« Save the Planet: Win a Hybrid | Main | Oncall On Call »
Hitting the Wall
Last weekend my pet chinchilla died.
Despite my first statement, this is not an "Ode to Kritter" article, so please be patient with me and allow me the chance to elaborate.
As I recall with fondness some of the antics of my lost chinchilla, I am amazed to discover some surprising resemblances Kritter had to our notorious president, Mr. George W. Bush and his administration.
Kritter was very fond of his ball. It was a clear plastic ball and he would race inside his ball and careen from one side of the room to another, until--you guessed it-- He hit a wall. Time after time we got our little chuckles watching him fly across the room only to land in an ignominious heap at the base of the wall. Yet Kritter soon began to learn.
Amazingly, one day, we watched him charging for the wall--full speed ahead--when suddenly, he leaped in the opposite direction and slammed his tiny body against the inertia of the rolling ball and came to a stop--before he hit the wall. Ah...success! He could now run from wall to wall without inflicting more damage upon himself or upon others.
Now, I'm sure you're thinking I'm nuts and wondering if I've been banging my own head on the wall. Nope, I haven't. My point about poor little kritter is that he learned! "If you don't succeed doing the same thing over and over again, then change directions and try a new strategy," a wise person surely must have said.
So, that brings me to Kritter's uncanny (initial) resemblance to Bush and his bungling administration. We all know how much the "Carb's" (Cheney, Aschcroft, Rumsfeld, Bush, and sometimes Rice) like to make up their collective mind and move forward even when heading the wrong direction. For instance, this administration has repeatedly hit the wall in their management of the Iraq War. Time after time, they've had the opportunity to change the direction of the war, but instead, they stay in the ball--maintaining the wrong direction and rolling for the wall. Unlike Kritter, they just don't learn!
They stay in their little bubble ball--racing into war and careening into the wall much like Kritter careened out of control too. Only this time, unfortunately, it is the lives of our soldiers and the people of Iraq who are smashed into smithereens. The troops currently serving in Iraq are living with their failure to learn. A soldier confronted Mr. Rumsfeld just last week concerning how they raced into war and the failed to provide appropriate protection.
Then in an article in Truthout, appropriately named, "Rumsfeld the Bungler, I discovered it was not the first time Mr. Rumsfeld had been asked about the missing equipment. Joe Conason states:
"When a courageous Army specialist confronted Donald Rumsfeld over the insufficient armor on military vehicles at a "town hall" meeting in Kuwait on Dec. 8, the secretary of defense may well have felt an unpleasant twinge of déjà vu.
Perhaps Rumsfeld recalled (as the reporters accompanying him on last week's trip apparently did not) that he had heard precisely the same complaint at a similar town hall meeting in Baghdad - seven months ago.
That May 13 assembly was the last stop on a lightning visit to Iraq by the defense secretary that featured a speech at the Abu Ghraib detention camp. Aiming to preserve morale as well as his own job, he was no doubt preoccupied by the prisoner abuse scandal. Critics at home were already demanding his resignation, but the American troops seemed glad to see their civilian chief when he showed up to talk with them at one of Saddam Hussein's palaces.
In contrast to the strange answer he offered last week, when he provoked a national uproar by snappishly informing the troops that armor doesn't always work, Rumsfeld reacted quite differently last May. Back then, in fact, he offered no answer at all."
And to my dismay, I discovered even more proof of their inablility to learn in the Star Tribune.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is drawing increasingly heavy fire from fellow Republicans over the lack of armored Humvees and transport trucks for the troops in Iraq, but the White House on Thursday defended the Pentagon chief.
Watch out! Here comes that wall again!
Luckily, there might be a sign of hope that some Republicans understand that crashing into walls needs to result in change. According to the Star Tribune:
- Sen. Norm Coleman said he had "serious misgivings..."
- Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, told Rumsfeld in a candid letter, "I'm very concerned that it appears the Pentagon failed to do everything in its power to increase production of the vehicles."
- Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Rumsfeld ought to be replaced at the Pentagon.
- McCain told the Associated Press that "there are very strong differences of opinion between myself and Secretary Rumsfeld" over the war in Iraq and the number of troops who should be assigned to Iraq.
Despite criticism from the GOP senators, Bush on Thursday expressed his support for Rumsfeld.
"The president believes Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a great job, and that's why he asked him to continue serving during this time of war," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Brace yourself! Here comes that wall!!
-------this is for nonnyo----
from last night
'service to mankind is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on the planet.'
this quote by ME FLORENCE REED
founder, Working Women With Disabilities.
MS, not ME
chat that is still open
http://winbeta.org/irc/kerry.php
Worth checking out: Privatizethis.com
http://65.109.245.56/
:sniff:
I am sorry to hear about Kritter's demise.
a little humor:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/bushmail.html
Watch this - disseminate it
http://www.thebattleforamerica.com
Everyone who's seen it has loved it.
It's in at least 6 countries already.
~~how many ways can we say, Bush/Ch/Rumsf==Catastrophic Failure for US~~
US Isn't Winning Against Iraqi Insurgents, Agencies Warn
by Warren P. Strobel, John Walcott and Jonathan S. Landay
Published on Saturday, December 18, 2004 by Knight-Ridder
WASHINGTON - The CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department have warned President Bush that the United States and its Iraqi allies aren't winning the battle against Iraqi insurgents who are trying to derail the country's Jan. 30 elections, according to administration officials.
snip~
But they said the warnings -including one delivered this week to Bush by CIA Director Porter Goss - indicated that U.S. forces hadn't been able to stop the insurgents' intimidation of Iraqi voters, candidates and others who want to participate in the elections.
"We don't have an answer to the intimidation," one senior official said.
Nor have the United States and interim Iraqi government been able to find any divisions they can exploit to divide and conquer the Sunni Muslim insurgency, the intelligence reports say.
The elections are key to U.S. strategy in Iraq, and Bush and his team have insisted that they proceed as scheduled.
The president and other top White House officials have steadfastly predicted that the insurgency will fail, even as they have acknowledged lately that violence is rising.
snip~
Yet even a successful election in Iraq might not be the model the United States wants to hold up to the rest of the region.
Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims are expected to dominate the Parliament, and there are concerns that the new government could have close ties to Iran and a theocratic bent.
snip~
A theocratic state in Iraq "is not exactly what the United States or the Europeans had in mind before the war," said Abdeslam Maghraoui, the director of the Muslim World Initiative at the Washington-based U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent institution created by Congress to help resolve and prevent international conflicts.
snip~
Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said that ideally democracy in Iraq would be developed slowly from the grassroots, a process he said the United States started but abandoned.
"If you came down from Mars and say, `How do we have democracy in Iraq?,' you wouldn't have elections now," Indyk said.
The Iraqi and Palestinian elections come at a crucial time for Bush's broader push for political and economic reforms in the Middle East. His initiative has been watered down after running into resistance in the Arab world.
At a meeting in Morocco earlier this month, Secretary of State Colin Powell was told that it would go nowhere unless the United States brokered peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"You want the region to reform? Fix the mess in Iraq and solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," said an Arab diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities.
more~
http://tinyurl.com/6zwrb
Posted by: tutterfly | December 18, 2004 03:14 PM
Thank you, tutterfly!!! :-) Much appreciated....!!! :-)
Suz:
I didn't know whether to laugh at your "kritter's" antics or cry because your "kritter" is dead... so I did both....
Thank you, however, for finding some humor about your chinchilla's life in being able to apply that strange analogy about what BushCo is doing in not learning their lessons....
My condolences on the loss of your pet....
"I don't believe we were let down by the Democratic party. I think they showed unbelievable unity, strength, class, fundraising & courage. . .
It can go on & on, but I have not yet seen a really convincing argument for failure. The Gore race & Kerry race were both close & in fact, it's possible we have had two bloodless coups. The Republicans already had control of all 3 branches of government this time & also the media.
To blame the Democratic party or some campaign is utterly unconvincing."
Posted by: DiAnne | December 17, 2004 07:32 PM
THANK YOU for saying this, DiAnne. I agree with every word. . . It's so nice to find you guys again.
MBK (aka MB)
Suz -
Great analogy: Bush = Kritter, although Kritter is smarter than Bush. So sad.
SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY SENDS LETTER REQUESTING HEARING ON TROOP SAFETY
Senator John Warner
Chairman, Committee on Armed Services\
Dear John,
Recent events have highlighted some dangerous shortfalls that our troops are facing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Secretary Rumsfeld's response to the troops in Kuwait shows that in spite of many months of effort by members of our committee and others in Congress, there are still unacceptable shortages of basic armor protection for soldiers and their vehicles.
It is also extremely disturbing to hear that friendly fire might well have been avoided if Pat Tillman's Ranger unit on the ridge in Afghanistan had been able to communicate with the fellow members of his platoon in the unit in the canyon below. Why was that so difficult?
In addition, I understand that technology may be available to neutralize the improvised explosive devices that have become so lethal for our forces in Iraq. Does the Army have that technology?
It would make sense for our committee to consider these urgent issues thoroughly and objectively, so that we can protect our troops as effectively as possible. I hope very much that you'll hold a hearing by the full committee as soon as possible.
With great respect and appreciation as always, and I look forward to working closely with you to deal with this very serious issue,
Sincerely,
Edward M. Kennedy
Just a quote I heard tonight by the writer of a book called "A Liberated man" :
"When a man does not care for his ideas, ideologies take care of him".
To be thought over....
Bonne nuit.
Good night.
Paris never sleeps.
Truth has a way of asserting itself despite all attempts to obscure it. Distortion only serves to derail it for a time. No matter to what lengths we humans may go to obfuscate facts or delude our fellows, truth has a way of squeezing out through the cracks, eventually.
Senator Robert Byrd, May 2003
Senator Durbin's Democratic Response:
If this holiday season finds you at a post office, take a look at the people in line with you. Most of them are mailing packages across the state and across the country, but many are sending packages to their soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Inside many of those boxes headed for the war zones you'll find gifts like homemade cookies and family photos, but you'll also find expensive items no military family should ever have to buy like body armor and Kevlar vests.
It turns out the most valuable gift America's service members and their families receive this holiday season may just be the question put to Secretary Rumsfeld by that stand-up soldier from the Tennessee National Guard. You remember what he asked the secretary: Mr. Secretary, why are American soldiers in Kuwait and Iraq forced to scavenge in junk piles for steel plates to protect their Humvees and trucks?
It's a question a lot of us have been asking for some time now.
Just over a year ago, I made my first visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to meet with wounded soldiers from Iraq.
The first soldier I met with was 28 years old, out of the Army National Guard in Ohio. He lost a leg in Iraq. I asked him, Is there anything I can do for you? And he said, Senator, make those Humvees safer so other soldiers won't have to go through what I did.
That was over a year ago.
Now, Congress has given this administration every penny that it's requested for Iraq and Afghanistan, yet today, 21 months after the invasion of Iraq we still have 3,500 Humvees without protective armor, making these vehicles and our soldiers in them prime targets for road- side bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.
The Department of Defense estimates almost 1 in 5 of the lives lost in Iraq were in Humvees.
And the Humvees aren't the only problem. About 80 percent of the other vehicles our troops are using in Iraq are also unarmored.
As of late October, an estimated 44,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan still did not have adequate body armor, and last year, Chinook helicopters were activated from Guard units in Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio, without the proper anti-missile defense equipment.
The Pentagon says the lack of protective equipment is a matter of logistics.
No, it's not. It's a matter of leadership. We've seen a litany of serious miscalculations from Pentagon leaders, stretching back to the earliest stages of this war when Secretary Rumsfeld ignored warnings from top military experts that success in Iraq would require far m
Posted on DNC--It was nice to see this--seems like the party leadership is reaching out.
For those of you who would like the DNC to hear your ideas and opinions and comments, click here to give us your ideas.
" http://www.democrats.org…
"Two months from now, the members of the Democratic National Committee will elect a new party chairman. And we welcome the spirited discussion among candidates, activists, and progressive organizations on the direction and future of the Democratic Party.
Under Chairman Terry McAuliffe's leadership, the DNC has spent the past four years making the power of grassroots activism a top priority. Thanks to those efforts, the Democratic Party is stronger than it has ever been before.
In 2000, the DNC only raised $35 million in small donations. Most of our resources — over $150 million — came in large donations. But in 2004, there was a remarkable turnaround. This year, the vast majority of our funding — over $248 million — came from average Americans donating what they could, while large donations actually went down to just $105 million — less than a third of our total. In the past four years, the DNC expanded its small donor base seven fold, from 400,000 in 2000 to 2.7 million in 2004. The DNC invested $80 million in grassroots field organizing in 2004 — 166 percent over 2000. The DNC fielded more than 2000 organizers in battleground states, and conducted 530 organizing conventions across the country, training nearly 80,000 attendees. We also mobilized 233,000 volunteers, knocking on 11 million doors, and making 38 million volunteer phone calls.
One thing is certain: The gains of the past cannot be reversed. The power of the grassroots will not put back in the bottle. And the future of the Democratic Party looks stronger than ever. We all need to pull together and work together.
We want your opinion on our party's future
http://www.blackfive.net/main/
Soldier's Silent Night
Most of you proably have read "Merry Christmas, My Friend" before, but have you heard it with the backdrop of Silent Night?
Written by former Marine Corporal James M. Schmidt, in 1987 when stationed in Washington D.C., it was pounded out on a typewriter while awaiting the commading officer's Christmas holiday decoration inspection. It was originally title "Merry Christmas, My Friend", and was an instant success that reportedly brought tears to the eyes of the barrracks Commander who ordered it distributed to everyone he knew. It appeared in the barracks publication Pass in Review in December 1987 and Leatherneck Magazine in December 1991.
Get it straight from the horse's mouth - without editing from the newspapers:
Scott McClellan on Rumsfeld, the Ukraine, Turkey & the EU, etc. It's somewhere between pathetic, scary & hillarious. The part where he calls Yushenko referring to having been poisoned an "inflammatory remark by one of the candidates" is particularly chilling.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/12/20041217-11.html
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2004/12/want_to_send_a__1.html
here's a new tool to send supportive messages to the Marines. Amy K. - who's husband is in Iraq - sends this detailed message of how you can get letters to the Marines (and QUICKLY, too)
As we look for action we can take, thought this was a nice way to let our troops know we have not forsaken them and we are still praying for their speedy and healthy return.
This is interesting--will the MSM ever get it right?? I do hope the DNC pays attention and does not go CENTRIST!
"The often-quoted statistic about "moral values" begs the question of how voters interpreted those key words in post-election polls. In a Zogby poll, 68% of self-identified "liberals" said that "faith and/or morals" were important in deciding their vote (14 points higher than "moderates"). When voters were asked to identify the single greatest moral crisis facing America, one-third selected "materialism and greed" and 31% chose poverty, while the combined total for abortion and same-sex marriage was only 28%. In the Pew poll, only about 40% of those who said "moral values" influenced their vote named gay marriage or abortion as their highest concern. Pew pollster Andrew Kohut summed it up: "We did not see any indication that social conservative issues like abortion, gay rights and stem cell research were anywhere near as important as the economy and Iraq."
http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?I...…
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20041218/D8727BE80.html
Dems Want Answers From Rumsfeld on Armor
Dec 18, 1:23 PM (ET)
By MAURA KELLY LANNAN
(AP) U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld listens to questions from U.S. soldiers, during his visit to...
Full Image
CHICAGO (AP) - The incoming deputy leader of Senate Democrats demanded answers Saturday from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as to why U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan lack protective equipment for themselves and their vehicles.
"We can, and we should, armor every Humvee and every truck our troops use in Iraq and Afghanistan," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in his party's weekly radio address. "No more excuses, no more delays. We can save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of serious injuries."
On Kos today--YES--it is beginning to unravel at its very core--because they have no values!!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/18/212746/23
And one of the things I've noticed in the last couple of days is Andrew Stuttaford doing some serious Kos-level Bush bashing.
Today, there was this fairly straightforward attack on the House of Bush Bush-House of Saud ties:
Now, I understand perfectly well that - for now - the West still has to have dealings with the repulsive regime that runs 'Saudi' Arabia, but I am at a loss to understand how anyone - let alone anyone professing a strong Christian faith - is willing to treat its representatives as honored guests, sponsors or friends.
And if you think I'm referring to the Bush family, you are right.
from a MN cell:
It was 15 degrees today, but that didn't stop Minnesotans from braving the cold to send a message to our political leaders -- get out of Iraq.
http://www.pbase.com/kayakbiker/image/37635647
~~you would think this could buy a few armored humvees for US soldiers...HOW can military families possibly still support bu$h/Ch when they read stuff like this??????????
Energy Firms Lavish Funds on Inauguration
Sat Dec 18, 2:02 AM ET
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - More than $4.5 million from the corporate world has flowed to President Bush's inauguration fund, much of it from the energy industry and some of its executives in contributions of $250,000 each.
Outside the energy sector, New Orleans Saints football team owner Tom Benson gave $50,000 and his companies gave $200,000, the fund reported Friday.
Northrop Grumman Corp., the world's largest shipbuilder and second-largest U.S. defense contractor, donated $100,000.
Michael Dell, chairman of Dell Inc., the world's largest personal computer maker, gave $250,000. So did United Technologies, maker products ranging from escalators to aircraft engines.
Investment banking firm Stephens Group Inc. of Little Rock, Ark., gave $250,000. And the education loan firm Sallie Mae gave $250,000.
Occidental Petroleum Corp., whose business stands to benefit from the president's actions concerning Libya, donated $250,000, as did Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company. Exxon Mobil reported record third-quarter profits, thanks to higher prices for oil and natural gas.
In April, Bush took steps to restore normal trade and investment ties with Libya, enabling four American oil companies, including Occidental, to resume commercial activities there after an 18-year absence.
Bush's action was a reward to Moammar Gadhafi for eliminating his most destructive weapons programs.
Other donors from the energy sector included Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, who gave $250,000; and former Enron President Richard Kinder, who left the firm five years before it collapsed and now is CEO of one of the largest energy transportation and storage companies in the country. Kinder also gave $250,000.
Energy provider Southern Co., which owns utility companies in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, gave $250,000.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, the policy organization of the nuclear industry, gave $100,000.
http://tinyurl.com/5h2fn
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems | December 18, 2004 11:41 PM
And it is increasingly poor people who are sending their kids to war without the proper equipment--and they do not have the resources to send the vests or the food or the other things needed by the troops--
On to Vic--I don't know how one military person can support this regime.
Dominionist Dementia: What's Jesus Got To Do With It?:
Jesus’ compassion would hardly include going to war, let alone constructing a panoply of lies to justify doing so.
http://207.44.245.159/article7511.htm
[This is religion from an historical perspective, written with common sense and facts.]
Katherine Yurica: Conquering by Stealth and Deception:
How the Dominionists Are Succeeding in Their Quest for National Control and World Power
http://207.44.245.159/article7512.htm
[This is one of the MOST frightening pieces I've seen yet about the right-wing fundamentalists. A must read!!! Compare the above link with this piece....]
Suz, this story is hysterical. And so true. Bravo! "From little Kritters we can learn..." LOL
I dare you to send the story to BushInc. d;-)