Rox Populi

What Becomes a Morass With No End in Sight Most?

Happy Anniversary, Commander Codpiece!

J'accuse!

Happy Anniversary to those very special enablers who helped sell the Iraq War.

[Meanwhile, two black dudes have to crawl on the ground for their love.]

We couldn't have planned this better!

This is What 'Change' Looks Like

And it isn't a bunch of pretty (but meaningless) words strung together.

Sacha Baron Cohen Makes a Fabulous Saddam Hussein

EPIPHANY:

Sweeney Todd:  No I had him!
His throat was there beneath my hand.
I had swear I had him!
His throat was there and now he'll never come again.

Mrs. Lovett: Easy now, hush love hush
I keep telling you -

Sweeney Todd: When? Why do I wait?
You told me to wait -
Now he'll never come again.
There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
And it's filled with people who are filled with shit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it.
But not for long...

They all deserve to die.
Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why.
Because in all of the whole human race
Mrs Lovett, there are two kinds of men and only two
There's the one they put in his proper place
And the one with his foot in the other one's face
Look at me, Mrs Lovett, look at you.

Now we all deserve to die
Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why.
Because the lives of the wicked should be made brief
For the rest of us death will be a relief
We all deserve to die.

And I'll never see Joanna
No I'll never hold my girl to me - finished!
(shouted) Alright! You sir, you sir, how about a shave?
Come and visit your good friend Sweeney.
You sir, you sir? Welcome to the grave.

I will have vengeance.
I will have salvation.
(shouted) Who sir, you sir?
No one in the chair, come on! Come on!
Sweeney's waiting. I want you bleeders.
You sir - anybody.
Gentlemen don't be shy!

Not one man, no, no ten men.
Not a hundred can assuage me -
I will have you!
And I will get him back even as he gloats
In the meantime I'll practice on dishonorable throats.
And my Lucy lies in ashes
And I'll never see my girl again.

But the work waits!
I'm alive at last!
And I'm full of joy!

Did Morgan Spurlock Find 'The Holy Grail'?

If you've been wondering where Osama bin Laden's been all this time, you might not have to wonder much longer ...especially if you've got a way to Sundance.

Homecoming

world goes mad someone invited fucking celine dion death-rattle-sabres torture-extracted elastic lies told retold reshaped evolved forgotten bmoc abandons career runs friendly fire meets maker typing monkey mocks anguished mother's muffin top sends her flying monkeys off to play their gotcha game anal cavities scrutinized inventoried reported rewarded theocracy marches on! purple fingers and all boys girls abused maimed raped waterboarded fucked up in the head and dead

you really really really really really really really really care
but not that much
til some over-snowflaked functionary changes the world again

Notable Quotables for $500, Alex

The answer is ...

“I didn’t spend 31 days in Florida,” he said, “to end up where we are now.”

Plagiarism Watch: General Petraeus's Counterinsurgency Field Manual Edition

Oh, man. Curious, if true.

But, you have to admit it takes big brass cojones for the University of Chicago (remember them?) Press to publish unattributed quotes from Max Weber as if no one would notice:

Counterinsurgency Manual, section 3-55: Power and Authority

"Power is the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his or her own will despite resistance."

Unacknowledged Source:

"Power [Macht] is the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his or her own will despite resistance." (Weber, Max. Economy and Society. Univ. Calif. Press, 1978 [orig. 1922]. P. 53.)

And as much fun as I've had in the past accusing Chris Hitchens and Andrew Sullivan of having a T.E. Lawrence complex, this bit is almost too good to be true:

Other sections of the Manual have unacknowledged borrowings from other sources. The anthropologist Roberto González found that the Manual's Appendix A was "inspired by T.E. Lawrence, who in 1917 published the piece 'Twenty-seven articles' for Arab Bulletin, the intelligence journal of Great Britain's Cairo-based Arab Bureau." González compared several passages of Lawrence with Kilcullen's Appendix A, and found parallel constructions where paragraphs were reworded but followed set formations between the two texts.  González observed that while these parallel constructions can be seen, "Lawrence is never mentioned in the appendix. González shows that Kilcullen's other written work makes a passing reference, but does not acknowledge the degree to which Lawrence's ideas and style have been influential."

There's much more to unpack here. And I owe a H/T to J--.

Quote of the Day

"We do some silly things, but we didn't do that," Anne Tyrrell, a spokesperson for Blackwater USA, told Politico.

That's Alot of Over-Priced Cajun Egg Rolls and Pizza Burgers

From the "I haven't thought about this yet, but given the Bush Administration's track record of cronyism and graft, I'm not going to be surprised" files ...

It looks like excessive war profiteering in Iraq extends far beyond the usual defense contractor suspects:

Investigators from the Justice Department and the Defense Department are looking into deals that Perdue Farms Inc., Sara Lee Corp., ConAgra Foods Inc. and other U.S. companies made to supply the military, according to people involved in the inquiry. The companies made the deals with the help of former U.S. military procurement officials they hired as consultants or executives.

The inquiry is focused on whether the food companies set excessively high prices when they sold their goods to the Army's primary food contractor for the war zone, a Kuwaiti firm called Public Warehousing Co. A related question is whether Public Warehousing improperly pocketed for itself refunds it received from these suppliers. Public Warehousing bought vast amounts of meat, vegetables and bakery items from the food companies, and delivered them to U.S. troops.

How is contracting supposed to work?

In general, many military contracts pay suppliers the cost of the goods they distribute plus a profit margin. In such cases, it is a challenge to ensure that the supplier seeks the lowest price from the maker of the goods. Unless adequate safeguards are in place, the supplier and the maker have an incentive to inflate the cost and share the extra profits among themselves.

Federal law prohibits government contractors from obtaining money through false or fraudulent pretenses.

[...]

Within the U.S., the investigation is focused on an Army agency in Virginia known as Army Center for Excellence, Subsistence. It plays a key role in determining the Army's favored suppliers. Mr. Staples, a senior official at the center, works closely with sales agents for a handful of U.S. firms including Sara Lee, ConAgra and Quantum Foods Inc., according to emails and people involved in the investigation.

Since 2003, the Army agency has issued guidelines directing that chicken breast, turkey breast, ham and sausage consumed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Kuwait be supplied by Sara Lee.

Would it further not-surprise you that "friendlies" benefit and "non-friendlies" do not?

In one of the most striking examples of the agency's selectivity, Tyson Foods Inc., one of the world's largest chicken producers, has been virtually shut out in the competition to supply the troops for the Iraq conflict. Much of the chicken supplies for Iraq and Kuwait are provided by Perdue and a ConAgra unit called Pilgrim's Pride Inc. That is in line with a recommended menu on a spreadsheet issued by Mr. Staples's agency. The spreadsheet lists foods and recommended suppliers such as "turkey thigh roast, raw, netted, 8-10 lb avg" next to "Sara Lee."

In an April 3, 2007, letter to the Pentagon, a lawyer for Tyson complained that "elements within the military" were providing sole-source contracts "to certain companies employing former military personnel."

There's a whole lot more you're likely to be unsurprised about, so read the whole thing.

'I Feel My Manly Powers Surging'

Fear of the Vagina: It's What's for Dinner! But, why?

And, with that, I think it's time for me to finish "The Terror Dream."

Bonus Phony Soldiers

As the intrepid "citizen journomaligners" of the wingnut-o-sphere unleash the virtual killing party on these twelve former army captains, I thought it might be interesting to review some random reactions of overseas troops to the controversial remarks made last Friday by former Lt. General Richardo Sanchez:

“I agree with the ‘no end in sight’ statement because of statements published by the Bush administration in a document called National Strategy for Victory in Iraq,” said Lt. Cmdr. Les Engle, a 16-year Navy veteran, currently the assistant transition officer for Navy Region Europe’s Strategy and Future Requirements, in Naples, Italy.

Engle cited the following passage from the White House document, published two years ago: “Iraq is peaceful, united, stable, and secure, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism,” reads the portion under a longer-term goal.

“Now, two years later, we are farther away from this definition of victory than ever before, and we continue to move away at an accelerating pace,” said Engle, 39.

[...]

“It is too bad that he did not stand up and give his best professional opinion regarding the war in Iraq while he was still on active duty,” he said. “I believe that senior military leaders have the responsibility to speak up when they see a ‘bad situation’ developing, instead of nodding their head, saluting and saying ‘Yes sir.’ ”

-------

Carlos, a soldier who left Iraq on Sept. 28 and was vacationing in Seoul before returning to the States, had an opposite opinion.

“I believe him,” Carlos, who declined to give his last name, said of Sanchez.

He said the troop “surge” started earlier this year to bolster U.S. forces to counter the insurgency in Iraq isn’t working and things got worse during his 14 months there.

“We’re losing soldiers every day,” he said.

But instead of blaming the U.S. administration, Carlos reserved his frustration for the Iraqis. “We do their job,” he said. “They just sit back and watch.”

-------

“I’ve been deployed to Iraq three times, and he’s right: there is no end in sight,” Johnson said. “But we’re there, and we have to stay there because we have an obligation to the Iraqi people.

“I think a lot of people should have spoken up sooner,” Johnson added. “This war is putting a tremendous amount of stress on the soldiers, and there are people dying over there every day.”

-------

“Ramadi used to be a hellhole,” he said. “The Marines are cleaning that place up. If we work with the local leaders, we make huge progress.”

But, he added, he thinks U.S. forces have done all they can and ought to pull out of Iraq “immediately.”

There are additional comments from troops that counter some of the opinions I've culled here. So, please read the whole thing.

Why Jenna Isn't

...Jenna Bush, daughter of the president, asked why she supports the Iraq war but hasn't volunteered to serve there, answers, "I understand the point, but there are many ways to serve our country, and I think my skills are better suited for teaching and representing the U.S. in Latin America through UNICEF....But if people eally thought about it, they would know it's not even a practical question."...

 

Let Rush Be Rush on AFN

A number of folks I like and admire have called for Rush Limbaugh's removal from the line-up on Armed Forces Radio Network (the American radio programming provided for troops serving overseas). But I have to respectfully disagree. What the troops overseas desperately need is exposure to democracy, and as many voices and differing opinions as possible. And that includes the rantings of the top-rated Rightwing waterboy, as well as the the views offered on Air America or Pacifica. Likewise, MoveOn.org should be able to run ads in the pages of Stars and Stripes.

Much as was argued that we should let Ahmadinejad be Ahmadinejad, we should let Rush be Rush. The troops are smarter and more politically diverse than most folks give them credit for and many already know the cowardly blowhard for what he really is.

Ahmadinejad's Growing Impotence Blocks Circle's Jerk

As the parrotsphere's drooling loons continue to pivot around free speech and its limits --a fairly complex dance given their ridiculous demands that the whole of the free world reprint the Danish cartoons-- they fail to see the impact Ahmadinejad's silliness at Columbia may have back in Iran:

Because Iran is a dictatorship of fundamentalist Muslim clerics, it is easy to forget that its president is elected by popular vote (not that the will of the Iranian people counts for much with the Koran thumpers who rule that nation).

And despite Ahmadinejad’s ability to generate international controversy with his noxious and foolish statements (the Holocaust is “a myth,” Israel should be “wiped off the map,” Iranian women are free, there are no gays in Iran, and the country is not building nuclear weapons), his political standing within his nation is shaky.

Dog Bites Man, Ahmadinejad is an Asshole and Some People Live in Glass Houses

Apparently, The Hat lost faith in The Left long before Chappaquiddick:

Let us see now if the supposedly pro-gay left wakes up and sees where the danger really is. I'm not holding my breath. They didn't wake up in the 1930s - why should they now?

Such is Roger L. Simon's anger over The Almighty Pro-Hitler/ Supposedly Pro-Gay Left's hypocrisy that he continues to support an administration that has pushed one of the most aggressively anti-Gay agendas in U.S. history. You know, so that he can continue to shop the Sherman Oaks Galleria without wetting his pants.

I'd Forget to Keep Telling the World You're a Money-Grubbing Asshole If You Didn't Keep Reminding Me

Whenever this very silly person publishes a particularly silly, self-important screed that says something like ...

But remembrance without resistance to jihad and its enablers is a recipe for another 9/11. This is what fueled my first two books, on immigration enforcement and profiling. This is what fuels much of the work on this blog and at Hot Air.

[snip]

The 9/10 crowd stubbornly refuses to connect the dots to see any connection at all between 9/11 and the Iraq ...

...it always reminds me of this:

Profit provides a fundamental alternative to the predominant attitudes on fear-mongering, race-baiting and naked, un-checked Capitalism. It also offers a defense of the most reviled "get rich quick" paradigms created by venerables such as Don Lapre, Ron Popeil, and Carlton Sheets.

Thousands of loyal patriots have taken the words in Profit to heart. They have abandoned their soooooo 9/10 concepts of fairness and truth, learned to harness the power of fear, and made wads of cash in the process. Isn't a time you profited from Profit?

Damn, I was good.

The Five Words I Never Expected to Write

I agree with George Will:

What "forced" America to go to war in 2003 -- the "gathering danger" of weapons of mass destruction -- was fictitious. That is one reason this war will not be fought, at least not by Americans, to the bitter end. The end of the war will, however, be bitter for Americans, partly because the president's decision to visit Iraq without visiting its capital confirmed the flimsiness of the fallback rationale for the war -- the creation of a unified, pluralist Iraq.

After more than four years of war, two questions persist: Is there an Iraq? Are there Iraqis?

Of course, in that last bit, Will provides a small assist for the growing partitioning movement --a "solution" that seems to be burbbling up from the ooze ever more frequently these days:

What we’re really trying to build, in other words, is a road to partition. We’re trying to build a pathway to separation that involves the sort of low-intensity civil war that Iraq is enduring right now. We’re trying to prevent a pathway that is even worse — a high-intensity genocide.

Hmmm.

Of course, as history shows ...

Spreading 'Freedom' Over There So That We Can Have Stalinism Over Here

Because 9/11 changed everything, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has been purging various religious books from their libraries and have developed a GOVERNMENT SANCTIONED list of "acceptable" religious reading. The books left off the "approved" list aren't only those brown swarthy texts you'd expect these Fascists to purge:

“There are some well-chosen things in here,” Professor Larsen said. “I’m particularly glad that Dietrich Bonhoeffer is there. If I was in prison I would want to read Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” But he continued, “There’s a lot about it that’s weird.” The lists “show a bias toward evangelical popularism and Calvinism,” he said, and lacked materials from early church fathers, liberal theologians and major Protestant denominations.

The Rev. Richard P. McBrien, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame (who edited “The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism,” which did make the list), said the Catholic list had some glaring omissions, few spiritual classics and many authors he had never heard of.

With apologies to Woody Allen ...If The Founders came back came back today and saw what all the things these assholes did in their name, they'd never stop throwing up.

UPDATE--> We've tumbled waaaaaaaaaaaaay down that rabbit hole:

...banned materials at Otisville include two fundamental Jewish works - Maimonides' "Mishneh Torah Systematic Code of Jewish Law" and the "Zohar," a primary text of Kabbalah - as well as the popular "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner. Among the purged Christian works is the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life," by Rick Warren. Further, according to the complaint, the Muslim section of the library at Otisville has been stripped of Islamic "prayer books, prayer guides and the 'Hadith,' which is the most important source for Muslim practice and faith after the Koran."

Osama bin Laden Blames teh Snapple, purple Teletubie, the StayPuft Marshmallow Man and Jay Leno for Iraq

According to emailer ChrisR, on page 7 of the transcript of today's OBL magnum opus, the grand wizard says, "There are no taxes, but rather there is a limited alms totaling only 2.5%."  Which I guess means he's calling for a flat tax.

So Steve Forbes isn't off the hook, either.

Goldsmith on BushCo's Bedside Manor

Jack Goldsmith, former head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department and guest on tonight's episode of Bill Moyer's Journal, recalls "the most amazing scene [he'd] ever witnessed" --the night Andy Card and Abu Gonzo visited their evil on a very ill John Ashcroft.

I guess it's great of him and other *artists* formerly known as BushCo to come out with the truth-we-already-knew now. But where were they before November 2004?

Fables of the Reconstruction

This business between Bush and Bremer reminds me of this leaked CPA memo from 2004. Five FU's, some purple fingers, and an additional 2000ish U.S. troops killed later and not much else has changed in Iraq ...except a handful of names.

BECAUSE OF THE DHIMMITUDE. Or Something.

Remember all that squawkin' about the Danish cartoons? Missed the stupidfuckitude over Gwen Stefani's peformance attire in Malyasia? Well, check out the audible silence on this:

Malaysia's government ordered a Tamil-language daily to immediately halt publication for a month Friday as punishment for printing an image of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette, an official with the newspaper said.
 
S.M. Periasamy, general manager of Makkal Osai, which caters to Malaysia's ethnic Indian minority, said his office received the directive by fax from the Internal Security Ministry.

[...]

Malaysia's newspapers operate under government licenses that bar them from publishing potentially provocative material on religion, race and other topics.
 
On Thursday, Periasamy said a graphic artist _ who has since been suspended _ downloaded a picture of Jesus from the Internet for use along with a quote from the Bible on the paper's front page on Tuesday. But the artist overlooked the fact that the picture had been altered to insert a cigarette in one hand and another object _ a can or a book _ in the other, he said.
 
The Malaysian Indian Congress, a party in Malaysia's ruling coalition, had called on the government to close the paper, which is generally critical of the MIC.

Named in honor of the German skier Falko Weissflog

The NRSC Pledge (quit snickering in the back!):

If the United States Senate passes a resolution, non-binding or otherwise, that criticizes the commitment of additional troops to Iraq that General Petraeus has asked for and that the president has pledged, and if the Senate does so after the testimony of General Petraeus on January 23 that such a resolution will be an encouragement to the enemy...

Gen. Petraeus, Gen. Petraeus! Gen. Petraeus! Gen. Petraeus, Gen. Petraeus! Gen. Petraeus! Gen Petraeus, Gen. Petraeus! Oh-oh-oh Gen. Petraeus (Screw up Iraq now, Gen. Petraeus!)

Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the new top U.S. commander in Iraq, told Congress that he might supplement efforts to secure Baghdad using the Iraqi Facilities Protection Service, a 150,000-man force that guards Iraqi government agencies. But that service is widely considered unreliable, and elements were described in July by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as "more dangerous than the militias," according to Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.)...

The Iraq Study Group described FPS members as having "questionable loyalties and capabilities." It quoted an unnamed senior U.S. official as saying that they are "incompetent, dysfunctional and subversive," with some serving the manpower needs of sectarian party militias and death squads...

When Reed responded that he was "shocked" that the FPS was mentioned in those terms -- because Maliki had told him "that some of these ministerial forces are worse than the insurgents" -- Petraeus replied: "Some, indeed." Later, in answer to a question, the Army general acknowledged that "some of those ministerial forces are part of the problem instead of part of the solution."

"Fortunately, I have a cunning plan to ferret out the death squads. What we'll do is, we'll go around to each FPS unit and ask them 'Are you a death squad?' If it were me, I'd own up."

-- Auguste

With David Cross as Mahmoud al-Mashhadani

July 24, 2006:

Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday in London suggested that foreign troops could leave Iraq within months rather than year, despite the virtual raging civil war, but neither he nor the British premier at a press conference were challenged on this... The New York Times reported yesterday that "The speaker of the Iraqi Parliament criticized the American government’s involvement in Iraq on Saturday, likening the invasion and its consequences to 'the work of butchers' and demanding that the American authorities disentangle themselves from Iraq’s political affairs."

January 23, 2007:

The draft of a new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq says it will be "very difficult" but "not impossible" for the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to succeed in providing better governance in that war-ravaged country, a top intelligence official told a Senate committee yesterday. "Security is an impediment," said Thomas Fingar, the deputy director of national intelligence for analysis and chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Fingar gave the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence a rare preview of what the classified National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) will say when it is completed at the end of the month.

This is how the history books will record this period in history: Least perfect analogy ever

-- Auguste

SOTU 2007

Think Progress already has the text.

Bush asking for a balanced Federal budget and spending discipline is like putting Alberto Gonzales in charge of the Department of Justice.

[via]

And we must put more unicorns on treadmills!

P.S. My favorite words from Webb's rebuttal? Robber Barons!

Dear Dinesh D'Souza:

So, how 'bout that mutaa, eh? "Enjoyment marriages" are back in Iraq. BECAUSE OF THE PURPLE FINGERS! And your cultural affinity with ...somebody, somewhere.

Write Your Own Caption - #602

"It's bad policy to speculate on what you'll do if a plan
fails when you're trying to make a plan work," Rice
replied.

BECAUSE OF THE ANTI-SEMITISM!!!

Israeli foreign policy experts increasingly believe U.S. policies in the Middle East have made Israel less safe.

Realizing the Dream

Silence is betrayal.

It's so refreshing to hear someone speechify without sounding like a drunken dumbass. Compare and contrast.

[via]

Some Troops Lukewarm on Bush's 'New-and-Improved' Strategery

Some reaction to Bush's speech from troops downrange here. From Asia, here.

Note the reticence of Far East-stationed troops to criticize the Prez on the record, which may explain why PAO'd interviews with mainstream mediabots have that oh-so-fresh and agreeable feel. Although this view from the boots in today's WaPo is appropriately refreshing:

"They're kicking a dead horse here. The Iraqi army can't stand up on their own."

[...]

"The general feeling among us is we're not really doing anything here," Caldwell said. "We clear one neighborhood, then another one fires up. It's an ongoing battle. It never ends."

The Funniest Thing I've Read in Ages

President Bush was at his best tonight: serious, detailed, and above all, resolute.  He spoke to many audiences.

Blast From the Past

Ah, the memories.

Why Do We Care About the Horn of Africa?

A long quote from an article I linked to yesterday:

For much of 2006, Ethiopian forces have been active in Somalia in support of Somalia's transitional government. Somalia's transitional government (often referred to as Transitional Federal Institutions, or TFI) is backed by the international community (whatever the hell that is) but it has little support or power to speak of in Somalia.

Ethiopia's opponents in Somalia are an Islamic fundamentalist coalition known as the Union of Islamic Courts.

The UIC was on a bit of a roll for most of 2006. Despite its sadism and flat-out weirdness (among other things, the UIC reportedly executed a man and a small girl last summer for the crime of wanting to watch World Cup soccer on TV), it is viewed by many Somalis as the most authentic, patriotic and Islamically correct group vying for power in the country right now.

The UIC's patriotic street cred was boosted considerably last year by a bungled effort by the CIA.

Rumsfeld Called to Testify

This ought to make for some interesting political theatre:

Some war protesters charged with trespassing at a local congressman's Cincinnati office last fall think Donald Rumsfeld has some explaining to do. And now that he's no longer defense secretary, he'll have plenty of time to answer their subpoena in Hamilton County Municipal Court, the protesters said.

Calling him their "key witness" in a criminal trespassing trial stemming from a Sept. 27 sit-in in U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot's 30th floor Carew Tower office, seven people arrested that day contend it's time to put the Iraq War on trial. The defendants said they will take a "necessity defense," a mitigating factor allowed under Ohio law, and try to prove their actions were necessary to save human lives - in Iraq.

"I think testimony about the war that Rumsfeld can offer is essential to our defense, which is that we were breaking the law to stop a much more serious crime," said Greg Flannery, one of those arrested and the news editor at Cincinnati CityBeat, an alternative newspaper.

Our Intrepid Faux-Journalist Offers Preview of Her Iraq Coverage

Look, Ma! Public Affairs video. Typical Comment? Here:

Outstanding. There is no reason in the world why our formerly Mainstream Media couldn’t show part or all of these vids. If they wanted to maintain their precious “objectivity,” they could add the words “Department of Defense” video somewhere.

Not showing or reporting the turnover of a province to Iraqi troop control, as was shown in the latter portion, is irresponsible and negligent.

Without Additional Comment

Wow.

The Self-Correeeee Er, Ah, Something Blogosphere

But, but, but ...

Why Do the Troops Hate America?

 Barely one in three service members approve of the way the president is handling the war, according to the new poll for the four papers (Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Times). In another startling finding, only 41% now feel it was the right idea to go to war in Iraq in the first place.
 
And the number who feel success there is likely has shrunk from 83% in 2004 to about 50% today. A surprising 13% say there should be no U.S. troops in Iraq at all.
 
This comes even though only about one in ten called their overall political views "liberal."

The New Pornographers

Here's a little flashback for you:

On May 16th, Timothy McVeigh will be taken into a room with a one-way mirror at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Strapped down onto a gurney, arms outstretched, McVeigh will watch as prison technicians insert a catheter into each of his arms. After a brief injection of saline solution, they will begin to give him a series of lethal injections. The first -- a muscle relaxant, sodium thiopental -- will protect McVeigh from the pain of death; the second two -- pancuronium bromide, which will stop his breathing, and potassium chloride, which will induce cardiac arrest -- will kill him.

David Marshlack, CEO of Entertainment Network, Inc. thinks that you should be able to watch the execution pay-per-view, right from your computer. In a special one-time-only theatre-of-death spectacular, Marshlack wants to sell you the Oklahoma City bomber's last minutes for the low, low price of $1.95 (all of which will be donated to charities benefiting the bombing's victims). And we thought the Net couldn't get any sleazier than Rotten.com.

Whether the scheme is a shameless publicity stunt or a well-intentioned charitable fundraiser, the court's not having it: On Wednesday, Indiana U.S. District Court Judge John Tinder nixed this latest stab at charging for Web content. The case of Entertainment Network, Inc. vs. Lappin et al. is so ethically thorny that it inspired Judge Tinder to wax philosophical in his opinion: "The relief sought in this case is the logical extension of Marshall McLuhan's prophetic proposal from the 1960s that the 'medium is the message.'"

'You know what's more worrying than everything George Orwell said coming true? When everything George Carlin said starts coming true.'

Just go see Shakes.

A Few People I'm More Worried About Than the "Weary" Boy-King

Photos by Doug Mills, The New York Times

Once More Unto the Horn of Africa

Oooooo, goodie! Another front in the on-going war-on-whatever. Maybe this explains why DoD has authorized troops who haven't fully recovered from PTSD to redeploy. More bodies. Now more than ever.

BTW: Matt points out the official obfuscation going on.

Worst. President. Evah.

Pinhead edition.

Bush: An Army of One

Joint Chiefs say troop surge is teh stupid. Why do they hate America?

Fixing Iraq

There's a part of me that wishes there was something we could do to help restore order and bring peace and prosperity to Iraq. I think what we've done there is highly immoral and that the right thing to do, if possible, is to stay and set things right if we can.

If possible. But it isn't. Staying means we do more harm than good. And that sucks. But that's the way it is.

Minimum Wage and Poverty and Presidents

Say you're a family of three, with two adults working full-time with no unpaid time off whatsoever. Under the current minimum wage, your big annual haul before taxes is roughly $21,000. With the proposed change to the minimum wage, that amount shoots up to a whopping $30,000 before taxes.

I suppose the increase is a good start, but it's still hard for me to imagine how a family with children could live on that. Which is why, though I support no specific nominee for '08 at this time, I'd like to see John Edwards throw his hat into the ring.

In a speech last summer, Edwards posed the same question Chris Clarke recently asked:

...what kind of America do we want, not just today, but twenty years from now, and how do we think we can get there from here? The founders of this country created the country we have today because they dreamed large. They knew there were obstacles, but those obstacles didn’t mean that they decided a less perfect union would be a good compromise. We will never get what we don’t reach for. So in 2006 and the decades to come, for what should we reach?

and providcd an answer I support:

Aimee Mann Does Bush

And not the one two you think below the fold.

Write Your own Caption -#589

[Art swiped from our favorite Bolton fetishist.]

Disclosure

By way of contrast, I can easily think of about 100 newspapers that NEVER got it wrong on Iraq.

Iraq Study Group - The Movie

What Am I Thankful For?

I can get clean water to drink anytime I like.

[Via]

Dear Left/Liberal/Progressive Consultant Class:

Unlike so many others in Blogtopia, I'm not one to automatically cream my jeans each time Howard Dean sputters a handful of nouns and verbs. Yet it seems to me the combination of his 50-state strategy, along with the dozens of other initiatives to get more Democrats elected this year, worked.

Could we have done better? Sure. Fine. Gather the players, rent out a fucking room at the Watergate for a month, hire a Who-Moved-My-Cheese facilitator and figure out how we can improve, based on facts and evidence.  And leave the rest of us out of it. This fucking bullshit of prospecting for new clients on the airwaves is boring the fuck out of me and, I suspect, the majority of Americans who put the Dems on top in '06.

There is serious work ahead. Countless lives are at stake. And your unfounded grandstanding is a distraction from ending our long national nightmare.

Write Your Own Caption - #581

[Image swiped from Wonkette]