Gas guzzlers for war

It looks like most people can't be bothered to slow down to save some gas and money.

What is wrong with this picture: a single driver commuting to work in a big 10mph SUV, going 10 miles over the speed limit and with a Support the Troops sticker.

If you support the troops, you should drive the speed limit or under, take the bus, walk, ride your bike, car pool; anything to use less gas so we don't have an excuse to send a couple hundred thousand kids to suffer in Iraq.

GM has been running ads telling people to write thank you letters to the troops and bring it in to your GM dealer.

"Dear Gen. Petraeus,

Thank you for trying to run a fucked up war in a slightly less fucked up way."

What now, D'Artagnan?

The Democrats have written Bush another blank check. So what do those of us who want to end the war do now?

Join the Greens? Work with the Kucinich democrats? Move to New Zealand?

A beautiful day

I had a great day today. I went for a bike ride, up and down a hilly road, through the woods along a river, over an old covered bridge.

Riding home, I noticed a plaque honoring a local man killed while serving in the Army in Iraq.

Bush's Gallipoli

The congress voted to "give the troops the funding they need". What about the diplomacy they need, or the hope they need that they are not going to keep coming back forever.

Bush says we need "more of a national discussion" on "the consequences of failure in Iraq." The consequences of pursuing Bush's plan for failure are more people dying, more money flushed down the rathole, no money for domestic needs, and gas prices through the roof, making billions for his friends. Those are the true consequences of our ongoing failure in Iraq.

In Bush's upside down world, he calls this failure 'success'. (Maybe those oil profit billions are on his mind.) He and his lackeys foam at the mouth about the chaos that would ensue in Iraq if we left. But then, talking out of both sides of his mouth, he says "what they're going to try to do is kill as many innocent people as they can to try to influence the debate here at home." So he admits our presence is instigating the chaos. Mr. Tough Guy says we can't let people getting killed shake our will, so he will keep the meat grinder turning so he can prove his manhood. Jeff Gannon.

The fortunate few and the miserable many

The design of the Chicago Spire is amazing. Calatrava's first building in the US, the Milwaukee Art Museum, is also stunning. His inventiveness is a tribute to the human spirit.

So what is bothering me about this? The troglodytes marketing the spire are selling it to "the fortunate few". For the miserable many we have grinding poverty, but it isn't enough for the rich people to enjoy their luxury. They have to build a 2000 foot middle finger to taunt the masses.

End the war

Iraq is on the verge of collapse. The majority of Iraqis want is to leave, maybe even a majority think it is okay to attack us. This war is destroying the US.

Meanwhile, Dick and George and their friends are making billions after running up gas prices. Still wondering what is in the minutes of Cheney's infamous energy task farce? Look at the sign at your neigborhood gas station.

Let us end the war and throw the Republifascists out of office. Then we can get to work on real priorities:

Single payer universal health care.
Increasing minimum wage and imposing compensation limits for corporate executives.
Redirecting military spending to education.
Instituting higher fuel economy standards, with gradual increase in gas taxes to keep consumption from growing.
National initiative to limit sprawl.

Jay Leno hits rock bottom

For years, Jay has seemed to be a mean, unfunny old fart. It's one thing to make fun of politicians, celebrities, and public figures, but Jay takes an unnatural delight in mocking ordinary folks.

I usually turn away when he comes on, but tonight I left Jay on for a few minutes. Jay quickly reached a new low, at least for my highly abbreviated viewing. He told a joke about getting a table on Mother's Day by following O.J. into a restaurant. Now why anyone would think that an O.J. joke would be funny in 2007 is beyond me, but the Great Comic Leno must know comedy better than I. But Jay can go lower, much lower. He runs a clip of a newsreader with a picture of O.J. over her shoulder, then O.J. becomes animated and starts stabbing the newsreader.

Why do the bozos running NBC let this tasteless, talentless schmuck occupy Johnny's spot? Shame on them.

Adjusted to the Realities

It was "Flip Flop Sunday with John McCain" on Meet the Press today. Russert grilled Mr. Nice Day for a Stroll in Baghdad on his changes of mind regarding timetables, abortion, taxes, immigration, and finally ethanol. In response to the ethanol charge, McCain denied having changed his mind, he said "I have adjusted to the realities of the world we live in today."

I like that, "Adjusted to the Realities". Beats the hell out of "I voted for it before I voted against it."

Mr. Bennett, about this gambling? "I have adjusted to the realities"
Mr. Limbaugh, about this drug use? "I have adjusted to the realities"
Mr. Romney, about this gay marriage thing? "I have adjusted to the realities"
Mr. Giuliani, about this serial marriage? "I have adjusted to the realities"
Mr. Bush, about this war strategy? "I have adjusted to the realities"

Bleah.

Diplomacy Lady and Subcommander Guy

Our Diplomacy Lady went to Sharm el Sheikh, but all we got was stale rhetoric. It was a perfect opportunity blown to work some things out with Iran. Incompetence or malice, it doesn't matter, get these crooks out of office.

Meanwhile, Subcommander Guy Gates said "Our country is troubled and divided by a long and difficult war in Iraq," he said. "We want our troops to come home and be out of harm's way. And yet, most also know or at least sense that leaving chaos behind us in Iraq will bring dramatically more suffering for the Iraqis and also disaster for the Middle East and, ultimately, for us."

Chaos behind us, Chaos in front of us. Somehow, Gates thinks that chaos without us in Iraq is worse than chaos with us in Iraq, which is waht we have. At least there is none of this cakewalk, last throes claptrap. Ah, the glories of a Defense Secretary with his head only halfway up.

The BBC reports "A US survey of battlefield ethics among troops in Iraq has found widespread tolerance for torture in certain circumstances and problems with morale." More:

"The Pentagon survey found that less than half the troops in Iraq thought Iraqi civilians should be treated with dignity and respect.

More than a third believed that torture was acceptable if it helped save the life of a fellow soldier or if it helped get information about the insurgents.

About 10% of those surveyed said they had actually mistreated Iraqi civilians by hitting or kicking them, or had damaged their property when it was not necessary to do so."

The survey also said that soldiers suffering from depression are more likely to engage in this kind of unethical behavior. While I can have sympathy for their suffering, I can't support their behavior. The best thing for troops in this position is to bring them home. As for Gates' chaos, it looks like U.S. troops are contributing to it, not lessening it.

Commander Guy

I'm glad he is a Commander Guy. We wouldn't want President Caillou, or Baghdad Bob the Builder.

I just can't remember who the "Declarer" is, as in declaration of war. Oh, that must be Nancy Pelosi, "Declarer" of the House.

I'll leave the rest of the cheap jokes to Lettermen and other skilled satirists. I feel compelled to dig into Bush's speech to the contractors in which he uttered the title phrase.

"Last week, General Petraeus ... reminded us that not all the reinforcements he'd requested have arrived"

Is this a complaint that Bush isn't really giving the commanders what they asked for?

"My theory is, and it's a good one, is that if the capital is in chaos, the country can't -- it's going to be difficult for the country to survive."

That's some great insight. Baghdad, however, has been somewhat chaotic ever since the occupation began. Why the need for a Green Zone in the first place? When was the UN bombed out of Baghdad, 2003?

"General Petraeus reports that American and Iraqi forces received more tips from local residents in the past four months than during any other four-month period on record. People are beginning to have some confidence and they're beginning to step forth with information, information that will help them live normal lives."

It would be nice to know why. Is it becasue Petraeus has encouraged soldiers to listen to tips? Is it that the people are more desparate? Is it that they think they can get revenge on someone who has wronged them by turning them in? Are the tips valuable, or are they ambush attempts?

"I worry about a situation where if radicals took control of a country like Iraq, they would have oil resources to use at their disposal to try to achieve their objectives. You can attack a nation several ways. One, you can get 19 kids to fly airplanes into buildings, or you can gain control of something a country needs and deny that country access to that, in this case, oil, and run the price of oil up, all attempting to inflict serious economic damage."

Is he reading the minutes of the Cheney Energy Task Force?

" Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, there is no benefit in allowing a widespread humanitarian nightmare to consume Iraq"

What Bush has brought to Iraq IS a widespread humanitarian nightmare. Its why we need to leave.

Bench the benchmarks

The network news tonight said that Harry Reid is going to negiotiate a compromise war funding bill with "benchmarks" but no timetable. They predict he will lose a lot of democratic votes but gain enough republican ones to pass the bill.

Don't bother with the benchmarks. As noted before in this blog, after two years of "when the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down," the administration has given up on the Iraqis standing up. They are not going to "stand up", because they don't want us there.

Bush also said that success is not 'no violence', and that any lessening of sectarian violence will be viewed as success. What a boneheaded statement! Does he not see that this will incite more sectarian violence? Since he was the one who said "Bring 'em on", he probably does.

The right direction for the democrats to pursue is a stronger timetable, not meaningless benchmarks. The democrats have given Bush his funding. Keep passing stronger bills, and if the great hero keeps vetoing, well, its on him, and on his Republican lackeys if they keep upholding his veto.

Or maybe its better to pass nothing. Bush had his chance to get more scratch for his war, and he didn't take it. Tough.

What about the troops who could be stuck in Iraq without any funding? Hmmm. That's a toughie. Maybe they should have thought about that before they signed on the dotted line. Kids, think about that when the recruiters come calling. Also, a lot of the surge funding is going to contractors, exmilitary guys who couldn't get enough, or at least think they could take a bit more for a quarter mil per year. Let Blackwater and KBR pay their airfare home.