Coldflame

News That Really Isn't News

2007-07-15T20:00:00.001-04:00

Bush and Bandar
In George W. Bush's last press conference, he mentioned al-Qaeda at least thirty times, insisting that they were the main cause of our troubles in Iraq. When you actually look at the numbers, this group is responsible for about 10% of the misery in Iraq. The LA Times reported today about where most of the suicide bombers come from : Saudi Arabia. Are they al-Qaeda ? Hard to tell when they blow themselves up into tiny pieces. I think it is likely that they are Wahhabi, though. In any case it seems that country that provides most of these outsiders in the Iraq War is Saudi Arabia, supposedly our staunch allies. To be fair, I would say this simply points out how different a "War on Terrorists" really is and how misbegotten it is to attack a whole country's government. It's really only smaller groups, not a country's army in total.

Yeah, But Can You Prove It ?

2007-07-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

Today three Christian Extremists from Operation Save America disrupted a Hindu chaplain as he tried to deliver the invocation at the opening of Senate business. They were heard to shout that this prayer was an "abomination." They said there was no God but their God. I really would like to see them prove that.

An "F" for the Iraqi Parliament

2007-07-12T15:12:00.000-04:00

I would like to see the Bush Regime treat America's school children as well as they treat the Iraqi Government. The benchmark report which just came out shows that the Iraqis haven't achieved any of the expectations at all. Tony Snow says they have made satisfactory progress in about half the areas examined.

Now, when the bureaucrats at No Child Left Behind (LOL) rate our schools, teachers, and kids they expect all 39 of their criteria to be met. If a school misses just one area, they get an "F". Consequently, many schools in my state, Florida, get an "A" on state ratings, but an "F" from NCLB. As a teacher, I would certainly be fired if I failed students because they missed one assignment. Yet we're supposed to be satisfied with the spin coming out of this White House.

Ultimatum

2007-04-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

I couldn't resist stealing this one from Bartcop.com. It's so funny and so true. I actually believe it's photoshopped from a real picture that they call "Redneck Babysitter." In any case, this concoction is very appropriate for the most childlike President.Unfortunately his arms and hands have been left free for signing statements or one of those rare vetoes.

Corporate Dishonor

2007-04-03T17:31:00.001-04:00

The third largest electronics dealer, Circuit City, has laid off 3400 workers (8% of its workers) because they felt they were being paid too much. CC's management seems to think everything is fine, though, because the laid off can come back to their same jobs, but at less pay than they had been earning previously. This is not a stunt, but a new management strategy of the free market, global economy. It's common knowledge that Circuit City has not been performing well, and I think they deserve everything they don't get. I could kick myself because the computer I'm typing this post on came from CC - but I won't make the same mistake again. I'd rather make my purchases from a corporation that has a little more honorable dealings with its staff.

Collateral damage: I stripe this story together with the ubiquitous WalMart self checkout lines. I refuse to use them when I see the actual human cashier folks that may soon be out of job because customers are willing to do the work of checking out their groceries.It's always the little guy or gal that suffers.

Subpoena Goodling

2007-04-03T16:31:00.000-04:00

I don't quite understand this Monica Goodling Fifth Amendment business. My understanding is that she can be subpoenaed (as 31 members of Clinton's WH were), she then appears before Congress, and there she has the right at that time to invoke the Fifth Amendment to any answers that she feels might incriminate her. She (nor you or I) does not get to not appear before the committee because she worries about what they might ask her. Isn't that the way it works? Refusing to appear I should think is contempt of Congress. Nothing new for the loyal Bushies.

Also, another consideration is Ms. Goodling's extremely broad interpretation of the Fifth. The actual language of the Amendment says something about incriminating oneself in a "criminal" case, not the procedures and operations of a government agency like the DOJ. It seems that she has already decided on her own that some crime has occurred. I wouldn't doubt it myself.

A further point of interest : I couldn't find a photo of Monica Gooding on the Web. Google images, nothing. Yahoo, nothing. Ask.com : Your search has produced no results. She is definitely under the radar.

Update: My bad. I misspelled her name. It's Goodling. Still this is the only picture of Monica Goodling I could find. She's the second from the right at the picnic table. Apparently this is a Regent College get together.

Scenario

2007-03-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

Dick Cheney will retire from the Vice Presidency very soon now for medical reasons (but also to take the heat off further Plame investigations). This will enable George W. to place his brother Jeb in that position. It's been historically difficult for a Vice President to make the jump to President, but it's worth a try, right Jeb?

They Got It Right

2007-02-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

Gen. Anthony Zinni

Gen. Anthony Zinni,former Commander-in-Chief of Central Command, led an attack on Saddam's forces called "Operation Desert Fox" in 1998 (according to Thomas Ricks in Fiasco).This enormous endeavor employed more rockets and bombs than the entire Gulf War. At the time, Clinton haters said that the President was only trying to distract the Public from his extramarital affair. Years later, it appears that these raids may have totally destroyed Hussein's ability to produce WMDs, and in the process, bombed his capabilities back to the nineteenth century.

Zinni disagreed with Neocons like Paul Wolfowitz about heading for Baghdad. Zinni said we would end up with a "Bay of Goats", a disastrous invasion worse than Jack Kennedy's Cuban mess. Zinni said, "This is going to generate another one of our defeats there where we get a bunch of people slaughtered." Zinni is quoted in Ricks' Fiasco.

Scott Ritter

Scott Ritter, Marine, major weapons inspector, warned us that Saddam wouldn't, couldn't be able to attack us. He spoke up at a time when administration types were trying to convince us that Saddam's rockets, with a maximum range of 200 miles, were somehow going bomb American cities. War zealots did all they could in the form of ad hominem attacks on Ritter - even suggesting that he was a pedophile, so we could not possibly listen to him.

These two were patriots who understood the needless devastation that lie ahead for our country and its soldiers.

Why the Hell Should Anyone Anywhere Listen to These Guys ?

2007-02-06T19:52:00.000-05:00

All these wise men were wrong (year after year after year) about the Iraq War.

David Brooks

Tries to hide how really conservative he is by always appearing Generally Bemused By It All. Wrong about the uptake of the War, still wrong today, but appears in the Times quite regularly anyway.

David S. Broder

This Dean of Beltway Pundits has become convinced that he is as special as his bio indicates. Unfortunately, he doesn't always present the facts. Still, you may often see his columns reproduced in your local paper, and see him on television a great deal. He seems so invested in protecting his idea of the Washington Scene that he isn't too reliable a source.

Joe Klein

LINO- Liberal in Name Only. He becomes upset when actual liberal bloggers point out how often he criticizes the good guys, and sides with the Repugs.

These gentlemen must have contracts clad in strong bars of iron with their publishers !

Update: These writers are some of the Big Guns. There are so many others who got it all wrong !

We're All Suffering From Fundamentalism

2007-01-04T08:05:00.000-05:00

Ayman al-Zawahiri
In Lawrence Wright's magnificent book, The Looming Tower, the author delineates the rise of al-Qaeda in the modern world. He concludes that the "debacle" of The Six Day War set the stage for the surge in Islamic Fundamentalism we're currently suffering. Fundies like al-Zawahiri sold his people the idea. Wright says that such extreme leaders insisted that the reason the Arabs were so beaten by Israel was because, "God has turned against the Muslims. The only way back to Him was to return to pure religion."

Immediately after 9-11, American Fundamentalists like Falwell told us that we were attacked because of our own evil secularism. And after Katrina struck we heard from some fundies that this was also retribution we deserved somehow because of our secular sins. Don't they seem the same ?

Dr. Falwell

Time to Enlist

2006-12-16T20:52:00.000-05:00

Barbara, George, and Jenna Bush
Now that their father has pretty much rejected all of the touted Iraq Study Group's report and says that he will risk 30,000 more of our beloved soldiers, shouldn't the Twins be first in line ?

Sunni Brothers

2006-12-14T18:25:00.000-05:00

Crown Prince Abdullah
Though George W. Bush's War has been recognized as one of the most disastrous foreign policy adventures ever, it can get worse. The Saudis have announced that they fear for their brother Sunnis in an all Shia Iraq.They remember that most of those terrorists who crashed the Twin Towers were Saudis and Sunni Muslims. They know that Osama Bin Laden (remember him ?) is a Sunni, although they disown him. And certainly Al-Qaeda aligns with the Sunnis. The Saudis say that should events go badly for their Sunni brothers, they will intervene with support. This is bad news.

Here's How It's Done

2006-12-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

From Bartcop by way of Jeff Stahler of The Columbus Dispatch.

Quote of the Day

2006-12-09T08:03:00.000-05:00

CNN reporter Suzanne Malveaux commenting to Lou Dobbs on Bush's view of Iraq War progress:

"President Bush didn't just drink the Kool-Aid, he made it."

It seems it took a real failure of an election and an approval rate of 30% for some reporters to speak out and present something more than he said=she said. Ms. Malveaux is an exception; she has been asking the right questions for a long time.

Quote of the Day

2006-12-04T20:38:00.000-05:00

Al Gore nails it in GQ:

"This administration has been by far the most incompetent, inept, and with more moral cowardice, and obsequiousness to their wealthy contributors, and obliviousness to the public interest of any administration in modern history, and probably in the entire history of the country!”

Great Stuff Happening in Iraq This Week

2006-11-25T09:02:00.000-05:00

Our Home in the Green Zone

2006-11-23T10:32:00.000-05:00

Although more and more politicians are entertaining the notion of declaring victory in Iraq and then getting out, we are still spending lots of our tax dollars on some awfully permanent construction. Take the new Baghdad Embassy. More than a billion has been spent (so far) to provide a safe place for diplomacy in the city. The fifteen foot thick walls should help. Of course, it will cost more than just a billion, but planners are asking for some of that Iraqi oil money that was supposed to pay for the war. Apparently, this embassy is only the beginning, although it will cover 104 acres of prime Green Zone property and employ thousands. Further on up the road the Plan calls for four super bases throughout the country of Iraq. Doesn't this sound like staying the course ?

The McCain War Plan

2006-11-21T16:52:00.000-05:00

John McCain has let the American Public in on his plan to win in Iraq - send in lots of troops. Currently, the idea of sending about 20,000 new troops is being bruited about, but it may be doubtful that such an increase will make a great difference in the killing. I think maybe the real reason that McCain is asking for more is that he wants to distance himself mightily from Bush's disastrous war strategy in view of his campaign for President in 2008. Totally callous. This is how it was done in Vietnam, and if anyone knows Vietnam, it's McCain. In Vietnam times, the hawks like Curtis LeMay (sounding like our former Secretary of Defense) started their winning strategery with "bombing them back to the Stone Age." Although he didn't serve there, President Bush learned from Vietnam that we should stay the course.

We always had the top technology. We've still got the weapons, but no good, new ideas. Not that this is a new idea, but I suggest giving all the major factions (Sunnis, Shias, and Kuwaitis) a cut by partitioning the country, then leaving.

About Time

2006-11-10T21:09:00.000-05:00

From Steve Sack of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Some Good Sonny Boy

2006-11-10T19:42:00.000-05:00

Congratulations, Dr. Dean

2006-11-10T17:42:00.000-05:00

The Democrats won races where they haven't been in the running for years. The final capitulation came from Virginia, a Southern state,against a Republican who was (past tense) a national figure. The DNC helped win in communities where the incumbents thought the Dems had little chance. I think Howard Dean should be praised for his 50 state strategy, even if he didn't spend the DNC's funds the exact way that every Democrat wanted. It surely looks like he was doing something right. The complaints and rumors about his losing his position are unconscionable.

Update: Wouldn't you think that Rahm Emanuel and Howard Dean deserve at least a segment on Meet the Press this Sunday ? You'd be wrong. Instead, Little Russ has chosen to put on several supporters of the Iraq War, all Republicans. No Democrats at all. What Liberal Media ?

Bye John

2006-11-10T17:28:00.002-05:00

Now that the Democrats have won both the House and the Senate, we should be expecting John McCain to honor his promise before the election. He's said to be a man who keeps his word. As I recall it,he said, "I think I'd just commit suicide." Do you think the Democrats could get his seat ?

Guard Your Glass, Dems

2006-11-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

Rohypnol
Thank you for your simile, Grover Norquist. Bipartisanship is like Date rape. Democrats can now apply this kind of thinking to the new situation in Washington.Curious how the Preznit wants to "bury the hatchet" and encourage bipartisanship now that Democrats will assume control of all committees and the legislative agenda. Republicans, in developing their Contract for America under Gingrich and Delay, tightened their control so much that Dems were not given a role at all in much law making or committee work, and were forced to constantly threaten the filibuster to be heard at all. Democrats were given huge amounts of legislation that they never were given the opportunity to read to vote upon as quickly as possible. In fact, the Republicans took power in '94 and did not rest until they nearly impeached the President while issuing thousands of subpoenas and spending millions on counterfeit investigations like Travelgate. Of course, the Democrats have been admonished that they shouldn't do anything like that. That wouldn't be good, the Repugs say - do as I say, not as I have done.

Try as I might to come up with an instance of bipartisanship from the President, I cannot. Bloggers have looked back to No Child Left Behind and Bush's broken promises to Ted Kennedy for an illusory semblance of cooperation. After that there's nothing at all, and even legislation from his own party has been hedged upon by nearly 800 "signing statements." Last week he was still striping the Dems together, as aiding and excusing terrorists as he has done so often. With Bush, Cheney, and Rove it was always something more than a dissenting opinion among equals on the merits of an issue; it was a personal attack on Dems as America haters, usually pointing to a strawman who didn't really exist. Also last week, he cynically admitted that he sometimes has to lie, as he did about Rumsfeld's resignation. Isn't obvious that if the Republicans had done better in the election, Rumsfeld would still be Sec of D ? A glint of reality has entered the Preznit's consciousness ; he has learned that his war policy has failed a national referendum in this election.

I think it's important for the President and Republicans to be treated exactly the way they treated the "Democrat" Party. And Mr. Bush has certainly indicated how important he really thinks bipartisanship is - by attempting a lame duck escape on warrantless surveillance and Bolton's nomination.

Now that so many of their ideas and so much corrupt behavior has been rejected by the voters, Bush feels we should do what he never did, work together with the other party and carry out his program anyway. We've learned that his idea of "bipartisanship" is simply to do what he wants. Infinite hypocrisy. I say no chance: we need to do what is best for all of the people.

Update: Lincoln Chafee says he will block Bolton's nomination. How fitting.

Bush's Idea of Bipartisanship

Tasteless Jokes

2006-11-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

In all the mountainous molehill over Senator kerry's slip up about our troops, I can't help but remember Preznit Bush's absolutely tasteless joke about WMDs. At the Foreign Correspondent's Dinner in 2003, Bush planned out and deliberately delivered his joke about finding WMDs. He illustrated his "joke " with video of his Majesty looking around the White House (behind curtains, in closets)for those darn WMDs. Where the heck were they ? LOL

His total arrogance and disregard for our troop's mission was and is staggering to this day. Thousands of our beloved soldiers have died because of Bush and those non-existent WMDs.His tasteless behavior was enforced by substantial laughter from his audience, the so-called cream of the mainstream media.Yet I certainly don't recall that this garbage was treated as a news story at all. It was just a funny from the Prez.

Happy Halloween

2006-11-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween from Mike Lucovich !