MoveOn: MoveOver

When the messenger becomes the message things are out of whack. Even after General Petraeus' testimony, the amount of Americans supporting the war effort has declined. All the White House's carefully crafted advertising campaign was for naught. So with all the momentum being built up along comes MoveOn with their half brained New York Times "Betray Us" broadsheet. Obviously, the American public is not stupid and knew that they were being duped. Yet there is still another strong strain in most Americans that want to believe in our uniformed personnel while doubting the direction of the war. MoveOn could have gotten away with slamming Bush but they went over an invisible line by attacking (even if that is not really want they intended to do)the General. Believe him or not, Petraeus has given his life to defending our nation and there seems little in his resume that would call for such harsh words to be used. As stated in this blog before, it is time for all Liberals to get real. Dennis Kucinich is not going to be elected. We live in a rough, give and take world. We push for equitable and reasonable laws but must make compromises as we slowly move in the right direction. Sitting at a computer (just like I am doing) and preaching left wing purity will not stop well financed Republican candidates. It is time to get a bit dirty and worldly if electable Democrats (yes, such as Hillary Clinton) are going to be voted into power. MoveOn, move over to the side, work quietly, and stop panting for unnecessary attention.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses
And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!





A day; a week; a month.
The intervals might stretch or come one
after another. The point is that Iraq is
broken and all of our efforts are futile.
There really is no victory or success in
Mesopotamia. Abu Ghraib, civilian deaths,
roadside bombs, Shiia vs. Sunni, friendly
fire death of an NFL superstar, bombings
of mosques, Blackwater run amok. If its
not one thing it is another. OJ and Britney
can not hide the horrible truth.

Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Appearances

It really is in the marketing. What looks good will sell. The team behind President Bush will be using all their tools as they continue America's futile struggle in Iraq. Their goal is to bury and entangle us so deeply in the desert soil that no newly elected president (whether Republican or Democrat) will easily be able to pull the plug on the project. With this in mind team Bush will pull off a Christmas card for the entire nation to enjoy. With the current volunteer military, the great majority of Americans do not have a vested interest in the war. When the holidays come around CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc. will have their cameras rolling at domestic bases as a minute amount of troops (perhaps up to 5,000 from the 160,000 now in the warzone) come home to cheers, hugs, and hero's welcome. The appearance of good will and love will overwhelm us and make it seem like the war is being won and many troops are now home. The cruel reality that 155,000 or so will still be in harm's way for at least another six to eight months will be lost as the media froths over the real and touching photo ops that will desensitize America to what is really going on. The Bush team is brilliant at distortion and their use of a token withdrawal designed to keep us at war will be a cynical Christmas gift.

South Korea Redux

At least there's fun in Korea. For over fifty years American soldiers have been stationed on the Korean peninsula. It is the world's ultimate longest running "Cold War". But what a great place to be stationed - close proximity to the rest of Asia, modern conveniences in a booming nation, good food, nice weather, girls, etc. So President Bush must have his geography wrong when he hinted tonight at a perpetual American presence in Iraq. What good is that going be for the soldiers of this and future generations - nearness to many of the world's dangerous places, run down infrastructure, unfamiliar food, hot, hot, hot weather, no girls, etc. If you are going to pick a place to make a stand at least have a heart and let our young recruits live in some form of paradise and security.

Dr. Zaius - General Petraeus

There is a great Simpsons musical interlude where the Planet of the Apes' Dr. Zaius is lauded. Basically the good doctor's name is intoned over and over again... "Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius..." Why think about this? Because Bush has pushed forward a similar sounding leader "General Petraeus General Petraeus". Already MoveOn.org is rhyming his name with "betray us". Chris Matthews has compared him to a Roman Centurion crossing the Rubicon and acting like a Caesar. So another entire year of this insane war has fallen on the shoulders of this career soldier. President Bush will speak to the nation Thursday night and hide behind his general's views as the troop levels will remain high deep into 2008. Knowing that he is no longer credible, Bush has thrust Petraeus on center stage. When the good general had no answer for Senator Warner's penetrating inquiry on the war's relationship to keeping America safe, the gig should have been up. We are fighting for truth, justice, and the American way! If this means dragging our noble soldiers into more of harm's way - so be it! If this means making things even more complicated for a new administration in January 2009 - let it be! Bush is hell bent on seeing this war to no conclusion at all. Maybe we should throw up our hands, see the absurdity that the Simpsons shined on the original Doctor and sing "General Petraeus General Petraeus". At least we can smile and keep some of our sanity.

September 11

Six years ago. We all lived through that terrible day. We were glued to television to become eyewitnesses to the most horrific one day tragedy in our nation's history. We cried, we cringed, we feared. Yet we were never truly defeated. Collectively we vowed to rebuild and to take down those who perpetuated the evil destruction that cost over three thousand lives. Looking back to such an event does not emote nostalgia but it does reflect on an innocency that no longer is there. Democrat or Republican. Blue or Red. It did not matter. We cheered for the firefighters and police. We were initially led by a courageous Rudy Giuliani who we put much of our trust in. Although absent at first, we even ran to President Bush's side and followed him as he embraced those toiling in the remnants of the trade towers. He said we would find the guilty ones and bring them to justice. We believed. We prayed that he would be the one to help us in the physical and spiritual rebuilding. But now six years past and how we were deceived. Deceived into a wrong turn into a war that might never end. Deceived into allowing almost four thousand more to die in a country which had nothing to do with the infamous act. Deceived into letting thousands more bear the marks of war while we partied and played and followed Paris and Britney. To imagine that on this very day, the long awaited war report from General Petraeus would be heard. How did Congress fall for this? Should there not have been a solemn closing of the government for the day? Instead Bush has gotten his wish. By holding the Iraq hearings on September 11, this new American holy day, the President hopes to permanently link and sear into our brains that his Iraq policy is one and the same with the tracking down of bin Laden and the real criminals of 9/11. The question now is will enough of us be fooled into believing his twisted logic and fall prey to his deceit. If we don't awaken from these lies a whole generation will be defined not by September 11 but by a needless war in Iraq.

Nearly Two Hundred Die in Northern Iraq Blast

Another series of deadly suicide attacks caused death and turmoil in Northern Iraq. The usual word sent out on TV was that it was just Al Qaeda in Iraq ratcheting up the pressure as General Petraeus prepares his September report to Congress. The approved line is that casualties will increase as September beckons as Al Qaeda wants to prove that the "surge" is not working and will get a weak pacifistic Democratic Congress to call for more troop removals from the war zone. Unfortunately, just like with everything else in this war, leading network correspondents and analysts refuse to dig deeper to find out the truth. The attacks were on a religious group, the Yazidis, that are not Islamic and not Christian. There have been conflicts with the Yazidis and retaliations over a Yazidi woman who was living with a Sunni. Thus, the incident has some history to it and the attack could have come from many different quarters and once again highlighting how complex and dangerous a place Iraq is. But the administration and many of its spokespeople are quite adept at putting out misinformation or simple answers that seem to satisfy many. Therefore no matter how many die in the next few weeks, the surge has been insulated from criticism and will continue well into next year.