forces, and Resources for a New Century."


Libby co-authored the once-shocking draft of the 'Defense Planning Guidance' with Mr. Wolfowitz for then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney in 1992. Libby serves on the advisory board of the Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies of the RAND Corporation.



William Kristol


Son of "godfather" of neoconservatism Irving Kristol, Bill Kristol is currently chairman of the Project for a New American Century, which he co-founded with leading neoconservative writer Robert Kagan. He is also editor of the influential Weekly Standard.


Like other neoconservatives Frank Gaffney Jr. and Elliott Abrams, Kristol worked for hawkish Democratic Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson. But by 1976, he became a Republican. he served as chief of staff to Education Secretary William Bennett during the Reagan administration and chief of staff to former Vice President Dan Quayle during the George H. W. Bush presidency.


Kristol continuously called for Saddam Hussein's ouster since the 1991 Gulf War. With the like-minded Lawrence Kaplan, Kristol co-wrote "The War Over Iraq: Saddam's Tyranny and America's Mission." He is on the board of advisers of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, established as a counterterrorist think tank after 9/11.

NOT REALLY NEWS BUT...

Shortly after I re-joined Little Green Footballs, I was banned again. After registering anew with TypeKey, I found that I couldn't get past the moderator at Roger "The Hat" Simon's place.

MORAL: If you don't tow the Donner Party line, you can't post.

THE DONNER PARTY & UNCLE FREDDIE

Pew Research finds that the crazies really like Thompson:

MORE ON MY LITTLE BUDDY RAYRA

(Via ChenZhen)

On this thread, Rayra wrote:


#156

rayra 9/01/2006 4:08:02 pm PDT
#121 storagemanager 9/1/2006 05:18PM PDT
113 rayra 9/1/2006 05:15PM PDT
#92 storagemanager 9/1/2006 05:00PM PDT 85 rayra 9/1/2006 04:53PM PDT .....marching to kill another thread....must be booze time. I drink about 6 alcoholic beverages a month, you stupid cunt
I dont know why Charles allows your filth...but it really shows your I.Q.
Sure, sure, cursing = schtoopid. Whatever. STFU, cunt.


Charles Johnson, the owner of Little Green Footballs, responded:

#173

Charles 9/01/2006 4:44:08 pm PDT
rayra: I'm tired of getting emails from offended women--many of whom are NOT commenters, but just people who read this stuff and are offended--and I don't blame them for being offended. Knock it off, or start your own blog and deal with the crap yourself.

Rayra responds to Charles:


#184

rayra 9/01/2006 5:16:40 pm PDT

#173 Charles 9/1/2006 06:44PM PDT rayra: I'm tired of getting emails from offended women--many of whom are NOT commenters, but just people who read this stuff and are offended--and I don't blame them for being offended. Knock it off,
or start your own blog and deal with the crap yourself.

"Tired", Charles? - why do you persist in allowing storagemanager to post here, despite repeatedly asking it to knock off what it is doing? Why do you allow a cretin like American Infidel to post her genocidal calls here? Why do you allow the people who were the core of your fact-checking reputation to be driven off by psychotics - and worse, attack those same people when they call out the genocide-inciters?
I don't blame them for being offended either, and they are not nearly as offended as I am by the likes of the incessant BDS and calls for genocide and murder of children that you've allowed to fester here.
What are YOU going to do about THAT, besides ban me or ask me to leave for daring to point it out / make the challenge?
"Tired" he says. Same here. When are you going to do something effective about those people, besides cluck at them?
I'd welcome and respect an explanation, but you've refused to provide one in any form that I've been able to spot (other than kssing off some decent people in exchange for shitbags like storagemanager).

Charles replies:

#193

Charles 9/01/2006 5:38:38 pm PDT
I'm serious. Start your own blog. Then you can insult whoever you want to insult, and ban whoever you want to ban, and deal with all of the crap that comes with it.
If this isn't a satisfactory answer, then you're welcome to take your comments elsewhere.

Rayra:

#200

rayra 9/01/2006 5:58:51 pm PDT

#193 Charles 9/1/2006 07:38PM PDT I'm serious. Start your own blog. Then you can insult whoever you want to insult, and ban whoever you want to ban, and deal
with all of the crap that comes with it. If this isn't a satisfactory answer, then you're welcome to take your comments elsewhere.

That doesn't even begin to cover the questions you've been asked. And I'll stay here as long as the likes of fucking Idiots like storagemanager, AI, jehu et al are allowed to remain.
Why do you allow the likes of AI and storagemanager to post here, while showing decent posters the door? Why do you allow their genocidal / ban Islam / deport american citizens / kill children garbage to be posted here?
I won't bother to ask again, I'm not going all 'globular cluster' about it. You either have no answer or will not publically admit whatever it is. Surely it can't be that you agree with what they post? Is it some 'marketplace of ideas' horseshit? Some example of tolerance for all ideas, a la your pet Gordons? People want to know why. People who earned your blog its reputation for being 'the site that fact-checks your ass'.
As your blog popularity grows, you are gathering that % of the population that are psychotic and they are staying to vent and fume. LGF is turning into a god-damned pathetic CSPAN call-in show and you aren't doing anything to prevent it.
Why not?

Charles:

#209

Charles 9/01/2006 6:16:10 pm PDT
Really? You're demanding answers from me, rayra? And if I don't answer, you'll... do what? Leave? Post more death threats to CAIR officials? Take potshots at me behind my back at other blogs?
Oooh. Now I'm terrified. Grow up, you freaking bully.

Rayra:


#231

rayra 9/01/2006 6:39:27 pm PDT

#209 Charles 9/1/2006 08:16PM PDT Really? You're demanding answers from me, rayra? And if I don't answer, you'll... do what? Leave? Post more death threats to CAIR officials? Take potshots at me behind my back at other blogs? Oooh.
Now I'm terrified. Grow up, you freaking bully.

Now I'm really thinking this isn't Charles. Too childish. wtf, who is this nancy?
I'm not 'demanding' anything - I'm challenging you to give an answer, instead of trying to sidestep / ignore the questions, as you just did again. What is so impossibly difficult about expressing why you choose to host cretins like AI, while shoving other folks out the door?
and btw, thanks for parroting CAIR's lie about the comment. I expressed surprise that no one had killed that creep Doug Hooper. From 3000mi away. Some 'death threat'.
Your email to me at the time certainly had no such tone, and even spoke of how vague my remark had been. Now you sit here and sneer at me about it. Who ARE you?

#255

rayra 9/01/2006 7:05:45 pm PDT

#213 Charles 9/1/2006 08:23PM PDT No, I think bullying assholes are a pain in
the ass. #214 Charles 9/1/2006 08:25PM PDT And rayra: that's it. Make your
decision. If you're so convinced that you know better than me how to run a blog,
go ahead and do it. Build your echo chamber and have fun.

I've made no such assertions about "knowing better" - I'm asking YOU why YOU are choosing to allow what you do and why. I'm asking about your rationale. And you keep avoiding the questions and trying to get me to leave in a huff.
The real Charles, the Charles I've traded email with over the years wouldn't post such childish shit and certainly hasn't dodged controversy over the years. This stinks to high heaven.
And on top of it, the real Charles has no hesitation about pulling the trigger on a banning when somebody crosses the line. I'm not inviting it, but if the actual Charles was so peeved as to post the snarky crap of the last couple posts, I would have been banned already.
/This really isn't adding up

Charles has had enough:

#284

Charles 9/01/2006 8:26:26 pm PDT
I just came back and read what's been going on in here. Thought I'd let everyone have their say.
I'm now shutting off posting privileges for those who think this is a horrible place, and I'm a "cowardly fraud." Go insult me elsewhere. I know you will.

GREAT LINE!

From the Firedoglake thread on TRex's post:

GSD says:
June 4th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
It’s not the Republican Party, it’s The Donner Party.
-GSD

THEY WRITE LETTERS

The Smoking Gun has the letters of support written for Scooter Libby. Here are just a few excerpts.


Henry Kissinger: He is a man of strong views, some of which I do not share. ... Having served in the White House and under pressure, I have seen how difficult it sometimes is to recall precisely a particular sequence of events. This does not justify the action, but it may help you consider mitigating circumstances.

Paul Wolfowitz: Mr. Libby played an influential role...in developing policy and strategy...for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. ... he was a strong advocate for a more rapid build-up of the Iraqi army and a more rapid transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis, points on which history will prove him to have been prescient. [Wolfowitz goes on to note how concerned Libby became with the threat of biological terrorism, something that was also a big concern of Judith Miller]

John Bolton: With classified information, it was frequently hard to know who was cleared to see what or what could be discussed with whom. [Sounds like more GOP incompetence]

Alan K. Simpson: ...I found a singular attribute which will always remain undiminished in my mind. That is the attribute of Loyalty- unswerving, unselfish, unwavering loyalty. One could almost superimpose upon his brow the accolade "The Good Soldier." ...I observed on many occasions how Dick [Cheney] relied on this man.

RADIO TIDBITS

Fats Limbaugh was pushing the "liberal media bias" myth by claiming that the NY Times didn't mention Congressman Jefferson's party affiliation. Here's the truth:

Congressman Sought Bribes, Indictment Says
By DAVID JOHNSTON and JEFF ZELENY
Published: June 5, 2007
NY Times

WASHINGTON, June 4 — Representative William J. Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat at the center of an investigation that included an F.B.I. raid at his Congressional office and accusations that he hid $90,000 in bribe money in his home freezer, was indicted Monday by a federal grand jury on 16 corruption-related felony counts.

This article was on the front page, not hidden inside the paper.

Insannity was crying about the Libby sentence and went on to try to distract his listeners from the issue. For example, he said Joe Wilson was a liar and that Patrick Fitzgerald was a "rogue prosecutor." Insannity also claimed the partisan Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer started the investigation! He even dragged in Sandy Berger, all to make Libby look better.

RADIO TIDBITS

Newt was on Insannity's show yesterday and hawked his new book. Sean asked him about his recent criticisms of Pres. Fredo and Newt said he had no apologies to make. Newt did note that the Democrats were much worse and that seemed to satisfy Hannity.

NEW AMNESTY PLAN

TRex at Firedoglake notices that the wingnuts are approaching total realty meltdown over the proposed mmigration bill and fnds this gem in the comments at Ace of Spades HQ:

The thing that most worries me about this is that the Moonbats may have been right all along. Bush is a tard and everything they said about him being 1) a moron, 2) a Big Business shill, 3) an autocrat "holding court" in the White House, and 4) having only a nodding acquaintence with reality…What if it's all true?

Posted by: DoDoGuRu at May 31, 2007 01:08 PM

Taking pity on these lost sheep who now seem to have found their way, TRex offers an Amnesty Program for BushBots:

We on the Left have set up an (ahem) amnesty program for all you disenchanted Right Wing Water-Carriers. You're going to have to learn some English, study up on U.S. History, and find an employer to vouch for your worker-status, but we'll be willing to create this unique Path to Citizenship Offer just for you. The greatness of America is that there's room for everybody, right? And that means even slope-headed, sheet-wearing, gun-humping troglodytes like yourselves.

I think we should make them earn it so I propose having them pick up litter. In Phoenix. In July*.


*PHOENIX, JULY 2006
HIGHEST 118 07/21
LOWEST 76 07/30

AVG. MAXIMUM 106.6 106.6 0.0
AVG. MINIMUM 86.4 82.9 3.5
MEAN 96.5 94.8 1.7

"MONUMENTAL INCOMPETENCE"

First, the story:

Charges Against Guantanamo Detainee Set for Trial Dropped Over Limit in Law

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 5, 2007; Page A18

A U.S. military judge dismissed all charges yesterday against a Canadian detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ruling that his war-crimes trial cannot move forward under the current military commissions law, a decision that could delay future legal proceedings at the U.S. detention facility.

Army Col. Peter Brownback's decision suspended the case against Omar Khadr, a 20-year-old detainee who allegedly killed a U.S. serviceman during fighting in Afghanistan in 2002.

Brownback decided that the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006, which sets the rules for trying detainees at Guantanamo Bay, limits such commissions to "unlawful enemy combatants" and concluded that the military has never classified Khadr as "unlawful."

Charges against another Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan, were later dropped by another judge on the same grounds, Reuters reported.


Well, we can...oops! - maybe not:

From the Assocated Press:

Prosecuting attorneys in both cases indicated they would appeal the dismissals. But the court designated to hear the appeals - known as the court of military commissions review - doesn't even exist yet, said Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan, chief of military defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay.


I got the post title from Andy McCarthy at the National Review:

Yet, if things are as the defense claims — and it bears remembering that very often they are not — this would be a demonstration of monumental incompetence.

CHENEY ON VICTORY N IRAQ

"Victory there is getting it to the point where the Iraqis can take care of it themselves, their security forces can handle the security threat and they've got a government that's functioning, that they're capable of handling their own affairs. And I think they can do that. "

Vice President's Remarks at the Wyoming Boys State Conference Douglas, Wyoming June 3, 2007

As I recall, the Taliban were doing fine in Afghanistan, so what's to prevent a few sheiks in Anbar province from giving a haven to Al Qaeda? Shouldn't we insist that Al Qaeda be banned from Iraq by all parties?

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCE ON GLOBAL WARMING

The NAS produced a 24 page brochure, Understanding and Responding to Climate Change, in March, 2006. Here are some relevant excerpts:


In the judgment of most climate scientists, Earth’s warming in recent decades has been caused primarily by human activities that have increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the Atmosphere. Greenhouse gases have increased significantly since the Industrial Revolution, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels for energy, industrial processes, and transportation. Greenhouse gases are at their highest levels in at least 400,000 years and continue to rise.

The most striking evidence of a global warming trend is closely scrutinized data that show a relatively rapid and widespread increase in temperature during the past century, 1880-2004 (see Figure BELOW).



The rising temperatures observed since 1978 are particularly noteworthy because the rate of increase is so high and because, during the same period, the energy reaching the Earth from the Sun had been measured precisely enough to conclude that Earth's warming was not due to changes in the Sun. Scientists find clear evidence of this warming trend even after removing data from urban areas where an urban heat-island effect could influence temperature readings. Furthermore, the data are consistent with other evidence of warming, such as increases in ocean temperatures, shrinking mountain glaciers, and decreasing polar ice cover.

The task of mitigating and preparing for the impacts of climate change will require worldwide collaborative inputs from a wide range of experts, including natural scientists, engineers, social scientists, medical scientists, business leaders, and economists. Society faces increasing pressure to decide how best to respond to climate change and associated global changes.

HEARTS & MINDS: PART 21,450

U.S. paid nearly $31 million in condolence payments to Iraqis, Afghanis
By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thu, May. 31, 2007

WASHINGTON - The Department of Defense spent nearly $31 million in three years in condolence payments to civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan...a Government Accountability Office report found.

...the Defense Department paid $26 million to settle 21,450 claims, or an average of $1,212 per claim.

The military makes condolence payments for killing or injuring a civilian or for damaging property. Generally, Iraqis and Afghanis received up to $2,500 for property damage or death. In April 2006, military officials in Iraq raised the maximum payment to $10,000. In addition, U.S. officials began paying the relatives of Iraqi soldiers and police who were killed because of U.S. operations

The amount of condolence payments in Iraq dropped by two-thirds between 2005 and 2006. During that time, U.S. officials said that Iraqi civilians were being killed because they couldn't identify U.S. checkpoints. [Sadly, an old story] The U.S. subsequently made checkpoints more easily identifiable, and the military said the number of civilian casualties declined.

MORE ON UNCLE FREDDIE

I'm worried that Fred Thompson will fool enough people to become our next president. Lambert at Corrente poked around Freddie's columns at the National Review Online and came to these conclusions about "Mr. Law and Order":

1. War with Iran? He’s for it.
2. All-powerful President? He’s for it.
3. Global warming? Doesn’t matter so get used to it.
4. Theocracy? No problem.
5. Pardon Scooter!

This makes Freddie oh-for-five in my book.

THIS JUST ABOUT SUMS IT UP...

I was reading the comments on Dick Armey's first post on Swampland and came across this reference by poster JJ:

There was a recent blog entry in Crooked Timber which stated (linking to an Australian blog) that "there is now no academic discipline whose conclusions can be considered acceptable to orthodox Republicans" (and said some other things as well):
http://crookedtimber.org/2007/01/19/connecting-the-dots-2/

Here's the full quote by jquiggen (John Quiggen):

In fact, it’s striking that there is now almost no academic discipline whose conclusions can be considered acceptable to orthodox Republicans. The other social sciences (sociology, anthropology, political science) are even more suspect than economics. The natural sciences are all implicated in support for evolution against creationism, and for their conclusions about global warming, CFCs and other environmental threats. Even the physicists have mostly been sceptical about Star Wars and its offspring. And of course the humanities are beyond the pale.

RADIO TIDBITS

Kevin Wall subbed for Slots Bennett this morning and got an emotional call from Wayne of Dearborn Heights, Michigan. He was sobbing as he told Wall that yesterday (Sunday) he was visited by 2 military officials and told that his son, Joshua, had been killed in Iraq. This prompted a couple of callers to suggest that all those who are against the war should be silenced. Earlier, an irate woman called up and was extremely upset with Newt Gingrich for speaking out against Fredo and his Misadministration. She claimed that no one, especially a Republican, should criticize the President during war time.

Insannity claimed the the 2008 elections will be like Raygun versus Mondale or Raygun versus Dukakis because the Democrats are socialists and will destroy the best heath care system in the world. [That last part is a favorite lie in wingnut world]. I suspect that for wingnuts, any criticism of our health care system will soon be called "unAmerican."

SECDEF GATES: AL QAEDA EXPANDNG

Gates hailed the elimination of an al Qaeda sanctuary in Afghanistan, but emphasized that al Qaeda is far from beaten. “We still have to deal with their activities elsewhere,” he said. The secretary said he has a map showing countries with al Qaeda cells, affiliated terrorist cells, or cells that want to be affiliated with al Qaeda. “It’s a lot of countries,” he told the group. “Clearly they are expanding. So the challenge is there.” (6/3/2007)

UPDATE:

This is what Gates said at a press conference:

Press Conference with Secretary Gates at Shangri-La Dialogue, Singapore
June 02, 2007

We have eliminated one sanctuary for al-Qaida in Afghanistan. We still have to deal with their activities elsewhere. Clearly they are continuing to expand. I had a map prepared that basically showed in one color all those countries where al-Qaida had cells, and then in a different color all those that had al-Qaida-affiliated terrorist cells, and then in a third color those that had cells that wanted to be affiliated with al-Qaida but had not yet earned the secret handshake. And it’s a lot of countries. So the challenge I think is there. It is significant.

MAKING SHIT UP

The wingnuts love to make up positions and then knock them down. The latest I ran across was War Whore Ed Koch writing in RealClearPolitics (5/30/2007):

To those who believe that when America leaves Iraq, Islamic terrorists will be satisfied and stop fighting, I say this: wake up.

I'd like to know just exactly who these people are although Uncle Ed gives us a couple of clues by referring to "The radical Democratic left inside the Congress led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid" and bemoaning the fact that "They [Islamic terrorsts] want to kill us, and apparently, many Americans don't believe it," so one could conclude that Koch is claiming that most or at least many Americans do think that the terrorist threat will go away if we leave Iraq.

A STARTLING ADMISSION FROM FREDO

"The fact is that income inequality is real; it's been rising for more than 25 years. " - President Bush, 1/31/2007

ONE MORE GENERAL SPEAKS OUT

(From Yahoo News)

US can forget about winning in Iraq: top retired general
by Sig Christenson Sun Jun 3, 4:53 PM ET

SAN ANTONIO, United States (AFP) - The man who commanded US-led coalition forces during the first year of the Iraq war says the United States can forget about winning the war.

"I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will -- not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat," retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said in an interview.

"I am absolutely convinced that America has a crisis in leadership at this time," Sanchez told AFP after a recent speech in San Antonio, Texas.

"We've got to do whatever we can to help the next generation of leaders do better than we have done over the past five years, better than what this cohort of political and military leaders have done," adding that he was "referring to our national political leadership in its entirety" - not just President George W. Bush.

Sanchez, in his first interview since he retired last year, is the highest-ranking former military leader yet to suggest the Bush administration has fallen short in Iraq.

Sanchez called the situation in Iraq bleak, which he blamed on "the abysmal performance in the early stages and the transition of sovereignty." He included himself among those who erred in Iraq's crucial first year after the toppling of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

A LITTLE MORE NEWT ON FREDO

This is from the New Yorker and because BushBots often claim that anything negative about Pres. Fredo must come from a liberal biased source and I use this blog in part as a storehouse for posting items on AOL, I didn't put it with Newt's FAUX News interview.

Newt Gingrich is one of those who fear that Republicans have been branded with the label of incompetence. He says that the Bush Administration has become a Republican version of the Jimmy Carter Presidency, when nothing seemed to go right.

“Let me be clear: twenty-eight-per-cent approval of the President, losing every closely contested Senate seat except one, every one that involved an incumbent—that’s a collapse. I mean, look at the Northeast. You can’t be a governing national party and write off entire regions.”

For this disarray he blames not only Iraq and Hurricane Katrina but also Karl Rove’s “maniacally dumb” strategy in 2004, which left Bush with no political capital. “All he proved was that the anti-Kerry vote was bigger than the anti-Bush vote,” Gingrich said. He continued, “The Bush people deliberately could not bring themselves to wage a campaign of choice”—of ideology, of suggesting that Kerry was “to the left of Ted Kennedy”—and chose instead to attack Kerry’s war record.

NEWT SLAMS FREDO ON FAUX NEWS!!

Coming on top of The Noonan's piece, this has got to HURT!!!

Transcript: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on 'FNS'
Sunday, June 03, 2007


WALLACE: But you compare George W. Bush to Jimmy Carter, which, as you well know, is fighting words among Republicans.

GINGRICH: Look, the functional effect in public opinion is about the same. Now, Republicans need to confront this reality.

[snip]
WALLACE: Basically, what do you think is wrong with George W. Bush?

GINGRICH: Look, I think that he means very, very well. I think he's very, very sincere. But I don't think that he drives implementation and looks at the reality in which he's trying to implement things.

And I think that's why you ended up with, "Brownie, you're doing a great job," when it was obvious to the entire country at Katrina that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had collapsed and was not capable of doing any job at that point.

And I think as a result, the administration has very, very high goals — Democracy throughout the Middle East — and very weak bureaucratic support for those goals, and the result is an enormous mismatch in just sheer implementation.

[snip]

WALLACE: You say that this president doesn't solve anything.

GINGRICH: He doesn't methodically insist on changing things. ... the fact is I would argue we're losing the war around the world with Islamist extremists and they are, in fact, gaining ground.

WHAT GOOD IS A LIE IF YOU CAN'T REPEAT IT?

That's one of the guiding principles of wingnut philosophy. I found another lying reference to a 1991 Gallup poll on the Financial Post of Canada:


They call this a consensus?
Lawrence Solomon, Financial Post
Published: Saturday, June 02, 2007

(excerpt)

A Gallup poll at the time [1992] reported that 53% of scientists actively involved in global climate research did not believe global warming had occurred; 30% weren't sure; and only 17% believed global warming had begun.

As I noted previously, the Gallup poll found no such thing and in fact quite the opposite:

The Gallup organization said the poll was taken in October of 1991. It noted that some people, opposed to claims that human-induced global warming is occurring, "have used the study to support their position."

The statement from Gallup noted that when asked if they thought human-induced global warming was occurring, 66 percent of the scientists surveyed said yes.

UPDATE:

In addition to mailing Solomon and the Financial Post, I also posted a correction at 4 wingnut sites:
http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/06/03/consensus/
http://www.willisms.com/archives/2007/06/global_warming.html
http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/3962
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/188144.php

A CONSERVATIVE ON NEO-CONSERVATIVES

Russell Kirk was one the the leading post-war conservative intellectuals and was at best lukewarm about the neo-conservatives. Here's one indictment from a lecture he gave at the Heritage Foundation¹:

"And not seldom it has seemed as if some eminent Neoconservatives mistook Tel Aviv for the capital of the United States.."

Midge Decter, the wife of War Whore Norman Podhoretz, called this line "a bloody outrage, a piece of anti-Semitism by Kirk that impugns the loyalty of neoconservatives."

¹December 15, 1988
The Neoconservatives: An Endangered Species
by Kirk, Russell
Heritage Lecture #178

LEO STRAUSS AND THE WINGNUTS

Strauss was an influential philosopher at the University of Chicago and created a devoted following in conservative intellectual circles. Strauss claimed to have found deliberately hidden meanings in many of the great political philosophers and these meanings justify a conservative world-view in the present.

In a penetrating review¹ of "Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy" by Leo Strauss, with an introduction by Thomas L. Pangle, M. F. Burnyeat concludes that Strauss' method of reading the ancients presupposes what Strauss sets out to prove, to wit, that "the considerate few have imperturbably conveyed to their readers an eloquence of articulate silence and pregnant indications."

This isn't merely an academic dispute because the Straussians have moved into positions of power. As Richard H. King noted²,

By the 1980s, Straussians began to shift their locus of operation from the halls of ivy to the corridors of power in Washington. ... The Reagan administration saw Straussians such as Nathan Tarcov, Carnes Lord and Paul Wolfowitz assume positions in these departments, while Lord and William Kristol were advisors to Vice President Dan Quayle in the first Bush administration (Xenos, 2004: 11). As of 1999, one source (Deutsch and Murley) identifies 24 Straussians who had held positions in agencies of the federal government as of 1998 – and the number has surely grown since then.

This infiltration of educated crazies into the Federal government can have disastrous consequences. For example, King also notes what another Straussian has written about war:

In addition, some Straussians, as Anne Norton notes, believe that war is ‘the activity which would restore seriousness to life’ (Norton, 2004: 153)³, a way of reviving and proving civic virtue in defense of the modern republic.

¹"Sphinx Without a Secret", New York Review of Books, v. 32, number 9, May 30, 1985.

²"Intellectuals and the state: The case of the Straussians"
Richard H. King
Comparative American Studies 2006; 4; 395

³Norton, Anne (2004) Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire. New
Haven, NJ and London: Yale University Press.

I FINALLY FOUND THIS LOCAL CLOWN

I've heard radio spots paid for by Bruce Ash and they all end by inviting the listener to comment at BruceAsh.com. That is a registered site name¹ but there's nothing there, so I couldn't respond to some of his more outrageous editorials. Now, he's running for state GOP national committeeman and has a website: AshforArizona.com. Here are a few of the scumbags he's proud to associate with:





WITH BILL "WAR WHORE" KRISTOL



WITH SHOOTER CHENEY

¹Registrant:
Deborah Young
6717 N 15th St
Phoenix, Arizona 85014
United States

Registered through: Blue Razor Domains, Inc.
Domain Name: BRUCEASH.COM
Created on: 12-Sep-05
Expires on: 12-Sep-07
Last Updated on: 13-Sep-06

Administrative Contact:
Young, Deborah santaya@cox.net
6717 N 15th St
Phoenix, Arizona 85014
United States
6024600100 Fax --

Technical Contact:
Young, Deborah santaya@cox.net
6717 N 15th St
Phoenix, Arizona 85014
United States
6024600100 Fax --

Domain servers in listed order:
PARK21.SECURESERVER.NET
PARK22.SECURESERVER.NET

BLOVIATOR TRIVIA

SOCIETAL OBLIGATION
by William John BENNETT, Ph.D.
The University of Texas at Austin.
1970
Supervisor: Edmund Pincoffs

This dissertation is about legal and moral obligation. In response to the skeptic who questions a) whether there are any obligations at all and/or b) whether particular claims about obligations in particular situations are true, an argument will be advanced affirming the existence of certain societal obligations. These societal obligations are moral obligations and recognition of them is required for demonstrating the legitimacy of the exercise of power by legal institutions.The theories of obligation of H. A. Prichard and W. D.Ross are criticized. These theories neglect certain dimensions of obligation and do not provide an adequate response to certain forms of skepticism about obligation. Cases in Anglo-American contract law will be presented to reveal the way courts justify imposing obligations on parties in Iawsuits. An argument justifying the procedure of the courts will bring to light the societal obligations which are basic to other types of obligation. The theory of obligation will then be tested by applying it to situations in which questions about obligation arise. The example of Socrates in the Crito will be offered as an example of the theory in practice. Finally, there will be discussion of the importance of these societal obligations and about the limits of the inquiry concluded.

Order No. 72-2303, 151 pages

SOURCE:
Dissertation Abstracts International
Series A: Humanities
Vol. 32
pp. 3479A – 4764A
JAN. – FEB. 1972

ANOTHER SOLDIER SPEAKS OUT

(From Bkeywest3 on AOL)

This is a commentary from the Clarksville, Tennessee ONLINE.

A soldier in Iraq asks in despair: Why are we here?
By A Guest Commentator May 29, 2007

After watching his roommate fatally wounded in a roadside bombing, an Army private wonders why the lives of good men are being lost when the Iraqis pose no threat to us and dont want us there.

BAGHDAD, May 12

My name is Donald Hudson Jr. I have been serving our countrys military actively for the last three years. I am currently deployed to Baghdad on Forward Operating Base Loyalty, where I have been for the last four and a half months. I came here as part of the first wave of this so-called troop surge, but so far it has effectively done nothing to quell insurgent violence. I have seen the rise in violence between the Sunni and Shiite. This country is in the middle of a civil war that has been on going since the seventh century. Why are we here when this country still to date does not want us here? Why does our presidents personal agenda consume him so much, that he can not pay attention to what is really going on here?

Let me tell you a story. On May 10, I was out on a convoy mission to move barriers from a market to a joint security station. It was no different from any other night, except the improvised explosive device that hit our convoy this time, actually pierced through the armor of one of our trucks. The truck was immediately engulfed in flames, the driver lost control and wrecked the truck into one of the buildings lining the street. I was the driver of the lead truck in our convoy; the fifth out of six was the one that got hit. All I could hear over the radio was a friend from the sixth truck screaming that the fifth truck was burning up real bad, and that they needed fire extinguishers real bad. So I turned my truck around and drove through concrete barriers to get to the burning truck as quickly as I could. I stopped 30 meters short of the burning truck, got out and ripped my fire extinguisher out of its holder, and ran to the truck. I ran past another friend of mine on the way to the burning truck, he was screaming something but I could not make it out. I opened the drivers door to the truck and was immediately overcome by the flames.I sprayed the extinguisher into the door, and then I saw my roommates leg. He was the gunner of that truck. His leg was across the drivers seat that was on fire and the rest of his body was further in the truck. My fire extinguisher died and I climbed into the truck to attempt to save him. I got to where his head was, in the back passenger-side seat. I grabbed his shoulders and attempted to pull him from the truck out the drivers door. I finally got him out of the truck head first. His face had been badly burned. His leg was horribly wounded. We placed him on a spine board and did our best to attempt Buddy Aid. We heard him trying to gasp for air. He had a pulse and was breathing, but was not responsive. He was placed into a truck and rushed to the Green Zone, where he died within the hour. His name was Michael K. Frank. He was 36 years old. He was a great friend of mine and a mentor to most of us younger soldiers here.

Now I am still here in this country wondering why, and having to pick up the pieces of what is left of my friend in our room. I would just like to know what is the true reason we are here? This country poses no threat to our own. So why must we waste the lives of good men on a country that does not give a damn about itself? Most of my friends here share my views, but do not have the courage to say anything.

About Donald C. Hudson Jr. Donald C. Hudson Jr. is a private assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

IRAQ: OIL AND ELECTRICITY AND DEATH

Key figures about Iraq
By The Associated Press
Fri Jun 1, 7:16 PM ET

_Iraqi civilian deaths: Estimated at more than 64,000, with one controversial study in 2004 contending there were as many as 655,000. According to Associated Press figures, there have been at least 2,155 Iraqi deaths in May 2007.

_The number of victims of sectarian death squads in Baghdad since the security crackdown began is on the rise. Based on an AP count, there were at least 718 bodies found in Baghdad in May 2007, 447 in April, and 564 in March.


OIL PRODUCTION:

_Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.
_May 27, 2007: 2.03 million barrels per day.

ELECTRICITY:

_Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): four to eight.
_May 22, 2007, nationwide: 3,735 megawatts. Hours per day: 10.9.
_Prewar Baghdad: 2,500 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 16-24.
_May 22, 2007, Baghdad: megawatts not available. Hours per day: 5.6.

BROWNBACK BACKPEDDLES, FALLS DOWN

In a lame attempt to explain why he does not believe in evolution, Brownback dirtied the op-ed space of the NY Times with this piece of tripe: "What I think about Evolution." In it he states that faith and reason are not incompatible but does not offer us an explanation of the two incompatible creation stories in Genesis. At the end, Brownback comes down firmly on the side of the fundie barbarians:

While no stone should be left unturned in seeking to discover the nature of man’s origins, we can say with conviction that we know with certainty at least part of the outcome. Man was not an accident and reflects an image and likeness unique in the created order. Those aspects of evolutionary theory compatible with this truth are a welcome addition to human knowledge. Aspects of these theories that undermine this truth, however, should be firmly rejected as an atheistic theology posing as science.

PZMeyers has a more complete dissection of Brownback's op-ed.

IT PAYS TO FOLLOW LINKS

Kevin Drum has a post about the maniac Cheney and his desire to attack Iran. I looked into the links and found this interesting footnote from the 9-11 Commission Report, pp. 559-60:

⁷⁵DOD memo, Rumsfeld to Shelton,“Some Thoughts for CINCs as They Prepare Plans,” Sept. 19, 2001. In a memo that appears to be from Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith to Rumsfeld, dated September 20, the author expressed disappointment at the limited options immediately available in Afghanistan and the lack of ground options.The author suggested instead hitting terrorists outside the Middle East in the initial offensive, perhaps deliberately selecting a non–al Qaeda target like Iraq. Since U.S. attacks were expected in Afghanistan, an American attack in South America or Southeast Asia might be a surprise to the terrorists. The memo may have been a draft never sent to Rumsfeld, or may be a draft of points being suggested for Rumsfeld to deliver in a briefing to the President. DOD memo, Feith to Rumsfeld,“Briefing Draft,” Sept. 20, 2001.


The red text has the important point: Al-Qaeda was not believed to be working with Iraq, as too many wingnuts still claim. At the time, Wolfowitz thought that Iraq was likely to have been involved in the 9-11 attacks, so I guess there were some sane people in DoD and I'm surprised that Feith seems to have been one of them.

WAR WHORE UPSET

It seems that Laura Ingraham was upset that the word "outspoken" was used in introducing her. Crooks & Liars has the video and Nitpicker has a good analysis of this whiny bitch. I sent her an e-mail in which I said Roberts was wrong and should've called her a "WAR WHORE."

LOSING THE NOONAN

UPDATE: Memeorandum has links to the reaction to Miss Peggy.

Pres. Chest Thumper has last almost everyone in GOP, even The Noonan. What's interesting is the sheer number of different actions by Pres. Fredo Noonan thinks have been badly mistaken.

Too Bad
President Bush has torn the conservative coalition asunder.
Friday, June 1, 2007 12:00 a.m. EDT
By Peggy Noonan

(excerpts)

What President Bush is doing, and has been doing for some time, is sundering a great political coalition.

This White House thinks its base is stupid and that its heart is in the wrong place.

For almost three years, arguably longer, conservative Bush supporters have felt like sufferers of battered wife syndrome. You don't like endless gushing spending, the kind that assumes a high and unstoppable affluence will always exist, and the tax receipts will always flow in? Too bad! You don't like expanding governmental authority and power? Too bad. You think the war was wrong or is wrong? Too bad.

But on immigration it has changed from "Too bad" to "You're bad."

The White House and its supporters seem to be marshalling not facts but only sentiments, and self-aggrandizing ones at that. They make a call to emotions--this is, always and on every issue, the administration's default position--but not, I think, to seriously influence the debate.

The beginning of my own sense of separation from the Bush administration came in January 2005, when the president declared that it is now the policy of the United States to eradicate tyranny in the world, and that the survival of American liberty is dependent on the liberty of every other nation. This was at once so utopian and so aggressive that it shocked me. For others the beginning of distance might have been Katrina and the incompetence it revealed, or the depth of the mishandling and misjudgments of Iraq.

A RAT BASTARD TRIES TO RE-WRITE HISTORY

The LA Times decided to give some op-ed space to Henry 'The Butcher" Kissinger. In it, he essentially urges us to not to let the "diry stinking hippies" end another pointless war. I notice that here was not one word about Cambodia. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Cambodian Incursion, here's a brief recap:

Nixon consequently refrained from striking North Vietnam, but he could not resist the opportunity to intervene in Cambodia, where a pro-Western government under General Lon Nol had overthrown Sihanouk's neutralist regime in March 1970. Since that time, the new regime had attempted to force the communists out of their border sanctuaries. The North Vietnamese easily fended off the attacks of the Cambodian army and began to arm and support the Cambodian communist movement, known as the Khmer Rouge. Eager to support Lon Nol and destroy the sanctuaries, Nixon authorized a large sweep into the border areas by a U.S. and South Vietnamese force of 20,000 men. The allies captured enormous quantities of supplies and equipment but failed to trap any large enemy forces.¹

William Shawcross wrote the defnitive account of this fiasco: Sideshow, Revised Edition: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia. Here's a fair review:

THERE WAS a special sadness about Cambodia and Laos, victims of geography and the mistakes, ambitions and cynical strategies of more powerful nations.Cambodia's tragedy has been best told by the British author William Shawcross. His 1979 book Sideshow (Simon and Schuster) chronicled the 1970-75 war between the communists and the U.S.-backed Lon Nol regime. Though unsparingly critical of the Vietnamese as well, Shawcross portrayed American policy as both heartless and futile.Shawcross made some factual errors, which Kissinger and other former Nixon aides have used to try to discredit his book. But by any fair measure, it remains a devastating indictment of Washington's role in a terrible and needless catastrophe.<sup>2


1</sup>Vietnam War. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 1, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-234638

²The Washington Post
April 21, 1985, Sunday, Final Edition
SECTION: Book World; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 2378 words
HEADLINE: VIETNAM;
Selected Reading
BYLINE: By Arnold R. Isaac

WHAT HE SAID A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO

Crooks & Liars has the video and Lexis-Nexis has the transcript¹:


LARA LOGAN reporting:Handing over power to the Iraqi army is a big part of the latest US effort to make Baghdad safer. But with so many officers who served under Saddam Hussein now filling the top ranks, Iraq's prime minister admitted in this exclusive interview with CBS News there's a real threat of a coup. Do you feel confident that you have the loyalty of your officer corps?

Mr. NOURI al-MALIKI (Iraqi Prime Minister): (Through translator) `There are some of them who are still loyal to the previous regime and they are making problems. Sometimes they even violate the security of military operations.'

LOGAN: Does that make you afraid for your own survival?

Mr. al-MALIKI: (Through translator) `No, I'm not afraid. But I have to watch the army because those still loyal to the previous regime may start planning coups. Those people don't believe in democracy and, for that reason, we are monitoring the status of the army very carefully.'

¹SHOW: CBS Evening News 6:30 PM EST CBS
May 30, 2007 Wednesday
LENGTH: 405 words
HEADLINE: Iraq's prime minister has concerns of possible coup
ANCHORS: RUSS MITCHELL
REPORTERS: LARA LOGAN