By Any Other Name

What's in a name? I guess it depends which name one decides to use. George Allen knew exactly what he was saying. It was intentionally racist.

Look at this post from Crooks and Liars. It shows exactly why Allen knew what he was saying.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/posts/2006/08/15/the-situation-room-covers-george-allens-racist-macaca-remarks/

Here's more about why it is obvious that Allen knew EXACTLY what he was saying.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/posts/2006/08/15/george-allens-lame-response-about-his-use-of-the-word-macaca/

oncall:

Does that mean that racists are "the base"? I seriously hope the man's career and aspirations are O-V-E-R.

this link shows Allen's leader!!

http://www.liveclip.com/upload.liveclip/watchvideo.aspx?vcode=60&mname=heather

Allen claims he is not familiar with this racist slur. Interesting that Allen's mother is Tunisian and that he might not be so naive about knowing of this slur. He protesth too much.

That's not all. The "welcome to America" phrase is pretty offensive as well - given the context that it was expressed in (to a dark-skinned Asian, who, as it turns out, is American-born and raised). Allen is trying to get a pass on this part of the incident by claiming that Webb had never been to that part of Virgina, or outside of the Beltway. Well, then he should have said, "Welcome to Virgina". "Welcome to America" sure sounds to me like an obvious nativist slur.

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/US/Terrorism
Bush says U.S. safer, but not yet safe

No $h!t Sherlock...! And your first CLUE was...?!?!?

The sheeple running round who are scared of some unseen, unknown, nameless boogey man (the "enemies" DumDum keeps talking about - 'enemies' we did not have before he was installed as resident) hiding under their beds are failing to realize one little FACT: No one is 100% safe all the time from all dangers of any kind whatsoever. The next time they go shopping they could be hit by a bus or a runaway car that has a broken brake line. Next time they go out in a thunderstorm they could be hit by lightning. There's always taking a tumble down a flight of stairs and breaking an arm or a leg, if not a neck, or at least sustaining bad bruises. Or taking a nasty dive while out water skiing or swimming. Twice in the last couple of years in-state news has had stories of cars crashing through houses that were on street corners and smashing down walls, narrowly missing inhabitants inside. Just this week a trial started for the perpetrator of the rape and murder of a young college co-ed by a known sex-offender; I'm sure she went to work that day thinking nothing unusual would happen to her, but she ended up dead anyway (and by the description of how her body was found, she had a grisly end; this is the first we've heard how she died now after the trial began). Or... [fill in the blank of things that probably will not happen... but could happen when least expected]; stuff happens, even when people take all reasonable and extra precautions to try to be safe, or mostly safe most of the time. Nothing is absolutely 100% safe 100% of the time, whether from criminals or from accidents... when the stars aligned just right, so to speak, we're maybe only 99% safe at any given time, and less safe than that at other times, given all the other variables. And that's just under normal circumstances when no one walks around all paranoid thinking some unnamed, unseen, unknown threat of an "enemy" is coming to get us, as the Dimwit Decider daily threatens will happen.... (Have we ever had a "leader" of this country more paranoid? I don't even remember Nixon being as paranoid as the Chickenhawk-in-Chief.)

Sucker Sheeple: We won't get out of this existence alive. Educate yourselves and go live life, dammit...!!! (And, don't ever vote for Dimwits like the Decider ever again! Wake up already, and stop drinking that kool-aid laced with fear of the unknown!)

Duh...!

I think Allen was trying to make sure his audience knew that this person of color was not on his staff (God forbid). So he made sure to let everyone know that the guy was with Webb, and use an insulting racial slur at the same time.

Pandering to the base gets a whole new meaning.

Speaking of name calling, did anyone just watch Scarborough on msnbc?

His first segment was called "Is Bush an Idiot?" He pretty much slammed Bush for possibly being an idiot but definitely for not being "intellectually curious".

It's not up yet but wait 'til you see this! It's a good laugh and a breath of fresh air. I mostly don't agree with Joe, but on this - he's on the money and pretty bold about it.

Scarborough opened his show tonight with a segment Is George Bush an idiot?

As a fellow Texan Molly Ivins answered that for us:

"Why didn't anyone ask whether Bush's lack of intellectual curiosity would be an impediment to the office of the President when he first ran?
watertiger

As Molly Ivins said, we tried to warn you ("we" being certain of us in Texas).

We tried to tell you he didn't speak even "household" Spanish (enough to converse with the maid). We tried to tell you Texas was a laboratory for bad government, and W. the chief mad scientist.

We tried to tell you he was an idiot.

No one (in the MSM, at least) listened.

Still, we're sorry. Lord Gawd, are we sorry!"

We tried..

Here's a review from Fear Up. It's mostly really good, particularly since most critics would rather bite their own tongue than say 100% great things.

http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/F06rev_06.htm

I'm really proud of Karen, Marietta, Joe, and all the actors (actresses).

Thank you... all of you!!!

Posted by: Ira at August 15, 2006 09:46 PM

With the testing firm I use to work for, I was told how much they 'dumbed down' the Texas exams so that they could show 'improvement'.

Posted by: Suz at August 15, 2006 09:59 PM

Ditto! Thanks for all your hard work.

Does that mean that racists are "the base"?

Posted by: Fe at August 15, 2006 08:27 PM

Yes, racists ARE the base of the Republican Party. That includes nonwhite racists.

AP: House GOP plans $40M ad campaign By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 22 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - House Republicans have reserved more than $40 million worth of television advertising time for the fall, most of it aimed at holding seats they control, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast.

ADVERTISEMENT

Republican incumbents in the Philadelphia area — Reps. Jim Gerlach, Curt Weldon and Mike Fitzpatrick — as well as Connecticut Reps. Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson are slated to get roughly $10 million combined in party advertising.

In the Ohio River Valley, Reps. Steve Chabot of Ohio, Geoff Davis of Kentucky and Mike Sodrel of Indiana also are to benefit from advertising by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

While most of the airtime reserved so far is meant to help GOP incumbents fend off Democratic challenges, House Republicans also plan to spend millions of dollars to try to unseat several Democrats, including Chet Edwards of Texas, John Spratt of South Carolina and Leonard Boswell of Iowa. The NRCC plans to spend at least $1 million in each of those races to help GOP candidates.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060816/ap_on_el_ho/campaign_ad_wars

University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato said Allen's remarks could damage Allen's efforts to position himself for a possible run for president in 2008.

"This is a comment that will be regurgitated a thousand times," Sabato said. "It was a clumsy, stupid gaffe, and it's this kind of thing that destroys presidential candidacies."

The words could be especially damaging when considered in the context of Allen's history of displaying the Confederate flag, Sabato said. Allen used to keep the flag in his living room, and he wore a Confederate lapel pin for his high school yearbook photo.

"People may read into this more than is actually there, but whose fault is that?" Sabato said.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/15/allen.volunteer.ap/index.html

All this monkey bashing is getting under my skin.

Posted by: Suz at August 15, 2006 09:59 PM

Nice! Great job, Fear Up!

Well since you mentioned Allen, you'll like this diary:

Keep Talking, George Felix Allen Junior! Please!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/15/193311/003

suz as you recall our former Secy of Education Ron Paige was the Supt of Houston schools, bragged how he single handedly brought up the high school test scores of one of our failing SW Houston high schools. Years later the Houston Chronicle revealed how those scores were inaccurate and the drop out rate at that high school actually had increased and test scores were not improving. Bush actually went to a private high school in New England and grade school in Midland, but as governor bragged what he had done for (to) our school system. But no we don't take credit for his education.

I see a daily kos blogger also drew the connection to Allen's mom and his racial slur. Surprised defarge no one from what I have heard in the media has mentioned that fact and has let Allen continue to whine and deny that he had ever heard that slur before. Unbelievable.

George Allen is the kind of person who makes me ashamed to be a Virginian. I haven't lived in Virginia since 1964, when racism was right out there in your face. Allen is a throwback, to the generation of Virginians who fought desegregation by shutting down public schools all over the state, including my junior highschool. The adults who made those decisions in the late 1950s are almost all dead now, taking their racism to the grave. But Allen shows us that racism is alive and well in people who were born late enough to know better; he is despicable because his generation had a choice, and he chose to be a racist.

The Youtube video is devastating. You really get to see George Allen, in all of his full, unselfconscious racist glory, using racism to connect with the small country audience, and laughing all the way. When did he take down the Confederate flag in his house? When did he stop wearing his Stars and Bars pin? Why did he bother? It is truly horrifying that this man is going to be considered a serious contender for the presidency.

Ira,

See the third post on this thread.

Here is an interesting blog post about Curt Weldon. John Kerry has a very forceful statement in it about retaliating against those guilty of swiftboating their opposing candidates.

http://www.patriotproject.com/2006/07/curt_weldon_att.php

Servants' Quarters
Posted by James Wolcott

Conservative New York radio talkshow hothead Bob Grant once said on the air that then-New York mayor David Dinkins (a far more elegant dresser than Grant, by the way) reminded him of a "men's room attendant".

On Imus in the Morning, Imus or one of his crew once joked about the pre-Washington Week in Review Gwen Ifill: "Speaking of reporter Gwen Ifill, he's said, 'Isn't the [New York] Times wonderful? It lets the cleaning lady cover the White House.'"

A week ago, Mickey Kaus's arm candy wrote, "Congresswoman Maxine Waters had parachuted into Connecticut earlier in the week to campaign against [Sen. Joseph I.] Lieberman because he once expressed reservations about affirmative action, without which she would not have a job that didn't involve wearing a paper hat."

And now the cover of the latest Weekly Standard brings us Al Sharpton as a Driving Miss Daisy faithful retainer "who dares not look his master in the eye."

Washroom attendant. Cleaning lady. Cafeteria worker. Chauffeur.

Notice a pattern?

No matter what height of prominence a black person reaches, conservatives will always find a way to reduce him or her to low-paid, low-status, low-skilled caricatured servitude. That's their idea of cutting black personalities down to size and putting them in their place. Whatever uniform they wear, it's still a monkey suit in the eyes and mouths of the white-makes-right contingent, which should make it no surprise that Senator George Allen, adopted son of the Confederacy, would reach back for a race-baiting jibe as his beanball pitch. It's also no surprise that George Allen would be Fred Barnes's kinda guy.

FCC cracks down on 'fake news'
Owners of 77 TV stations queried on paid video stories

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Communications Commission has mailed letters to the owners of 77 television stations inquiring about their use of video news releases, a type of programming critics refer to as "fake news."

Video news releases are packaged news stories that usually employ actors to portray reporters who are paid by commercial or government groups.

The letters were sparked by allegations that television stations have been airing the videos as part of their news programs without telling viewers who paid for them.

FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said Tuesday the letters ask station managers for information regarding agreements between the stations and the creators of the news releases. The FCC also asked whether there was any "consideration" given to the stations in return for airing the material.

"You can't tell any more the difference between what's propaganda and what's news," Adelstein said.

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/15/fake.news.ap/index.html

oncall: Crroks and Liars didn't open up last night for some reason, when I posted about Allen's mom, although it did this morning. My wife and in laws all grew up in Richmond and that was the very first thing they told me yesterday when the story broke. Apparently its very well known to residents in Richmond Virginia, that Allen speaks French and his mom is Tunisian but received very little media attention. His denial under these circumstances at least to me just compounds his problem. Heck at least Trent Lott acknowledged why folks were upset about his remarks about Thurman and acknowledged that it was wrong. For Allen to say that he thought it meant Mohawk, should be met with astonishment and what do you think we are, stupid?

Richmond Times:

"The fact that Allen turned to the young Webb volunteer's camera and made the remarks may indicate that Allen did not know how insulting his remarks were, Holsworth said.

"This is not the first time Allen has been criticized for appearing to be racially insensitive."

"Before he ran for governor in 1993, he kept a collection of Confederate flags in his cabin near Charlottesville. They were part of a flag collection, he said."

"While governor, he issued a Confederate History Month proclamation that did not mention slavery. This year The New Republic published a photo of Allen wearing a Confederate flag on his lapel in a high school yearbook picture. Allen said it was a symbol of youthful rebellion."

This was a post by Pamela Leavey on a competitor's web site that should be a topic for discussion. Why did George Will suddenly come to agree with John Kerry on This Week, about John Kerry's views about terrorism in 2004? Are Progressives actually tougher on terrorism than neocons?

"George Will Gives Credit to John Kerry, Again: ‘The Triumph of Unrealism&#..
Wednesday, August 16, 2006

"It all seems a little unreal, to have George Will giving John Kerry credit twice in a couple of days . It’s a triumph indeed, for those of us who have known all along that “John Kerry was Right” on so many levels. Cooperation between Pakistani and British law enforcement.."

Posted by: Ira at August 16, 2006 07:44 AM

Regarding the Richmond Times article:

Allen seems to have a smart answer for everything doesn't he? Allen's protests are somewhat like my 11 year old son's fanciful protests when he gets caught doing something he knows he shouldn't be doing.

somehow I suspect oncall, nevertheless, that your 11 year old has more common sense and integrity than George Allen. Allen frightfully reminds me a lot of George Bush and he acts like he is still in either his Hollywood high school or his college frat house.

Posted by: Carol at August 15, 2006 09:35 PM

Scarborough Country debates if Bush is an 'idiot'

RAW STORY

MSNBC's Scarborough Country discussed the topic "Is Bush an idiot?" on Tuesday's show, RAW STORY has learned.

Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund admitted that President Bush may be "inarticulate" but that didn't necessarily mean that he was "stupid."

"Voltaire once said that common sense is both rare and a lot more important to successful leadership than intelligence," said Fund. "And I agree."

The segment included a clip from Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart which focused on Bush's joint press conference with Germany Chancellor Merkel during his recent visit. Bush repeatedly joked about the feast planned in his honor which featured pig as the main course, even when asked about the war in Lebanon which had just recently erupted at the time.

Political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell said that Bush was "possibly" the easiest president to make fun of, and that he didn't understand how anyone could defend him as being especially smart, unless they worked "very closely with him," since he hardly ever displays a "public exhibition of a dazzling intelligence."

"It's almost like the more he stumbles over his tongue, the more he realizes that he may be overmatched by the english language," said former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough.

"It seems like he's losing confidence by the day," Scarborough added.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Scarborough_0815.html

(video!)

Posted by: monkey at August 16, 2006 08:31 AM

I saw that whole segment when it first aired. It was like a breath of fresh air to see a "conservative" question our President's ability to think.

To me, one of the most important comments was Scarborough's criticism that George Bush lacked intellectual curiosity.

As an aside, after watching An Inconvenient Truth, I turned to my wife and asked her if she could imagine Bush giving a lecture on *any* subject? We both sighed, and the people behind us laughed in agreement. Oh to think what might have been if not for the moron we have as a President.

I remember private discussions I have had with others who have posted on this site. I have always claimed that he was too stupid to know that he was being manipulated by his handlers (Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al.). I am not sure he even realizes it now. If he does, he is too dimwitted to do anything about it.

Posted by: oncall at August 16, 2006 09:00 AM

Which is why I believe that when Cheney was put in charge of finding a VP, he chose himself, knowing essentially, he'd be "the man".

I heard John Kerry on Ed Schultz and I was impressed. He was brief and to the point and really gave a straightforward outline of everything wrong with life under Bush PLUS everything wrong with the Repub policies and a whole lot more and in such a brief period of time.

I used to work with Japanese macaques. Allen meant to insult the only non-white person in the audience, but actually, macaques are quite intelligent compared to our current Not My President.

Bush Said to Be Frustrated by Level of Public Support in Iraq

By THOM SHANKER and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: August 16, 2006

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 — President Bush made clear in a private meeting this week that he was concerned about the lack of progress in Iraq and frustrated that the new Iraqi government — and the Iraqi people — had not shown greater public support for the American mission, participants in the meeting said Tuesday.

Those who attended a Monday lunch at the Pentagon that included the president’s war cabinet and several outside experts said Mr. Bush carefully avoided expressing a clear personal view of the new prime minister of Iraq, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

But in what participants described as a telling line of questioning, Mr. Bush did ask each of the academic experts for their assessment of the prime minister’s effectiveness.

“I sensed a frustration with the lack of progress on the bigger picture of Iraq generally — that we continue to lose a lot of lives, it continues to sap our budget,” said one person who attended the meeting. “The president wants the people in Iraq to get more on board to bring success.”

Another person who attended the session said he interpreted Mr. Bush’s comments less as an expression of frustration than as uncertainty over the prospects of the new Iraqi government. “He said he really didn’t quite have a sense yet of how effective the government was,” said this person, who, like several who discussed the session, agreed to speak only anonymously because it was a private lunch.

More generally, the participants said, the president expressed frustration that Iraqis had not come to appreciate the sacrifices the United States had made in Iraq, and was puzzled as to how a recent anti-American rally in support of Hezbollah in Baghdad could draw such a large crowd. “I do think he was frustrated about why 10,000 Shiites would go into the streets and demonstrate against the United States,” said another person who attended.

The White House would not comment on the details of the discussion but a senior official warned against drawing conclusions on what the president thinks based on questions he asked in the process of drawing out the invited guests.

Participants said Mr. Bush appeared serious and engaged during the lunch, which lasted more than 90 minutes, as the experts went through a lengthy discussion of the political, ethnic, religious and security challenges in Iraq. And through it all, Mr. Bush showed no signs of veering from the administration’s policies to support the new government and train Iraqi security forces to take over the fight, and only then bring American troops home.

One participant in the lunch, Carole A. O’Leary, a professor at American University who is also doing work in Iraq with a State Department grant, said Mr. Bush expressed the view that “the Shia-led government needs to clearly and publicly express the same appreciation for United States efforts and sacrifices as they do in private.”

more...
http://tinyurl.com/kkro8

Posted by: monkey at August 16, 2006 09:04 AM

Absolutely, and that was after he gathered up the skeletons on all the potential candidates for the job. J. Edgar Hoover would have been proud.

Another person who attended the session said he interpreted Mr. Bush’s comments less as an expression of frustration than as uncertainty over the prospects of the new Iraqi government. “He said he really didn’t quite have a sense yet of how effective the government was,” said this person, who, like several who discussed the session, agreed to speak only anonymously because it was a private lunch.

Posted by: monkey at August 16, 2006 09:14 AM

What do you expect from an idiot?

This weekend we'll be registering young, progressive voters & will have a grassroots booth at Hempfest, Seattle - 250,000 people expected over a two-day period.

Dear Idiot, Here's A Sense Of How It's Going...

Strife moves outside Baghdad
Shiites, Sunnis vie for control of Diyala province

By Ann Scott Tyson
The Washington Post
Updated: 1 hour, 35 minutes ago

KHAN BANI SAD, Iraq - Telba Khalif was in the vineyard when the mortar shell crashed down, sending her running terrified toward her house. Day and night, similar explosions had rocked her village -- on the road, by the canal, in the fields -- in what U.S. and Iraqi military officials call a bleeding of sectarian strife out from Baghdad.

"We can't sleep every night because this is happening," Khalif said in her stucco home, surrounded by other veiled women and girls. "We're very scared."

Mortar attacks that erupted last month between Sunni and Shiite villages around Khan Bani Sad are part of a complex power struggle in the demographically mixed province of Diyala, a contested area stretching from Baghdad to Iran. Sunni fighters are trying to push Shiite families out of the region, while Shiite militiamen from Baghdad are moving in aggressively to attack Sunnis and expand their turf, the officials say.

U.S. commanders had planned on withdrawing hundreds of American troops from this province, but instead this month they ordered an increase in troop levels to help stem the spread of sectarian violence. The Iraqi army has grown more capable in Diyala, and took over a large portion of the province last month. But the decision to add American troops underscored the limitations of their Iraqi counterparts, particularly the police, who must overcome mistrust fostered by the sectarian tensions.

"Our mission is not to let them fail catastrophically," one U.S. officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the Iraqi troops.

Attacks in Diyala have more than doubled since last summer, with more than 60 percent now directed at Iraqi civilians. Thousands of Shiite and Sunni residents have fled their neighborhoods after receiving death threats, U.S. and Iraqi officials say.

The officials also noted that the province's mixed population, its long border with Iran, and its rivers and fruit production make it attractive for a land grab. In Khan Bani Sad, in particular, the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, is intent on moving in while also pushing the Sunnis out, they said.

The situation is not unlike the one in the Iraqi capital.

"We see the challenges of Baghdad being exported," said Maj. John Digiambattista, operations officer for a U.S. Army battalion here.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14366656/

"We see the challenges of Baghdad being exported...", that's military talk for "the sh*t is hitting the fan"... which is slang for "it's just getting way worse pretty much everywhere".

Monkey
I don't think some of these neocons (Bush, Cheney, Perle etc.) absorb what it means to lose a family member to violence. Perle chastised Colin Powell for caring too much.

Disregard for lives of troops
When discussing his new book "Battle Ready" co-authored with retired general Anthony Zinni, author Tom Clancy stated that he almost came to blows with Perle. According to Clancy:
"He was saying how (Secretary of State) Colin Powell was being a wuss because he was overly concerned with the lives of the troops," Clancy said. "And I said, 'Look ..., he's supposed to think that way!' And Perle didn't agree with me on that. People like that worry me." (Associated Press, June 13, 2004 [6])
On November 19, 2003, he stated that "international law stood in the way of doing the right thing" in Iraq [7]

---As racists (like George Allen seems to be) seem to view nonwhites as subhuman, neocons seem to view those other than WASP elites as disposable, or what did Rumsfeld say - the word for interchangeable - fungible.

Web definitions for Fungible
Interchangeable. Products which can be commingled for purposes of pipeline shipment.
http://www.alken-murray.com/fuel-glossary.htm

Rumsfeld's 'Fungible' Facts
by Derrick Z. Jackson

DEFENSE Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was offensive enough when he intimated last week that US troops were as interchangeable as automotive factory parts. Irritated at a question from a reporter about why 20,000 American troops had to stay 90 days longer than expected in Iraq, he said: "Oh, come on. People are fungible. You can have them here or there."

The Bush administration has used the term "fungible" before. It withheld $34 million from the UN Population Fund. "Money is fungible," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher as the administration hid behind reports of coerced Chinese abortions to deny funds to the rest of the world. Rumsfeld has said that any accusations that the United States invaded Iraq to control its oil supply are "utter nonsense. Oil is fungible. People that have it will want to sell it, and it doesn't matter who they sell it to." Now soldiers are the latest commodity in a war where it did not matter who the United States sold it to. Rumsfeld says America needs to keep troop numbers up to quell the chaos in Iraq.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0421-02.htm

There is often a street musician dressed as a nun here.
Before the election, she wrote "George Bush doesn't care about you" on her skirt. I wish more people had taken it to heart.

Perle is Prince of Darkness, and Bush doesn't represent the Prince of Peace nor did Compassionate Conservative make sense.

Posted by: DiAnne at August 16, 2006 09:46 AM

... all this utter disdain and total disregard for the VERY lives that this administration and it's extreme right supporters fight tooth and nail for to prove that they were each "Created" by their faultless, flawless all-knowing God.

The White House is now known as "Georges Pawn Shop"
Open Daily from 10am to 10:30am
(Closed for naps, jogs, pretzels, and the entire month of August)

Posted by: monkey at August 16, 2006 07:19 AM

And here come the neocons yelling, "There those liberals go crying again..."

Posted by: zzRevolution at August 16, 2006 10:20 AM

Yeah, and they can all bite me, what with that lameass argument. They might as well just say, "I know you are but what am I?"

(note to neocons: liberals are in charge of nothing currently, so go rent a mirror, or grab the one out from under w.hoovers nose)

Rigid Idjits.

To me, one of the most important comments was Scarborough's criticism that George Bush lacked intellectual curiosity.

Posted by: oncall at August 16, 2006 09:00 AM

Oncall,

Those were exactly my thoughts as well. As soon as he said that, I said to my husband that that was the best thing Scarborough ever said.

For the longest time, the party line was - why does a President need to be so smart? They haven't all been smart. Liberals are just intellectuals. He's just like the guy next door. Blah, blah, blah.

For a conservative like Scarborough to come out and say quite robustly that the worst thing about Bush is his lack of intellectual curiosity, I thought, was huge.

But wait - does that mean Joe is on the side of al Qaeda now? Photos to follow?

OT but...here's another example of how this regime has no intention of getting out of Iraq... They've changed their meme from "Stay the course" to "Adapt to win." But "Adapt to win" appears to apply only to do whatever it takes to win the mid-term elections...

Compare this...
"The choice in this election is not between 'stay the course' and 'cut and run.' It's between 'win by adapting' and 'cut and run.' Let me tell you what we're doing. The fact is, before the successful Iraqi elections, the number of troops went up from 137,000 to 160,000. That's adapting to win. Recently, we increased troops in Baghdad, adapting t o win. We changed how the training of Iraqi forces occurred to involve more Iraqis. That's adapting to win. We've involved the international community more, the EU, the UN." - RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, NBC's "Meet The Press," 8/13/06
http://www.gop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=6489

to this...

Iraq experts who met with Bush in a private meeting this week said the president was “frustrated with the lack of progress” and “didn’t quite have a sense yet of how effective the government” is. One of the participants said Bush made it clear that “as long as he’s president, we’re in Iraq.” The LAT adds, “The experts said in interviews that Bush signaled that he intended to make no policy changes in Iraq.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/16/thinkfast-august-16-2006/

and this...

Bush Dismisses the Idea of Partitioning Iraq
President tells analysts dividing the country wouldn't end violence and indicates no policy changes are planned.
The experts said in interviews that Bush signaled that he intended to make no policy changes in Iraq, despite warnings from military leaders and election-year arguments from Democrats that the war is a drain on resources and a distraction from the administration's campaign against terrorism.
http://tinyurl.com/zbm6a = LA Times

As a follow on to my previous post, there's this article...

In western Iraq, insurgency is gaining
HADITHA, Iraq - In the dusty plains of western
Iraq, al-Qaida is gaining strength. Daily attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces are on the rise, and there is little sign of progress in persuading the population to support the national government. U.S. commanders acknowledge they are locked in struggle with insurgents for the allegiance of Iraq's youth.
--snip--
U.S. commanders have said privately that a military solution to the insurgency in Anbar is impossible, and what's needed is a political deal between the Sunni Arabs and the other religious and ethnic communities.

"This country needs a political solution — not a military solution," one government worker told Marines who stopped by his home in Haditha. "Are we going to stay in this situation where you shoot them, they shoot you? We are the victims."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060816/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_ailing_anbar_lh1

Proof that "adapting to win" is working real well there...

"One of the participants said Bush made it clear that “as long as he’s president, we’re in Iraq.”

Posted by: madame defarge at August 16, 2006 10:27 AM

In 100 years, when children are learning about the wars our country has fought, they'll be learning about all the ones we all learned about,and then they'll also be learning about the war we're in now, which might just be called George Bush's War in Iraq.

Doesn't really have the same ring as the War of 1812, but hey -

What kind of nightmarish crazy person wants to be known for a war? Nice legacy.

Al-Qaida Gains Strength in Sunni Heartland

Aug 16, 5:08 AM (ET)
By ANTONIO CASTANEDA

HADITHA, Iraq (AP) - In the dusty plains of western Iraq, al-Qaida is gaining strength. Daily attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces are on the rise and there is little sign of progress in convincing the population to support the national government.

U.S. commanders acknowledge they are locked in struggle with insurgents for the allegiance of Iraq's youth.

"We're in a recruiting war with the insurgency," said Brig. Gen. Robert Neller, the deputy Marine commander in western Iraq.

U.S. commanders have said privately that a military solution to the insurgency in Anbar is impossible, and what's needed is a political deal between the Sunni Arabs and the other religious and ethnic communities.

"This country needs a political solution - not a military solution," one government worker told Marines who stopped by his home in Haditha. "Are we going to stay in this situation where you shoot them, they shoot you? We are the victims."

American attention has shifted in recent weeks to Baghdad, where violence between Sunni and Shiite extremists is on the rise. The U.S. is sending nearly 12,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces to the capita to curb the violence.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has said sectarian violence in the capital is now a greater threat to Iraq's stability than the Sunni Arab insurgency, which is entrenched in western Iraq.

Nevertheless, of the 23 U.S. troops who have died this month in Iraq, 16 of them were in Anbar.

more...
http://tinyurl.com/zl84g

From Rawstory

Group Says Iran Is 'Not a Crisis'
Former generals and officials seek to prevent an attack on suspected nuclear sites and to overhaul policies toward Tehran and Baghdad.
By Peter Spiegel, (LA)Times Staff Writer
August 16, 2006

WASHINGTON — Seeking to counter the White House's depiction of its Middle East policies as crucial to the prevention of terrorist attacks at home, 21 former generals, diplomats and national security officials will release an open letter tomorrow arguing that the administration's "hard line" has actually undermined U.S. security.

-snip-

Gard said the signatories — who included retired Marine Corps Gen. Joseph P. Hoar, head of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994, and Morton H. Halperin, a senior State Department and National Security Council official during the Clinton administration — did not believe that Iran had the wherewithal to build a nuclear weapon in the immediate future and would push the administration to open negotiations with Tehran on the issue.

"It's not a crisis," Gard said in a telephone interview. "To call the Iranian situation a 'crisis' connotes you have to do something right now, like bomb them."

full article here: http://tinyurl.com/jwj8l

Posted by: Carol at August 16, 2006 11:08 AM

I saw that article. And IMHO, Gen. Gard knows what he's talking about. I've met him & have had some good discussions with him. He was one of our esteemed panelists for our "Out of Iraq" panel discussion in January, 2006. I wish we had more generals like him in charge today...those who know what they're talking about and who are not afraid to speak out...

Joseph Cirincione, senior vice president for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress & formerly from the Carnegie Endowment for Peace is another good source of information about nonproliferation & Iran. Here's one article I found to be helpful & interesting:

http://www.issues.org/22.3/cirincione.html
Controlling Iran’s Nuclear Program

The country’s slow and indirect progress toward developing nuclear weapons cunningly skirts international nonproliferation rules. Careful diplomacy can stop Iran from achieving this destabilizing capability.

Here's another recent article about how the neocons are now hoping to use the Israeli-Lebanon conflict as the trigger to launch a U.S. war against Syria, Iran or both:

Neocons Resurrect Plans For Regional War In The Middle East
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/17/neocons-middle-east-war/

Someone over at Firedoglake picked this up in the comments section of crooks and liars and posted:

Bush 10 years ago and today

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pw4Bhmm22xo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4797537.stm
US criticised for HIV aid effort
US policy is undermining the efforts of African countries to fight the HIV epidemic, a leading UN figure has said.
Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy on Aids, said President George Bush's $15bn Emergency Plan for HIV/Aids was too focused on promoting abstinence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4796909.stm
Water shortage 'a global problem'

Posted by: Carol at August 16, 2006 12:55 PM

Yup... if it's not "presenile dementia" then there's something much more seriously wrong with DimWit's brain. And it started before the presidential debates in 2000 when he sounded so distinctly like a moron. I never could figure out why spinmeisters thought he did well in those debates; and, of course, the dittoheads said the same of his remarkably poor performances in '04.

How You Can Promote Camp Democracy Locally:

Individuals and organizations can be part of promoting Camp Democracy locally wherever you are. Here are some things you can do.

Sponsor Camp Democracy with $20 and be listed as a sponsor and provided a table at the camp should you choose to use it:
http://www.campdemocracy.org/organization

Ask radio stations to play a public service announcement recorded for us by Thom Hartmann:
http://campdemocracy.org/spread/hartmann

Plan a local meeting, vigil, rally, fundraiser:
http://campdemocracy.org/spread/event

Plan travel to Camp Democracy using the rooms and rides board:
http://spaceshare.com/campdemocracy

Put out a press release like this one:
http://campdemocracy.org/spread/localrelease

Make appointments now to meet with your Congress Member in Washington on September
19 as part of Camp Democracy:
http://campdemocracy.org/spread/appointment

Print some flyers, make copies, post them up and hand them out:
http://campdemocracy.org/spread#print

Volunteer to help in planning Camp Democracy or to help during the camp:
http://volunteerforchange.org/e/117?refcode=o52

Buy shirts to wear and sell:
http://campdemocracy.org/spread#clothing

Post a banner on your website:
http://campdemocracy.org/spread#web

Send an Email to your friends:
http://campdemocracy.org/spread#email

Noticed (lunch time) on Comcast main page - an Israeli general sold his stocks for profit just before the war started - just like Richard Perle. Public support for the support soared at first, then dropped significantly, just like America. I tell you - we are really not the people to copy! But it's been a collaboration between Perle's neocons & hardliners in the middle east.

Someone sent me a Canadian LTE and it could have been written by a winger here.

Got emails that sounded fairly unified - Reid and the Dems urging Iraq pullout in a unified manner, Kerry backing strong war-critical Dems. Nice to see more unity and less fragmentation as the mid-terms approach.

Heard one of Bin Laden's unofficial biographers on NPR last night. Turns out Bin Laden is really a hypocrite - made his wives garden & tend animals in Sudan rather than buy clothes on the Champs Elysses, but let his boys play Nintendo (despite criticism of the decadent west).

Hypocrites, fanatics & evildoers are everywhere.

a daily feature from the blog of http://www.kexp.org

Live Each Day To Its Fullest

Hai Ming Hsia
Friday, August 04 2006
New York Daily News -- A New York soldier who joined the Army at age 33 to help support his newborn son was killed in Iraq Tuesday when a roadside bomb cut him in half, his family said yesterday.

Spec. Hai Ming Hsia, 37, was riding in a combat convoy near Ar Ramadi when the explosion tore his vehicle apart, they said.

"President Bush took away my son, my only child," Hsia's grieving mother, Nelida, 66, said last night. "Now I have none."

Sitting in the living room of her Chinatown apartment, the mother explained that her son joined the Army in 2002 because his son, Brendon, 3, was on the way and his job as a security guard couldn't support a family.

She said he spent three years in Iraq only to have his hitch extended. He came home on leave earlier in the summer but returned to Iraq a month ago.

Joseph A. Tomci
Friday, August 04 2006
Akron Beacon Journal -- STOW - Tracy Piatt sat down Wednesday to compose ane-mail through a steady stream of tears.

Addressed to the parents of her former second-graders at Fishcreek Elementary School in Stow, she informed them that Marine Cpl. Joseph Tomci had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq earlier that day.

Tomci, 21, of Stow, had been the pen pal of her class for two years -- a local link to a faraway land for Piatt's young charges.

They made him birthday cards and staged parties in his honor, singing Happy Birthday to the picture of Tomci on a classroom wall. They sent care packages, and they tracked his location on a map.

The young Marine had become their Marine. Now, he was gone.

George M. Ulloa Jr.
News 8 Austin -- Family members of an Austin Marine say their hearts are broken after learning he was killed in Iraq. Sgt. George M. Ulloa Jr., 23, died Thursday after his tank was hit by a roadside bomb. He was a tank gunner who was on his second tour of duty in Iraq.

His wife, Maria, said she’s trying to be strong now that their three children no longer have a father.

"The first time I ever saw him cry was that day I walked down the aisle," she said.

Their six-year-old son Victor is known as George Jr. because he takes after his father so much. Five-year-old Luz was nicknamed “light bug,” and their youngest daughter, Rosalinda, or “Ro Ro” is one-and-a-half.

"He used to love to rock them. He liked to see them dressed up and he would make them wear pantyhose just because he thought they were cute," Maria said.

Marc Alan Lee
Sunday, August 06 2006
Hood River News -- A Navy SEAL from Hood River died in Iraq on Wednesday while saving his team members from a fierce attack by insurgents.

Marc Alan Lee, 28, was killed while on active duty in Ramadi. His mother, Debbie Lee, said her son staged an offensive diversion in a moment of crisis. He reportedly made the decision to sacrifice his life after another SEAL was hit by sniper fire and several men were trapped inside a building.

“It was so like Marc to give up his life to save his friends. I am so proud of him — he is my hero,” said Lee.

She said Marc lived with a strong Christian belief that he was here to make a difference for the good. It was that commitment to God that led her son into the military. And then gave him strength during the grueling training to become a member of the elite Special Forces team.

Kurt E. Dechen
Saturday, August 05 2006
Burlington Free Press -- A man from Springfield who joined the Marine Corps with his buddies fresh out of high school in 2001 was killed Thursday in Iraq, five months into his first tour of duty there.

Lance Cpl. Kurt E. Dechen, 24, died of wounds he received in combat in Anbar Province, a restive region west of Baghdad that includes Ramadi and is widely considered the most dangerous place in Iraq.

Dechen's mother, Dale, was informed Thursday about her son's death.

"He was a good kid," she said in a brief interview Friday. "Proud of being a Marine."

She declined to comment further, preferring to wait until she and her husband, Rich, meet with Marines today to discuss arrangements for their son.

Dustin Laird
Friday, August 04 2006
Weakley County Press -- A 24-year-old Martin man serving with the Tennessee National Guard 913th Engineer Company located in Union City was killed in action in Iraq on Tuesday.

According to a family member, United States Army National Guard Specialist Dustin Laird was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

Laird graduated in 2001 from Westview High School. He was deployed with his unit last September, but returned home in May for his brother Derek's graduation from Westview.

During his leave, he visited with students at Caroline Coleman's fourth-grade class at Ridgemont Elementary School in Obion County. The children had been writing letters to Laird while he was serving in Iraq and he dropped in on the students for a surprise visit.

Laird's classroom visit eased the minds of the young students who had various questions about the war and Laird's role as a soldier. During his time with the class, he responded to questions varying from how to disassemble a "nuclear bomb" to how he managed to take a shower in the desert.

Laird patiently answered the children's questions and, when asked what was the worst part of the war, he replied simply, "missing home

Posted by: not my president at August 16, 2006 03:03 PM

... and for what?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060816/ts_nm/bush_binladen_dc_1
W.House denies bin Laden hunt downgraded
WASHINGTON - The White House denied on Wednesday that the U.S. hunt for Osama bin Laden has been downgraded after the CIA disbanded a unit set up in the 1990s to oversee the search for the al Qaeda leader. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada had cited the disbanding of the CIA unit as an example of what he called misplaced priorities in the Bush administration.
~~~~~
White House spokesman Tony Snow opened his daily briefing with a statement addressing Reid's charges, saying the CIA had reshaped the unit to deal with a more diffuse threat from al Qaeda.

"But the notion that the president has shut down a program designed to capture Osama bin Laden is utterly without foundation. It was a reorganization, not a reduction in effort and commitment," Snow said.

The disbanding of the CIA's bin Laden unit, code-named Alec Station, was described as a "reallocation of resources" within the CIA's Counterterrorism Center when the news broke about it in early July.

"The CIA's efforts to locate bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda figures has not been downgraded. To the contrary, it remains fully committed to locating bin Laden and his collaborators and is devoting more resources, not less, toward the effort," Snow said.
~~~~~

Errrrr.... say what? That unit was disbanded weeks ago, and only now Snow Job is coming out with a statement like that? So.... I just gotta ask: Why more talk about OBL, since DimWit long ago said he wasn't worrying about OBL? (Or was it that he didn't think about OBL any longer? Whatever.) Is this the same conveniently ongoing crap about OBL to keep the fear factor up since the foiled London stuff and they're trying to not-so-subconsciously to re-invigorate the paranoia level of the sheeple? Or are they trying to get talk about catching OBL back in the snooze to divert attention away from more nefarious things going on behind closed doors that we won't find out about for a few weeks...?

Starting a mental list in my head of the usual suspects, what they might be trying to divert attention away from this time.... The Criminal Cabal is so predictable at this point.... Divert Lamestream Media with fearmongering and warmongering propaganda while they go about crooked business as usual behind closed doors, and the evening snooze anchors will comply, even down to the restrained hysterical fear - or maybe it's anticipation? - in their drama-queen voices as they try to tell us all the things we're supposed to still be paranoid about.... *searching my memory banks to try to find out what I'm supposed to fear.... *not finding anything to fear except more of the same from The Cretin, the Vice Cretin and their Criminal Cabal and what they're already doing to this country and the world....

GOP Senator George Allen's Sister Documents Her Brother's Bully Tactics: "He Saw Dentistry As A Perfect Profession - Getting Paid To Make People Suffer"...

Huffington Post | Posted August 16, 2006 11:01 AM

Senator George Allen’s racial remark to a 20 year old Indian man last week, has re-highlighted accusations that the Senator is a bully and a bigot. Senator Allen’s sister, Jennifer Allen, documents many cases of her brother’s bullying in her book Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter. Read the excerpts below.

Explaining why she is scared of heights, Ms. Allen writes that “Ever since my brother George held me over the railing at Niagara Falls, I’ve had a fear of heights.” [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 43]

Referring to George’s relationship with one of her boyfriends: “My brother George welcomed him by slamming a pool cue against his head.” [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 178]

Referring to George’s early leadership skills, Jennifer wrote: “We all obeyed George. If we didn't, we knew he would kill us. Once, when Bruce refused to go to bed, George hurled him through a sliding glass door. Another time, when Gregory refused to go to bed, George tackled him and broke his collarbone. Another time, when I refused to go to bed, George dragged me up the stairs by my hair.” [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 22]

more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/08/16/gop-senator-george-allen_n_27382.html

Democratic Web Ad Angers Some Hispanics
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6019204,00.html

Haven't seen it but sounds a little tacky - there is no need to emulate the enemy and their fear mongering

Here's another great (IMHO) "message of the week" from my pastor back home...(wherever home is):

********************
Conscientious Objector Status

The media would have us believe that America is in a culture war. This fight is presented as being for the soul of our nation--red state and blue state, republican and democrat, Christian and secular humanist. One of the opposing sides is supposedly led by Christians, intent on imposing their ideas about life and behavior on the rest of the country through civil activism, legislation and, if necessary, court ruling.

To the average spectator, this description seems to be true. There are some high-profile Christians pushing these causes. There are churches that pass out voter guides in the pews. There are a lot of people who assume that to be Christian means to be a neo-conservative Republican. Even some Christians assume this.

After all aren't we called to reclaim a lost culture? Aren't Christians meant to shine the light in the darkness? Certainly we are. Doesn't that mean taking a side?

Well... When we look at the world around us it's easy to start thinking in an us/them kind of way, where they are the enemy to be overcome. After all, there's a lot of militant language in Christianity that feeds into this. The metaphors of weapons, armor, and soldiers are used in scripture. The concept of "advancing the kingdom" is prevalent. Doesn't all this feed into a mindset of opposing the enemy and fighting for what we believe?

It does, and rightly so. The problem is in who we see as the enemy. This is where we lose track. There is an enemy of God and the church. But it's not our culture. It's not "hollywood libersals" or secular politicians. It's not the ACLU. The Apostle Paul tells us, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 6:12) That's who we fight against. It's not against other people. The people are prisoners, or at best, innocent bystanders.

We are to help usher in God's kingdom. But again, don't get confused. Jesus' words: "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were my servants would fight to prevent my arrest...but now my kingdom is from another place." (John 18:36) There is a kingdom that Jesus wants to bring about, but it won't be brought by legislation. It won't come by picketing or protesting. It won't be brought by electing more Christian politicians or empowering Christian judges. It won't come by fighting and arguing and attacking other people who think differently than we do. In another place Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." You see, God's plan for reclaiming culture is to reclaim hearts.

Knowing that, it is my decision to conscientious objector in this culture war. I know that the real enemy is not any person, but arrogance, selfishness, greed and all the other satanic manifestations of pride. I know that the real territory of the battle is the human heart. I know that the kingdom of God comes wherever people are drawn into a conversation with God, when they of their own free will surrender their life to Him. That cause I will strive for with all that I am, hoping to be a humble avenue of God's grace to a hurting world.

there is no need to emulate the enemy and their fear mongering
Posted by: nmp at August 16, 2006 03:25 PM

Could not possibly agree more....!

Fear is fine on those rare occasions when it's appropriate and one needs adrenalin to flee danger. It's totally exhausting to run around with fear adrenalin coursing through one's veins 24/7/365.

Seriously. When was the last time any of us had a genuine life-and-death situation in our lives? I can pinpoint those occasions in my life, all work-related when I was in law enforcement, and a couple of times when my own good driving avoided traffic accidents.

That's why I didn't get the whole thing from the last election when everyone was yapping about "security moms" and why they voted for DimWit (like Mr. Cowardly AWOL Frat-Boy could genuinely keep anyone safe?!?).

When Lamestream Media snooze anchors do their drama-queen voices and proceed with fearmongering and warmongering rhetoric, I question not only their acting skills, but their mental state, and wonder why they are collaborating with the propaganda they're spewing. Okay, true. I avoid deliberately watching them, but when I've accidentally caught a few seconds I just end up yelling at the TV and changing channels. I get more genuine news from BBC on PBS than I do from any TV snooze, in-state or national (and BBC anchors at least refrain from using drama-queen voices when they read the news!).

Posted by: Veritas at August 16, 2006 03:45 PM

Holy Relevant Revelations, Batman!

Attorney General: Terrorists are in our neighborhoods

RAWSTORY
Wednesday August 16, 2006

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in Pittsburgh to address the World Affairs Council, recalled memories of Sep. 11 while referring ominously to a stateless enemy hidden in American towns.

"The most dramatic change," said Gonzales, "is the nature of the enemy our country today faces -- a stateless enemy sometimes hidden and nurtured here in our neighborhoods, taking advantage of the very laws they mock with their killing and destruction, as a shield from detection and prosecution."

Gonzales, further emphasizing the perceived domestic danger, stated, "The threat of homegrown terrorist cells may be as dangerous as groups like al Qaeda, if not more so.

"It is therefore essential that we continue to develop the tools we need to investigate their actions and intentions with the help of our partners, and prosecute those who travel down the road of radicalization."

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Attorney_General_Terrorists_are_in_our_0816.html

The full text of the speech can be found here:
http://releases.usnewswire.com/printing.asp?id=70829

August 16, 2006

A New Explanation For "Macaca?"

Kristian Denny Todd, communications director for James Webb, said the new explanation rings hollow. "I don't know what's worse; calling this innocent 20-year-old a "shit head" or a racist slur that was debatable that it wasn't," she said. "This is a kid that had done George Allen no harm. The term was used to demean him. That's the bottom line." Todd said Webb "just wants to get beyond all this" and focus on issues.

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/08/a_new_explanant_2.html