Let us all be blunt to ourselves as John McCain would be. The surge worked..it reestablished a mantel over a volcano. To sustain the mantel an endless fielding of 140k troopers at the extension of the empire.

This is the "success". It is the same success that Johnson achieved in the spring, summer and fall of 1968, by Nixon in the spring of 1970 and in the bombings of 1972. It was similar to a short success after mission accomplished. But in 1968, Clark Clifford got his generals to admit that the sustainment commitment was endless. 30000 additional Americans would die to maintain an endless war.

Other empires have such likewise periods of order but the problem of sustaining such "success" requires the bankruptcy of the empires treasury and the cannibalizing of the empire's posterity. In the last two World Wars, France, Germany, United Kingdom eat their own children for their empires and two risers, Japan and Italy ended in devastation. Russia and China ended in gulags.

When John McCain returned from the camps, his fellow officers were studying Thucydides to understand the self destruction of Athens and Alistair Horne's A Savage War of Peace to understand the foolishness of empire, the difficulty of insurgency tied to religion and the courage needed to extract the stranded empire.

He didn't get to that point and his comment of not permitting the Army to win was the old general's line in Vietnam when caught in a lie. By being a hero in prison he in fact was out of the war and learned only the prisoner's ability to endure.

His endurance enables him to accept more tags and bracelets for the mothers and widows, endlessly.

In his world, only fiscal bankruptcy of the nation by war debt will end his persistence. Being well married to beer money, his endurance will have no burden.

Yesterday at the National Defense University, as the market crashes, McCain and RNC release conflicting statements, and the House goes bust, Secretary of Defense Gates made this statement:

"To be blunt, to fail - or to be seen to fail - in either Iraq or Afghanistan would be a disastrous blow to our credibility, both among our friends and allies and among potential adversaries."

It was not in the flow of the body of the speech which was more about the departments weapons acquisition process; but it was similar to a quote the McCain applied against Obama which he attributed the Admiral Mullen.

Bet it will appear in the Thursday debate against Biden.

Will Rice be making a mushroom cloud warning next? Similar hysteria for credibility?

Does anyone outside the people under neocon thought control actually believe we have any credibility?

Her's was a very troubling statement.

The White House Staff, the RNC and McCain's campaign cabal appear to hold the legislature especially the Senate in a contempt equal to that held for the Justice Department, Bill of Rights (with the exception of the second amendment) and fiduciary responsibility.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to counsel the Senator from Arizona that the Senate might be a bit more resistant to his bomber pilot mindset than his previous experience would indicate.

I will believe that a light in all our souls will stay dim no longer. This time the torch will pass to those who have the audacity of hope...hope does not disappoint.

The surge has now raised the cost of maintaining the quagmire and feeding the nearly half million soldiers, contractors and hired local help needed to sustain the occupation. Our allies are being arm twisted to kick in $17billion as payment for not shedding their own blood in Afghanistan. Our investment bankers has sent toxic assets around the world's market because we did not hold them accountable. And the Treasury is near foreclosure by the Chinese debt holders.

Is there reason for "ugly time" distraction? "You bet there is!" as Gov Falling would say with a wink.

The Goebbels crew in the RNC, White House and McCain-Falling campaign have lots of lies to spine to keep the electorate distracted so the cabal can craw under....and as all good totalitarians know - it is best delivered with the voice of a pretty woman as it was with Hanoi Hannah and Tokyo Rose.

Hope does not disappoint…as the bible would say.

Nice job…well done, Senator Obama!

As the report out of 49 (maybe) would indicate, Todd will assume the acting President's control after John McCain delivers the Presidency to the Goebbels cabal at the RNC and White House staff. This would be Ho Chi Minh's final revenge on the bomber pilot's country.

Good drama..if it just stays so.

I'll keep whistling "The Navy Blue and Gold" as I walk past democracy's cemetery.

Unnamed Iraqi minister who was not in an meeting...an unknown source to the shadow pentagon's propaganda paper, The Washington Times...Goebbels's ghost handlers placing line in a speech for America's Axis Sally on Friday, 'It was Obama's fault.'

Bush can't pull off a Yalta deal as his legacy from Iraq. Our hosts in Iraq from the Iranian directed Dawa probably won't cut at deal that doesn't look like an absolute sellout by George. In the fashion of the Cheney learned as the final rear guard for the Vietnam withdraw. Palinspeak has announced a target for blame among those who are too blind and deaf to perceive otherwise.

Inadvertently, Palinspeak may be the leak of a forthcoming leave Iraq demand form Baghdad. Pentagon, CIA and NSA have recordings of it all or at least the source of Palinspeak.