Yeah, I thought I saw what I thought I saw. At last night’s 59th Annual Emmy Awards, Sally Field, who won Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Nora Holden Walker in ABC’s “Brothers and Sisters”. She got up there and said… “Surely this [award] belongs to all the mothers of the world. May they be … Read More
Bush’s Speech: Iraq 4Evah!
Didn’t see it live, but caught the video. Rather than make the effort to actually put my reaction into coherent words and sentences, I decided to let Fred Kaplan do it for me: President Bush’s TV address tonight was the worst speech he’s ever given on the war in Iraq, and that’s saying a lot. Every premise, every proposal, nearly … Read More
Hillary Writes A Good Letter
Be honest tomorrow, Mr. President, she says… Via TPM (click to enlarge):
Bloodbath
Last month, seven U.S. soldiers in Iraq penned an op-ed for the New York Times entitled "The War As We Saw It". The article itself is behind the NYT’s subscription wall, but you can read it (free) here. Here’s part of what they said: To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can … Read More
Spreading Freedom
Public Approval numbers in Pakistan for a few international political figures … Osama bin Laden (46%) Pervez Musharraf (38%) George W. Bush (9%) And Pakistan is an ally. I think these numbers are more important in the global war on terrorism than the number of Level II Iraqi trained police squads.
Petraeus Asked: Does Victory In Iraq Make Us Safer?
Supposedly, the whole war in Iraq is so that America will be safer. So Senator John Warner (R-VA) cuts to the chase: WARNER: I hope in the recesses of your heart that you know that strategy will continue the casualties, stress on our forces, stress on military families, stress on all Americans. Are you able to say at this time, … Read More
Obama At The Patraeus Hearings
Nailed it. I’ll try to get video up once it makes its way to Youtube.
About General Patraeus And The Surge
An elderly man with back pain goes to see a chiropractor. During the examination the old fella seizes up and dies. The chiropractor calls the family and tells them the bad news, but assures the grieving relatives that with additional visits he should be able to align the old man’s spine.
9/11 — Six Years Later
I have nothing to say. I certainly understand the need for memorial services (especially for the families) and, on a day like today, it’s impossible for any of us not to reflect back on the events of 9/11/01. It’s just that nothing can be said that hasn’t already been said. Let’s not turn it in to an annual pageant. Also, … Read More
The Long-Awaited Patraeus Report
FIRST: Bush tells the American people to wait for General Patraeus’s report so we can have an assessment of the situation in Iraq. He says this repeatedly. NEXT: In the meantime. we get reports and data from the National Intelligence Estimate, the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. Embassy, and the Independent Commission on the Security Forces … Read More
He’s Back
After remaining silent for 3 years, Osama bin Laden is going to post an online video to mark the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, according to news reports. For you kids out there, a little history: bin Laden and his organization, al Qaeda, were responsible for the 9/11 attacks Saddam Hussein in Iraq wasn’t None of the hijackers were … Read More
Nuke Iran?
The story about how the Air Force "lost" five nuclear warheads (for a while) has an interesting and unnerving twist: Why the hubbub over a B-52 taking off from a B-52 base in Minot, North Dakota and subsequently landing at a B-52 base in Barksdale, Louisiana? That’s like getting excited if you see a postal worker in uniform walking out … Read More
“We’re Kicking Ass”
Embarrassing: "We’re kicking ass," he told Mark Vaile on the tarmac after the Deputy Prime Minister inquired politely of the President’s stopover in Iraq en route to Sydney. We need a President who doesn’t talk like a 13 year old raving about a new video game. Oh, and a President who can grasp reality: As for the “substance” (I use … Read More
Feel Safe Yet?
Our Air Force misplaced five nuclear warheads. Mistakes by U.S. Air Force personnel left five nuclear warheads unaccounted for during a three-hour period on Aug. 30, according to Army Times. The paper, a fellow Gannett publication, cites anonymous sources who say that five Advanced Cruise Missiles were mistakenly loaded on a B-52 bomber that flew from a base in North … Read More
Conservative With A Conscience
Former Assistant Attorney General Jack Goldsmith was a Bush Administration insider, with a stack of conservative credentials. As Glenn Greenwald notes, Goldsmith is “no hero.” He “is a hard-core right-wing ideologue who continues to support many of the administration’s most radical positions, including his view that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions does not apply to terrorist suspects (the … Read More