All Entries Related to "Life in Bushistan"

March 19, 2008

Happy Fifth Anniversary

The United States was in World War I and World War II for a combined five years, three months, and thirteen days.

Of course, in those wars, the U.S. had clear enemies, obvious strategic objectives, and competent Presidents.

Think we'll be out of Iraq by July 3rd? Do you think we'll actually have heard the President tell us what "victory" actually means in this war by then? How many more corners are there to turn? Do we know who we're even fighting? Is "al Qaeda" just Arabic for "whoever we're shooting at at the moment and/or suspects in plots vague enough that we can say we've thwarted them"?

"No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure," says the President, as if he's a D&D villain who's just had his lair cleaned out by adventurers.

Posted by Michael at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2007

Texas Terrorism Plot Swept Under the Rug

Yesterday in Austin, a bag was left outside a post office. The authorities were called in, the bomb squad went to work, and it turned out the bag did contain "an explosive device".

The media was quick to alert everyone. Terrorism experts were called in to link this to possible suspects and financial backers. The motives of those who would kill for their goals were once again brought into the spotlight and analyzed. The nation grieved the tragedy that could have unfolded, while breathing a sigh of relief that nothing actually happened.

Except none of that happened.

It wasn't a post office, it was the Austin Women's Health Center. And the second paragraph didn't happen at all. There was a cursory AP story, and no major media analysis whatsoever of who might think that bombing a women's health center would be a good idea, and who might publicly denounce it, but go home with a smile on their face. And no call at all for the mainstream types, who aren't bombers but are uncomfortable with the existence of women's health clinics, to speak out against their violent fringes.

None of that at all.

Because I guess you have to wear a turban to qualify as a terrorist.

Posted by Michael at 10:46 AM | Comments (3)

March 15, 2007

We Distort, You Abide

If you haven't seen this yet, you must: a treasure trove of spin, screwups, stupidity and out-and-out lies by Fox News.

fox.JPG

(Credit and thanks to Jurrasicpork, the actual compiler)

Posted by Michael at 09:50 AM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2007

The British Are Going

Tony Blair is going to withdraw 1,600 of Her Majesty's troops from Iraq.

Guess I'll be spreading my jelly and butter on Freedom Muffins starting tomorrow.

Posted by Michael at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2007

Bush Set To Unveil Barn-Door-Locking Plan

WASHINGTON - President Bush is set this week to announce to the nation the results of his decision on whether or not to lock the barn door, advisers say.

Despite his many assurances over the years that "nobody's getting out of that barn", it's become increasingly clear to critics on both sides of the aisle that the barn door is actually open, and has been for some time.

The White House remains firm, however. "When the time is right, we'll lock the barn door," said spokesman Tony Snow. "It's irresponsible to claim it's too late to lock the barn door, and saying that only emboldens those who would love for us to leave the barn door open."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says that explanation isn't good enough for him. "If the barn door is locked, Mr. President, show us the horse. He must still be in the barn, right?" Reid is emboldened by the latest polls, which say that 73% of Americans either "believe" or "strongly believe" that the horse has already escaped the barn.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," counters Snow. "The media is so focused on one angle - whether or not the horse has escaped the barn - that they've totally neglected all the good things happening in the barn. We've put down the fieldmouse incursion in the northeast corner, for instance."

House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is also unimpressed. "We're not going to give the President 20 bucks to buy a new lock until we know for sure what he hopes to accomplish by locking the door. After all, if the horse is gone, it's probably not going to come back on its own."

Conservative bloggers are adamant that the nation should trust the President's plan, regardless of what the plan may be. "It's almost like they want the horse to escape," said John Hinderaker of Powerline. "It's typical of the American Left to complain and complain without offering any real solution." Michelle Malkin announced plans to tour the barn: "I will tell the story the mainstream media is covering up," she said outside the barn. "That horse is in that barn, safe and sound, and I'll prove it," she added, just before stepping in a pile of horse manure.

Sources close to the Administration predict that Bush's plan, tentatively called "Operation You Got A Better Idea?" will involve a $43-billion contract with Halliburton to develop a lock that no horse can open.

Posted by Michael at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2007

For Entertainment Purposes Only. Please, No Wagering.

There's a very unscientific survey going on to rate our President on the "Are You A Psychopath?" self-test. I gave him a 34.

(From Bob Harris at This Modern World)

Posted by Michael at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2006

In A Row?!?!?

As seen on Yahoo News (italics mine):

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush worked nearly three hours at his Texas ranch on Thursday to design a new U.S. policy in Iraq, then emerged to say that he and his advisers need more time to craft the plan he'll announce in the new year.

This from a guy who was pleasantly surprised about a single mom who worked three jobs to keep her family going. Is it bad form to say some of us knew this guy was bad news from the beginning?

Posted by Michael at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2006

Yay, America

This is just sickening.

Mr. Padilla’s situation, as an American declared an enemy combatant and held without charges by his own government, was extraordinary and the conditions of his detention appear to have been unprecedented in the military justice system.

Since we've heard for years that "the terrorists hate freedom", then they're kicking our ass, because the stuff in this article doesn't look like any freedom I've ever imagined.

Posted by Michael at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)

December 02, 2006

Worst President Ever

Historians are always trying to figure out where various Presidents rank on the greatest-to-worst scale. The ones who usually come out near the bottom are:

Guessed where I'm going with this? Bush brings all of these to the table. But don't take it from me; historian Eric Foner lays out the case in good detail.

Posted by Michael at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2006

I'm Sure It's Just To Protect Us

I was going to write something about the revelation that Homeland Security is keeping secret files on everyone travelling into the country*, including what meals they ordered and their motor vehicle records. Oh, and they're assigning "terrorist scores". Which are kept for 40 years, and you're not allowed to ask what your score is or how they figured it out. And they might look up your terrorist scores if you apply for a job in certain industries.

But as soon as I typed "Homeland Security", I heard a whirring sound next to me, kind of like a mini-camera.

So I think this is probably a good idea. Because you can't have too much fake security, or have too many unaccountable people secretly screwing with your life. And I'm sure this will never fall into the wrong hands.

And I can't help but wonder, with his sketchy ticket purchase, his lack of baggage, and his bad habits as a cab driver, how many red flags Ted Stryker would have set off.

* My bet is on June 2007 for the inevitable "Well, they did domestic flights too" followup

Posted by Michael at 10:38 AM | Comments (1)

November 28, 2006

Please Don't Upset The President

New Virginia Senator Jim Webb gets to meet the Commander-in Chief:

At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

"I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing," Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.

Honestly, Sen.-to-Be Webb, doesn't the President have enough on his mind? What with Iraq in the midst of a civil war a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of the attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal.

And the diplomatic nightmare bubbling to the surface in Argentina.

Don't make him consider an unfamiliar viewpoint in a time of war.

Posted by Michael at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2006

Muslims On A Plane

Setting aside the fact that America's "J'accuse" mentality means you can get anyone in trouble for anything, and setting aside the well-worn fact that terrorism is only effective if the public lets itself be easily terrified, and setting aside the idiotic mentality of "serves 'em right for belonging to a religion that has some bad people in it"...

The case of the six imams who were hauled out of an airport makes me wonder what's the freaking point of airport security. They'd passed the checkpoints. So we know they didn't have an improper amount of hair gel or toothpaste. We know they took their shoes off. We know they had had their boarding passes and IDs scrutinized by the sharpest eyes $8/hr can buy. How could there be any danger? Once they'd run the TSA gauntlet, even if they had the worst intentions, how could they have done anything bad? It's like all the millions and millions of dollars and countless man-hours of controversy thrown at airport security haven't really changed anything.

Posted by Michael at 11:22 PM | Comments (2)

November 02, 2006

Keith Olbermann Nails It

I saw this at AmericaBlog - a Special Comment by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. It's long, but it is absolutely perfect. So I'm reprinting it in its entirety. Please read the whole thing between now and Tuesday.

And finally tonight, a Special Comment.

On the 22nd of May, 1856, as the deteriorating American political system veered towards the edge of the cliff, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina, shuffled into the Senate of this nation, his leg stiff from an old dueling injury, supported by a cane. And he looked for the familiar figure of the prominent Senator from Massachusetts, Charles Sumner.

Brooks found Sumner at his desk, mailing out copies of a speech he had delivered three days earlier — a speech against slavery.

The Congressman matter-of-factly raised his walking stick in mid-air, and smashed its metal point, across the Senator's head.

Congressman Brooks hit his victim repeatedly. Senator Sumner somehow got to his feet and tried to flee. Brooks chased him, and delivered untold blows to Sumner's head. Even though Sumner lay unconscious and bleeding, on the Senate floor, Brooks finally stopped beating him, only because his cane finally broke.

Others will cite John Brown's attack on the arsenal at Harper's Ferry as the exact point after which the Civil War became inevitable.

In point of fact, it might have been the moment — not when Brooks broke his cane over the prostrate body of Senator Sumner - but when voters in Brooks's district started sending him new canes.

Tonight, we almost wonder to whom President Bush will send the next new cane.

There is tonight no political division in this country that he and his party will not exploit, nor have not exploited; no anxiety that he and his party will not inflame.

There is no line this President has not crossed — nor will not cross — to keep one political party, in power.

He has spread any and every fear among us, in a desperate effort to avoid that which he most fears — some check, some balance against what has become not an imperial, but a unilateral presidency.

And now it is evident that it no longer matters to him, whether that effort to avoid the judgment of the people, is subtle and nuanced — or laughably transparent.

Senator John Kerry called him out Monday.

He did it two years too late.

He had been too cordial — just as Vice President Gore had been too cordial in 2000 — just as millions of us, have been too cordial ever since.

Senator Kerry, as you well know, spoke at a college in Southern California. With bitter humor, he told the students that he had been in Texas the day before, that President Bush used to live in that state, but that now he lives in the state of denial.

He said the trip had reminded him about the value of education — that quote "if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you can get stuck in Iraq."

The Senator, in essence, called Mr. Bush stupid.

The context was unmistakable: Texas;the state of denial;stuck in Iraq. No interpretation required.

And Mr. Bush and his minions responded, by appearing to be too stupid to realize that they had been called stupid.

They demanded Kerry apologize — to the troops in Iraq.

And so he now has.

That phrase "appearing to be too stupid" is used deliberately, Mr. Bush.

Because there are only three possibilities here:

One, sir, is that you are far more stupid than the worst of your critics have suggested; that you could not follow the construction of a simple sentence; that you could not recognize your own life story when it was deftly summarized; that you could not perceive it was the sad ledger of your presidency that was being recounted.

This, of course, compliments you, Mr. Bush, because even those who do not "make the most of it," who do not "study hard," who do not "do their homework," and who do not "make an effort to be smart" might still just be stupid — but honest.

No; the first option, sir, is, at best, improbable. You are not honest.

The second option is that you and those who work for you deliberately twisted what Senator Kerry said to fit your political template. That you decided to take advantage of it, to once again pretend that the attacks, solely about your own incompetence, were in fact attacks on the troops — or even on the nation itself.

The third possibility is, obviously, the nightmare scenario; that the first two options are in some way conflated.

That it is both politically convenient for you, and personally satisfying to you, to confuse yourself with the country for which, sir, you work.

A brief reminder, Mr. Bush: You are not the United States of America.

You are merely a politician whose entire legacy will have been a willingness to make anything political — to have, in this case, refused to acknowledge that the insult wasn't about the troops, and that the insult was not even truly about you either — that the insult, in fact, is you.

So now John Kerry has apologized to the troops; apologized for the Republicans' deliberate distortions.

Thus the President will now begin the apologies he owes our troops, right?

This President must apologize to the troops — for having suggested, six weeks ago, that the chaos in Iraq, the death and the carnage, the slaughtered Iraqi civilians and the dead American service personnel, will, to history, quote "look like just a comma."

This President must apologize to the troops — because the intelligence he claims led us into Iraq proved to be undeniably and irredeemably wrong.

This President must apologize to the troops — for having laughed about the failure of that intelligence, at a banquet, while our troops were in harm's way.

This President must apologize to the troops — because the streets of Iraq were not strewn with flowers and its residents did not greet them as liberators.

This President must apologize to the troops — because his administration ran out of "plan" after barely two months.

This President must apologize to the troops — for getting 2,815 of them killed.

This President must apologize to the troops — for getting this country into a war without a clue.

And Mr. Bush owes us an apology… for this destructive and omnivorous presidency.

We will not receive them, of course.

This President never apologizes.

Not to the troops.

Not to the people.

Nor will those henchmen who have echoed him.

In calling him a "stuffed suit," Senator Kerry was wrong about the Press Secretary.

Mr. Snow's words and conduct — falsely earnest and earnestly false — suggest he is not "stuffed" - he is inflated.

And in leaving him out of the equation, Senator Kerry gave an unwarranted pass to his old friend Senator McCain, who should be ashamed of himself tonight.

He rolled over and pretended Kerry had said what he obviously had not.

Only, the symbolic stick he broke over Kerry's head came in a context, even more disturbing: Mr. McCain demanded the apology, while electioneering for a Republican congressional candidate in Illinois.

He was speaking of how often he had been to Walter Reed Hospital to see the wounded Iraq veterans, of how, quote "many of the have lost limbs." He said all this while demanding that the voters of Illinois reject a candidate who is not only a wounded Iraq veteran, but who lost two limbs there: Tammy Duckworth.

Support some of the wounded veterans. But bad-mouth the Democratic one.

And exploit all the veterans, and all the still-serving personnel, in a cheap and tawdry political trick, to try to bury the truth: that John Kerry said the President had been stupid.

And to continue this slander as late as this morning — as biased, or gullible, or lazy newscasters, nodded in sleep-walking assent.

Senator McCain became a front man in a collective lie to break sticks over the heads of Democrats — one of them his friend; another his fellow veteran, leg-less, for whom he should weep and applaud, or at minimum about whom, he should stay quiet.

That was beneath the Senator from Arizona.

And it was all because of an imaginary insult to the troops that his party cynically manufactured — out of a desperation, and a futility, as deep as that of Congressman Brooks, when he went hunting for Senator Sumner.

This, is our beloved country now, as you have re-defined it, Mr. Bush.

Get a tortured Vietnam veteran to attack a decorated Vietnam veteran, in defense of military personnel, whom that decorated veteran did not insult.

Or, get your henchmen to take advantage of the evil lingering dregs of the fear of miscegenation in Tennessee, in your party's advertisements against Harold Ford.

Or, get the satellites who orbit around you, like Rush Limbaugh, to exploit the illness — and the bi-partisanship — of Michael J. Fox — yes, get someone to make fun of the cripple.

Oh, and sir, don't forget to drag your own wife into it.

"It's always easy," she said of Mr. Fox's commercials — and she used this phrase twice — "to manipulate people's feelings."

Where on earth might the First Lady have gotten that idea, Mr. President?

From your endless manipulation of people's feelings about terrorism?

"How ever they put it," you said Monday of the Democrats, on the subject of Iraq , "their approach comes down to this: the terrorists win and America loses."

No manipulation of feelings there.

No manipulation of the charlatans of your administration into the only truth-tellers.

No shocked outrage at the Kerry insult that wasn't; no subtle smile as the First Lady silently sticks the knife in Michael J. Fox's back; no attempt on the campaign trail to bury the reality that you have already assured that the terrorists are winning.

Winning in Iraq, sir.

Winning in America, sir.

There, we have chaos: joint U.S./Iraqi checkpoints at Sadr City, the base of the radical Shiite militias — and the Americans have been ordered out by the Prime Minister of Iraq… and our Secretary of Defense doesn't even know about it!

And here — we have deliberate, systematic, institutionalized lying and smearing and terrorizing — a code of deceit, that somehow permits a President to say, quote, "If you listen carefully for a Democrat plan for success, they don't have one."

Permits him to say this while his plan in Iraq has amounted to a twisted version of the advice once offered to Lyndon Johnson about his Iraq, called Vietnam.

Instead of "declare victory — and get out"… we now have "declare victory — and stay, indefinitely."

And also here, we have institutionalized the terrorizing of the opposition. True domestic terror:

– Critics of your administration in the media receive letters filled with fake anthrax.

– Braying newspapers applaud, or laugh, or reveal details the FBI wished kept quiet, and thus impede or ruin the investigation.

– A series of reactionary columnists encourages treason charges against a newspaper that published "national security information" — that was openly available on the internet.

– One radio critic receives a letter, threatening the revelation of as much personal information about her as can be obtained — and expressing the hope that someone will then shoot her with an AK-47 machine gun.

– And finally, a critic of an incumbent Republican Senator, a critic armed with nothing but words, is attacked by the Senator's supporters, and thrown to the floor, in full view of television cameras, as if someone really did want to re-enact the intent and the rage of the day Preston Brooks found Senator Charles Sumner.

Of course, Mr. President, you did none of these things.

You instructed no one to mail the fake anthrax. Nor undermine the FBI's case. Nor call for the execution of the editors of the New York Times. Nor threaten to assassinate Stephanie Miller. Nor beat up a man yelling at Senator Allen. Nor have the first lady knife Michael J. Fox. Nor tell John McCain to lie about John Kerry.

No, you did not.

And the genius of the thing, is the same, as in King Henry's rhetorical question about Archbishop Thomas Becket: "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?"

All you have to do, sir… is hand out enough new canes.

Posted by Michael at 09:38 AM | Comments (1)

November 01, 2006

Maybe My Priorities Are Skewed

I guess I'm a little less outraged by John Kerry's non-joke than I am by the fact that the White House still has no clue what exactly is going on in Iraq, or how we're supposed to "win" when we don't even know what that means, or that they abandoned the search for a kidnapped soldier because Iraq told them to, or that people who won't go within 3000 miles of Iraq reflexively question the patriotism of anyone who says a discouraging word about the War or Whatever, or that Osama Bin Laden and the anthrax mailer are still out there and no one seems to care, or that the idiots on the Right who think Bush is really really smart! suddenly become the Grammar Police when Kerry says something stupid, or that there's even a chance that the Democrats won't take Congress in a landslide.

Maybe it's just me.

Posted by Michael at 06:22 PM | Comments (3)

September 11, 2006

Never Forget

Five years ago. 249,999,999 Americans rushed to their televisions and Internets to see what the $%#@& was going on.

thepresidentoftheunitedstatesofamerica.jpg

Maybe in his address to the nation, he'll tell us how the goat story ended.

Posted by Michael at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2006

Airport Security

So...one guy has some stuff in his shoes, and now everyone has to take their shoes off at the airport.

Some guys may have come up with a scheme involving liquids, so now you can't bring any liquid - even a coffee purchased inside the security gate - onto a plane.

God help us all if the next guy sticks something suspicious inside the waistband of his underpants.

Posted by Michael at 07:49 PM | Comments (2)

May 18, 2006

Altitude Sickness?

Check out this latest map of Bush approval ratings.

Posted by Michael at 05:18 PM | Comments (1)

May 12, 2006

Am I Technically A Fugitive Now?

To stay one step ahead of the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security, I now voluntarily make this confession.

Last night, I placed several telephone calls to an organization with known ties to Lebanon.

But since they're only analyzing phone call patterns, and not listening in -- at least, that's this week's story -- they might not know that the first five calls were busy signals, and the last was to place a pickup order for lamb with okra and beef kibby. Which was delicious.

I hope this is enough to prove my innocence. There was a white van parked outside the building this morning.

Posted by Michael at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2006

Bush Admits to Latest Round of 'Youthful Mistakes'

WASHINGTON - President Bush answered critics of his Administration in a press conference today, admitting serious blunders in the first five years of his Presidency, but chalking them up to "youthful mistakes."

"This is hard work," he told a gathering of reporters. "And maybe, as a young President, I took too much vacation time, and didn't read security briefings, and picked friends for important posts instead of qualified people. That's behind me."

Longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas read off a list of perceived Bush blunders: relaxing environmental regulations, backing out of the Kyoto treaty, 9/11 intelligence failures, "My Pet Goat", illegal detainments at Guantanamo Bay, the "No Child Left Behind" boondoggle, the Cheney/Enron connection, the failure to find Osama Bin Laden, the puffing up of evidence about Saddam Hussein, the tabbing of Henry Kissinger to chair the 9/11 Commission, falling off a goddam Segway, sending Colin Powell to the U.N. to present incorrect evidence about Iraq, the "Mission Accomplished" banner, the Valerie Plame leak, the EPA underreporting environmental damage at the World Trade Center site, the Cheney/Scalia duck hunt, the much-maligned color-coded terror alert system, advising the Swift Boat Veterans' attacks on John Kerry, the Armstrong Williams scandal, the failed attempt at privatizing Social Security, ignoring North Korea, hiring that Arabian horse guy to run FEMA, the Harriet Miers fiasco, the bungling of Hurricane Katrina recovery, the failed Dubai Ports Deal, and the continued lack of a visible plan or exit strategy in Iraq.

Bush, grinning, nodded his head at the laundry list of complaints. "I said this was hard work," he quipped.

When asked how a nearly 60-year-old man could claim youth and inexperience, Bush testily replied, "Look, no matter what job I was doing, or what company I was running, no one ever told me that a memo entitled 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike In US' was important. Now I know. It never occurred to me that playing guitar and fundraising might be inappropriate while a major American city was being destroyed. Next time, I'll stick around the office."

As the press conference wound down, Bush promised to "bring dignity and honor back to the White House" in his third and fourth terms.

Posted by Michael at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2005

Hmmm

Misleading Congress is an impeachable offense. Pass it on.

Posted by Michael at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2005

Torture

Reasonable people can disagree on whether the Poor Man can actually get above the rim, but this sure looks like a slam dunk to me.

Posted by Michael at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2005

Liars

Remember the Newsweek article? The one that got the White House in a lather about the media's responsibility?

Well, now the Pentagon has released a report that says the kind of crap Newsweek reported on is/was going on all the time. So, naturally, the White House is saying that these are isolated incidents and downplaying it.

So let's see. When one magazine reports it, it's a lie. When the Pentagon confirms it, it's just a bunch of isolated incidents. When the whole truth trickles out, how bad is it all going to be?

It's discouraging that this week's big story was the revelation of Deep Throat, the man who (if you believe G. Gordon Liddy) risked treason charges and (if you believe any rational person instead) brought down a corrupt Presidential Administration. Are there any enterprising MSM journalists out there who are going to gamble on putting the pieces together and blowing the lid off these guys? Honestly, all you need to do is spend half an hour explaining the Downing Street Memo on TV, which has so far eluded your abilities. So much for the liberal media.

To you 51-percenters: do you still believe anything these guys say?

Posted by Michael at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2005

History Lesson

I hadn't realized this: The time from the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the surrender of Japan was 1,346 days. This Thursday is the 1,346th day since 9/11.

For those of you not up on your WW2 history, here's how it went down. Right after Pearl Harbor was attacked, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech where he coined the term "Axis of Evil", saying Japan, Romania and Italy were the gravest threats to world peace. Then he went on to say that intelligence had learned that Italy was making powerful weapons of mass destruction, and called Benito Mussolini the most terrifying dictator on the planet.

FDR made a couple of controversial moves: he decided to hold the 1944 Democratic Convention right beside the watery grave of the U.S.S. Arizona. And immediately after D-Day, just before Allied troops began a long slog into the heart of Europe, FDR posed for his infamous "Mission Accomplished" photo.

While keeping a skeleton force in Japan, occassionally knocking on a door to see if anyone was hiding Emperor Hirohito, the US made triumph after triumph in Italy: the Leaning Tower of Pisa was toppled, Mussolini was captured, put on trial and forgotten about, and a school in Sorrento got a fresh coat of paint. Although Italian militants controlled much of the countryside, the road between Ravenna and Bologna was pretty much secure in Allied hands.

On the homefront, the nation was divided over whether devoting so much effort and manpower into occupying Italy was worth it. (Although there was no direct evidence tying Mussolini to Pearl Harbor, FDR's stern warning - "you're either with us or against us" - made it clear that the occupation of Italy would continue until the perpetrators of the 1941 attack were subdued.) And while much of the nation's economy shifted into wartime production, a good living could still be made by printing magnetic ribbons with patriotic slogans such as "God Bless FDR" and "Benito, Hirohito - Finito!"

Some stateside wondered whether FDR had forgotten about Germany -- Japan's chief ally and the nation that was causing untold grief in Europe. Suprisingly, FDR never even mentioned the Third Reich as an enemy, and was even photographed holding hands with foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. This was widely criticized in the alternative press (which were known as Benevolent Ledgers/Observant Gazettes, or B.L.O.G.s), but none of the mainstream press (the New York Times, LIFE, the Saturday Evening Post) was able or willing to question the President's financial and social ties with the Germans.

When Japan finally surrendered in 1945, it was assumed that it was because the U.S. Congress had brought pressure to bear on the situation by threatening to ram through every one of Harry Truman's judicial nominees without debate or filibuster. This was known by Truman as the "nuclear option", and Tokyo quickly bowed to the pressure.

I hope history is as kind to our modern era.

Posted by Michael at 12:15 AM | Comments (2)

May 16, 2005

Irony: Dead, Buried, Dug Up, Strung Up, Left to the Crows, Hauled Down, Hacked To Bits, Burned

The White House has condemned a Newsweek story that alleged that US interrogators used Koran-desecration as part of their badgering of inmates at Guantanamo. Some violent protest across the Muslim world erupted upon publication of the story. The story was based partly on an anonymous source, who later retracted the Koran-desecration from his story.

In condemning the Newsweek story, press secretary Scott McClellan nailed the final nail into the coffin of the much-abused corpse of irony:

"The report has had serious consequences," he said. "People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged."

So let's review. Someone made up a BS story, found a willing dupe to spread the BS to the masses, violence erupted in the Middle East. And the White House is against this?

UPDATE: He said it better.

Posted by Michael at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2005

Read This

An open letter to the people of Atwood, Kansas. It's long, but definitely worth reading.

UPDATE: Alert Reader JB informed me that they've taken the letter off the front page of the site. So the link now goes to a Google-cached version of the letter. Thanks!

Posted by Michael at 01:17 PM | Comments (2)

April 07, 2005

Rant of the Month

Here's the backstory (I assume you already know about the War For Iraq). The Pulitzer Prize for news photography went to the AP, for a series of fairly unpleasant photos of life during the US occupation.

This has caused some considerable outrage on the right-hand side of Blogworld. They're trying to insinuate that the AP made arrangements with insurgents to be there at the right times. They're furious that the photoset presents a lopsided view of the valiant struggle (someone even anazlyzed them and found that there were 7(!) photos of Iraqi civilians harmed by the war, and 0(!) photos of US forces looking heroic (their exact words). They're scared and saddened by the thought that the war isn't all it was cracked up to be.

Which leads us to...

The Rant of the Month. Read it. Remember it.

Posted by Michael at 11:49 AM | Comments (1)

April 05, 2005

Look Busy!

Remember when we were a threatened nation? And we were so terrified that terrorists were pouring into the country (hmmm...notice we haven't gone to Code Orange since Bush was "re"elected)? But then we secured the food supply, tightened security at the nation's ports and shipping lanes, and frisked everyone going into a Celtics game, and now we're totally safe and sound.

But we forgot one thing...

So now, in its latest effort to Look Like We're Doing Something, the government is going to make you get a passport to travel to Canada, or Mexico, or Bermuda, or a few other countries we were on good terms with as of yesterday. Because inconviencing thousands of people (including me) on the pretense of action isn't nearly as important as potentially catching the one moron terrorist who isn't smart enough to get an ID first.

I've never gotten a passport, since travel to Europe or wherever has always been beyond my financial reach. But now that just to see an Expos game Nova Scotia, I've go to pony up $100 (cute, by the way, to announce this plan right after you raise the passport fee), forget it. It's domestic travel for me, baby. I'll import my poutine.

Posted by Michael at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2005

The Culture of Life

Tom DeLay, the radical fringe Republican who just happens to have a position of significant power and leadership, got a letter from Senator Frank Lautenberg. DeLay, saddened by the fact that the "save-Terri's-body" crowd went 0-for-4,352 in court decisions, said,

The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today.

It's not a direct threat, but neither was Jesse Helms' threat that Bill Clinton "would need a bodyguard" if he visited North Carolina. But the Secret Service took an interest in that. And Sen. Lautenberg reminded Mr. DeLay that threatening a federal judge is against the law.

I know it's too much to ask that DeLay will be led away in handcuffs (at least for this...there's still hope). But I don't think it's too much to ask that the poster boy of the Republicans' newfound "Culture of Life" stop with the thinly-veiled threatening people.

Posted by Michael at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2005

Republican Hypocrisy...Shocking!

Here's a real good post over at Hullabaloo explaining why the Right's grandstanding over the Schiavo case looks even more ridiculous when you compare it to stated Republican positions on other issues.

Posted by Michael at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2005

Brain Death

I've been trying really hard figuring out how to voice my feelings on poor Terry Schiavo.

I thought about being snarky and pointing out that the GOP and the Religious Right are fighting for her because they need as many brain-dead supporters as they can muster.

I thought about being optimistic, and hoping that maybe we could have an honest debate in this country about euthanasia and death with dignity. This summer, I took my roommate and her cat to the vet. She held her li'l Nino, wracked with kidney failure, in her arms as the vet game him a tiny injection and he fell asleep, instantly, forever. A damn cat has more of a right to die with dignity than a person.

I thought about feigning surprise that our absentee President is cutting short one of his legendary vacations (or reading My Pet Goat II) to rush back to Washington in case his signature's needed on an emergency Congressional bill that the Republicans (motto: "We Used to Act Like We Were Against Government Meddling") have scrambled to assemble to keep this epic going.

I thought about taking an inquisitive tack: why is the so-called "culture of life" in this country fixated only on pre-embryonic clumps of protoplasm and nonresponsive liquified brains? Aren't there a lot of Americans (and not a few people in other parts of the world) suffering and ailing, who could actually benefit from some of the misguided energy the save-Terry crowd is expending?

I thought about all these things, then settle on just a request. If my brain should somehow liquify and go beyond hope of repair (shaddap out there), just let me go. As quickly and painlessly as possible. Don't put people I care about in the center of a media and legal tug-of-war. Don't put my "life" in the hands of Jeb Bush and the First Rancher and Bill Frist (see, we're back to killing cats) and Jerry Falwell. I'm too cheap to make out a living will, so let this stand forever as a declaration of my intent. No wrangling over what I told to whom when. Hell, I beg for a coup-de-grace when I twist my ankle.

Can we get back to real news now?

Posted by Michael at 12:22 AM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2005

Wow. Just, Wow.

You know Gator? That awful awful company that makes spyware and popup-hell software that's almost impossible to find and eliminate?

Don't you wish I was about to tell you that an executive for their company is about to do some hard time?

Actually, one of their execs was just named to a privacy advisory board by the Dept. of Homeland Security.

I don't even have a joke.

Posted by Michael at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2005

Uniquely Moronic

George Bush goes to Nebraska. He meets a single mom with three kids, who's working three jobs. Bush's response? He thinks it's "fantastic" and "uniquely American".

Posted by Michael at 05:19 PM | Comments (1)

February 03, 2005

SOTU, STHU

I missed the State of the Union address; tickets for a clash between rivals in the "worst division in NBA history" won out. But Ezra Klein did a good running commentary, and thinkprogress.org did insta-fact-checking.

As for that cheering you may have heard in the press box (not at the Celtics game), look no futher than Jeff Gannon, a journalistic cipher who's been given good seats at White House press conferences and allowed to lob softball questions at the president or his press secretary. "Mr. Bush, your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. What makes you so popular?"

I think, until proven otherwise, any professional journalist or Fox News reporter should be assumed to be on the Administraion's payroll.

And if you heard any booing (or "Boo-ushing"), it's because those scoundrel Democrats committed the unprecedented sin of jeering at the SOTU speech. Unprecedented, that is, unless you count the annual Republican booing of Clinton.

Posted by Michael at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2005

Speaks For Itself

My early "Headline of the Year" contestant:

Poll: Nation split on Bush as uniter or divider

Well, duh. People can't agree if he's a uniter. If everyone agreed he was a uniter, that would be one thing. If everyone agreed that he was a divider, then the whole thing would turn into one of those stupid "'All Cretans are liars,' said the Cretan" logic puzzles that make my head hurt.

Personally, I'm going to go out on a limb and call him a divider. Exactly 50% of the country thinks he can do no wrong, and 50% think he's hopeless.

Posted by Michael at 04:51 PM | Comments (2)

January 18, 2005

The Inauguration

Bob Cesca at Reality-Based Nation has acquired an advance copy of George's inauguration speech.

(Link found from Oliver.)

Posted by Michael at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2005

Winning Hearts and Minds

Since the people of Iraq are no longer throwing roses on the ground to greet US troops (who woulda thought?), the Pentagon is preparing to go to the next level in its mission of democracy and humanitarianism...

Death Squads.

Yep, brought to you by the same funloving folks responsible for all the Reagan-era crap in Central America. The post links to this Newsweek article, which includes this telling quote from an unnamed military source:

"The Sunni population is paying no price for the support it is giving to the terrorists," he said. "From their point of view, it is cost-free. We have to change that equation."

Kind of makes you wonder exactly what the definition-du-jour of terrorism is, huh? It seems you could change a couple words in there and justify all sorts of awful things. For example: change "Sunni" to "American" and "the terrorists" to...well, any number of things, and by American military logic, we're all fair game for all sorts of stuff!

So the question for the panel: are we turning into the Roman Empire or the Soviet Union?

Posted by Michael at 12:06 PM | Comments (1)