Obama Thoughts

Should Obama be less technocrat and more populist? Obviously, I agree (and there is some evidence he is starting to do so); it may be the only way for him to broaden his appeal to working-class whites. Meanwhile, the Georgia Crisis may not be the incredible boost to McCain the MSM seems to think. And, of course, Dubya the Lame Duck continues to screw the environment. And adopt Barack Obama's plan for Iraq. Some legacy.

Obamccain?

First al-Maliki now McCain? How desperate is your campaign when your friends are trying to claim your Iraq policy is almost kinda like your opponent's?

John McCain's Latest Super-power?

Telepathy. Or arrogant neo-colonialist condescension. Whichever.
Though not, evidently, precognition. Or memory. Or consistency. Or whatever.

"Winning" the War

How to keep the disaster in Iraq from destroying the GOP? Can't let Obama in the White House; Lord knows what he might find if he goes snooping around. I have it!

1. Announce a "time horizon" for pulling out troops. That's vague enough it sounds like something Steven Hawking would come up with. Plus, when you think about it, you can never really reach the horizon, now can you?
2. Next, trot out a general to dutifully claim with a straight face that "time horizons" = democracy, sunshine, ponies & gumdrops whereas "time lines" = surrender;
3. Wait, crap! That nitwit al-Maliki told some German magazine he wants us out in 16 months!
4. Okay, plan B: bomb Iran.

Meanwhile, Back at the War...

...it appears as though the US military has been drug into an all-out civil war between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite militia allies and Shiite militias loyal to his rival Moqtada al-Sadr; that Maliki didn't bother to consult with the US before attacking Basra; and that Maliki is losing. Badly. Yeah, I definately need some rest now.

UPDATE: Maliki achieves a humiliating compromise, declares victory, and runs home.

UPDATE 2: It gets even better. Apparently, it was the IRANIANS who worked out the cease-fire when a group of Iraqi lawmakers flew to the Holy City of Qom. It's hard to envision a more obvious sign that we have lost very nearly all control over the situation.

UPDATE 3: Now Iraqi legislators are saying that not only did Iran handle the ceasefire, but Maliki was out of the loop and "only informed" of the deal once it was done.

In Case You Needed More Proof...

...that this is going to be a tight election: public support for continuing the Iraq War is pretty much evenly divided, though a narrow majority believes "the U.S. will ultimately succeed in achieving its goals" (whatever those goals are). Obviously, though, these are extremely volatile numbers (and may have something to do with the fact that only 28% of Americans know how many total casualties we've suffered in this conflict, down from 54% who knew the right number last August). One bad round of car-bombings or (God forbid) more out-and-out fighting, and support will plummet again. If nothing else, this should be an alert to Obama and Clinton: you have to run on more than Iraq.

UPDATE: Apparently, when it comes to MSM coverage of the war, out of sight means out of mind.

Just In Case You Were Wondering...

...Kay Bailey Hutchinson is still an idiot.

Okay, I Know, I Know...

...I said I was on vacation, but I had to go to court today anyway, and I couldn't let pass without comment the culmination of Dubya's campaign to desecrate every single line of the Constitution: inventing a "pocket veto" that doesn't exist in order to kill a bipartisan Defense Appropriations bill because our puppet regime in Baghdad is miffed. Kind of makes you wonder if this White House is racing to see how low it can go and how ludicrous it can be before January 20, 2009, doesn't it?

UPDATE: Another view suggesting Dubya was legally right on the pocket veto and just outfaked the Democrats. And that the veto really has little if anything to do with Iraq.

The Forever War

In order to forever enshrine the Iraq debacle in American foreign policy, Bush is planning to ink a status of forces agreement (not a treaty; treaties require Senate approval) with Iraq, undoubtedly for a permanent US military base or bases. Yes, this would undoubtedly guarantee that he will be succeeded by a Democrat, but frankly he doesn't care. Bush is perfectly happy to destroy his own party in favor of his war.

Revolt of the Generals

An excellent piece from the San Diego Union-Tribune on the unprecedented (at least since the Civil War) number of general officers publicly denouncing a President's foreign policy. While I tend to agree with the critiques, I'm not too sanguine about the underlying motivations of those who suddenly feel compelled to speak out, nor am I sure how I feel about the overall effect. Is this a threat to civillian control (however incompetent) of the military? What would Democrats have thought if 20 retired Generals blasted Bill Clinton? Any of you currently serving in uniform, what do you think?

The Parade of CYA Memoirs Continues...

...first Alan Greenspan (who abandoned his own fiscal principals to endorse Bush's multi-millionaires tax relief package) goes all MoveOn.org on Dubya, now Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, one of the chief architects of the Iraq fiasco, blasts Bush as "incompetent." Nice of all these guys to realize what a train-wreck of an Administration they were working for....AFTER it's too late for them to do anything about it. More profiles in courage.

Instanbul Not Constantinople

From the Great and Powerful Kos, a good run-down of the current kerfuffle with Turkey. Unsurprisingly, Dubya is talking out of both sides of his mouth on this, though I do agree on principle that now was probably not the best time to deliberately tweak the Turks with this. As bad as things are currently in Iraq, they will become infinitely worse if Turkey invades Iraqi Kurdistan, which up until now has been a sea of peace and tranquility compared to the rest of the country.

Privatized Army Runs Amok

Senior US Military official backs the Iraqi government's story that Blackwater mercenaries fired first and without provocation into a crowd of unarmed civillians.

Year At Danger

My best friend's new movie, chronicling his year in Iraq with the Texas National Guard, will premiere at 7:00PM on October 12 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin.




For more information, check out the movie web-site.

Privitizing War

That rumbling sound you hear is Machiavelli spinning in his grave like a a turbine as the Bush Adminsitration deploys a vast, unaccountable mercenary army in Iraq, a mercenary army with such a foul-smelling reputation even the normally supine Iraqi government wants them gone.

John Edwards vs. Dubya

I like John Edwards, and not just because he, like me, is a preternaturally youthful-apppearing trial lawyer with great hair. No, in addition to being the only candidate with the huevos to purchase air-time for his own rebuttal to Dubya's war speech, he is the only candidate in either party to speak out against the scam of "Free" Trade that is gutting this country's economy. Of course, my endorsement probably dooms his candidacy, since I've proudly been on the losing side of Democratic Presidential Primaries since 1988 (Go Team Harkin!).

Texas Style

Lloyd Doggett dismantles the Petraeus Report.

And Speaking of the Petraeus Report...

...70% of Iraqis think "the Surge" has failed and NEARLY 60% THINK ATTACKS ON US FORCES ARE JUSTIFIED.
Explain to me again what "victory" means...

Oh, Yeah, One More Thing...

...Bush KNEW Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction BEFORE the war started. Turns out the entire bloody, pointless fiasco is based on a shabby lie. Imagine that. Oh well, what can you do?

Why Labor Day Is Important

From the AFL-CIO (the good folks who brought you the weekend) via the Great and Powerful Kos.

Also, you may be shocked and appalled to learn that the Bush Administration hates labor unions more than it loves democracy in Iraq. Who'd have guessed?