Posted by Len on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 9:49 pm CT in Iraq, Politics
NBC News recently did a “report” from Iraq in which they interviewed three of our soldiers. These three young men all expressed frustration that the folks back home weren’t supporting their mission. They didn’t think it was possible to support the troops and not support their mission.
This view was expressed by three of our soldiers in Iraq. There are now 130,000 American soldiers in Iraq, with 20,000 more on the way. Three out of 130,000 is 0.000023%. Hardly a majority.
Unlike the hateful and spiteful right wing bloggers who have chosen to use the opinions of these three men as proof that the majority of Americans hate our troops because they oppose the Republican war in Iraq, I choose to believe that the vast majority of our troops are appreciative of the support sent their way by the citizens of the United States.
Washington Post blogger William M. Arkin gave the wingnuts more to blab about with this blog entry. I do not agree with everything that Mr. Arkin wrote, though I can understand his frustration upon viewing that NBC report. I’m just thankful that most of our troops do not share the defeatist attitude displayed by the three soldiers interviewed by NBC or the right wing bloggers who have elevated them to hero status.
For the record, I support our troops. I want them out of Iraq as soon as possible. They deserve more than to serve as targets in the middle of a civil war. They deserve more than to serve as political pawns for dishonest and unpatriotic Republican politicians. They deserve our honor and our respect.
Their current civilian commanders do not.
I am truly sorry that three of our soldiers in Iraq do not feel that the citizens of their home country support them. They have my sympathy. It must be terrible to feel that way.
The purpose of this old-fashioned newspaper crusade to stop the war is not to make George W. Bush look like the dumbest president ever. People have done dumber things. What were they thinking when they bought into the Bay of Pigs fiasco? How dumb was the Egypt-Suez war? How massively stupid was the entire war in Vietnam? Even at that, the challenge with this misbegotten adventure is that WE simply cannot let it continue.
It is not a matter of whether we will lose or we are losing. We have lost…
We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we’re for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush’s proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, “Stop it, now!”
Posted by Len on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 3:56 pm CT in Politics
“You forfeited any right to squawk about how we cleaned up your mess. Don’t blame us for your screw-ups.” — House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans complained bitterly Wednesday that they had been shut out of the secretive process in which Democrats assembled a huge spending bill to sweep clear a budgetary mess they inherited.
As the House kicked off debate on the bill, Republicans said the measure was being rushed to the floor without adequate time for lawmakers to read it and without the chance to offer changes.
“I cannot recall in the entire time I’ve been a member of the House a single appropriations bill that has not been open to amendment at some level,” said Rep. James Walsh, R-N.Y., a 10-term veteran. “Frankly, I think that’s a travesty.”
Such protests got little sympathy from Democrats such as Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., who noted Republicans last year had failed to pass nine of 11 spending bills.
“You forfeited any right to squawk about how we cleaned up your mess,” Obey said. “Don’t blame us for your screw-ups.”
Divested of his clothes, not to mention the lightning scar on his forehead, this is Harry Potter a million miles from Hogwarts.
Between filming the fifth and sixth Potter movies, 17-year-old Daniel Radcliffe is appearing on the West End stage in a revival of Peter Shaffer’s controversial play Equus.
He plays troubled stablehand Alan Strang and is involved in a lengthy nude sex scene with former Holby City actress Joanna Christie.
It is things like this that drive the holier-than-thou Republicans absolutely stark raving mad. Good on you, Daniel!
Posted by Len on Sunday, January 28th, 2007 at 9:57 pm CT in Iraq
John Hinderaker of the rabidly right wing weblog Power Linewrites:
If you want reporting from Iraq that gives you a sense not only of what is happening but of what it’s like, you pretty much have to turn to alternative media.
Like perhaps Britain’s Channel Four:
You won’t see reports like this on conservative American television.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that President Bush has made a mess of Iraq and it is his responsibility to “extricate” the United States from the situation before he leaves office.
It would be “the height of irresponsibility” to pass the war along to the next commander in chief, she said.
“This was his decision to go to war with an ill-conceived plan and an incompetently executed strategy,” the Democratic senator from New York said her in initial presidential campaign swing through Iowa.
“We expect him to extricate our country from this before he leaves office” in January 2009, the former first lady said.
Posted by Len on Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 4:22 pm CT in Politics
No cartoons this week. Instead, a video….
There is much truth to be found in humor, isn’t there? Thank gods for people like Jon Stewart. They are really helping us through this long national nightmare and embarrassment.
I cannot look at Dick Cheney’s image without the word “criminal” entering my mind. It’s kind of like the word “moron” and George W. Bush.
“You forfeited any right to squawk about how we cleaned up your mess. Don’t blame us for your screw-ups.” — House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis.
