Saturday, April 17, 2004
The B Word
Blunder.0 comments
Washington Post: Focus on Iraqi Politics
The world is asking:
"Just who are we handing power over to on June 30th?"
But more terrifyingly, who is there in Iraq at this time who could be considered anything more than Iraq's version of Babrak Karmal, the Soviet Union's puppet installed in Afghanistan 1979?
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 3:27 PM
Progress
In the late 20th Century, we were told that Richard Milhous Nixon had "a secret plan to end the war."
Now, we're well into the 21st Century and George Walker Bush has just told us that he had "a secret plan to START the war."
CNN.com / Bob Woodward book: Bush secretly made Iraq war plan
"We all change; we all grow." —George Carlin
posted by Gotham 2:09 PM
"Well ... You're a 'Nother!"
Bush isn't satisfied with being merely incompetant.0 comments
He's dangerous.
The way a child being dared to toss matches into a can of gasoline is dangerous.
Throughout history, there have always been faster kids and slower kids. And the former have always preyed on the latter.
CNN.com: Big win for Israel's Sharon
Understand, this was Zubin Mehta riffing on "Louie, Louie." The player, too talented and savvy; the object, too simple and pliable.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, facing a number of major Israeli corruption scandals, needed to cover his own sizeable ass. So he came to his good ol' friend who clears brush for a living, President George W. Bush of the United States of America. He figured everyone in Washington, D.C. was running around covering their own asses, so he'd fit right in.
Boy, did he ever!
Sharon is in hot water at home for:
- An alleged case of bribery over a real estate deal
- Illegal campaign contributions
- Sharon's failure to disclose a business connection with the family of Elhanan Tannenbaum—who, along with the remains of four killed Israeli soldiers, was exchanged for hundreds of Hezbollah prisoners in January.
It seems that Tannenbaum is under investigation in Israel for drug dealing and possibly divulging classified information to his captors that came into his possession as a colonel in the Israeli reserves. That's damaging enough. But it turns out he also is the estranged husband of the daughter of a long-time business friend of Sharon's.
Israelis rightfully are asking, "Why Tannenbaum, and only Tannenbaum? For hundreds of Hezbollah prisoners? And why didn't Sharon disclose his ties to Tannenbaum's family?"
As a result, Sharon is facing plummenting support from Israelis, according to Julie McCarthy's report from Jerusalem for NPR News:
A public opinion poll published today in Israel's leading daily Yedioth Ahronoth found that a majority of Israelis say they have lost faith in the government. The rate of those who say Ariel Sharon is not credible jumped from 51 percent to 57 percent in the past month. Sharon blames the diminished public faith in him on his detractors and not his own conduct.
Sounds familiar? "Their fault!" That's D.C.'s Greatest Hit at the moment.
So Sharon comes here and cons Bush into giving him the endorsement he needs back home, in order to get angry Yakud party dissidents to pass his troubled West Bank plans.
Now, of course, our brilliant Boy King smugly thinks he's put one over on Sharon: getting Sharon to stand side-by-side with him the day after Bush gave his Famous Incoherent Prime-Time Press Conference. Oh, boy! This will—our Boy King thinks—swing major portions of the U.S. Jewish vote our way in this extremely tight election year. Yeah, that'll really put it to ol' John Kerry, boy.
[You can almost see The Smirk; rather reminiscent, actually, of the smirk perfected by Tommy Smothers whenever he thought he had put something over on his brother, Dickie Smothers. But just as we see now with Bush, reality always crashed in on poor Tommy's plans.]
Usually when people see uneven power games such as this, most will jump in and say, "Hey! Cut it out! Give the poor kid back his money! You can't take advantage of someone who doesn't know what he's doing, like that!"
We need to do that here.
Inadvertantly, George W. Bush has just united the entire Middle East, and has put the final dot in the middle of the target on the forehead of the United States.
Sharon played Bush like a Stradivarius. But, unfortunately, we'll all dance to the tune.
The self-involved Sharon couldn't have done more damage to the U.S. if he had hung a sign on Bush's back saying, "Kick me!"
And ol' Clueless George, who clears brush for a living, couldn't see it happening. He thinks he's the taker, not the takee.
(smirk)"Hee, hee...he dared me, hee, hee. He thinks I can't get this match into that little hole in that can there. Well, boy...Watch this!" (smirk)
[Sound of match lighting.]
posted by Gotham 1:27 PM
Monday, April 12, 2004
Fly American Airlines and Receive a Free FBI Tour!
The Neo-Cons are watching.0 comments
Who are we kidding here?
This administration can't be bothered battening down the hatches whenever REAL terrorists growl, if the bad guys neglect to hand over the specific street addresses and exact times for their next deadly attack.
Memo Not Specific Enough, Bush Says
But they can use YOUR FEAR of those terrorists to find out all the info about you that they want to have. It just makes their lives so much easier.
American Airlines Revealed Passenger Data
Your privacy and your rights as an American citizen are kaput.
They yell, "TERRORISTS!", in a crowded business environment and every company that has or wants government bail-outs or contracts ponies right up.
The long-standing wall between governmental and corporate marketing information-gathering efforts can now be considered fully dissolved.
"Whattaya wanna know?" they ask. "Their shoe sizes? Yep, here they are. Every specific purchase they've ever made? Sure, no problem."
A major (overused) Hollywood screenplay plot device: Our Heroes on the run from corrupt government and/or bad guy types. Unbeknownst to Our Heroes, the bastards chasing them have been following their credit card receipts as they come in to track every move our plucky Heroes made.
In real life, we now have companies offering the Feds all their transactions with you, as well as ALL the information the company gathered about you as part of that transaction.
Of course the federal government—that font of privacy—turns right around and gives your confidential information to ANY OTHER COMPANY THAT WANTS A FEDERAL CONTRACT. So the U.S. Government has effectively gone into the Marketing Research industry and started selling sales leads. Oh Boy! More junk mail and spam!
They might just as well smear your private info across the bathroom walls in the Commerce Dept. building.
Or add a link to all your private quirks on the Commerce Dept. website. You're now that big a target. Hell, let's let everybody see. Y'know, Freedom of Information Act, and all that.
So, now we know everything about you.
What you've bought.
Where and when and how often you've flown in the last year. What class you flew in. Where you billed it to. How many people flew with you (oops, the wife didn't know about the secretary, did she? oh, well), what papers you bought at the newsstand, and thanks to the Patriot Act, what books you got out of the library to read on the flight.
Plus, thanks to your EZPASS sticker in your windshield, we now know just where and at exactly what time you crossed into and out of New York City.
From your credit account, we know at what parking garage you parked your car (of course, we also know your full financial picture from the info on your car financing package, which the bank happily gave us).
From your MetroCard (which you, of course, bought with your credit or bankcard from the machine, instead of with cash from the token clerk sitting right there; c'mon, admit it, you did that, didn't you?), we can now track all your travels around New York City through the subways and buses.
As well as any other purchases you make along the way, charged to your credit or bank cards.
You might just as well have a GPS bug in your shorts.
But we just can't seem to tell where those damn pesky REAL terrorists are. Damn!
Anybody have the address of the next attack?
Land of Liberty, my ass.
In God We Trust. All other get cash.
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 12:42 PM
The New York Times: Bush Says Brief on Al Qaeda Threat Was Not Specific0 comments
It was bad enough knowing President George W. Bush didn't read.
Now we find out he CAN'T read.
This is a sad day for Education in America.
Just WHAT has First Enabler Laura Bush been doing these last twenty, thirty years?!
An embarrassed Yale University has issued no comment as to howC-student Bush could possibly have gotten such a high grade with no ability to read, let alone be able to graduate.
After all, legacy college admissions only get you so far. At some point, you have to be able to perform.
posted by Gotham 4:03 AM
Sunday, April 11, 2004
Oh, Well...Sorry, George.
So much for Bush's strong economic growth.0 comments
It's growing, but much more slowly than it had been.
OECD still sees expansion ahead
If Bush's surging economy created next-to-no jobs, what will a slowing economy produce for him?
These are the questions that keep me up nights.
Really.
posted by Gotham 5:21 PM
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Bush Fiddles While New York Burns
0 commentsHigh Crimes and Misdemeanors
Maybe Bob Woodward should rename his forthcoming book on the White House of George W. Bush, The Final Days II.
The White House is taking on the desparate frenzy of the end of the Nixon era.
I half expect excerpts from Woodward's new book describing Bush kneeling on the floor of the Oval Office, grabbing National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice by the arm, pulling her down next to him, saying, "Pray with me, Henry. ... I mean, Condi."
The jig, as they say in the neighborhood, is about to be up.
The New York Times: Bush Was Warned of Possible Attack in U.S., Official Says
An example of extreme administration myopia:
They're spending this weekend, frantically scouring the Aug. 6, 2001 briefing memo, leaking those bits they think will make them look good and redacting (i.e., crossing out) the rest. What seems beyond them is the fact that they have played this SO badly that no one in America will believe that anything that's blacked out is for "national security purposes." Everyone is going to "know" that parts are blacked out because they make these guys look really bad.
Which will create its own new media frenzy:
WHAT'S IN THE BLACKED OUT PARTS?
It's guaranteed to become the new "(expletive deleted)" for this generation. The more that's blacked out, the more guilty the administration looks.
Whether this administration thought of terrorism as something to be pooh-poohed as part of the Clinton plague, or as something that didn't fall neatly into their New World Order, the fact now is clear that these people—entrusted with the well being of 280 million Americans—were fully warned and prepped on an impending disaster of some type, yet sat idly by until thousands of American citizens were obliterated at their jobs (remember when people had jobs?).
Now, it is years later, and we have moved through the emotionalism of the aftermath, and we're attermpting to look dispassionately at what happened. And how we can avoid its happening ever again.
We now see the response to that inquiry.
The principals involved are going waaaay beyond mere CYA (cover your ass) territory into full SYOA (save your own ass) land.
From here on in, be alert to the fact that EVERYONE—living and dead—will be guilty of the most horrible malfeasance—except, of course, for the individual speaking. They, of course, are wholely blameless, and should be considered a true patriot who tried EVERYTHING they could, and WOULD HAVE MOVED HEAVEN AND EARTH to save those poor, wretched souls had they only received a memo from Osama bin Laden with the exact flight numbers of the planes he was taking and the exact street addresses where he had decided to park them.
[Picking up the telephone or writing a strong, clear memo would obviously prove much harder than "moving heaven and earth," we now see.]
A major part of SYOA is character assassination. Basically, ANYONE is fair game when your own ass is on the line. Hence, the aged concept of there being no honor among thieves.
BUSH: Not me. I was clearing brush. My staff never told me.
CHENEY: Hey! I was in my cave, incommunicado!
RICE: No one tells me anything! No one ever said I had to DO anything.
ASHCROFT: Terrorists? Listen, fella, I was busy covering boobies in the Justice building!
BUSH, CHENEY, RICE, ASHCROFT: So, we'll all just attack anyone who challenges anything we say. Turn'em into political putty. And if that doesn't work, we'll turn on each other!
Which we see is already beginning:
Also on Friday, the White House offered evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation received instructions more than two months before the Sept. 11 attacks to increase its scrutiny of terrorist suspects inside the United States. But it is unclear what action, if any, the bureau took in response.
The disclosure appeared to signal an effort by the White House to distance itself from the F.B.I. in the debate over whether the Bush administration did enough in the summer of 2001 to deter a possible terrorist attack in the United States in the face of increased warnings.
The character assassination machinery is in full swing.
But they swung and missed at the high fastball that Richard A. Clarke threw past their collective ear.
OK, so let's go after the ENTIRE 9/11 COMMISSION! What a great idea! If we can't stop them, we'll make them look like assholes before they get anywhere NEAR a report!
The finger-pointing will probably increase next week when numerous current and former senior law enforcement officials, including Attorney General John Ashcroft, testify before the Sept. 11 commission. In an unusual pre-emptive strike, Mr. Ashcroft's chief spokesman on Friday accused some Democrats on the commission of having "political axes to grind" in attacking the attorney general, who oversees the F.B.I., and unfairly blaming him for law enforcement failures.
A similar accusation against the commission was also leveled by Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican with ties to the White House, in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday.
More character assassination:
Another Democratic panel member, Jamie S. Gorelick, said at Thursday's hearing that Mr. Ashcroft was briefed in the summer of 2001 about terrorist threats "but there is no evidence of any activity by him."
Such criticism led Mark Corallo, Mr. Ashcroft's chief spokesman at the Justice Department, to say Friday that "some people on the commission are seeking to score political points" by unfairly attacking Mr. Ashcroft's actions before Sept. 11.
"Some have political axes to grind" against Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Corallo said in an interview, naming Ms. Gorelick, who was the deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration; Mr. [Timothy J.] Roemer, a former congressman from Indiana, and Richard Ben-Veniste, the former Watergate prosecutor.
While insisting that he was not speaking personally for Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Corallo said he was offended by Ms. Gorelick's remarks in particular. Offering a detailed preview of Mr. Ashcroft's testimony next week, he said the attorney general was briefed repeatedly by the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. on threats posed by Al Qaeda and was told that the threats were directed at targets overseas. "He was not briefed that there was any threat to the United States," Mr. Corallo said. "He kept asking if there was any action he needed to take, and he was constantly told no, you're doing everything you need to do."
Ummmm, why is Ashcroft's STAFF telling HIM what to do, or not do?
Isn't leadership a beautiful thing?
Ashcroft will soon find that trying to pass that gall stone was downright comfortable compared to having the American public's foot up his ass.
But as all this ugliness unfolds, even a Republican stranglehold on the House of Representatives will be unable to stem the calls for Impeachment proceedings as they begin popping up around the country.
Believe me, if "The Hammer," Rep. Tom DeLay or House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert get a faint whiff that Bush has become a liability to THEIR hanging onto THEIR positions of privilege, they'll be the first ones to bring an Impeachment bill to the House floor.
For, as anyone who can read a poll number can attest, if fibbing about getting a blowjob under your desk constitutes a High Crime and Misdemeanor, just what level does being briefed about a possibly deadly, catastrophic attack on U.S. soil or in U.S. skies and doing nothing about it sit on?
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 3:48 PM
Finding Cheap Labor...
AP Washington: Jets Force Down Plane Near Bush Ranch0 comments
I guess the prez needed some help in clearing out that brush.
posted by Gotham 2:43 AM
Like Clockwork...
You knew this story was coming.0 comments
HoustonChronicle.com - Insurgents kill Halliburton driver, soldier
The insurgents can't be forced out, driven out, burned out.
So, Halliburton's just going to buy them out.
They won't stand a chance.
posted by Gotham 2:03 AM
Friday, April 09, 2004
Beware Shoddy Reporting...
... of the Right-Wing Kind.0 comments
Shoddy reporting is becoming widespread.
For example, William Glanz in the rightist The Washington Times:
Positive omens for economy on two fronts
The Labor Department yesterday said new applications filed for jobless claims fell from 342,000 to 328,000 for the week ending April 3, an indication companies aren't shedding workers because they believe the economy is picking up.
A bit of a logic leap, eh, William?
First, Glanz misses the fact that 328,000 more people were summarily dumped onto the street by their employers. But, William seems to miss the "individual pain" aspect of that statistic, since he doesn't bother to interview any of the 328K to get their side of the story. You know, a feel-good, "How does it feel to be part of an improving economy?"-type angle. William just plops numbers into his story.
Second, William doesn't seem to entertain the notion that, perhaps, the first-time filers number is dropping because American businesses are flat running out of jobs to cut. Six people are now doing the work of fourteen to eighteen, and they are just as thinly stretched as is possible. Companies can't get away with having only five people do the work, or they would have already done so. Many companies have reached their downsizing "Fail-Safe" point.
The nation's unemployment rate increased, however, edging up to 5.7 percent in March as the number of people looking for work increased.
Hold onto your hat, there, William, but if the economy does improve, and hundreds of thousands of Americans who have given up looking for work in frustration feel a twinge of hope and start adding themselves back onto the rolls of those "unemployed, and looking for work," you're going to see quite the spike in the Unemployment Rate. How does 6% to 8% unemployment grab you, William?
yesterday's new economic data created optimism that companies could begin hiring.
Among whom?
William, if you're going to have a byline, please refrain from writing patently stupid, illogical things.
Neither a small business owner nor IBM has been looking for "the All Clear Signal" to begin hiring.
When someone sees a trending of numbers on THEIR ledgers that says it's time to up the payroll, it will happen. Not before.
William, your retail numbers section just jumps off the page. You spend a couple of graphs extolling March retail sales jumps of from 6% to 19.8% to buttress the new, surging economy concept. Then, you throw in this bit of dopiness:
Same-store sales are not likely to be as strong the rest of the year, said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers.
"March most likely will be the peak for the year," he said.
How does "we just shot our collective, proverbial wad" translate into "Oh, boy! Here we go!" exactly, William?
Despite yesterday's positive economic news, rising gasoline prices remain a lingering sore spot.
Motorists can expect gasoline prices to rise another nickel a gallon before the end of June, with bigger increases in the West and Northeast.
Gasoline prices will average $1.76 a gallon throughout the summer as supplies will remain tight and demand increases to record levels, the Energy Information Administration predicted yesterday.
The analysis said fuel prices probably will continue to increase over the next three months and then decline somewhat during the rest of the summer. It said the average between now and the end of June is likely to be about $1.81 a gallon nationwide.
Ummm, William, how does this say anything new or positive to you?
Real Wages have dipped into NEGATIVE territory, with those lucky enough to have jobs not seeing raises in years, while their benefits have been cut back and their hours increased. With no extra money in their checks, ANY rise in prices slices away their spending potential, with no greater value. People still get 10 gallons of gas, they just spend twice as much for it, which means there is that much less money for other spending.
Repeat after me, William: "D'Uh!"
Then, there is this topper:
• This story is based in part on wire service reports. [emphasis from the original.]
Why don't you just say, "This was a cut-n-paste job I took off the wires 'cause I'm under deadline and my editor on this Moonie-owned rag is breathing down my neck," since that's exactly how it reads.
But you get points for quasi-honesty, there, William.
Just not any for journalism.
posted by Gotham 4:38 PM
Bush Thoughts...
Dana Milbank and Robin Wright write in The Washington Post:0 comments
This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency.
Now, you'll notice that's the same timeframe (238 days) that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice claimed yesterday was too short a time to devise a defense against 9/11.
Also, it seems too short a timeframe for George W. Bush to clear all that frickin' brush off his Universal back-lot ranch.
Just what CAN this man do in eight months?
Then there's this:
The president and his White House aides have not changed their public claims that the uprising in Iraq is the work of a relatively small number of extremists who will inevitably be crushed. But, in private, Bush is apparently expressing a more grim view. According to the Kremlin, he placed a 20-minute call to Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, and "serious distress was expressed" about the "escalation of violence." Bush aides refused to discuss the details of the conversation.
While the White House has been sanguine about the turmoil in Iraq, some of its allies are calling for a more frank acknowledgment of trouble. Kenneth L. Adelman, a Reagan administration official who is close to several Bush officials, said he is surprised that "it's a lot tougher slogging than I expected" in Iraq. He said Bush should make new overtures both to Democrats and to traditional allies urging them to condemn the violence. He should tell them that "now is not the time to say I told you so, and urge the allies to become more heavily involved," he said.
No, now is the time for Bush to get his best charming goofy grin on his face and say to Democrats and to the world community: "I'm sorry. I was wrong. We made a mess. Would you help me, please?"
He might just find the answer would be, "Yes."
posted by Gotham 1:46 PM
Those in Glass Houses...
With all the GOP palaver over the ads run by MoveOn.org and other liberal groups which scrupulously follow the campaign finance laws, you would think they would go to any length to avoid a headline such as this:0 comments
House GOP Committee Pays Soft Money Fine
But then, of course, you'd be wrong.
posted by Gotham 1:18 PM
Condi to U.S.: "Hey, Shit Happens!"
Thursday proved to be Self-Deception Day. Or perhaps, Self-Destruction Day.0 comments
Yesterday offered us two extremely leaden, sodden attempts at fending off an overwhelming, stark and deadly reality:
In Testimony to 9/11 Panel, Rice Sticks to the Script
and
'THE ALAMO': A Mythic Last Stand Stripped of Fantasy.
I guess the titles might almost be interchangeable.
Just as the creative types are stuck dragging this dead-elephant movie around with them, so is the Bush administration left dragging around the party line that they are somehow competant and on top of situations as they arise.
It makes me sad to see that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice maintains the fantasy that her office had a basic core competancy concerning world events after the turn of this new century.
Yesterday, everyone, it seems, was in over their heads.
Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William Barret Travis, despite their best efforts, still were not going to get out of the Alamo alive.
Many people at Disney, and many of the creative types connected with 'The Alamo' find their careers in tatters; some careers may actually be dead.
And yesterday, Dr. Rice showed just how astonishingly ill-suited for her job she has been. She starkly had no answers. She showed no remorse for her office's deadly failures. She clearly stated that she still had no other ideas as to what to do, other than what had already been done. IF there was a problem, she insisted throughout her testimony, it was obviously with "The System"—or perhaps, of course, with the FBI—and "Gosh, y'know? What's a girl to do? (smile, blink, blink)" But, most damagingly, she showed that she fully had no understanding that there could be an impending problem, after countless briefings and warnings.
Mostly she showed how in over her head she was—with such deadly consequences.
Instead of being a role model for women everywhere—showing that she was tough, smart and savvy enough to handle the immensely difficult pressures of the second most important job in the world—Dr. Rice has set the struggle to smash the glass ceiling back by uncountable years.
It's now clear that, like the good administration pet that she is, she needed to have her nose rubbed in the ashes of the Pentagon and World Trade Center before she could grasp that she had a problem on her hands.
And in an amazing act of political self-immolation, she bravely trooped before the 9/11 Commission yesterday and gallantly attempted on behalf of the Bush administration to prove that the sun does appear to come up in the west.
Of course, the only one more culpable than the incompetant employee is the person who actually gave them the job!
posted by Gotham 11:45 AM
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Cause and Effect
GOP Try to Curb Medical Malpractice Suits0 comments
It's easy!
Just curb medical malpractice.
Voila!
No medical malpractice suits.
Everyone's healthy and happy.
It's the easy ones that seem to get past the Grand Old Party.
posted by Gotham 3:35 AM
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
If They Start Climbing Over the Tables, George, Run!
Charlotte Observer: $2,000 meal, but no utensils0 comments
At the bottom of the menus distributed at President Bush's $1.5 million Charlotte fund-raiser Monday:
"At the request of the White House, silverware will not accompany the table settings," it said in discreetly fine print.
No silver. No plastic.
The lack of utensils might have been why many plates went virtually untouched.
The reason: So the tinkle of silver wouldn't disrupt the president's speech.
Not even a plastic tinkle.
Funny, but Republicans have been tinkling on people for years. It's what they do.
Maybe George W. Bush just doesn't like the idea of standing up in front of 750 people with weapons in their hands. Even if the people supposedly support him and the weapons are plastic.
posted by Gotham 5:17 PM
Bush's Cry for Help
George W. Bush Sees Different Economic Universe0 comments
The president has fallen off the wagon again!
My gawd!
He is obviously back doing cocaine. Immense amounts of cocaine.
Who knows? He's probably drinking heavily again, too. Have you seen the physical changes in our Boy Wonder from those 2000 Election Year Debate clips the networks have started running?
It might just be NarcAnon time again.
Does this constitute another blackout period for him? One in which he won't remember where he was for these last few years? It does seem to bear uncanny resemblence to his National Guard days.
In Bush's version of economic reality, displaced workers are being retrained with government help for higher-tech, higher-paying jobs.
And he said he would offer new proposals on job training this week.
"Our economy has increasing demand for workers with advanced skills, such as teachers, healthcare workers and environmental engineers. But too many Americans do not have these kinds of skills," Bush said.
Oh, a lot of drugs...
The only environmental jobs on the horizon in THIS country are spokesperson/spinmeister jobs for companies that pollute our air and water, killing our children with impugnity.
You might ask any Registered Nurse or Doctor you happen to know about job opportunities in the healthcare field, and they'll tell you that the only growth jobs are either your $6/hr. "Technician" jobs, or your spokesperson/spinmeister jobs for those companies which are squeezing millions of Americans out of the healthcare system altogether or squeezing further millions of dollars out of the carcass of the system we have left.
... retrained with government help ...
There was a report on CNN last night which stated that government job retraining programs over the years have been a dismal, great-sounding political panacea—that they've never worked in GOOD times, with the best governmental intentions in place. As merely a fleeting photo-op, precious little Bush administration money has been ear-marked for this, and even that much will be totally wasted. They might just as well give folks the cash, which might at least keep them from being evicted. But to push useless, minimal training for non-existant jobs is screwing with peoples' hopes.
And THAT is truly evil.
... for higher-tech, higher-paying jobs.
A perfect example of how cocaine leads you into talking nonstop while having no idea whatsoever of what you're actually saying, other than it MUST be brilliant.
More circumstancial evidence of a drug relapse.
He apparently doesn't realize that "high-tech" jobs are, and have been, the primary targets for outsourcing. And that what's left of these formerly lucrative fields is now wildly over-populated by the recently laid off.
He also has missed the fact that there ARE NO "higher-paying jobs" in America anymore.
American wages have been flat and/or depressed for years now. Employees' Real Wages have actually dropped into NEGATIVE territory since Bush took power.
I'm giving Bush the benefit of the doubt here, saying that these are just blackouts on his part. The only alternative would be to call him a lying scum weasel who cares not a whit about anyone on this planet other than himself (gee, just like with a junkie...), and that strikes me as an unseemly thing to charge a sitting American president with.
"Our economy has increasing demand for workers with advanced skills, such as teachers, healthcare workers and environmental engineers. But too many Americans do not have these kinds of skills," Bush said.
Notice how he suggests three career paths that have historically been undervalued and underpaid?
According to his Press Enabler Scott McClellan: He's thinkin'; always thinkin'!
I firmly believe that it's time for another Bush family intervention from those who care for him—or profess to (maybe that's part of the problem!). It's time for George H. W. Bush, ol' "41" himself, to view this as if his troubled oldest boy has drunkenly driven up on America's lawn this time, and Dad HAS to step in sternly to get his beloved son back on the straight and narrow. Maybe First Helpmeet Laura Bush should threaten to leave our hero again if he doesn't clean up.
Stern measures, indeed. But important ones, if they love young George.
And if they love their country.
They should consider it their patriotic duty.
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 4:01 PM
Monday, April 05, 2004
Through the Looking Glass, Chapter XVI
On the Falouja murders:0 comments
"We are not going to do a pell-mell rush into the city," said a senior military spokesman in Iraq. "It's going to be deliberate. It will be precise, and it will be overwhelming. We will reestablish control of that city, and we will pacify that city."
Why not just plow in and go get our guys?
What's up with that?
L.A. Times: U.S. Vows to Find Killers
First, let's get straight just whom we're talking about here.
Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni was correct in his assessment to Congress of how many troops it would take to pacify the entire country of Iraq. But, as we now know, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld was convinced the U.S. could do it on the cheap. For two years now, Rumsfeld has been saying one thing, and paying for another.
So, we've always had half the personnel in Iraq that have been needed, which has led directly to over 400 dead American troops.
And, just as the Defense Dept. is attempting to do at military and National Guard bases throughout the U.S. and around the globe, the shortfall in troops in Iraq is being made up by our old friend, "privatization."
Private civilian armies, under corporate control, armed to the teeth. Paid for by taxpayer dollars. And answerable to no one but their corporate managers, and using the euphemism, "Security Consulting Firms."
Fast forward to last week in Falouja.
These four were not brave American soldiers, fighting for what they believe is freedom; these poor souls also were not civilians, in the sense we generally use: non-combatants who are performing a humanitarian task, such as missionaries, doctors or UN aid workers. Nor were they hapless employees for some company trying to set up shop under its no-bid contract, attempting to put this ravaged country back together again.
No. These guys were right out of a Arnold Schwartzenegger/Chuck Norris/Dolf Lungren/Jean-Claude Van Damme "lock & load," bicep, paramilitary action movie: mercenaries, pure and simple—soldiers-for-hire. Former Special Ops guys who either left after long tours in the military to make some serious money from their warrior skills, or whose military career track was thwarted by champagne generals who "don't know what it means to be a "real soldier'."
Now paid hansomely by "Security Firms" [that phrase should henceforth make your blood run cold] with lucrative Defense Dept. contracts, these Rambo-types get to fly into danger zones and continue their private wars.
But this time, these particular soldiers-of-fortune pushed their luck and their testosterone past the limits of their smarts, and ignored military suggestions to drive around the city of Falouja altogether, or to drive at night. Their arrogance pushed them right through the heart of the city in broad daylight, four very white guys in an SUV—right into one of the many well planned traps that have been reported to have been just sitting there, waiting for someone foolhardy enough to attempt to get through.
Now, we see the official military's response was, "Well, boy, THAT was dumb!" while leaving the clean-up to someone else.
Local Iraqi Civil Defense Corps officers assumed the grim task Thursday of recovering the remains of the slain contractors, who were employed by North Carolina-based Blackwater USA, a security consulting firm. Blackwater officials said the four were guarding convoys delivering food in the Fallouja area.
Of course, it later came out that these were not actually brave Iraqi police who performed the dangerous task of cutting these guys down and carting out the remains. They were Iraqis on the Blackwater payroll. The "brave Iraqi police" were doing something else, as you'll see below.
From House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), comes this:
civilian deaths and the upsurge in attacks on U.S. troops in the Sunni Triangle should prompt "reexamination of our resources there. The Iraqi security forces were supposed to maintain order in Fallouja. That did not happen. And our plan for departing in June was dependent on the Iraqi security forces taking over some of those responsibilities."
Witnesses said Iraqi police in the city did nothing to stop Wednesday's violence.
Swell.
We see now that our plans for a June 30 handover are just going swimmingly.
The reason we have such a hard time pinning down a number for the Iraqi police and new military recruits who are official, and non-Blackwater-et-al-financed, is that they keep taking the U.S. Government money for the training, then wisely deciding that if the entire U.S. military machine can't stop these guys, that there's no reason to stick a target on THEIR backs. At least half the trained recruits have just melted into the sand.
Can't blame them a whit.
Not when serious private-army money gets you killed, and U.S. military commanders say things like this:
At a briefing Thursday in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, senior military spokesman in Iraq, defended a decision by the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force—with 4,000 troops stationed just outside Fallouja—to not immediately respond to the attack or attempt to recover the bodies.
Kimmitt said Marine leaders determined it was too risky to enter the city throughout the day Wednesday. Even if they had, it would have been too late to save the victims, he said.
"A preemptive attack into the city could have taken a bad situation and made it even worse," he said.
Violence near Fallouja continued Thursday when a roadside bomb injured three American troops. The troops were forced to abandon their Humvee, which was later ransacked and set ablaze by a crowd of Iraqis.
In Ramadi on Wednesday night, a car bomb killed six Iraqi civilians at a marketplace, military officials said.
Translation:
Kimmett is saying that the U.S. commanders know full well those 4.000 troops would be 2,000 by nightfall. So, "I ain't goin' in there!" does seem the rational response from everyone concerned.
Especially when you consider the military perspective on these paramilitaries: they're not our guys!
Now, this whole quagmire leads us into assuming The West Bank Approach—the one that's worked, oh, so well for our Israeli brothers-in-arms:
U.S. officials were pressing local government officials in Fallouja to cooperate in the investigation and hand over those responsible. Such cooperation, they said, could prevent further bloodshed that might occur if Marines undertake raids to hunt down the assailants.
"If we can get the city leadership to come out from behind their desks, tell us who these people are, identify who these people are, and even better, perhaps imprison these people themselves, we can avoid a direct conflict," Kimmitt said. "It is up to the … people in Fallouja to determine if they want to do it with a fight or without a fight."
Ah, it's the fault of the general citizenry, I see.
"Hand the thugs over, or we'll burn down your village.
Or we'll have the Rambos do it!"
Sounds just like Palestine.
And Vietnam.
And Little Big Horn.
posted by Gotham 12:58 PM
