Who Supports The Troops? Republicans Or Democrats?
The answer is Democrats. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America — a non-partisan veterans’ group — took a look at 324 legislative votes in the last five years which affected American troops and veterans. Legislative proposals included veterans’ benefits, healthcare, and medical research dedicated towards injured soldiers. Based on these votes, IAVA calculated which senators and congressmen had a … Read More
“Hurry Up, He’s Dead”
That’s the title of the funniest TV show on Iraq television, says the NY Times. And it’s quite popular. What’s it about? Well, it’s kind of like The Daily Show, I guess. The newscast opens with an explanation of the show’s underlying premise: it is the year 2017 and the main character, Saaed, is the last Iraqi alive. He is … Read More
Bush Administration Has Had 9 Plans For Iraq
Chuck Schumer put this together: WHITE HOUSE HAS UNVEILED NEW “NEW IRAQ” PLANS AT LEAST NINE TIMES ALREADY 10/22/06: “The Bush administration is drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, senior American officials said.” [New York Times, 10/22/06] 7/25/06: “President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki … Read More
Active U.S. Soldiers Seek End To Iraqi Occupation
It may take 24-48 hours, but I think people will start talking about this soon: Sixty five active duty service members are officially asking Congress to end the war in Iraq — the first time active troops have done so since U.S. invasion began in 2003. Three of the service members will hold a press conference Wednesday explaining their decision … Read More
Short Bites
Barring some miracle, blogging will be light to non-existent for the next few days. But that won’t stop be from pointing to things I find amusing, like (1) the fact that robots think humans taste like bacon (2) What hath John Hodgman wrought? He wrote a book in which he listed 700 hobo names. Now, illustrators are providing drawings for … Read More
Bush: “We’ve Never Said ‘Stay The Course'”
In his interview with George Stephanopolouskowaskiwitz, the President said — and I quote — ‘We’ve never been stay the course, George!’. Man, that’s an easily debunked lie: BUSH: We will stay the course. [8/30/06] BUSH: We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. [8/4/05] BUSH: We will stay the course until the job is done, Steve. … Read More
The FBI Tries The Funny
The headlines are talking about this Wisconsin grocery clerk named Jake Brahm, who created the Internet hoax about terrorist attacks on NFL football stadiums this weekend. It was a stupid thing for this kid to do, but it was definitely not funny. Still, the FBI spokesman thought he’d try his hand at doing some comedy schtick: "Jake Brahm’s unsportsmanlike conduct … Read More
Pat Tillman’s Bro Speaks Up
Pat Tillman was a linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals. Moved by 9/11, he volunteered for military duty and was deployed to Iraq. He was a darling of the right wing, who reported his death in Iraq with much sadness. Here’s Hindrocket at Powerline, April 23, 2004: The news brought tears to my eyes, as to many others. Already, some are … Read More
Ground Zero
Five years after the fact, they’re still finding human remains at the WTC site, some as large as an arm and leg bone. Gruesome, to be sure. But it’s a reminder of the width and severity of the devastation.
Olbermann Nails It Again
I actually saw this last night — and if Keith Olbermann doesn’t make you think of Edward R. Murrow, then you don’t know who Edward R. Murrow is. So stunning was Olbermann’s editorial that some are calling it "the most compelling TV moment since Murrow" Watch it here.
Baghdad Power
Bush in July: "[I]ncreasing electricity in Baghdad is not the kind of thing that tends to get on the news." And Denny Hastert returned from a trip to iraq in June, gushing over "so many lights shining brightly". That’s right. When faced with bad news constantly coming out of Iraq, all Bush &Co could come with in terms of good … Read More
A Thought Experiment On Iraq
The Rude One: A Quick and Easy Test to Determine Where You Stand on the Iraq War: Let’s say we line up, oh, hell, a couple hundred thousand American soldiers, fine men and women in combat uniform, officers, non-coms, grunts, and we put them on TV. Then George W. Bush walks in with a loaded glock. Now let’s say that … Read More
Body Count
Ten U.S. soldiers were killed today in Iraq, bringing this month’s toll to 69. And the month is a little more than half over. At this rate, October 2006 will be the worst month casualty-wise since January 2005.
Milestones
U.S. Population hit 300,000,000 at 6:58 a.m. today. Coalition forces death toll hit 3,000. Bush’s disapproval rating at an all-time high for CNN polling. UPDATE: More tidbits from the CNN poll: – 64 percent disapprove of Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq. – 70 percent of women and 58 percent of men now oppose the war in Iraq. – … Read More