Surge Against the Surge

Some say "the surge is working". Some hooker loving senators have said it after only being in Iraq for a matter of hours. Did anyone think that inserting tens of thousands of US troops into a capital city that we haven't been able to take in five years wouldn't make "certain neighborhoods" more secure? The Sunnis have quit the Iraqi Government, which is currently on vacation. The Iraqi "security forces" are no where near handling it on their own. A National Intelligence Estimate, if you still trust US Intelligence, says that Iraqi "leaders" “remain unable to govern effectively” and that the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki “will become more precarious over the next 6 to 12 months”. Now that sounds like solid progress to me. Which is why pacifist, defeatist, unpatriotic wackos like Senator John Warner (red-Va.), who was the Secretary of the Navy during Vietnam, and those four pansy, hippy, active duty soldiers in this neocon war in Iraq get right under my Red, White, and Blue stained skin.

The audacity of soldiers at the tail end of their 15 MONTH tour in Iraq, thinking that they know the situation on the ground, writing an Op-Ed disagreeing with the AWOL National Guardsman-in-Chief. Then there is Senator John Warner, who just returned from his trip to Iraq. What kind of defeatist serves in the Navy in WWII, in the Marines in the Korea war, and comes out calling for the US to start drawing down troops from Iraq starting in September? It's like that cry baby Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Pace calling for troop withdrawals, to, according to the LA Times, (get this) "reduce the size of the U.S. force in Iraq in order to bolster the military's ability to respond to other threats". I'm sure LIEberman is with me in saying "What a wuss". The progress in Iraq can obviously be seen in the electric grid being taken over by militias, not to mention the tragic helicopter crash that killed 14 more of Our soldiers. Hey, at least the largest, most expensive US embassy ever is right on schedule.

Remember when the worst president ever said that the comparison between the Vietnam War and his War in Iraq was "false" and sent "the wrong message to Our troops and sends the wrong message to our enemy"? Well, seems he's flip flopped on that one too. It's not that much of a surprise that he's invoking the war that he, giulliani, and dick wish would have gone on longer, without them fighting of course. The '60s may be just the angle to dethrone that "ex-hippy/feminist" Senator Clinton, who is still in front of the well practiced in the art of debate and discussion Democratic nominees for President. One difference I can see between what I know about the Vietnam war and the war in Iraq is that those who protested Vietnam didn't get permits to congregate en mass in DC, they weren't afraid to be beat down by billy clubs and tear gassed, they weren't afraid to "Turn On, Tune In, and Drop Out" of the norms set for them by Amerika, as they saw it. I know they didn't "win the war" (they may all be driving Volvo SUV's by now) but they certainly helped win some battles (see Civil Rights, Women's Rights, the EPA). When millions gathered, after obtaining the proper permits, to protest before and when this war started, barely a peep was heard. We were set aside as "wackos, extremists, defeatists, and nuts". Well, guess what, the nuts were right.

A quick partisan political note:
Congressman Rick Renzi (red-AZ) is joining Ohio Rep. Deborah Pryce, Illinois Rep. Ray LaHood, Mississippi Rep. Chip Pickering and Illinois Rep. dennis hastert in not running for re-election. Renzi joins the rats jumping off the sinking ship at least partially because of the FBI's corruption investigation.

A quick non-partisan political note:
"We can't just change political parties and continue to do the same kind of things we've been doing. We can't just go about business as usual and think it's going to turn out differently."
Barack on Open Government in Cedar Falls, Iowa
I know I've used it here for partially partisan reasons, but it is a statement about the need for non-partisan thinking, and after all... he is my favorite.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

August 9th marked the 62nd anniversary of the US killing 74,000 people with one bomb, not to worry though it wasn't a "roadside" bomb or a "homicide" or "suicide" bombing. It took place after we killed approximately 140,000 people with one bomb a couple of days before. The hypocrisy of these mass killings, not to mention the fire bombings that took place in the lead up to the US becoming the only nation to use atomic weapons, has been in the back of mind for some time. But "do as I say and not as I do" is a philosophy that can be found in so many places within Our government, and society at large. Last week the president of the young republicans resigned, as mark before the news broke of his homosexual exploits. He now joins such gay gay-bashers foley, jeff gannon/guckert, and his eminence ted haggard. This latest homosexual homophobe rivals the "Land of the Free" spying on it's own citizens from space for this Ink's #1 story of hypocrisy.

In "it's just cyclical weather" news, last week saw a one hour downpour shut down the New York City subway system, not to mention the first tornado in Brooklyn in 118 years. The storm flooded the New Jersey/New York area like the Fed flooded money into the US banking system. Not to be outdone, Europe and Asia has sent a tsunami of fresh cash to stop the markets' slide.

Then there is the too early to talk about election. The republican's 9/11 candidate claimed, much to the anger of actual workers at "ground zero" on and after that horrendous attack, "I Was At Ground Zero As Often, If Not More, Than Most Of The Workers" going on to say "So in that sense, I'm one of them." He has since said it was a mistake to say what he said. Really rudy? Ya think? Maybe his joining the "build a wall and kill the illegals" camp will help him against Iowa's favorite flip flopper, and turd blossom rover's possible new boss.

And speaking of "bush's brain", karl "turd blossom" rove is finally getting the hell out of Our White House. My only hope is that the investigations into his criminal and treasonous activities plague him for all his days. Democrats might want to thank the evil doer, after all his "permanent republican majority" may have lost a generation of republicans , and has certainly given the incoming Democratic President unprecedented power.

"You may say I'm a Dreamer, but I'm not the only one" - John Lennon

In sad news, TV icon Merv Griffin and Yankee great Phil Rizzuto have died. Their obituaries are joined by 250 more from the neocons' war of choice in Iraq. Five of which were US soldiers in a downed helicopter. Don't worry, it'll all be in the white house written "report from General Petraeus" to be delivered in September. A report that will no doubt say the surge is making Baghdad (the capital those in charge of Our military have not been able to take after four years) more secure. As for Iraq's political process, it should prove hard to make progress there by the September deadline/benchmark/line in the sand with the Iraqi government on vacation for a month. A vacation admonished by lil' george and Congress, who are on vacation for the month of August as well. Do As I Say... Yeah, you know the rest.