Deans are first, as always :-)

I guess that means he normally doesn't read reports?

This report must have pictures or something.

teatimetim NE Ohio
Fri, 12/08/06
1:03 pm

Cartoons, maybe? ;-)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6220022.stm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

best site for links for ISG discussion

from Phil's link:

The main authors of the report that aims to change US strategy in Iraq have urged President George Bush to follow all of their recommendations.

Former Secretary of State James Baker said the 79 points they put forward were not a "fruit salad" to be picked over, but a comprehensive strategy.

Mr Bush has said that he would "seriously consider" the report.

However, he appears already to have ruled out some proposals, like talking unconditionally to Syria and Iran.

The News Hour provided the above clip and an interview with Justice O'Connor and Vernon Jordan.  Very informative.  (O'Connor and Jordan are members of the ISG) 

s/be yesterday's News Hour.

and Bushie is out of touch with 75% of Americans on the issue of talks with Iran and Syria.

One of the core recommendations of the Iraq Study Group was direct engagement with Iran and Syria without preconditions. President Bush quickly dismissed the idea:

If people come to the table to discuss Iraq they need to come understanding their responsibilities to not fund terrorists, to help this young democracy survive, to help with the economics of the country. And if people are not committed, if Syria and Iran is not committed to that concept, then they shouldn’t bother to show up.

The American people, however, overwhelmingly support direct talks with both countries. From a new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org: 

75% of Americans support talks with both countries.

US Democratic chairman calls for 'immediate change' in Iraq

Fri Dec 8, 8:36 AM ET

US Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean called on the United States to make an "immediate change" to its Iraq policy and rebuild its ties with its allies.

Speaking at a congress of European socialists in Portugal's second-city Oporto, Dean said the findings of the Iraq Study Group "reflect what the American people said loudly in the mid-term elections last month: the moment has come for an immediate change in US policy on Iraq."

Earlier in the week the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and 9/11 commission co-chair Lee Hamilton, made a series of proposals for an urgent course change in Iraq which have been met with some skepticism by US President George Bush.

But Dean said the report showed Washington was "moving toward the position of the Democrats which is to start a gradual withdrawal of troops as soon as possible."

He said the Democrats had the opportunity to make their voice heard in Washington after gaining control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994.

"And what they said loudly is this: it is time for the US to renew its ties with the rest of the world. It is time for us to treat our allies with respect and honesty," he said to applause from participants at the congress.

The seventh congress of European socialists was attended by leaders of left-wing governments in Spain, Italy and Portugal as well as by party leaders from across Europe.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061208/pl_afp/usiraqpoliticsdean_061208133653&printer=1

Note, he is wearing the crushie tie. :)

Dean in Portugal : "Time for the United States to renew our relationships around the world"
Edited on Fri Dec-08-06 11:24 AM by madfloridian
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2710220


Many European governments have been angered by Republican President George W. Bush's war in Iraq and what is regarded as his failure to work with allies in international affairs.

"It is time for the United States to renew our relationships around the world," Dean said, triggering applause. "It is time we treat our allies with respect and honesty.

"The Democratic Party is committed to consensus-building, bilateral and multilateral relationships."

The U.S. should start to work with Europe to tackle global warming, defend human rights and adopt a multilateral approach to the conflict in Iraq, Dean said.




Howard Dean, U.S. Democratic National Committee chairman, laughs with Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, right, Party of European Socialists president, after his speech during the Party of European Socialists congress in Porto, northern Portugal, Friday, Dec. 8, 2006.(AP Photo/Paulo Duarte)
 

go Howard

yyyyeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that smile is the same one I was wearing for days after the election

Howard is clearly enjoying himself these days

bbl

cC:

Do you think this (page 57) is adequately addressing anything economic, or does it just sound like political expediency?  It reads like a joke, to me.  It states the obvious without any real solutions.  Of course we need to work cooperatively with others, but it doesn't address the 'how' in the face of American distrust.

This I have already read, and will read the 'whopping report' in its entirety tonight before I 'report' on its 'veracity'.

The secret of a truly free press is “that it should consist of many newspapers decentraized in their ownership and their management, and dependent for their support upon the communities where they are written…” Walter Lippmann

From Seattle Times, December 8, 2006
By Frank Blethen

Almost all democracies the world has seen have died within 300 years of their founding.

Most implode from within.

At 230-some years, America has moved dangerously close to the fail-safe line for our survival.

We are in the later stages of one of the most important battles that will determine whether we survive.

It is the battle that pits democracy against the powerful. The powerful, who seek to co-opt our free press, control the news, and control the access to news, journalism and information.

It is a battle our country has fought before, but never with today’s consequences.

It is a battle Thomas Jefferson clearly understood when he wrote that he “foresaw the days American democracy would have to fight the rapacious capitalists.”

more 

...sorry if I sound pissed off, but I feel like the report was written for 8th graders (maybe that's what they had in mind for Bush).  The report seems long on what and short on how.  This is the point I'm making...that there are real 'how' solutions that are not adequately addressed in the ISG pamphlet.

I do agree, however, that it is a starting point for bipartisanship. 

Did anyone else hear that singer and activist Bono was looking at buying up Time?

I heard it a couple of days ago. 

http://www.usip.org/isg/iraq_study_group_report/report/1206/iraq_study_group_report.pdf

2925

11. I'd wanna touch him too, Poul! LOL.

Actually, I think it was Forbes Magazine he was buying up (or trying to) which is owned by Time Warner. The price was just under a billion.

Will be interesting if that goes through since Forbes is the opposite of philanthropy. 

19

I think Poul is trying to grab the Crushie tie off of Howard. ;) 

We could have a caption contest.

Firefox. I did not need that visual. omg.

Nobody yet knows but here is HOW this new, the "you have power" democracy might look like:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...

During the past nine months we have considered a full range approaches for moving forard.  All have flaws.  Our recommended course has shortcomings, but we firmly believe that it includes the best strategies and tactics to positivel influence the outcome in Iraq and the region.

sorry...s/b 84 page report.

http://www.usip.org/isg/iraq_study_group_report/report/1206/iraq_study_group_report.pdf 

I just want to mention that the child I mentioned early this morning, whose short term memory seemed to be lacking, was able to read quite well.  The only problem was that she had zero comprehension.

And that certainly seems to be be Queen Bee George's problem.

*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:27 pm

Firstly, cC, I have read about half of the report, not one page...when I first began, I didn't have the time, so I skipped to the parts I am familiar with such as the economic aspects....and I posted the report, above.

Second, I already said I agreed that is provides a framework for bipartisan cooperation...as you say, 'cover' for GOP to step out of their usual rhetoric:

Many Americans are dissatisfied, not just with the situation in Iraq but with the state of our political debate regarding Iraq. Our political leaders must build a bipartisan approach to bring a responsible conclusion to what is now a lengthy and costly war. Our country deserves a debate that prizes substance over rhetoric, and a policy that is adequately funded and sustainable.

Third, who cares if it is a rejection of Bush's nonsense...it's 3 years too late, and far short of real substantive action.

Finally, I never said their were any easy solutions...I said the real solutions are not adequately addressed..and yes, after reading half of teh report, I can competently state that.

The framework is good, but offers no direct solutions ie: The Bush administartion should contact these specific nations and these specific companies for international cooperation...yes it says EU Countries, but who, specifically?  And what type of sacrafice/negotiations should take place.  It does say that they should generally take place. 

Before you try to belittle me, please take a closer look, yourself.

27.

*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:27 pm

Reply to this
Dave Reiter said:
"...or does it just sound like political expediency? It reads like a joke, to me. It states the obvious without any real solutions. The report seems long on what and short on how. This is the point I'm making...that there are real 'how' solutions that are not adequately addressed in the ISG pamphlet.

I do agree, however, that it is a starting point for bipartisanship."

Dave, you read one page of a 160-page report. You need to read it in its entirety before you can legitimately critique it. That's common sense.

Political cover is necessary, as Rich K. has pointed out.
......
-----------

Agree with Dave,
Report IS a set of declarations...
DECLARATIONS DO NOT WORK (and never did)!

The "Political cover" as ANY cover might be "necessary" only to cover one lie with another...

Dave, I didn't belittle you.  I respectfully disagreed and my arguments are civil and not personal.

I have take a closer look, Dave.  I read the report in its entirety.

You read one page.  Heck, just read the darned thing and THEN report on it.

*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:45 pm

I pointed out one specific page dealing with the issue I was discussing, and you assumed it was the only page I read, then based your arguement on that false assumption.

I thought I was discussing with Rocky for a minute :-)

...and now you repeat it!!!

I believe the biggest problem with the report is this:

We have already lost Iraq.  Ivo Daalder agrees with me:)

 Ivo Daalder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, is currently a visiting professor at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University in Florence, Italy. He also serves as a senior adviser on national security policy to the Center for American Progress. A specialist in American foreign policy, European security, and national security affairs, Daalder served on President Clinton's national security council staff in 1995-96. He is the co-author (with James Lindsay) of the award-winning America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy. Other recent publications include Crescent of Crises: U.S. and European Strategies for the Greater Middle East; Protecting the American Homeland (2002); Getting to Dayton: The Making of America's Bosnia Policy (2000), and Winning Ugly: NATO's War to Save Kosovo (2000).

The biggest problem with the ISG report is that it, like much of Washington, buys into the notion that because the consequences of defeat are so dire we should not accept the reality that we have lost. Even as they paint a devastating picture of the disaster that has befallen Iraq, the commissioners insist that we must continue to try to make things work — bring neighbors in, train Iraqis, urge reconciliation — in the hope that the situation there will turn around and get better. But hope, as Colin Powell was fond of saying, is not a strategy. Worse, it offers Americans and Iraqis the false prospect that with a bit more effort, and a change in policy, defeat in Iraq can be avoided.

The most basic flaw in the report is the belief that political reconciliation is still possible in Iraq. But there is no evidence to support that belief — and there is plenty of evidence that the opposite is true. Iraqis are dying at a rate of well over 100 per day — which adds up to 40-50,000 Iraqi men, women, and children perishing each year. Many times that number are seriously wounded. Those that aren’t killed or maimed are leaving Iraq — currently at a rate of 1 million Iraqis per year. These are numbers that affirm, in ways that no spin can counter, that Iraq is now and has been for quite some time descended into a deadly civil war — a war in which Baghdad, the Iraqi capital city, stands at the bloody center.

The worsening security situation throughout the country is driving people into their own sectarian corners, thus undermining trust and confidence that are essential to any reconciliation process. Iraqis know that their government has failed in its most solemn duty — which is to protect the people. They know the folks huddling in the Green Zone are a government in name only, not a government in fact.

--Ivo Daalder

(1 of 2) 

Nothing that the ISG proposes will change this central reality. Without a government — and without the vast majority of people trusting those who govern — people will seek safety and security among their own, while those who can will leave the country altogether. We’ve seen this picture before — in civil wars that engulfed the Balkans, Afghanistan, Rwanda and a host of other countries. Neither better training of a security force whose loyalties lie with sectarian rather than national interests nor more sticks and carrots to urge sectarian leaders to reconcile nor even deft diplomacy involving the neighbors is going to change this essential fact.

The only reality that matters — and one the ISG Report, for all its realism, refuses to accept — is that we have lost in Iraq. We need to face that essential fact squarely — and not offer a false hope that we can somehow, with a tweak here and another there, stave off defeat.

What we need now is a policy that manages the consequences of our defeat — one that focuses on making sure the civil war doesn’t become a regional war. We need to get our troops out of Iraq and, as the ISG rightly urges, we need to focus on restoring our standing in the Middle East. That requires talking to all of the countries in the region — not just our friends, but also our foes. Above all, it requires a serious effort to try to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict once and for all.

Iraq is lost. Let’s try to avoid having the rest of the Middle East sink with it.

--Ivo Daalder

(2 of 2)

Dave, I'd love to hear your thoughts about the ISG report once you have read it. I mean that seriously.  Gotta run--bbl--this evening. 

*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:47 pm

Well, since you've taken a closer look, please point out to me the actual economic solution that you seem hellbent on defending...because I've read everything about the economic solutions, and found no real substance...but a bipartisan jumping off point.

27.

The give-away is the reference to stability in the "region."  Before the invasion of Iraq, the only instability that was current was the conflict in Israel and Palestine.  The invasion of Iraq was clearly not designed to address that.

Therefor, it seems fair to conclude that the "region" being considered is Asia and the Asian sub-continent.  In other words, the invasion of Iraq was designed to provide a base of operations to monitor the region and insure "stability" by threatening to wack anyone who threatened to get out of line.

That the Queen Bee is going to do anything is an absolute illusion.  The people who have using him/her as a front have realized that the plan isn't working and are looking to save as much as can be salvaged.

The last time around they could argue that the conscripted military wasn't tough enough.  This time they used an all-volunteer force, willing to be indoctrinated into killing whenever ordered, plus an equally large contingent of mercenaries who do what they are told because they are paid well.

The big problem is still that the American people do not want to be the rulers of an empire.  They want to be loved and to be acclaimed for their virtue and their generosity and when they end up killing inoffensive foreigners, they don't like it. 

*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:50 pm

Yes, this is but one aspect of the problem

Dave, you said:

I haven't read the whole thing yet...I just skipped to some of the recommendations...I'll get to it though :-) --

This is a report that must be read in its entirety to understand it. Sometimes you can get away with reading the executive summary...not on this one.  There IS much between the lines, imo....I believe the group understands that Iraq is "lost" as Ivo suggests.

I am sincere when I say that I'd like to hear your thoughts once you've read it:)

I've certainly enjoyed your other posts. 

OK, I've got to get outta here. 

Jeanne Kirkpatrick, former US Ambassador to the UN, has died.

I agreed with her on just about nothing politically, but she did have the sense of humor to appear on Saturday NIght Live in one of my favorite sketches, "Common Knowledge"

 Bob Albert was played by Steve Martin.

Bob Albert: Alright! History, for $100: His assassination sparked World War I.

Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Archduke Ferdinand. [ buzzer ]

Bob Albert: Oh, sorry! The answer is Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. Les?

Les Shermeyer: I'm gonna stay with History, Bob, for $200.

Bob Albert: History for $200: The Louisiana Purchase was obtained from this country.

Les Shermeyer: Louisiana. [ ding ]

Bob Albert: Alright!

Les Shermeyer: History for $300, Bob.

Bob Albert: Alright. When he discovered America, Christopher Columbus thought he had landed in..

Les Shermeyer: Columbia. [ buzzer ]

Bob Albert: Oh, sorry. The answer is America. Back to Jeanne Kirkpatrick.

Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Uh.. History, for $400.

Bob Albert: History, for $400: First man to land on the moon.

Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Neil.. uh.. John Glenn. [ ding ]

Bob Albert: Terrific, Jeanne! You're on the board now!

Jeanne Kirkpatrick: History, for $500.

Bob Albert: History, for $500: Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of..

Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Gettysburg. [ buzzer ]

Bob Albert: Oh, sorry. Jericho. The Battle of Jericho. 

37.

*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:50 pm


The biggest problem with the ISG report is that it, like much of Washington, buys into the notion that...we should not accept the reality...

-------------
!!!

I feel about "bipartisanship" much as I do about "ownership"--it's not going anywhere.

If you've got one party that's committed to government carrying out the will of the people and another that's committed to ordering the people around, how do you arrive at an acceptable compromise.

One might argue that in regards to foreign countries Americans are united in thinking that most people want to be like us and are ready to be ordered around.  I think that is mistaken.

No doubt, there are some people who actually prefer to be ordered around, but I suspect they are a small minority.  And I'm fairly certain that the minorities that fall into that category in other nations are not keen on being ordered around by the U.S.

*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:56 pm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Iraq report chal...........in essence dosnt say anything really new or that some of us have been clamouring for years now.................any student of the history of that troubled region knows the obvious solutions(or attempts), but first and foremost is non interference from the west there............this take many forms and shapes.......they talk about re-deployment of amercan trops, but in reality nobody wants us on their soil..............or at least the vast majority of people dont................

Obviously you can tell Im an isolationist....................odd also how Dean is a hit in Europe, I thought so........he was vastly underappreciated here...............the guy is light years ahead in his thinking..............

keep pedaling

The Worst.President.Ever just said they have meetings so the American people know they're hard at work.

::unprintable thought::

45.

Monica Smith
Fri, 12/08/06
3:07 pm

I feel about "bipartisanship" much as I do about "ownership"--it's not going anywhere.

If you've got one party that's committed to government carrying out the will of the people and another that's committed to ordering the people around, how do you arrive at an acceptable compromise.

----------
!!!

47.

Thankful2Thankful4Dean
Fri, 12/08/06
3:14 pm

...
::unprintable thought::
-----
...lol

Donna just mentioned spinach over on HEP -

Donna - Rene just asked for spinach! He'd prefer it to the boring beans I was just feeding him!

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

He woke up much more yesterday - ventilator tube removed, he's talking, joking, hungry, we've had a couple serious discussions... rollercoaster can still take more turns, but we are soaking up every one of these minutes.

I wasn't online after early afternoon yesterday so couldn't report - can you believe one of my sister's has no internet. Anyway, was very hesitant to report what looks like good news too soon so not being able to get on didn't make me too crazy :-)

Additional Titles

Other
Wooldridge
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In Violation of Their Oath of Office

Our Country Coming Undone

Chilling Costs of Illegal Alien Migration

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REPERCUSSIONS OF SENATE BILL 2611

By Frosty Wooldridge
December 4, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

As you sleep, your government plots to destroy future sustainability of your country. If John McCain, Arlen Specter, Teddy Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and George Bush sneak S.B. 2611, named the “comprehensive immigration reform bill” into law, it’s as Orwellian as it gets!

S.B.2611 misleads! It gives blanket amnesty to illegal alien employers. It gives Carte Blanc to illegal aliens to rape our welfare system, medical care and schools.

This bill completely negates the rule of law by encouraging lawlessness by forgiving past lawlessness. It creates two tiers of justice: one for you to abide by our laws and another for illegal aliens whereby they don’t have to abide by our laws. It protects employers who attract illegals.

Impacts of S.B. 2611:

1. Dissolves our sovereignty and free choice to protect our nation. If passed, neither federal, state nor local governments can build barriers on our side of the border to protect from illegal entry without permission of Mexico.
2. The Heritage Foundation estimates the bill would increase federal spending by $50 billion annually. That does not include the estimated cost of $100 billion annually for anchor babies.
3. The bill forgives felonies of illegal aliens who have stolen Social Security card numbers and identities of U.S. citizens and allows past illegal work to qualify for Social Security benefits.
4. It allows all illegal aliens to gain citizenship. Once citizens, they may import their parents and relatives into the USA—by the millions.
5. It makes parents of temporary workers who have never paid into Social Security eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits. It allows them to gain Medicaid benefits after five years. This is a sure fire way to send our Social Security system into quicker bankruptcy.
6. This bill imposes a massive welfare program on U.S. taxpayers given to foreigners who have invaded our country. In other words, if you robbed a bank, but remained inside the building long enough, you not only enjoy forgiveness, you’re allowed to open a withdrawal account while American taxpayers deposit money into your account.
7. This bill represents a massive tax burden on U.S. citizens to pay for food stamps, K-12 education for millions of illegal alien children, SSI payments for millions of foreigners who broke all our rules breaking into our country, subsidized school lunches, rent subsidies, Medicaid, unemployment compensation and other medical care for out-of-wedlock births.
8. This bill adds 67 million new foreigners into the USA over the next 20 years according to Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation. Earlier in the debate, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama released a report projecting the bill would bring in as many as 217 million over 20 years. That number troubled this brilliant Senate, which led them to reduce the numbers to 67 million. What great foresight by our astute senators! As if we need another 67 million foreigners displacing us from our own country!
9. This bill continues chain migration of extended families. That means that every illegal alien can bring in his entire family. Once that happens, each member of that branch can bring in their family members. It’s a pyramid scheme whereby they can bring in an unlimited number of relatives. It never ends. It’s going on right now with legal immigrants, which is why we’ll add 100 million people, at the minimum, by 2040.
10. This bill presents no mechanism for stopping this invasion. It forgives employers of past lawbreaking and sets up systems whereby illegal immigration can continue at 700,000 to 900,000 illegal annually.
11. If you think these “guest workers” will ever go back home, I’d like to sell you a fruit stand at the Arctic Circle, Alaska. If you think this bill secures our borders, I’d like to sell you fig tree at the North Pole that you can sit under to keep from getting too much sun.
12. This bill codifies prevailing wage provision for guest workers, but neglects American workers. It forces businesses to pay inflated to guest workers that would exceed wages to American citizens.
13. S.B. 2611 allows in-state college tuition, which is denied to U.S. citizens in 49 states, to all illegals and gives them first dibs on financial assistance.
14. S.B. 2611 stops police from arresting aliens for criminal violations of immigration laws. Just like happened with Mohammed Atta, when he was arrested for a traffic stop weeks before 9/11, he got off, and with this bill, any of his fellow terrorists will be set free.
15. This bill stops the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service agency from sharing information about guest-worker applicants with other agencies. In other words, criminals can be set free after being rejected for the guest-worker program.

In a nutshell, S.B. 2611 worsens our illegal immigration crisis. If those numbskulls in the Senate would pass H.R. 4437, we would be done with this crisis. We could get on with our lives. Our schools would be safe and uncrowded. Everyone would get back to speaking and learning English. It would stop the ‘catch and release’ at the border. It would make employers hire legal workers via employer sanctions. Our immigration laws work just fine; it’s our president and Congress that fail our laws.

H.R. 4437 solves many problems, however, billions of dollars fly out for “anchor babies” with terrific fiscal impact on education, healthcare, welfare and deficit spending. Congress must overturn the misinterpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Nathan Deal (R-GA) submitted H.R. 698 which addresses this issue, but to date Republican leaders have not allowed a vote on this bill.

A simple “Yes” vote for H.R. 4437 in the Senate along with H.R. 698 would create a comprehensive package for immigration reform that would solve this national dilemma within a year.

• It would stop hemorrhaging at our borders
  
• Prevent terrorists in our midst
  
• No more anchor babies *Jobs back to American citizens
  
• Create attrition of illegals through enforcement and lack of the welfare trough
  
• Penalize employers for hiring illegals, which would dry up the jobs, which would cause “attrition through enforcement”
  
• It would allow American citizens, especially our working poor, to go back to work for a living wage
  
• It would return the rule of law to the United States of America

Over the next decade, I hope to see a real overhaul of our foreign policy that keeps seeding hate around the world...be it Iran, Hussien, binLaden, Central/South American rebels, or any other place that we go into to 'help' because we 'know better than them.

Building of good will is good, but is it real, or just on the surface where beneath lies deceit and corruption

50. Thankful - Good news about your brother. Hang tough.

Will bbl - he's really tired and so are my folks. We're heading out for now.

♥ to all.

Could I ask for one more round of candles - gotta show him tomorrow - he'll be in a regular room and I think I can take the laptop in.

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/cand...

Thankful to you all and thankful for so very much. Days or whatever...

thanks mary :-)

52.

David Reiter
Fri, 12/08/06
3:21 pm

...
Building of good will is good, but is it real, or just on the surface where beneath lies deceit and corruption

----------------
"Building of good will is good"...when it starts at HOME...first and foremost.

Just a quick stop, but I wanted to share this editorial from the Christian Science Monitor with you.  I've typed in most of it.  I think it's worth looking at in light of the Iraq situation and the mindset of people who felt that the war was justified because Iraq was perceived (by them) as threat.

UPDATE to the American Body Count

07-Dec-2006 3 | US: 3 | UK: 0 | Other: 0

US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (South of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (South of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

06-Dec-2006 12 | US: 12 | UK: 0 | Other: 0

US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Non-hostile
US Sergeant Yevgeniy Ryndych Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Kirkuk - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Kirkuk - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Kirkuk - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Jesse Castro Kirkuk - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Joshua Madden Kirkuk - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Captain Travis Patriquin Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire

--------

Yeah, that report was really meant to change direction....what a joke.

Baker and Bush still think there is hope.....what a foreign policy disaster.

Bring the troops home, NOW!!!!

Dear ______,

As an actor, I've been blessed with the opportunity to play compelling roles in films and on Broadway. But in real life, one of the most important roles I play is one that you and I share. We're both passionate supporters of Planned Parenthood.

I'm contacting you today because this remarkable organization is on a roll, making progress that we've long hoped for. And, with our help, the weeks ahead can bring even more success for Planned Parenthood and the millions of women and men it serves.

As a long-standing member of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Board of Advocates, I'm asking you to lend your year-end support to one of my favorite causes.

Please send a year-end gift to Planned Parenthood Federation of America now.

Over time, I've done whatever I can to help Planned Parenthood succeed, from donating signed auction items from my films, to speaking out for choice in the media, to participating in Planned Parenthood events around the country, including speaking at the memorable March for Women's Lives, where my sister and I stood side-by-side with thousands of other supporters.

Like you, I'm devoted to this organization because I know that its work is absolutely essential. All of us should be especially proud of Planned Parenthood.

In just the last few months, Planned Parenthood has helped win over-the-counter status for emergency contraception for women 18 and older, persuaded major pharmacy chains to stock emergency contraception, and helped defeat the South Dakota abortion ban — a landmark victory! And they've argued a critical case before the U.S. Supreme Court — challenging the dangerous federal abortion ban. Please help keep this progress moving forward.

Please send a year-end gift to Planned Parenthood Federation of America today.

Every day, millions of people put their trust in Planned Parenthood. It doesn't just provide for our health care through its network of affiliate health centers. It stands up for our rights with a powerful and passionate voice.

I hope you'll act right now to stand up for Planned Parenthood.

Sincerely,


Julianne Moore
On Behalf of Planned Parenthood Federation of America

I hope you'll act right now to stand up for Planned Parenthood. 

Sorry that all the paragraphs ran together.  I copied it from my email program.  I guess I'll type next time in Microsoft Office.

Thankful great news about Rene -- I finally figured out the candle thing so I lit one.

Daniel Rooney, please have a heart and quit with the long, repetitive posts.  a brief overview and a link will do, thank you. 

Thankful - so happy to hear he's having better days.  hugs and prayers to you all!

"H.R. 4437 solves many problems, however, billions of dollars fly out for “anchor babies” with terrific fiscal impact on education, healthcare, welfare and deficit spending. Congress must overturn the misinterpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Nathan Deal (R-GA) submitted H.R. 698 which addresses this issue, but to date Republican leaders have not allowed a vote on this bill. "

 ~~~~~~~~~

While I agree with most everything included in Frosty Wooldridge's article, does Frosty know that Congress cannot simply "overturn" the misinterpretation of an amendment? The U.S. Constitution wouldn't be worth much if that were possible.

~~~~~~~~

It's wonderful to see that smile of Dean's. It always gives hope for this country and brightens the day.

Protect Title X

This Man Doesn't Believe in Birth Control

The appointment of anti-birth control, anti-sex education hardliner Eric Keroack to oversee the nation?s family planning program is striking proof that the Bush administration remains dramatically out of step with the nation?s priorities. Tell Secretary Leavitt to appoint an administrator who is committed to prevention and full funding of Title X, America?s family planning program.

Full Petition Text: http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/keroackpetition?rk=271FXl41DYi_W

Dear Secretary Leavitt,

As an advocate for women's health health and access to birth control and medically accurate sex education, I am outraged by the appointment of Eric Keroack to the position of deputy assistant secretary for population affairs (DASPA). Eric Keroack's role as the medical director of six so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" that oppose contraception and family planning calls into question his ability to administer the nation's family planning program. Keroack also has testified in favor of biased counseling provisions in the Massachusetts legislature and has produced numerous writings that promote politics over sound science and medicine.

As the new DASPA, Keroack will oversee Title X and have authority over hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding meant to provide access to contraception and reproductive health information. Title X has been crucial in helping millions of American women prevent unintended pregnancies and obtain reproductive health care for three decades.

The appointment of anti-birth control, anti-sex education advocate Eric Keroack to oversee the nation's family planning program is not in the health interest of women and families. Three weeks ago, Americans overwhelmingly rejected an extremist agenda, and sent a clear message that women's health care is a priority. I am asking you to do the same.

It's time to move forward with policies that can help prevent unintended pregnancies, including support for broader access to contraceptives and comprehensive, fact-based sex education. Because I care about commonsense solutions that protect women's health, like an affirmative Prevention First agenda that includes full funding for birth control, I urge you to replace Eric Keroack with a Title X administrator who is committed to protecting women's health.

Please sign the Petition: http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/keroackpetition?rk=271FXl41DYi_W

-------------------------------------- ----------------------------
Ref:

Bush Choice for Family-Planning Post Criticized

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 17, 2006; Page A01

The Bush administration has appointed a new chief of family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who worked at a Christian pregnancy-counseling organization that regards the distribution of contraceptives as "demeaning to women."

Eric Keroack, medical director for A Woman's Concern, a nonprofit group based in Dorchester, Mass., will become deputy assistant secretary for population affairs in the next two weeks, department spokeswoman Christina Pearson said yesterday.

Read More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601929.html

Heavy Opposition to New Office of Population Affairs Chief

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) -- The Bush administration, to the consternation of its critics, has picked the medical director of an organization that opposes premarital sex, contraception and abortion to lead the office that oversees federally funded teen pregnancy, family planning and abstinence programs.

The appointment of Eric Keroack, a Marblehead, Mass. obstetrician and gynecologist, to oversee the federal Office of Population Affairs and its $283 million annual budget has angered family-planning advocates.

Read more: http://www.knx1070.com/pages/127335.php?contentType=4&contentId=243281

still don't know how to post cartoons, and pix. why me?

and thankful my best to you rene. and maybe puddle you and I can have lunch sometime mid way.

Thankful, Wonderful news about Rene!

You are right to enjoy every minute. I believe everyone should be doing that if possible all the time.

The Republican-led Congress, House and Senate, are busy trying to see how much more damage they can do before they end this session (probably Sunday for Senate). Digging for oil in the Gulf is just one goal.

64.

Joan* In*Florida
Fri, 12/08/06
3:56 pm

...
It's wonderful to see that smile of Dean's. It always gives hope for this country and brightens the day.
-------
!!!

Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice.

Neuromolecular Medicine
February 2007, Volume 9, Issue 1
pps. 83-100 (ISSN: 1535-1084)

Abstract:
Gulf War illness (GWI) affects a significant percentage of veterans of the 1991 conflict, but its origin remains unknown. Associated with some cases of GWI are increased incidences of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurological disorders. Whereas many environmental factors have been linked to GWI, the role of the anthrax vaccine has come under increasing scrutiny. Among the vaccine’s potentially toxic components are the adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and squalene. To examine whether these compounds might contribute to neuronal deficits associated with GWI, an animal model for examining the potential neurological impact of aluminum hydroxide, squalene, or aluminum hydroxide combined with squalene was developed. Young, male colony CD-1 mice were injected with the adjuvants at doses equivalent to....

http://journals.humanapress.com/index.ph...:9:1:83

Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice.

Neuromolecular Medicine
February 2007, Volume 9, Issue 1
pps. 83-100 (ISSN: 1535-1084)

Try copy pasting this link between dashes (don't include dashes [-----]:

-----http://journals.humanapress.com/index.ph...:9:1:83

Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice.

Neuromolecular Medicine
February 2007, Volume 9, Issue 1
pps. 83-100 (ISSN: 1535-1084)

Well that didn't work - this link works but the blog is screwing it up.

Try adding "http" before this below, and copy/paste it into your URL

://journals.humanapress.com/index.php?option=com_opbookdetails&task=articledetails&category=humanajournals&article_code=NMM:9:1:83

The American people rightly, and overwhelmingly, punished the Republican Party in the midterm elections, chiefly because of the Iraq war and the neoconservative ideology that helped bring it about.

Iraq is a disaster today partly because of the neoconservative fantasy that democratic nationhood can be built from scratch, at the point of a gun. This is crazed nationalist utopianism - and it is wholly alien to core Republican traditions.

Worse still, neoconservatism has endangered the core values and traditions of America itself. As Thomas Jefferson pointed out, empires require emperors. Instead of adhering to core principles of balanced budgets, smaller but accountable government, fiscal responsibility, local political control as the preference for governance, and a belief in the sanctity of civil liberties, Republicans have embraced highly centralized, militarized big government. The Founding Fathers would be horrified by the shameful excesses of such neoconservative folly: warrantless wiretaps, Abu Ghraib, Gauntánamo Bay, renditions, and torture.

If it is to join with responsible Democrats in promoting an alternative to the neoconservative train wreck, the GOP must rediscover its roots. To do so, it must return to the tradition represented by President Dwight Eisenhower. No one, we assume, can seriously accuse him of weakness or lack of patriotism.

Yet Mr. Eisenhower was also characterized by virtues that have been completely forgotten by the Bush administration. He was tough when necessary, but also extremely prudent.

He successfully opposed calls for preventive war against the Soviet Union and China. As he told a press conference, he had personally experienced "the job of writing letters by the hundreds, by the thousands, to bereaved mothers and wives. This is a very sobering experience."

The decision to go to war, he said, should not be made in response to anger and resentment, but only after prayerful consideration and the conclusion that no other means existed to protect America's rights. He also opposed preventive war because, in his wise words, "The colossal job of occupying the territories of the defeated enemy would be far beyond the resources of the United States...."

Eisenhower fully realized that even victory would imperil America's own democratic system: "The only thing worse than losing a global war was winning one ... there would be no individual freedom after the next global war." Eisenhower was deeply worried about the US becoming what he called a "garrison state," which would suppress American liberties, squander American resources, and seek out unnecessary conflicts.

He famously warned against the threat to America from its own "military- industrial complex." The fact that a great general should have been so intelligently suspicious of security institutions, practices, and motives is a tribute to Eisenhower's greatness as a man, and also to the greatness of the American civic tradition that produced him.

Eisenhower fully understood that, "Our defense depends on our fiscal system." His national security adviser, Robert Cutler, declared that "the threat to our economy and liberty [from overspending and prolonged deficits] is coequal to the threat from external aggression." What would Eisenhower have thought about a Republican administration whose profligacy and irresponsibility have allowed the current account and budget deficits to make America a possible economic hostage to China?

Eisenhower referred repeatedly to the fact that the strength of a nation lies ultimately not in arms but in its ability to provide decently for its people. In a speech titled "The Chance for Peace," he listed all the schools and hospitals that the US could build for the cost of one bomber, and declared, "This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

The Eisenhower tradition is therefore not only a practical vision for American policy, it is a profoundly ethical one. The experience of a lost war brought on by overweening arrogance, ambition, and recklessness is precisely the time to rediscover that tradition's solid, prudent, and patriotic virtues.

• John Hulsman is scholar in residence at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Anatol Lieven is senior research fellow at the New America Foundation. Their book, on which this comment is based, is "Ethical Realism: A Vision for America's Role in the World."

That won't work either - the blog cut off half of it for some reason

Fred, all you can get is the abstract anyway.  here it is

Abstract:
Gulf War illness (GWI) affects a significant percentage of veterans of the 1991 conflict, but its origin remains unknown. Associated with some cases of GWI are increased incidences of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurological disorders. Whereas many environmental factors have been linked to GWI, the role of the anthrax vaccine has come under increasing scrutiny. Among the vaccine’s potentially toxic components are the adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and squalene. To examine whether these compounds might contribute to neuronal deficits associated with GWI, an animal model for examining the potential neurological impact of aluminum hydroxide, squalene, or aluminum hydroxide combined with squalene was developed. Young, male colony CD-1 mice were injected with the adjuvants at doses equivalent to those given to US military service personnel. All mice were subjected to a battery of motor and cognitive-behavioral tests over a 6-mo period postinjections. Following sacrifice, central nervous system tissues were examined using immunohistochemistry for evidence of inflammation and cell death.

Behavioral testing showed motor deficits in the aluminum treatment group that expressed as a progressive decrease in strength measured by the wire-mesh hang test (final deficit at 24 wk; about 50%). Significant cognitive deficits in water-maze learning were observed in the combined aluminum and squalene group (4.3 errors per trial) compared with the controls (0.2 errors per trial) after 20 wk. Apoptotic neurons were identified in aluminum-injected animals that showed significantly increased activated caspase-3 labeling in lumbar spinal cord (255%) and primary motor cortex (192%) compared with the controls. Aluminum-treated groups also showed significant motor neuron loss (35%) and increased numbers of astrocytes (350%) in the lumbar spinal cord. The findings suggest a possible role for the aluminum adjuvant in some neurological features associated with GWI and possibly an additional role for the combination of adjuvants.
 

Conclusion?  aluminum is not good when ingested or injected into humans

WELL I'LL JUST POST THE WHOLE ABTRACT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE INTERESTED:

Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice.

NeuroMolecular Medicine
February 2007, Volume 9, Issue 1, pps. 83-100
(ISSN: 1535-1084)

Abstract:
Gulf War illness (GWI) affects a significant percentage of veterans of the 1991 conflict, but its origin remains unknown. Associated with some cases of GWI are increased incidences of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurological disorders. Whereas many environmental factors have been linked to GWI, the role of the anthrax vaccine has come under increasing scrutiny. Among the vaccine’s potentially toxic components are the adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and squalene. To examine whether these compounds might contribute to neuronal deficits associated with GWI, an animal model for examining the potential neurological impact of aluminum hydroxide, squalene, or aluminum hydroxide combined with squalene was developed. Young, male colony CD-1 mice were injected with the adjuvants at doses equivalent to those given to US military service personnel. All mice were subjected to a battery of motor and cognitive-behavioral tests over a 6-mo period postinjections. Following sacrifice, central nervous system tissues were examined using immunohistochemistry for evidence of inflammation and cell death. Behavioral testing showed motor deficits in the aluminum treatment group that expressed as a progressive decrease in strength measured by the wire-mesh hang test (final deficit at 24 wk; about 50%). Significant cognitive deficits in water-maze learning were observed in the combined aluminum and squalene group (4.3 errors per trial) compared with the controls (0.2 errors per trial) after 20 wk. Apoptotic neurons were identified in aluminum-injected animals that showed significantly increased activated caspase-3 labeling in lumbar spinal cord (255%) and primary motor cortex (192%) compared with the controls. Aluminum-treated groups also showed significant motor neuron loss (35%) and increased numbers of astrocytes (350%) in the lumbar spinal cord. The findings suggest a possible role for the aluminum adjuvant in some neurological features associated with GWI and possibly an additional role for the combination of adjuvants.

You can do a search at the website for details

http://journals.humanapress.com/

Thanks Monica, I just saw your post. How did you get the abstract from the blog? I didn't think it was possible because the blog would not put the whole link on my computer when I posted it. The last part was cut off from the blue link characters.

WITH REGARD TO THE GULF WAR SYNDROME ABSTRACT ABOVE:

...Among the vaccine’s potentially toxic components are the adjuvants aluminum hydroxide and squalene....

Aluminum adjuvants are used in most childhood vaccines as well. I don't know if there is any difference in type or amount.

MEL GIBSON was pretty good on Jay Leno last night. He obviously didn't want to talk about the remark. Leno asked right off "been a pretty rough couple of months..." Gibson responded only "all I can say is that people have been very understanding"

they did talk about the alcohol problem Gibson quipping " I still feel like reaching for the turpentine..." and punning " De Vito and Clooney are helping me through it..."

I was just saying this a week or two ago, that Clinton didn't help Pederson at all and Dems crossed over to vote for Republican Kyl. They have it wrong in the article though, it wasn't the illegal immigration ad that turned off voters, it was the fact he is worth over $100 million and filed for bankruptcy to protect his assets...then lied about it for 5 years. He still owes some creditors, and one in Kyl's ad said so.

 "Pederson spent $10.8 million of his personal fortune in a failed effort to unseat twoterm Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. The money is simply gone — spent on consultants, pollsters, travel and a storm of television commercials.

While Pederson received a majority of votes cast by political independents and moderates, those votes were insufficient to overcome large numbers of Democrats who crossed over to support Kyl, pollster Bruce Merrill said.

A survey conducted by Arizona State University showed that 21 percent of voters made their decision toward the end of the campaign — and those voters cast their ballots disproportionately for Kyl.

“Pederson’s campaign was not effective in telling Arizona voters why they should vote for him, rather than against Kyl,” said Merrill, an ASU journalism professor.

Several factors probably figured into the loss, said Pederson, who was reported to be worth $120 million, most of it tied to investments.

...And campaign strategists on both sides predicted the national Democratic surge would draw the Kyl-Pederson race to a closer finish."

Ha, ha! That's what he gets for suing me!  Karma baby, karma.

Full article here. 

Senator Gordon Smith, a very conservative Republican from Oregon, who supported the war from the getgo and Bush all the way, is now calling the war "criminal." He's probably looking ahead to his own reelection, but will he be the first of the R's to do this, or will they all follow suit?

 I have always thought that, if Bush is impeached, it will begin with the Republicans. If that happens, LIeberman may be the only one standing beside Bush giving him another big fat kiss.

hmm, the next Congress might just have Republican backing for some real investigation after all... 

perhaps even "criminal".  'tis said that after this speech he was joined by many Republicans in the Chamber and they are 'with him on this'

Published: December 08, 2006 12:20 PM ET
NEW YORK As the national debate over Iraq, in the media and in Washington, continues in the wake of the Iraq Study Group report, a Republican U.S. Senator from Oregon has joined the fray in an unexpected way.

In a major speech in Congress on Thursday night, Sen. Gordon Smith called the current U.S. war effort "absurd," perhaps even "criminal" and caleld for rapid pullouts. He added that he would have never voted for the conflict if he had reason to believe the intelligence the president gave the American people was inaccurate.

Citing the hundreds of billions of dollars spent and 2900 Americans deaths -- and saying he needed to "speak from the heart" -- Smith said, "I for one am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal. So either we clear and hold and build or let's go home."

Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a Republican defeated in November, cited Smith's speech in suggesting that support for the war is crumbling. Smith's statement "is political dynamite," Chafee asserted.

... "I, for one, am tired of paying the price of 10 or more of our troops dying a day. So let's cut and run or cut and walk, but let us fight the way on terror more intelligently that we have because we have fought this war in a very lamentable way."

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003494677

Fred, I don't know why some things don't work.  The important thing, to my way of thinking, is that we need to start paying attention to the delivery mechanisms of these life-preserving injections.  Who would have thought that vaccines for children would introduce mercury into their systems? 

Part of the problem is the reluctance to take storage requirements into consideration.  Things are not supposed to go to waste or deteriorate, so they develop inhibiting strategies, like irradiating our fruits and vegetables, instead of composting them or feeding them to the pigs.  Nobody wants to be dealing with waste (garbage) so they invent strategies that convince them it doesn't exist.  That these strategies have negative consequences for someone else isn't a major concern.  We'll just have to make it one.

In the name of holding costs to a minimum and increasing profits, whenever externalities can be assigned elsewhere, they are.

Joan beat me to it!  happy 'last day of the 109th Congress' day, everyone!

_ FiReFoX!
Fri, 12/08/06
4:14 pm

Eisenhower was a hawk. Republicans should be more like Goldwater, a very respected moderate Republican with some very good idears.

82.
_ FiReFoX!
Fri, 12/08/06
4:39 pm

Reply to this
Gibson is a liar. The alcohol had nothing to do with his derogatory remarks against women, Jews, etc

---------

I am not so sure his Jewish or women friends would agree with you. I don't know about his "anti women" remarks. Maybe you can inform me of those. What other anti-Jewish diatribes has he made?

His remarks about "Jews" was directed towards the Israelis during the Lebanon war. We could just as well say "Christian America is causing all the wars..." and nobody would think that was racist. Israeli Zionists are no different, even if most Jews feel compelled to support them in solidarity, which is natural.

I would pause to think anyone with Darfur activist friends like Clooney would be in the same category as an anti-semite in his heart.

well, I never expected to say this, to this man, but "Thank you from my heart, Senator DeWine".  he spent many hours compiling information on the sons and daughters his state has lost to this war and has spent hours on the Senate floor this week honoring them, often with a story about their lives.   I'm sure he also pushed bills this week that I don't agree with at all, but this was well done.

Quick comment on Dean going to Canada an then Europe...mending fences, re-aasuring these people we all arent stupid war mongering pathetic organsims...............brilliant , absolutely brilliant play by Dean............lay the foundation for a new administration with hopefuly new bold ideas in 2008....................

Well done Howard..............

88.

 Fred, I believe I'm eminently qualified to comment on Gibson's comments.

 He was spewing anti-semitic crud.  And he doesn't like women either.  In a nutshell, he's a mysoginistic anti-semite.

 And I ain't gonna see his new movie either.

87.

Joan* In*Florida
Fri, 12/08/06
4:45 pm

Eisenhower was a hawk. Republicans should be more like Goldwater, a very respected moderate Republican with some very good idears.

----------

LOL - I believe Eisenhower ended the Mc Carthy era, whereas Goldwater suggested detonating Atomic bombs on the DMZ between N and S vietnam so anyone who crossed it would die of radiation poisoning.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4757274759497686216 terror storm alex jones

91

I believe I spelled "mysogynistic" incorrectly in my last comment.  I should have said, "Mel Gibson is a mysogynistic anti-semitic ass-hat.

 I apologize for my error.

Indy Steve
Fri, 12/08/06
1:02 pm

.

Yes, more troops as trainers is called for in any redeployment. That could be acceptable as long as it is tied to reduction of combat troops. The combat troops are incapable of doing anything now.....

INdy.  It is easy to see why you lost your bid for the Congress.  I someday will have to go and read some of the news clippings of your run.  Your Constitutional knowledge as evidenced by some of your statements about linking funds is weak, and your military knowledge is non existant.

You have no expertise to judge what combat troops can or can not do.  And it shows.  None of the schemes you suggest for linking the expenditure of funds are Constitutional.  Or at best silly.

The very best one can do to "release" funds is require that the President "certify" certian things.  For instance if you want to key release of funds on a weapon system to performance milestones the very most the Congress can do is require the President to certify that certian milestones have been reached before the money is available.  That is a trivial exercise.

WORSE your political sense is very very weak.  You have read the 06 election through your narrow political views on the war in Iraq.  Had your views been what the American people wanted YOU and LAMONT to name two would have won.

Neither of you did.

Running against you or running a campaign against you would  have been fun!

Robert 

94

Yes, and refuses to use condoms while he sleeps with everyone outside of marriage then comes home and impregnates his wife, refusing to let her use any conventional birth control. He is just disgusting in all regards. 

<>Eddie Murphy (5 kids) just knocked up that former Spice Girl and is denying it while just the other day I saw him on tv bragging about how potent he is and that is why he has 5 kids.  Have you seen his ex-wife? She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Let's not forget his little incident a few years ago with a transgender person whom he denied he was trying to pay for sex and was "only giving a ride home because he felt sorry for her/him". Yeah, right.

What these women see in jerks like those I will never understand. 

95

Donna, I am glad Bill was home today. There was a bomb threat on one of the trains when I was in DC last year but no one told us until AFTER we were off the train. Which I guess was probably better since it would have caused a panic and we would have likely been unable to do anything anyway. 

Krugman nails the Hypocrites:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120806F.shtml

    And so it was with those who warned against invading Iraq. At best, they were ignored. A recent article in The Washington Post ruefully conceded that the paper's account of the debate in the House of Representatives over the resolution authorizing the Iraq war - a resolution opposed by a majority of the Democrats - gave no coverage at all to those antiwar arguments that now seem prescient.

    At worst, those who were skeptical about the case for war had their patriotism and/or their sanity questioned. The New Republic now says that it "deeply regrets its early support for this war." Does it also deeply regret accusing those who opposed rushing into war of "abject pacifism?"

    Now, only a few neocon dead-enders still believe that this war was anything but a vast exercise in folly. And those who braved political pressure and ridicule to oppose what Al Gore has rightly called "the worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States" deserve some credit.

    Unlike The Weekly Standard, which singled out those it thought had been proved wrong, I'd like to offer some praise to those who got it right. Here's a partial honor roll:

    Former President George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft, explaining in 1998 why they didn't go on to Baghdad in 1991: "Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

    Representative Ike Skelton, September 2002: "I have no doubt that our military would decisively defeat Iraq's forces and remove Saddam. But like the proverbial dog chasing the car down the road, we must consider what we would do after we caught it."

    Al Gore, September 2002: "I am deeply concerned that the course of action that we are presently embarking upon with respect to Iraq has the potential to seriously damage our ability to win the war against terrorism and to weaken our ability to lead the world in this new century."

    Barack Obama, now a United States senator, September 2002: "I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne."

    Representative John Spratt, October 2002: "The outcome after the conflict is actually going to be the hardest part, and it is far less certain."

    Representative Nancy Pelosi, now the House speaker-elect, October 2002: "When we go in, the occupation, which is now being called the liberation, could be interminable and the amount of money it costs could be unlimited."

    Senator Russ Feingold, October 2002: "I am increasingly troubled by the seemingly shifting justifications for an invasion at this time. ... When the administration moves back and forth from one argument to another, I think it undercuts the credibility of the case and the belief in its urgency. I believe that this practice of shifting justifications has much to do with the troubling phenomenon of many Americans questioning the administration's motives."

    Howard Dean, then a candidate for president and now the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, February 2003: "I firmly believe that the president is focusing our diplomats, our military, our intelligence agencies, and even our people on the wrong war, at the wrong time. ... Iraq is a divided country, with Sunni, Shia and Kurdish factions that share both bitter rivalries and access to large quantities of arms."

    We should honor these people for their wisdom and courage. We should also ask why anyone who didn't raise questions about the war - or, at any rate, anyone who acted as a cheerleader for this march of folly - should be taken seriously when he or she talks about matters of national security.

----------
LOL - I believe Eisenhower ended the Mc Carthy era, ....

Yes and no, mostly no.

Ike recognized what Tail Gunner Joe was...a nut who pandered to a extreme wing fear (kind of a Ydnic Naheehs who actually had some horsepower)...and Ike recognized that given enough time he would do what Naheeshs has done, IMPLODE. 

What IKE did which is quite useful was that he did not allow the various parts of the US government to be terribly badly effected by what Tail Gunner Joe was doing.  For instance when TAil Gunner JOE went after the Secretary of State well Ike put out the word that needed to not go anywhere....and it didnt.

IKE also gave his beloved ARmy the quiet permission to do whatever it needed to do (including spending some money) to protect itself. 

Ike knew that TGJ would implode.  It took a frail lawyer who had a better sense of theatrics then TGJ to take him down.

Then the era ended quite quickly.

IKE was a good PResident, his foreign policy model for our time would not work.

Robert

Huron John
Fri, 12/08/06
6:06 pm

you are like the folks who argue about how a woman got pregnant.  It doesnt matter how it happened once it has happened.

Seesh

Robert

FEINGOLD'S PERSPECTIVEON THE BAKER BOY (+1 GIRL):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-russ-feingold/a-washington-inside-job_b_35896.html

When the Iraq Study Group's report was unveiled this week, it was like the opening of a blockbuster movie, with reporters counting down the minutes until it was released. But now that all the hoopla has subsided, all we are left with is a Washington inside job: a report written by Washington insiders, for Washington insiders, who share the same mindset that led us into the misguided war in Iraq.

The Iraq Study Group essentially sees Iraq the same way that most of official Washington does - as the be-all and end-all of our foreign and national security policy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Any decisions about our Iraq policy must be guided by our top national security priority: defeating the global terrorist networks operating in countries around the world. We cannot look at Iraq in isolation; we need to also be looking at Somalia and Afghanistan and the many other places around the world where we face grave and growing threats.

The report has some good recommendations, including its call for the U.S. to step up diplomatic efforts with countries like Iran and Syria. But many of its recommendations perpetuate the Iraq-centric policies that have failed so miserably. They fail to correct the course that the American people rejected at the polls in November.

The recommendation that we embed our best troops in the Iraqi army, for example, might seem like a good idea in isolation, but what about our critical effort to fight a resurgent Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, the country that was the staging ground for the 9/11 attack? Our ongoing efforts in Iraq are straining our military and limiting our capacity to effectively pursue the fight against terrorist networks around the world.

By redeploying our troops from Iraq, we can pursue a new national security strategy that will make our country safer. We can finish the job in Afghanistan. We can scrap the "transformational diplomacy" this Administration has used to offend, push away, and ultimately alienate so many of our friends and allies, and replace it with an aggressive, multilateral approach that would leverage the strength of our friends to defeat our common enemies.

And we can repair and infuse new capabilities and strength into our armed forces. By freeing up our Special Forces assets and redeploying our military power from Iraq, we will be better positioned to handle global threats and future contingencies. Our current state of readiness is unacceptable and must be repaired. Our National Guard, too, must be capable of responding to natural disasters and future contingencies.

The way to win a war against global terrorist networks is not to keep over 140,000 American troops in Iraq indefinitely. We will weaken, not strengthen, our national security by continuing to pour a disproportionate level of our military and intelligence and fiscal resources into Iraq.

Unfortunately, while the Iraq Study Group's report recognizes that the Administration's policy is not working, it doesn't correct the myopic focus on Iraq that has so dangerously weakened our national security. In the end, this report is a regrettable example of 'official Washington' missing the point. The growing threats we face in places like Afghanistan and Somalia are every bit as important to our national security as Iraq. Until Congress and the Administration recognize that, we will only perpetuate the deeply misguided policies that got us into Iraq in the first place.

Well, there's a new thread, but so far its dominated by Fred, Robert and Hol Dek.  Might as well let them have it for a while.  The topic is excellent, a Sirota column.

Daniel Rooney, please have a heart and quit with the long, repetitive posts.  a brief overview and a link will do, thank you. 

Thankful - so happy to hear he's having better days.  hugs and prayers to you all!