The New York Times

March 25, 2003

Readers React: Day 6 of the War

(This was before we had even reached Baghdad)

scorpio69er: "We are hamstrung. If we engage in heavy urban warfare we will invariably cause massive civilian casualties, thus undercutting certainly any Iraqi popular support. Our own mounting casualties and those of Iraqi civilians is exactly what Saddam [Now the insurgency--Scorpio] is counting on. We will neither have deposed his regime or won the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

"This thing has 'quagmire' written all over it. Even if we succeed militarily, we will be seen as an occupying force, a la Israel v. the Palestinians. Better buckle up for a very long occupation -- and plenty of suicide bombers."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/readersopinions/23FOR6.html?ex=1206417600&en=3274287e34d20ff4&ei=5070

Anyone who thinks that the solution to the problem will be found in international cooperation and rational energy policies doesn't understand how the world works.

Here, in a nutshell, is the way it is:

"The American way of life is not negotiable."

-George H.W. Bush

Our entire economy is based upon this idea and our military might is specifically designed to insure that this will always be the case. We'll blow up the entire planet and take any resource we believe we need before we'll bow to the dictates of Mother Nature. "Full Spectrum Dominance" is our mantra, not some wimpy "sustainability" model.

The only possible solution will thus first involve the ruin of the entire planet and the deaths of most of humanity. Only then will we reach a point where maybe -- just maybe -- those who remain might construct a better world.

But I doubt it.

...it's that we just can't stand the warmongering bitch!

Hillary the Hawk

The Democrats’ Athena only differs from Bush on the details.

http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_03_27/cover.html

...we'll be full-blown into The Great Depression II: The Special Edition.

This is NOT just another economic downturn.

Examples:

Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies

"...the troubles are quickly spreading to bigger national companies...“You have the makings of a wave of significant bankruptcies”...The cash-short chains are leaving behind tens of millions of dollars in unpaid bills to shipping companies, furniture manufacturers, mall owners and advertising agencies. Many are unlikely to be paid in full, spreading the economic pain..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/business/15retail.html?em&ex=1208404800&en=7494ca2dfbbad8a7&ei=5087%0A

Other headlines today:

* Food and energy costs lead wholesale prices to soar in March

"Inflation at the wholesale level soared in March at nearly triple the rate that had been expected"

* Oil Sets New High Above $113 a Barrel

* Foreclosures jump 57 percent in last 12 months

* Housing Woes in U.S. Spread Around Globe

It's all coming home to roost, folks. The party is over and the fat lady is singing.

...would be to reject both of these candidates at the convention, since neither even has a clear majority of Democratic voters behind them, much less a real shot at winning the White House.

Hillary the bitch has managed not only to make herself totally unpalatable to America, but she's taken Obama down with her.

Unless the convention itself comes up with a thoroughly vetted, nationally viable candidate (like Al Gore), you'd better practice saying "President McCain".

While we readers of Salon would like to think that the majority of Americans have had enough of the Republicans and will surely elect Obama (or even Clinton) over McCain, the fact is that we live in a deeply conservative country. This fact is exacerbated by the near-total control of the right wing over the mass media.

Even now, after 8 years of the worst President in history, the ongoing Iraq debacle and the meltdown of the economy, McCain is dead-even with either Democrat.

SEE:

http://www.pollingreport.com/wh08gen.htm

“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”

-Joseph Goebbels

re: "America would seem to be all about dispossessing the Indians, enslaving blacks, interning the Japanese and now killing Iraqis."

Of course, we're not all about that. You forgot the millions of Southeast Asians we killed during the Vietnam War, the various coups we have engineered of democratically elected governments, the repressive dictatorships we've installed and armed and the death squads we've trained... shall I continue?

"...hundreds of thousands are without food, water or shelter in the wake of the cyclone, but the military junta prioritizes its grip on power..."

Much like the Bush Administration after Katrina.

Indeed I do.

It was... glorious.

:)

...but the headline to this story will:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7390109.stm

:)

...Lincoln had let the South secede from the Union. {sigh}

...an order of Freedom Fries™ with that raw sewage?

pluck·y [ plúkee ] (comparative pluck·i·er, superlative pluck·i·est)

adjective

Definition:

brave: showing courage and determination, especially in the face of danger, difficulty, or superior odds

re: "the Clinton-hate is in danger of damaging the Democratic Party"

It's the CLINTONS who have damaged the Democratic Party!

P.S.

Hillary the Hawk

The Democrats’ Athena only differs from Bush on the details.

http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_03_27/cover.html

The thing that will sink McCain and the Republicans will be the economy.

By the time the elections roll around, it will be apparent to most normal folks (if it isn't already) that we're rapidly heading into 'The Great Depression II: Bush's Parting Gift to America.'

The true economic state of the vast majority of Americans is this: No money, no savings, and any home equity that they might have had is rapidly evaporating as housing continues to collapse. Couple this with unsustainable debt loads and a crummy paycheck to cover it all, while prices for gas, food and healthcare spiral out of control, and you have the recipe for the economic collapse we are witnessing in its incipient stage.

There is nothing that's going to stop this.