Floodlight

We see victory in this defeat!

Administration finds the silver lining of massive defeat!

"I know what the president thinks. I know what I think. And we're not looking for an exit strategy. We're looking for victory," Cheney said in an interview posted on Time magazine's Web site Thursday.

Well gideeyap! We're doing so fucking good, we're gonna keep doing it and it's gonna work! No, we're not going to do anything different, but it's gonna get better.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
- Albert Einstein

Maybe Sci-Fi has it right, as well:

Sanity

Flexibility - the ability to change your opinion or course of action, if shown clear evidence you were wrong.

Satiability - the ability to feel satisfaction if you actually get what you said you wanted, and to transfer your strivings to other goals.

Extrapolation - an ability to realistically assess the possible consequences of your actions and to empathize, or guess how another person might think or feel.

"Transparent Hand" David Brin

Paraphrsing Al Franken, when confronted by a speaker who (whimsically) reflected the Administrations position that giving a date-certain for withdrawal from Iraq would encourage the terrorists to wait, " Like then they would raise hell, and they aren't now?!?!"

DeLay's Resignation: What...Me Worry?

As difficult as this decision has been for me, it’s not going to be a great day for liberal Democrats, either.

My loyalty to the Republican Party — indeed, my love for the Republican Party — has played no small part in this decision.

Having served under Republican and Democrat control in the House, I know first hand how important it is for Republicans to maintain their national majority. A Democrat Congress in 2007 would, without doubt or remorse, raise hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes, summarily cut and run from the war on terror, and immediately initiate an unconstitutional impeachment of President Bush.

Taxes? Probably...Gotta get this deficit down somehow, and I don't think waiting for Armageddon to wipe it out is gonna work.

Cut and run? Maybe from Iraq, but not from the war on terror. Someone has to do it, and since Bush "just (doesn't) give (it) much thought" it sure ain't gonna be the Republicans.

Impeachment? Oh, how I hope so. Unconstitutional? I laugh! Oh, Hypocracy, thy name is Republican.
________________

And if you're looking forward to getting rid of him, don't hold your breath! Note that he is moving to his "Virginia property and reside closer to Washington, so that I can dedicate the necessary time and energy to making a successful transition from the public to private sectors..." Brave Tom...bouncing back from undeserved assault, determined to make a go of it. What a hero. Hmmm...private sector? Can you say "lobbyist"?

State of the Union Lying Session

Astounding. Flabbergasting. I watched the State of the Union address, and I just read it carefully. I found two paragraphs that were unequivocally true.

The first, honoring Coretta King, which is overwhelmed by the vile, racist implications of the fifth-from-last paragraph which includes

"We will also lead a nationwide effort, working closely with African American churches and faith-based groups, to deliver rapid HIV tests to millions..."  [You might let this pass, except if "faith-based groups" are generally to be involved, why single out African American churches?! ed.]

And one that said the American people honor those serving in our military.

Not one other paragraph or set of connected paragraphs is free of at least one egregious lie or weasel-wording of the worst, most hypocritical kind.

There is too much to comment on. I am overwhelmed. Here is just a little.

"So the United States of America supports democratic reform across the broader Middle East...The Palestinian people have voted in elections.  And now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace."

Celebrating an election that Condi just said of, "...nobody (in the State Department saw it coming," and that it had "...reduced to tatters crucial assumptions underlying American policies." And ignoring Saudi Arabia, where it is illegal for women to drive or go out alone.

"Terrorists like bin Laden are serious about mass murder -- and all of us must take their declared intentions seriously."

And almost four years ago he said, "I truly am not that concerned about him.”

"On September the 11th, 2001, we found that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state 7,000 miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country."

Still trying to link Iraq to al Queda.

And on. And on. And the whole world is laughing.

England:

"President Bush's State of the Union speech might well be remembered for his phrase that "America is addicted to oil".

The rest of it, apart perhaps from a call on Iranians to get rid of their "small clerical elite", was a reiteration of the themes on which his presidency stands or falls.

He gave not an inch on Iraq nor on his intention to "act boldly in freedom's cause" (nor on his wiretapping without warrants). "

Germany

"This time it concerned to Bush hardly still the large, historical visions, but rather around an stubborn-optimistic stocktaking of a turned up world, the announcement that the USA up to the victory of the liberty would fight world-wide.

Under the impression of an enormous...deficit and an unpopular war the American president announced George W. Bush to receive the international guide roller of the USA. The country is strong, despite the concerns...of the Iraq war, the economic situation and the rising energy prices, said the president in (his) speech..." [Bad translation, but you get the idea, ed.]

Japan: 

"A politically weakened President George W. Bush declared Tuesday night that America must break its long dependence on Mideast oil and rebuked critics of his stay-the-course strategy for the unpopular war in Iraq.

"America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," Bush said as he sought to drive the election-year agenda in his annual State of the Union address.

Rejecting calls for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Bush said, "There is no peace in retreat." He also slapped at critics, many of whom argue Bush went to war on the erroneous grounds that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

With Congress facing midterm elections in November, there was a partisan mood in the chamber.

Bush declared that the "the state of our union is strong" despite Americans' anxieties about the war in Iraq, the economy, and rising energy prices which throwing a cloud over the economy and pinching Americans' pocketbooks."

And on. And on.

A man of deceit, failure, cowardice, smug in his ignorance, abusive of any power he gets. And when will he be doing all the "hard work" his speech calls for? Maybe after he returns from his Super Bowl XL-viewing on the vacation "Bush will begin (this) weekend at his home in Texas." So the speech did have at least one bit of self-effacing humor:

"Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hardworking, ambitious people..."

Condi just does her thing

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Sunday that the United States had failed to understand the depth of hostility among Palestinians toward their longtime leaders. The hostility led to an election victory by the militant group Hamas that has reduced to tatters crucial assumptions underlying American policies and hopes in the Middle East.

"I've asked why nobody saw it coming," Ms. Rice said, speaking of her own staff. "It does say something about us not having a good enough pulse."

Sigh...National Security Advisor...Secretary of State...fourth in line for the presidency...on the Middle East. The part of the Middle East closest to us. Wondering why no one saw it coming. Surprised, confused, "Why did no one on my staff see it coming?"  But she is trying to find out. She has asked. 'Cuz god knows there is no reason she should have seen it coming. She and George are like drunks passed out on railroad tracks. You have to be at least semi-conscious to be aware of "stuff." And maybe read a newspaper occassionally. Not that she doesn't keep real busy in her job. Check out some of these trying daily schedules!

And she has become a real part of the administration, fersure. She is not responsible for knowing "stuff" like someone unknown on her staff. Somebody else screwed the pooch. Not her, and for God's sake not George!

Maybe Cheney, who we know doesn't "...have a good enough pulse"!

"Lean to the Right"

For my friend ricky, who rails aginst the stupid and mentally infirm, largely Bush and Joe Paterno:

The Yellow Rose and PaJoe spent several happy hours together, sharing ideas about how to lose with a winning team. Bush advised Paterno that, should he find himself ahead in a game, to send only four or five men onto the field, turning a winning offence into a losing defence. Paterno offered the suggestion that in any situation, ignoring advice from winners and turning over the coaching to ignorant sycophants would assure a loss.

They were in not-very-surprising agreement on most issues involving losing at great cost to one's players and supporters.

By the fortune of civic and national disaster

Jeb could join fray for battle of the dynasties
Tony Allen-Mills

THE White House has been insisting for months that Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida and President George W Bush’s younger brother, will not run for president in 2008. But Republicans are beginning to wonder if he will become vice-president instead.

Washington was agog last week at reports that the governor, 52, may join forces with Senator John McCain, one of the frontrunners for the 2008 Republican nomination...

OK, who remembers Vaughn Meador's album, The First Family, released in the halcyon days of Camelot-on-the-Potomac? One track has JFK at a news conference (remember when the President held news conferences?) saying something like, "I have no intention of establishing a Kennedy dynasty...and neithah does my brothah Bobby...and neithah does my brothah Teddy!"

Then, it was a joke on a comedy album. Ahh, the good old days!

Cuz it worked soooo well in Iraq...

Hersh said U.S. officials believe that a U.S. attack on Iran might provoke an uprising by Iranians against the hard-line religious leaders who run the government. Similar arguments were made ahead of the invasion of Iraq, when administration officials predicted U.S. troops would be welcomed as liberators.

Hersh said U.S. officials were involved in "extensive planning" for a possible attack -- "much more than we know."

"The goal is to identify and isolate three dozen, and perhaps more, such targets that could be destroyed by precision strikes and short-term commando raids," he wrote in "The New Yorker" magazine, which published his article in editions that will be on newsstands Monday.

OK...let's say we plan on taking out three dozen sites, using  missles and our intrepid Special Forces. That being the case, why do we need to hope for "an uprising by Iranians against the hard-line religious leaders who run the government." Even if there was a desire amongst Iranians to overthrow the government, why would a few isolated attacks on isolated sites enliven it? And why, given our recent experience in Iraq, would we expect such a thing?

This is the country where, when Ayatollah Khomeini died, they practically pulled apart his body for relics. Where our man the Shaw was hated. Where they held our embassy staff prisoner hostages for over a year.

They don't freaking want to be enfreed by us!!

But my point is, "Why are we looking at long-term involvement if we are only going to blast a few sites?!?!" We are simply going to have to nuke the entire Middle East into a glassy slag-heap, and send in our oil-workers in rad-suits.

`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

Some Things Just Don't Go Away

I don't know if I'm going to post this or not. If I do, I'm going to keep this 'disclaimer,' because I think the hesitancy is important.

Much of this I learned later. I won't use names. I won't say how I know some of this.

I just realized that today is a rather odd anniversary. It is the anniversary of the last time I saw a friend from high school.

He had enlisted in the army in 1966. He was a very smart dude, and very humane. He was assigned to an Intelligence unit in Vietnam. He observed the torturing of prisoners by the ARVN and by US personel. It made what we do in Iraq seem trivial. But I wonder if those involved in Iraq will feel much different in years to come.

When he couldn't live with it anymore, he deserted, and made his way back to the States.

One day I saw him on the street, and hailed him by name. Unfortunately, I was wearing a military-looking greatcoat, and I guess he didn't recognize me, and thought I was an MP. He ran like a rabbit. It was after this I learned what I know about his history from other friends he had contacted.

I hope he is OK today, that he has made a decent life for himself, that he has gone beyond the nightmare. But I doubt it, at least the last. Some things just twist us forever.

My parents were proud of their service in World War II, and I am proud of them. My father was in the Navy, and my mother was an Air Warden. They loathed Korea and Vietnam. They despised the squandering of life in undeclared wars. They felt betrayed, that their sacrifices had become nothing more than excuses for the use of US troops and treasure at the whim of current administrations. Because we had done so well in their war.

So, my friend, my best to you. Know that there are those of us who still think fondly of you, are glad you survived, and respect you

And if you are not that friend, but are in the military, know also that so many of us wish you well, and simply, like my parents did, do not want to see your courage, dedication, and honor squandered.

I...uh..well, I'm (almost) speechless!

Condi, on her first trip to Russia (in spite of the fact that she holds a degree in Soviet studies,) used her usual diplomatic skills to set a tone of open communication with her hosts, as well as making one of the most hypocritical attacks on them, while pretending none of this applies to us in living memory.

En route to Moscow for negotiations with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, she said the Kremlin’s tightening grip on power and Russia’s pliant media are “very worrying,” Reuters reported.

“Trends have not been positive on the democratic side,” Rice told reporters. “The centralization of state power in the presidency at the expense of countervailing institutions like the Duma (parliament lower house)

(or the House and Senate, as we call them)

or an independent judiciary

(or the Supreme Court, as we call it)

is clearly very worrying.

The absence of an independent media on the electronic side is clearly very worrying.”

Fucking A Straight such developments are "worrying!!!!!" In whatever country they occur! ricky is right...the word "irony" has lost any meaning in this administration!

Stupid, or insane? vote now.

The LAST Meme! maybe...

OK,  I got hit with a "meme."  But I'm not gonna do this even if Janis is a mini-donk friend. I mean, anyone that likes asses deserves my thanks, but... sorry! Too much information. I would have to lie, be amusing, or the worst...tell the truth! So I pass. Now, and from now on. Sorry, gang.