I just caught a snippet, but on the MSNBC barking idiot program known as Connected Coast to Coast, retired General McCaffrey said something to the effect that "violent response to violence does not always produce desirable results."
This was in response to some think tank chickenhawk's attempt to equate Iraq with WWII, and who suggested that dropping a nuke might be an appropriate measure in our war/struggle/rhetoric/nobjob on terror/extremism.
It gives me some hope that a figure of General McCaffrey's stature is willing (and eminently able) to go on the Yahoo-sphere and try (or attempt to try) to inject a cc or two of sanity into the solution of the American mind-juice.
But I wonder how long it will take before the Rovewellians start smearing him (and accuse him of smearing them).
Friday, August 05, 2005
38 Percent Too Many
The good news: only 38 percent of Americans now approve of the way Mister Bush is handling the war.
The bad news: 38 percent of Americans still approve of the way Mister Bush is handling the war. What they think there is to approve of is beyond me.
An editorial in today's New York Times gives us a pretty good low down on the situation in Afghanistan. "Afghanistan is out of the headlines, but its war against the Taliban goes on. These days, it is not going well."
The problem, it seems, is Pakistan. General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, is "passively" aiding the Taliban. In March, Taliban fighters started showing up in greater numbers along the Afghan-Pakistan border with "suspiciously sophisticated" weapons. 38 US soldiers have died in combat in Afghanistan this year along with hundreds of Afghans, and next month's primary elections are threatened.
And this just in: Afghanistan is still a narco-state.
---
The Time 's Craig S. Smith reports that "A day after losing 15 marines in fighting along the Euphrates River, the American military command [in Iraq] said Thursday that suicide attacks had declined as a result of its three-month campaign to stem the flow of foreign fighters coming down the river valley from Syria."
Note they're talking about "suicide" attacks. The total number of attacks of all kinds remains constant.
Only three of thirteen bombings were suicide attacks. Mission accomplished, huh?
Ah, the insurgency is not expanding. Um, is that supposed to be a good sign, General?
---
MSNBC reports the Marines have launched a new offensive. No word on how this new offensive might bring improved success over the old offensives.
---
I'm never quite sure what to make of the Boston Globe's Mike Barnacle, but I sure cheered his rant on this morning's Imus program. It's time for the mainstream media to stop helping the administration soft peddle this woebegone war and start showing the delusional 38 percent what it really looks like.
The bad news: 38 percent of Americans still approve of the way Mister Bush is handling the war. What they think there is to approve of is beyond me.
An editorial in today's New York Times gives us a pretty good low down on the situation in Afghanistan. "Afghanistan is out of the headlines, but its war against the Taliban goes on. These days, it is not going well."
The problem, it seems, is Pakistan. General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, is "passively" aiding the Taliban. In March, Taliban fighters started showing up in greater numbers along the Afghan-Pakistan border with "suspiciously sophisticated" weapons. 38 US soldiers have died in combat in Afghanistan this year along with hundreds of Afghans, and next month's primary elections are threatened.
And this just in: Afghanistan is still a narco-state.
---
The Time 's Craig S. Smith reports that "A day after losing 15 marines in fighting along the Euphrates River, the American military command [in Iraq] said Thursday that suicide attacks had declined as a result of its three-month campaign to stem the flow of foreign fighters coming down the river valley from Syria."
Note they're talking about "suicide" attacks. The total number of attacks of all kinds remains constant.
Brig. Gen. C. Donald Alston, chief spokesman for the American command, said 13 car bombings occurred in Iraq last week, only three of which were suicide bombings, the lowest weekly figures since the current counterinsurgency campaign in western Anbar Province began. The military regards car bombings, suicide bombings in particular, as a rough measure of foreign fighter activity because it contends that most of the suicide bombers are foreign militants.
Only three of thirteen bombings were suicide attacks. Mission accomplished, huh?
"When I look at the bar charts, the statistics are a clear indication that the tempo of suicide attacks has decreased," General Alston said, noting that the percentage of car bombings involving suicide bombers was as high as 60 percent a few months ago. He expressed optimism that the flow of foreign fighters was ebbing. "This is not an expanding insurgency," he said.
Ah, the insurgency is not expanding. Um, is that supposed to be a good sign, General?
---
MSNBC reports the Marines have launched a new offensive. No word on how this new offensive might bring improved success over the old offensives.
---
I'm never quite sure what to make of the Boston Globe's Mike Barnacle, but I sure cheered his rant on this morning's Imus program. It's time for the mainstream media to stop helping the administration soft peddle this woebegone war and start showing the delusional 38 percent what it really looks like.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Faith Based Monkey Business
From Merriam Webster OnLine:
From Tom Holden of my local Virginian Pilot:
According to Holden, the interchange is not in Hampton Roads' long-range transportation plan, or in the Virginia Department of Transportation's six-year plan.
The faith based pork made it in to the transportation bill thanks largely to Virginia Representatives Thelma Drake and J. Randy Forbes, and Senators George Allen and John Warner; all of whom are (Shock! Awe!) Republicans.
Pat Robertson, Big Daddy of the Christian Broadcasting Network, has contributed $16,000 since 2002 to the campaigns of Forbes, Allen, and Warner. Not a bad investment for an $11 million dollar federal handout that will lead to a $300 million real estate development.
---
The good news is that Armageddon can't be around the corner. We're a long way from having the meek own the Congress, much less inherit the earth.
the·oc·ra·cy
Pronunciation: thE-'รค-kr&-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cies
Etymology: Greek theokratia, from the- + -kratia -cracy
1 : government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided
2 : a state governed by a theocracy
From Tom Holden of my local Virginian Pilot:
Tucked in the $286 billion transportation spending bill passed by Congress last week is a surprising line item: $10.8 million toward construction of a new local interchange along Interstate 64.
The interchange...is envisioned as a gateway to a planned development of houses, stores and offices that Christian Broadcasting Network’s chief development consultant said could top $300 million in value.
According to Holden, the interchange is not in Hampton Roads' long-range transportation plan, or in the Virginia Department of Transportation's six-year plan.
The faith based pork made it in to the transportation bill thanks largely to Virginia Representatives Thelma Drake and J. Randy Forbes, and Senators George Allen and John Warner; all of whom are (Shock! Awe!) Republicans.
Pat Robertson, Big Daddy of the Christian Broadcasting Network, has contributed $16,000 since 2002 to the campaigns of Forbes, Allen, and Warner. Not a bad investment for an $11 million dollar federal handout that will lead to a $300 million real estate development.
---
The good news is that Armageddon can't be around the corner. We're a long way from having the meek own the Congress, much less inherit the earth.
Jiggety-Jig
I'm gone a day, and make the mistake of turning on cable news. My goodness, squawking heads telling me what to be afraid of and angry about now.
Why, it seem like only Tuesday that the new National Intelligence Estimate said Iran won't be able to make nuclear weapons for another ten years. But come Wednesday afternoon, there's a fifty something "analyst" talking to what's-her-babe on how we're heading for a nuclear showdown" with Iran. He said it at least twice.
Then more Marines got killed, and this new retired colonel guy's telling some other cable babe "We need more troops but we don't have any more troops so there isn't a military situation so we have to stay the course and show our resolve and then have the Iraqi's take care of the insurgency themselves. Oh, my check will clear, won't it?"
Then driving home this morning I hear Bin Laden's number two guy released a tape where he says the London bombings are Tony Blair's fault, and boy I just can't wait to see the reaction that gets from the rabid right blogosphere.
Whoever's in charge of making us afraid of the Chinese must have had the day off, because I didn't read or hear anything about them yesterday.
I see in this morning's New York Times is back to saying "war on terror." I guess he didn't like the sound of being a "struggle time president."
---
The US Marine Corps, so battered lately in Iraq, has made a bold move to improve morale and discipline--new uniform regulations!
That'll take those pesky insurgents down a peg.
---
Tarantula Lady over at Chelicera gives a nice overview of two Rovewellian propaganda techniques, straw man argument and ad hominem tu quoque. I've always encouraged understanding of rhetorical manipulation techniques--not so you can use them others, but so you can tell when others are using them on you. The main thing, as TL points out, is to see the logical fallacies in bad, emotion evoking arguments.
Most of the time, symbol and language manipulation targets pre-existing emotional conditions, mainly anger and fear. In pop culture, we normally hear this sort of thing referred to as "button pushing," a phrase that grew out of General Semantics concepts like semantic reactions and signal reactions.
More material of General Semantics is available at the General Semantics Institute site .
Why, it seem like only Tuesday that the new National Intelligence Estimate said Iran won't be able to make nuclear weapons for another ten years. But come Wednesday afternoon, there's a fifty something "analyst" talking to what's-her-babe on how we're heading for a nuclear showdown" with Iran. He said it at least twice.
Then more Marines got killed, and this new retired colonel guy's telling some other cable babe "We need more troops but we don't have any more troops so there isn't a military situation so we have to stay the course and show our resolve and then have the Iraqi's take care of the insurgency themselves. Oh, my check will clear, won't it?"
Then driving home this morning I hear Bin Laden's number two guy released a tape where he says the London bombings are Tony Blair's fault, and boy I just can't wait to see the reaction that gets from the rabid right blogosphere.
Whoever's in charge of making us afraid of the Chinese must have had the day off, because I didn't read or hear anything about them yesterday.
I see in this morning's New York Times is back to saying "war on terror." I guess he didn't like the sound of being a "struggle time president."
---
The US Marine Corps, so battered lately in Iraq, has made a bold move to improve morale and discipline--new uniform regulations!
"[One] change gives female Marines the choice of wearing diamond-studded earrings with their evening dress uniforms. Before this change they were only allowed to wear pearl earrings. Also, Marines will no longer be required to wear their covers while in privately owned vehicles. One other change concerns civilian attire. While on a military installation, all headgear, including civilian headgear, will be removed while indoors."
That'll take those pesky insurgents down a peg.
---
Tarantula Lady over at Chelicera gives a nice overview of two Rovewellian propaganda techniques, straw man argument and ad hominem tu quoque. I've always encouraged understanding of rhetorical manipulation techniques--not so you can use them others, but so you can tell when others are using them on you. The main thing, as TL points out, is to see the logical fallacies in bad, emotion evoking arguments.
Most of the time, symbol and language manipulation targets pre-existing emotional conditions, mainly anger and fear. In pop culture, we normally hear this sort of thing referred to as "button pushing," a phrase that grew out of General Semantics concepts like semantic reactions and signal reactions.
More material of General Semantics is available at the General Semantics Institute site .
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Support the Troops, Part XXX
The latest insurgency news from the Associated Press.
Seven Marines killed Monday.
U.S. death toll tops 1,800.
More civilians wounded.
Explosion damages an oil pipeline.
---
In other news, President Bush calls the astronauts in space.
Bush: Hi, astronauts.
(Time delay)
Astronauts: Hi, Mister President.
(Time delay)
Bush: How y'all doing'?
(Time delay)
Astronauts: Just fine.
(Time delay)
Bush: Same here.
---
Don Imus encourages us to send pre-paid calling cards to wounded OIF veterans at Walter Reed Hospital so they can afford to phone home to their families.
---
We're programmed to spend a half trillion dollars on the Department of Defense this year. (We'll actually spend more than that.)
---
Mister Bush believes that Rafael Palermo didn't "knowingly" take steroids. "Rafael Palmeiro is a friend," Bush says. Multi-millionaire Palmiero faces a ten-game suspension in keeping with Major League Baseball's new "crackdown" drug policy.
---
The military has a "no tolerance" policy regarding illegal drugs. Any soldier, seaman, airman, or Marine who pops positive for steroids gets tossed out of the service with an "other than honorable" discharge, which essentially screws them for life. Unless, presumably, they happen to be "friends" of George W. Bush.
---
So support the troops.
Seven Marines killed Monday.
U.S. death toll tops 1,800.
More civilians wounded.
Explosion damages an oil pipeline.
---
In other news, President Bush calls the astronauts in space.
Bush: Hi, astronauts.
(Time delay)
Astronauts: Hi, Mister President.
(Time delay)
Bush: How y'all doing'?
(Time delay)
Astronauts: Just fine.
(Time delay)
Bush: Same here.
---
Don Imus encourages us to send pre-paid calling cards to wounded OIF veterans at Walter Reed Hospital so they can afford to phone home to their families.
---
We're programmed to spend a half trillion dollars on the Department of Defense this year. (We'll actually spend more than that.)
---
Mister Bush believes that Rafael Palermo didn't "knowingly" take steroids. "Rafael Palmeiro is a friend," Bush says. Multi-millionaire Palmiero faces a ten-game suspension in keeping with Major League Baseball's new "crackdown" drug policy.
---
The military has a "no tolerance" policy regarding illegal drugs. Any soldier, seaman, airman, or Marine who pops positive for steroids gets tossed out of the service with an "other than honorable" discharge, which essentially screws them for life. Unless, presumably, they happen to be "friends" of George W. Bush.
---
So support the troops.
The Incredibles
It's the first day on the job for the exploding cigar known as John Bolton. As of this writing, the top ten stories of the UN building are still intact--but it's only 10 a.m.
My problem with Bolton isn't so much that he's a flamer and a bully. That hardly makes him unique in this administration. My problem with Bolton is that given his track record, we can't believe a single word he says. (Duh, he's not unique in that regard either, is he?)
If we're actually trying to restore US credibility in the global community, Bolton was the wrong guy to send to the UN. He was one of Bush's key pre-invasion intelligence fixers, and has generally been smack in the middle of the reality vacuum that surrounds this White House.
---
The Washington Post and other sources report today that Iran isn't so close to having nuclear weapons as we thought. In fact, the new National Intelligence Estimate says that they're a decade away from being able to manufacture a key H-bomb component.
What was all the hoopla about?
In January of this year, Dick Cheney was saying that Iran's nuclear program was so far along that the Israelis might conduct an air strike as they did on Iraq two decades ago.
In April 2004, Joltin' Bolton, then the State Department's head honcho on WMD proliferation said, "If we permit Iran's deception to go on much longer, it will be too late. Iran will have nuclear weapons."
Bolton accusing someone else of "deception." That's kind of like GOP hardliners crying about the Dems conducting a "smear campaign" on Karl Rove.
---
Speaking of Rove/Plame/Niger/Traitorgate, has anyone figured out whether Bolton's appointment gives him diplomatic immunity from prosecution in the Patrick Fitzgerald investigation?
---
In, Out, or Stuck in the Doorway?
So, what's the deal in Iraq? General Casey, commander of US and coalition forces there, seems to waffle back and forth on the subject. Our troops will only leave when Iraqi troops are ready to take their place. Does he--or anyone--have any idea when that might be? Apparently not, as Casey says there is no timeline.
Brigadier General Karl Horst, head of Iraqi force training, says, a reduction of U.S. forces is event-driven, not time-driven, which means you meet the goals and objectives."
Well, it's nice to hear a military man talking about goals and objectives for a change. But talking about goals and objectives and having specific ones are two different things.
Even if you have specific goals and objectives, without a time line you don't have a plan, you just have a wish. And you know what they say about wishes and fishes.
The Bush administration position now seems to be that "setting a timetable without credible Iraqi forces to replace departing U.S. troops would only embolden the insurgents to create more chaos."
It seems like only a couple weeks ago they were arguing that setting a timetable would cause the insurgents to "wait us out."
---
It must be my years in the military. I somehow find myself secretly wishing I could trust my government despite the overwhelming body of evidence that indicates I can't.
I'm off to Williamsburg tomorrow for a couple days of family stuff. Maybe that will take the edge off my "malaise."
Catch you later in the week.
My problem with Bolton isn't so much that he's a flamer and a bully. That hardly makes him unique in this administration. My problem with Bolton is that given his track record, we can't believe a single word he says. (Duh, he's not unique in that regard either, is he?)
If we're actually trying to restore US credibility in the global community, Bolton was the wrong guy to send to the UN. He was one of Bush's key pre-invasion intelligence fixers, and has generally been smack in the middle of the reality vacuum that surrounds this White House.
---
The Washington Post and other sources report today that Iran isn't so close to having nuclear weapons as we thought. In fact, the new National Intelligence Estimate says that they're a decade away from being able to manufacture a key H-bomb component.
What was all the hoopla about?
In January of this year, Dick Cheney was saying that Iran's nuclear program was so far along that the Israelis might conduct an air strike as they did on Iraq two decades ago.
In April 2004, Joltin' Bolton, then the State Department's head honcho on WMD proliferation said, "If we permit Iran's deception to go on much longer, it will be too late. Iran will have nuclear weapons."
Bolton accusing someone else of "deception." That's kind of like GOP hardliners crying about the Dems conducting a "smear campaign" on Karl Rove.
---
Speaking of Rove/Plame/Niger/Traitorgate, has anyone figured out whether Bolton's appointment gives him diplomatic immunity from prosecution in the Patrick Fitzgerald investigation?
---
In, Out, or Stuck in the Doorway?
So, what's the deal in Iraq? General Casey, commander of US and coalition forces there, seems to waffle back and forth on the subject. Our troops will only leave when Iraqi troops are ready to take their place. Does he--or anyone--have any idea when that might be? Apparently not, as Casey says there is no timeline.
Brigadier General Karl Horst, head of Iraqi force training, says, a reduction of U.S. forces is event-driven, not time-driven, which means you meet the goals and objectives."
Well, it's nice to hear a military man talking about goals and objectives for a change. But talking about goals and objectives and having specific ones are two different things.
Even if you have specific goals and objectives, without a time line you don't have a plan, you just have a wish. And you know what they say about wishes and fishes.
The Bush administration position now seems to be that "setting a timetable without credible Iraqi forces to replace departing U.S. troops would only embolden the insurgents to create more chaos."
It seems like only a couple weeks ago they were arguing that setting a timetable would cause the insurgents to "wait us out."
---
It must be my years in the military. I somehow find myself secretly wishing I could trust my government despite the overwhelming body of evidence that indicates I can't.
I'm off to Williamsburg tomorrow for a couple days of family stuff. Maybe that will take the edge off my "malaise."
Catch you later in the week.
Who Served, Who Swerved
The novel I may or may never sell has a line toward the end where the protagonist notes that Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and John Wayne fought in the exact same number of wars.
Regular contributor GMC sent along this "scorecard" of military service contributions of our leading public servants and most visible political pundits. You may have seen it before, but it's worth scanning again:
Democrats
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist
in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam. Single amputee.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple
Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and
Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of
Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with
Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received#311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.
Republicans
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked Max Cleland's
patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned
to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate;
failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role making movies.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and
Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem," although continued in NFL for 8
years.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
* Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
* Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot back.)
Regular contributor GMC sent along this "scorecard" of military service contributions of our leading public servants and most visible political pundits. You may have seen it before, but it's worth scanning again:
Democrats
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist
in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam. Single amputee.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple
Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and
Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of
Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with
Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received#311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.
Republicans
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked Max Cleland's
patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned
to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate;
failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role making movies.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and
Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem," although continued in NFL for 8
years.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
* Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
* Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot back.)
Monday, August 01, 2005
More Brave New World Dictionary
Further adventures in the English language as spoken by American politician figures:
According to Mr. Bush, Bolton's nomination has been blocked by a "handful" of Senators. So now "handful" means 40 or more, because that's how many Senators it takes to establish a filibuster.
Democrats opposing the nomination described Bolton as "dishonest." Mr. Bush is confident in Bolton's "integrity."
Almost overnight, a "war" turned into a "struggle," and "terrorism" became "violent extremism," even though nothing in the war/struggle actually changed. (But trust me, when it serves a political agenda, the word "war" will be invoked.)
Bolton accepted his new role as "permanent" Ambassador to the UN, even though his term will expire in January of 2007 when the new Congress convenes.
Senator Ted Kennedy said Bolton's nomination "evades the constitutional requirement" for Senate consent of presidential ambassador appointments, even though the constitution specifically allows recess appointments.
On the other side of the aisle, Republican Senators have consistently referred to the "constitutional duty" to bring nominees to an "up or down floor vote", yet the constitution says nothing about up or down votes.
It's all starting to sound like white noise to me.
On the bright side, nobody has asked me why I "hate America" today.
Yet.
According to Mr. Bush, Bolton's nomination has been blocked by a "handful" of Senators. So now "handful" means 40 or more, because that's how many Senators it takes to establish a filibuster.
Democrats opposing the nomination described Bolton as "dishonest." Mr. Bush is confident in Bolton's "integrity."
Almost overnight, a "war" turned into a "struggle," and "terrorism" became "violent extremism," even though nothing in the war/struggle actually changed. (But trust me, when it serves a political agenda, the word "war" will be invoked.)
Bolton accepted his new role as "permanent" Ambassador to the UN, even though his term will expire in January of 2007 when the new Congress convenes.
Senator Ted Kennedy said Bolton's nomination "evades the constitutional requirement" for Senate consent of presidential ambassador appointments, even though the constitution specifically allows recess appointments.
On the other side of the aisle, Republican Senators have consistently referred to the "constitutional duty" to bring nominees to an "up or down floor vote", yet the constitution says nothing about up or down votes.
It's all starting to sound like white noise to me.
On the bright side, nobody has asked me why I "hate America" today.
Yet.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Weekend Drive By...
Two pieces of note from Saturday's New York Times.
First, an editorial, "The Roots of Prison Abuse."
Nice to see that Graham's mojo grew back. I wonder how long before it falls off again.
And in case you've forgotten about Iraq, James Glanz reports about a suicide bomber attack on Iraqi recruits.
American military officials fudging the body count?
Bogus prisoner abuse investigations, phony claims of "success" and "progress," Pat Tillman, Jessica Lynch, Rummy and the Yes Men Generals...
One of the major casualties of this war--the Pentagon exposed as a five-sided echo chamber of the Rovewellian propaganda machine.
---
Speaking of credibility--I keep wondering why Dubya would put Bolton in the UN given Bolton's obvious connection with Plame/Rove/Niger/Traitorgate, but hey...
If Bolton is US Ambassador to the UN, does that give him diplomatic immunity from prosecution?
Nah. This administration would never pull a stunt like that.
Would it?
First, an editorial, "The Roots of Prison Abuse."
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican who has shown real political courage on this issue, recently released documents showing that the military's top lawyers had warned a year before the Abu Ghraib nightmare came to light that detainee policies imposed by the White House and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld violated American and international law and undermined the standards of civilized treatment embedded in the American military tradition.
Nice to see that Graham's mojo grew back. I wonder how long before it falls off again.
And in case you've forgotten about Iraq, James Glanz reports about a suicide bomber attack on Iraqi recruits.
A suicide bomber wearing a vest laden with explosives blew himself up outside an army recruitment center in a remote northern village on the Syrian border on Friday, an official with the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. The official said the attack killed 26 people and wounded at least 30, though American military officials put the figures at 10 dead and 21 wounded.
American military officials fudging the body count?
Bogus prisoner abuse investigations, phony claims of "success" and "progress," Pat Tillman, Jessica Lynch, Rummy and the Yes Men Generals...
One of the major casualties of this war--the Pentagon exposed as a five-sided echo chamber of the Rovewellian propaganda machine.
---
Speaking of credibility--I keep wondering why Dubya would put Bolton in the UN given Bolton's obvious connection with Plame/Rove/Niger/Traitorgate, but hey...
If Bolton is US Ambassador to the UN, does that give him diplomatic immunity from prosecution?
Nah. This administration would never pull a stunt like that.
Would it?
Friday, July 29, 2005
Republic? What Republic?
From The Washington Post editorial staff:
This, in a nutshell, describes what's happening to our republic. The executive branch declared itself outside the law, then denied it acted outside the law, then used the Army to cover its trail, then used partisan control to stop Congress from exercising curbs on its exercise of unlimited power.
What's happened to my country?
FOR 15 MONTHS now the Bush administration has insisted that the horrific photographs of abuse from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were the result of freelance behavior by low-level personnel and had nothing to do with its policies...
Army brass, which has conducted investigations documenting hundreds of cases of prisoner mistreatment in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but denies that any of its senior officers are culpable...
On Wednesday, the former warden of Abu Ghraib, Maj. David DiNenna, testified that the use of dogs for interrogation was recommended by Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, the former commander of the Guantanamo Bay prison who was dispatched by the Pentagon to Abu Ghraib in August 2003 to review the handling and interrogation of prisoners. On Tuesday, a military interrogator testified that he had been trained in using dogs by a team sent to Iraq by Gen. Miller...
In statements to investigators and in sworn testimony to Congress last year, Gen. Miller denied that he recommended the use of dogs for interrogation, or that they had been used at Guantanamo.
Yet Army investigators reported to Congress this month that, under Gen. Miller's supervision at Guantanamo, an al Qaeda suspect named Mohamed Qahtani was threatened with snarling dogs, forced to wear women's underwear on his head and led by a leash attached to his chains -- the very abuse documented in the Abu Ghraib photographs...
The interrogation of Mr. Qahtani, investigators found, was carried out under rules approved by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Dec. 2, 2002. After strong protests from military lawyers, the Rumsfeld standards -- which explicitly allowed nudity, the use of dogs and shackling -- were revised in April 2003. Yet the same practices were later adopted at Abu Ghraib, at least in part at the direct instigation of Gen. Miller...
When the Abu Ghraib scandal erupted, GOP leaders such as Sen. John W. Warner (Va.) loudly vowed to get to the bottom of the matter -- but once the bottom started to come into view late last year, Mr. Warner's demands for accountability ceased. Mr. Rumsfeld and other senior officials have never been the subject of an independent investigation. A recommendation by the latest Army probe that Gen. Miller be reprimanded for his role in the Qahtani interrogation was rejected by Gen. Bantz Craddock of Southern Command...
Six GOP senators led by John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) have backed an amendment to the defense operations bill that would exclude exceptional interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay and ban the use of "cruel, inhumane and degrading" treatment for all prisoners held by the United States...
Attempts by the White House and Mr. Warner to block or gut the legislation failed, and on Tuesday the GOP leadership pulled the defense bill from the floor rather than allow a vote.
This, in a nutshell, describes what's happening to our republic. The executive branch declared itself outside the law, then denied it acted outside the law, then used the Army to cover its trail, then used partisan control to stop Congress from exercising curbs on its exercise of unlimited power.
What's happened to my country?
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