Then they assimilated the electorate…

They’re making inroads in the new minority party…

And now they’ve eaten the brain of Colin Powell:

Mr Powell told CBS he was not convinced more soldiers on the ground would quell the violence.

“I am not persuaded that another surge of troops into Baghdad for the purposes of suppressing this communitarian violence, this civil war, will work,” he said.

He added that such was the overstretch of the US military, there were no additional troops that could be sent.

“We are losing.”

Someone alert Donald Sutherland!

Except that it’s not the Democratic surrender-monkeys leveling that charge this time, it’s treasonous Republican turncoat Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon! According to the Washington Post:

I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal. I cannot support that anymore.

A true change of heart, or merely swaying in the political wind? Who knows? Who cares? The fact is that when a Republican starts using the “c” word, the “i” word can’t be far behind.

I think it’s easy to sit in Washington and sort of absorb the vibes coming from the national media, but that doesn’t represent necessarily what’s going on out there around the country. – Dick Cheney on how the Republicans will hold their majority on Nov. 21.

As the details of Tillman’s death are uncovered, it’s becoming more and more apparent that his death and the lies surrounding it – while tragic and scandanlous – are very likely just one piece of a much larger puzzle of military corruption and incompetence rooted in Donald Rumsfeld’s and Dick Cheney’s failed “shock and awe” strategy.

According to the Accociated Press, Tillman’s fellow soldiers did not follow the most basic firearms protocols during the incident, essentially shooting at anything that moved with automatic weapons.  One of the soldiers had apparently only recently had eye surgery, and their squad leader apparently forgot our Afghan allies are armed with AK-47s:

One of the four shooters, Staff Sgt. Trevor Alders, had recently had PRK laser eye surgery. He said although he could see two sets of hands “straight up,” his vision was “hazy.” In the absence of “friendly identifying signals,” he assumed Tillman and an allied Afghan who also was killed were enemy.

Another, Spc. Steve Elliott, said he was “excited” by the sight of rifles, muzzle flashes and “shapes.” A third, Spc. Stephen Ashpole, said he saw two figures, and just aimed where everyone else was shooting.

Squad leader Sgt. Greg Baker had 20-20 eyesight, but claimed he had “tunnel vision.” Amid the chaos and pumping adrenaline, Baker said he hammered what he thought was the enemy but was actually the allied Afghan fighter next to Tillman who was trying to give the Americans cover: “I zoned in on him because I could see the AK-47. I focused only on him.”

All four failed to identify their targets before firing, a direct violation of the fire discipline techniques drilled into every soldier.

Keep in mind that this was an “elite” Army Ranger unit, not rank-and-file troops, and that in the nearly three years since the incident occured, the Pentagon has lowered the bar for incoming soldiers to the point where criminals, high school drop-outs, drug users, and avowed white supremacists are now accepted, processed, armed, and turned loose in Iraq and Afghanistan (yet decorated veterans – some of whom speak Arabic fluently – are still drummed-out of the service if they happen to be gay).

Rumsfeld resigns in disgrace just weeks after the smirking chimp assured America he was going to be running the Pentagon through 2008. Hastert steps down as minority leader just weeks after passing the buck on the Foley scandal.  Meanwhile, True Blue Blog’s resident trolls are nowhere to be found – even on their own blogs (this means you, Rociante).

I’d say “I told you so,” but why bother when the electorate already has?