I don’t know where John is, but I will be busier than heck for today and probably tomorrow. Catalog all of the atrocities that we missed.
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by Tim F| 81 Comments
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I don’t know where John is, but I will be busier than heck for today and probably tomorrow. Catalog all of the atrocities that we missed.
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The Other Steve
GOP is whining about Democrats DSCC ad. It’s actually quite a good ad, and I’m impressed. Usually they do something stupid.
Meanwhile Republicans are planning a big party on 9/11. There was a thing on NPR about how the Pentagon had hired an advertising firm to try to get students involved in the party. Although, apparently even with advertising most students don’t feel it’s appropriate to throw parties on 9/11.
I kind of like what Britain does. When I was there on 11/11, there was a minute of silence at 11am. This was done everywhere. I was in the airport at the time, and at 11am sharp everybody just stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads.
They just did the same thing recently in honor of the tube bombings from two years ago.
It’s considerably more respectful than throwing a party.
Steve
A couple years back 9/11 was on a weekend for the first time since 2001. A lot of local couples had to make a difficult decision when they found out 9/11 was the last available date for their wedding chapel. No one likes to put off their wedding day, but it’s a “difficult anniversary,” as they say.
Punchy
It’s not about the celebration, per se, as it is keeping it in the minds of Americans. ~2 months before the elections we’re going to see more 9/11 references, Orange Alerts, and “terror cell” arrests than in the past 2 years combined.
Sick fucks, these Admin officials are…
(TOS–I’m ignorant–what’s “11/11” in Britian?)
Tim F.
Armistice day. The 11 am part gives it away.
SeesThroughIt
An atrocity about to be unleashed upon us: Flavor of Love 2. Dear god.
dlw
aka Vetran’s day. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 1918 the cease fire that signaled the end of WWI took affect. We’re supposed to honor it here in the US with a moment of silence but no one seems to know that anymore. I still do, but what can you expect from an aging Liberal?
BTW, we tend to have a party of some sort near 9/11 but only because my daughter’s birthday is 9/12.
Sojourner
Did anybody catch Newt Gingrich on Meet the Press? Normally, I find him interesting even if I don’t agree with him on much. But, sadly, he’s started the same fear drumbeat as the Bushies. He claimed that WWIII had started. Are these guys really that cynical? Do they really recognize they have no sellable ideas except fear?
It was quite disheartening.
DougJ
There was a British song by some Madness-like band called Eleven Past Eleven a few years ago. Did it have something to do with Armistice Day? Or is the name a coincidence?
Steve
Oh right, World War I, the war to end all wars. Funny how we’ve lost sight of its importance, or something.
fwiffo
I thought you were gonna ask me about the pig.
SeesThroughIt
Yeah, I’m sort of the same way. I mean, when he’s actually in office, he sucks just as hard as most power-ladder-climbing politicians, which is to say quite a bit. And I think he’s a complete fucking jackhole for his lists of words to always use when describing allies and enemies. But out of office, I find him interesting and even respectable. I can’t really explain why. It’s like a watered-down version of how I find Pat Buchanan completely repugnant, yet I respect his intellect.
The Other Steve
You should pay more attention to Gingrich. He’s going to be the GOP candidate in 2008.
Paul Wartenberg
Things to note:
1) Middle East engulfed in flames.
2) People actually paid good money to see “Little Man,” a total ripoff of a good Bugs Bunny cartoon.
3) Katherine Harris fired her 114th campaign crew, and is turning into the biggest diva ever (Mariah, Courtney, JLo, Whitney, ladies you have met your match).
4) BushCheneyCo. still bankrupting nation, no sign of outrage in the streets about it.
Pooh
As one hoping for a Dem to win, I really hope so…(anyone but Sen. Straight Talk, really)
The Other Steve
No way McCain get’s the nod. Republicans hate him.
But Gingrich, he’s the man! They love his partisanship.
The Other Steve
Katherine Harris is interesting. During the 2000 election recount fiasco, I noted that Harris was acting rather insanely and outside the law. No real clear evidence, and certainly being a bit insane is not unusual for politics.
But her actions as congresswoman, and now this campaign for Senate shows clearly that she’s fucking nuts, and that fucking nuts attitude most likely contributing greatly to her horribly partisan actions in 2000.
That being said.
Please send her some money. We don’t want her campaign to collapse before November.
Pb
Sojourner,
Yeah, I saw some of that. I thought Newt made some good and thoughtful points now and then, but of course ultimately I disagree with his conclusions. It’s interesting to watch how much he and Biden agreed on some of the basic things (and Biden is as much of a war hawk as just about anyone in the Democratic party), but where they did disagree, I had to side with Biden–some things are just over the line.
But what was really entertaining was at the end, where Russert tried some gotcha crap on Biden, and Newt stepped in and brilliantly defended him. I’ll say this about Newt, he can be quite civil and respectable when he wants to be, unlike some of the hardcore Republican party hacks out there.
Pb
The Other Steve,
Didn’t she already pledge to run her fortune into the ground, though? How’s that coming along…
The Other Steve
Other newsbits…
Wingnut doctor who blew up his townhouse has died.
Win Rockefeller, Lt. Gov or Arkansas has died of some rare bloood disorder.
The Other Steve
Newt logic is always kind of like.
i = 2
j = 2
k = 2
Since i -j = 0, and j -k = 0, and i – k = 0
This proves that i, j, and k are all terrorists who will kill America at the first chance they get!
That is, his conclusions are always rather disjointed from the facts.
Pooh
Paul, I’ll add one…The New Republic, shockingly, wants Israel to invade Syria. Once that happens, I for one cannot wait the profligation of 175-word, single sentence Marty Peretz posts demanding that we jump right in…
The Other Steve
She took $100k out of her campaign fund to renovate her townhome in Washington DC.
My guess is, because it needed some work to put it back on the market. :-)
The Other Steve
As long as it’s not US forces.
DOH!
Why don’t we just invade the Marshall Islands and get this over with once and for all!
mrmobi
TOS, I think you could be right about Gingrich in 2008. Certainly, he’s testing the waters right now. Actually, he’s had a pretty high profile for the last year.
I saw Press the Meat with Gingrich and Biden. Despite the war-mongering from Newt, neither of them said anything remotely positive about the administration. In fact, I think, except for the World War III characterization, they pretty much agreed on the current state of affairs, i.e., we don’t seem to have a coherent policy, or any policy.
SeesThroughIT, I find Buchanan pretty much repugnant too, but keep in mind he does not believe in “empire” as the neocons do. He’s convinced that this mis-adventure in Iraq is part of a policy which the founding fathers would be adamantly against. As such, he’s not a “hawk” in the traditional sense. So, I hold my nose and keep saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Get ready folks in Balloon Land, we are in for the mother of all 9/11 barrages. Fear is their only card, and they will play it unashamedly.
One last thing, do any of you out there think that someone named “Newt” could actually become POTUS? Just curious.
Pooh
Yeah, though much like John Derbyshire, I have a soft-spot for him because though he may be an asshole, he’s honest about it – (I remember him scoffing at the notion of a mass of elderly Florida jews voting for him in 2000…)
Punchy
He’s not bad (as always, that’s relative) on the McLaughlin Group. Actually, stunningly reasonable and NOT a kook-aid drinker. Wouldn’t say I wouldn’t spit in his coffee, but not the neocon monster that so many other Admin junkies are.
LITBMueller
Heh. So the Pentagon wants to turn 9/11 into our version of Guy Fawkes Day, eh?
Here’s a good one: India claims “Some of the main fundraisers for the terror group suspected of masterminding the Bombay train bombings are operating from Britain, according to Indian intelligence officials.”
So, does this mean that if India started bombing London, Bush would say its OK?
chopper
actually, the band is Nine Below Zero and the song is ‘Eleven Plus Eleven’.
danelectro
i wonder how much money ol’ pat got to run perot’s reform party into the ground?
S.W. Anderson
Punchy wrote:
You’re so right; we’ve already had a steady string of revelations about old plots, tentative current plots, flaky and going-nowhere plots, etc.
I have a strong suspicion Karl Rove, or someone he put up to it, was responsible for that envelope with the scary white powder the N.Y. Times got last Friday. Anything to heighten public anxiety about terrorism.
Don’t be surprised if Osama bin Laden chips in with a GOP-helpful videotape in late October, repeating what he did in ’04. He apparently prefers to be up against Bush and congressional Republicans, as opposed to people who might know what the hell they’re doing.
VidaLoca
Yes. The converse is also true, in other words don’t be surprised if OBL is “discovered” and blown up in late October.
S.W. Anderson
Sojourner wrote:
Bush & Co. = today’s neoconservative crackpot crusaders.
Newt Gingrich = yesterday’s neoconservative crackpot crusader.
Unlike cheese and fine wine, neoconservative crackpot crusaders don’t benefit from the aging process.
Punchy
No no no no no, and no. They CANNOT catch/kill him, b/c that “ends” this WOT. Without the OBL boogeyman, they’ve got no FACE of this evil AQ thang they’re fighting.
Shorter: To lose the enemy is to end the WOT. To end the WOT is the loss of every Repub’s “strength”. Never. Going. To happen.
S.W. Anderson
VidaLoca, I suppose anything’s possible, but I what you’re suggesting seems impossible unless they just blow sonething up and say they got OBL.
After all, Bush says doesn’t think about OBL any more and the CIA unit detailed to hunt him down has been reassigned. I suppose maybe if he was spotted hosting a do at the Cannes Film Festival, someone might try to get him, but otherwise lying’s as close as it’s likely to get.
capelza
I have a question..is this true?
SeesThroughIt
Up until recently, I would’ve agreed with you, Punchy. But now that Israel and Lebanon are going at it and Bush is talking about Syria and whatnot, it seems like there are plenty of other spectres besides OBL to scare people into the voting booths. But this administration is too incompetent to catch OBL anyway, so it’s kind of a moot point.
DougJ
Rest assured, moonbats, World War III will be the war to end all wars. It will be so much larger than World War I and World War II that it won’t be fair to it to even call WW I and WW II “world wars”, given their comparatively small scope.
And the beautiful part is that when you figure in future gas revenues, it will only cost the American taxpayer about 1.6 billion dollars. The entire world will greet us as liberators.
Nutcutter
The Bush-Blair open mike thing is all the rage on the MSM websites today. Check the excellent video and audio at CNN.com.
Watch and listen a couple of times. What strikes you?
VidaLoca
In the long run, yes. But since when have these folks been “long run” thinkers? To them it’s all politics, it’s all about doing whatever you have to do to win the next election. Deal with the consequences later. Though I’d agree with you that he is an ace-in-the-hole for them, they’d have to come up with a “new & improved” OBL.
Indeed, but that’s the beauty of Bush’s saying that he “doesn’t think about OBL any more” — now the WOT can go on, with or without OBL. In that sense he’s expendable — and in fact he’s supposed to be suffering from kidney failure or some other terminal illness (or not — who really knows). But if he’s expendable and dies of natural causes, what good is he then, he’s just dead.
DougJ
We’re in the middle of World War III and all you moonbats want to talk about is the president swearing into an open mic. Shame on you.
And shame on the stations that aired the president’s profanity. I hope they all get huge fines from the FCC.
LITBMueller
My wife and I were struck by the fact that George’s mama never told him not to chew with his mouth open. And, he talks with his mouth full, too.
In other words, Dubya comes across as even more of the slobbish, moronic ‘Murican off-camera. “Yo, Blair!”
That’s the leader of the free world! What a dork! But, don’t worry: the MSM (especially FOX) will spin it as straight-talkin’.”
Ugh.
Steve
Ezra Klein is on a roll today:
That was my reaction too. With all that’s going on, it’s headline news that the President used a naughty word? Good God.
Any time you take a step back and look at our political debate objectively, it has to strike you that we’re just not a very serious nation.
VidaLoca
No plan. No policy. No sense of responsibility, involvement, or initiative. Or history. And no embarrassment about any of the above.
In his mind he’s already the ex-president.
Really — you could walk into any bar in the country, pull any random sot off a bar stool, and get him to burp out the equivalent of “What they need to do is get Syria to get Hizbollah to stop doing this s**t, and it’s over”.
Pb
capelza,
Probably, although it shouldn’t be too hard to find and run the numbers on that. We do give a lot of aid to Israel. Then again, (and I’m assuming the next word there is ‘population’) it isn’t like we’re going to give India or China a ton of aid just because they have over a billion people, each.
Population:
Israel comprises something like 0.095% of the world’s population. Compare to the US, at 4.46%, or China, at 19.7% (yes, really).
Aid:
This sounds about right, if you don’t count Iraq; The Christian Science Monitor noted in 2004 that #2 is Egypt.
Steve
That must be talking about military aid to Israel, right? No way does Israel get 1/3 of our non-military foreign aid.
Punchy
Hey, I’m no CIA agent (surprise!), but there can only be so many dialysis centers in Eastern Afghanistan. So…I’m gunna take a stab here and suggest they may wanna stake out a few of ’em and see if the bearded one limps in…
As for this:
What a PERFECT time for a naming contest. What to name this conflict…”7-Day War”? Pffft. Here’s my entry:
This Lebanon-sense Is-for-raeli Conflict
Kinda rolls off the tongue…
VidaLoca
Steve,
Here’s one source that claims that Israel gets 1/3 of the total foreign aid package:
caveat: these look like 1997 numbers, so they may be outdated. Also, I have no familiarity with the overall objectivity of the source.
Mr Furious
Here’s my Dick of the Week from last week.
And it’s not Arlen Specter…
Pb
Steve,
I’m guessing, military and non-military.
Nutcutter,
What struck me was that bit about putting together some sort of international presence. That’s from the transcript, mind you.
Zifnab
I think I heard US aid to Isreal was something in the area of $3 billion. But if you recall back in ’03 when we were starting to go to war with Iraq, Turkey made a big to-do in the UN in protest. In response, the US threatened to pull the $1 billion/year stipend we pitch Turkey.
Its also worth noting that Turkey and Isreal are legacies of the Cold War in which the US was in constant conflict with the USSR for control of the Middle East. So it’s not like we’re just dropping money on Isreal because they’ve all got such pretty faces.
Pb
For a hopefully more relevant statistic–the US gives more aid per capita to Israel than it does to Palestine; more numbers in the article.
Nutcutter
My take too. That segment where is chmping and smacking the food like something out of a bad tv commercial just left me …. throwing up a little in my mouth. Can you imagine a world leader sitting down to eat with this guy, and thinking, Jesus, this hillbilly is the leader of the free world?
Pb
So what has changed now that the USSR is gone–now we’re just at war with the Middle East for control of the Middle East?
The Other Steve
Yeah, even Putin offered Russian troops.
The Other Steve
Last I looked Russia was still the #1 arms importer to the middle east.
So maybe not much?
skip
“Total U.S. aid to Israel is approximately one-third of the American foreign-aid budget, ”
Wrong. It is much more. Egypt gets the second most aid, and you needn’t be von Clausewitz to realize that this money is a bribe to keep Egypt off Israel’s case.
Pb
The Other Steve,
If you know of any recent statistics, I’d love to see them–what happened, man, we used to be #1! USA! USA!
RSA
True, as far as I can tell. Here’s a good source of info on foreign aid. To put the $3 billion to Israel in perspective, consider that that’s slightly less than 1% of total U.S. spending (leaving Iraq out of the picture).
And while Israel may account for only 0.001% of the Earth’s population, Israel also constitutes 100% of the democracies in the Middle East, which makes it worth some attention.
skip
Question:
If, as the overheard Bush-Blair exchange indictates, Bush does not blame the Lebanese government, why is he letting the IDF wreck the country?
RSA
Oops—I meant to write, above, that all foreign aid, excluding Iraq comes to less than 1% of the U.S. budget.
Steve
Really!
Zifnab
Have you ever had a friend who kicks his dog? You know its wrong to kick the dog, you feel sorry for the dog, and you think your friend is an asshole for doing it. However, your friend still donates millions of dollars into your election funds and has large and powerful support at home and abroad, and besides this is a hot-button issue during an election year where your poll numbers aren’t so hot. So you just decide to pretend you weren’t paying attention?
Its kinda like that.
S.W. Anderson
Punchy wrote, about OBL:
All the more reason to suspect he’s really in a city, most likely in Pakistan, or at least spends a good part of his time there. Convenient to clinic and studio, natch.
skip
RSA says, ” Israel also constitutes 100% of the democracies in the Middle East, which makes it worth some attention.”
You forgot Hamas in Gaza, and our happy little Green Zone republic in Iraq.
Zifnab
And don’t forget Lebanon, that just recently voted out its pro-Syrian parliment.
Oh wait. Lebanon is a flaming wreck. Does it still count?
S.W. Anderson
I’m going to crawl out on a creaky limb here and guess that standing by while Lebanon gets the crap kicked out of it, maybe destabilizing the country so it lapses into another civil war, isn’t in our best interest, the Israelis’ or the region’s.
RSA
Oops, forgot all about those. The latter also has a bit of post-cold-war anti-commie cachet, in that Putin wouldn’t touch the kind of democracy Iraq has.
RSA
Oh, and the direction this discussion is going reminds me of something I posted elsewhere: Some people are talking about what’s going on in the Middle East as a “reverse domino” effect. Well, no, that would have the dominoes standing up again. (Wouldn’t that be nice?) Instead, the dominoes are just falling in different directions than a few very powerful people had said they would.
HyperIon
or Jordan
Cyrus
A cousin of mine is in a similar situation. He won’t have the “difficult anniversary” connotations for the rest of the marriage, but it was a different kind of awkwardness. He got married on September 15, 2001. And, yes, he lives in Manhattan, and that’s where the service was.
They considered postponing it, and I gather it was tough for some guests to attend, but it happened on schedule (the honeymoon was postponed, though, since both bride and groom were doctors) and my immediate family and I made it. For some strange reason, though, we didn’t feel up to the usual tourist stuff…
Punchy
Lemmie try again…
This Lebanonsense Israeli Syria-ous.
I’ll be here all week. Make sure you tip the waitresses.
Steve
I’m a big fan of the “get on with your life, don’t let the terrorists win” mentality, but everybody has their limits, so it’s nice to hear that they went ahead with the wedding. Of course, I’m assuming they weren’t married downtown. One of the reasons why the sports leagues got back into action so soon, one of the reasons it was nice to have the World Series in New York in 2001, was because you don’t really start getting over a tragedy until you return to your normal routine. (Of course, what was even nicer was that the Yankees lost.)
The Other Steve
Some guys on CNN pointed out that a failure of the Bush foreign policy is not understanding that Democracy isn’t the criteria for success. you need a lot of other things such as rule of law, etc.
Which goes back to my premise that all these things flow from capitalism.
Making me smarter than Bush. But I already knew that.
Krista
TOS – You’re selling yourself short, my friend. My bellybutton lint is smarter than that infant.
Richard 23
Nutcutter said:
Coincidentally, your comment left me throwing up just a little in my mouth. For once I’d like to throw up in someone else’s mouth. Strike that. I’m feeling queasy again.
Krista
Boys are gross.
DougJ
I just thought I’d share this scene from Dana Milbank’s article on the stem cell debate with you
Krista
Sounds like a pretty easy drawing, if she used 1:1 scale…
Punchy
Amen, brother. Yacking in a foreign top-hole is easy to brag about, hard to accomplish. Props to the projectile vomiter that can hit the bank shot; off the schnooz, and into the head oriface.
Pb
That guy on The Colbert Report tonight, talking about embryos, was actually pretty funny, especially with his hypothetical scenario… That girl would have been crying her eyes out–it’d be like what’s happening in Lebanon and Israel now, in miniature, except instead of bombs and rocket attacks, you’d just have a torrential gust of… ah… more like a sneeze or something.
Pb
More sad news from the G8 summit–it looks like Bush got rejected by the only woman there! I guess he should talk to Blair and Putin about how to be more suave and debonair, and maybe cool it with the hit-and-run massage tactics from now on…