Letters to the Editor
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Chickenhawk Cheerleaders Will Ultimately Face The Reality of Defeat.
In my sytem of rating few writers compare to Greenwald when he exposes those who started and support this insane war. As a World War 2 vet I long ago concluded this was the strangest ever fought by any nation in history. Started by men who avoided serving in uniform when they had a chance to do so; deploying WOMEN into combat. I empathize and pity the Iraqi people because of what these chickenhawks have done to them and their country. We keep hearing their cheerful rhetoric "we are winning" and if this is true then I wonder what their definition of losing is judging by the horrific daily reports of bombings and deaths resulting from our invasion of their country. The Lowrys, Hansons, Perles, Cheneys and others of their ilk knew their war would not be a "slam dunk cakewalk" before they lured our inept leader into pursuing his messianic delusions. Would the American people tolerate a foreign army invading destroying and killing a million of our citizens to impose their system on us? They had long-planned on what we now see in the area- a permanent entrenched U.S. presence in the area to be used as a launching pad to fulfill their agenda to dominate and control this the most energy rich resources on earth and to insure the survival of their lone ally in the area. We who do read history know all empires are unsustainable and will eventually end up in the trash bin. We will eventually withdraw because what cannot last forever simply will not and all the Fox news/Neocon "victory spinners" will not change that. Steve, USN, WW2
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-- KBRtrucker
Great comment--thanks. On his old radio show, Al Franken would hit this point again and again. He probably still is, as a candidate. He argued that we should do what Truman did--set up a commission (Truman did this when Democrats had the WH and the Congress, by the way--) to investigate war profiteering. And yet, as far as I know, this Congress hasn't done much along these lines.
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JM and RMP @ Gore
You could be right. I know he would have a serious fundraising problem, and who in their right mind would want the task of cleaning up the mess the Republicans have visited upon this country?
I tend to think the only way to get Gore in the WH is to draft him. Wasn't Eisenhower drafted? I believe it is a rare occurrence, but it has happened. In my opinion, Gore would make a better president than any of the candidates running. But I also think that, putting Gore himself to the side for a moment, drafting a candidate would be a very healthy thing for the country and the democratic party. It would remind the power players within the party--the ones who have influence in who wins and who loses in the primaries, and even who gets to run for office--that they are not all-powerful.
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'East bound to die, load it up and truck em...
we gonna do what they say can't be done.' (*smoky and the bandit).
Thanks for the breaker/breaker KBRtrucker (&Keep your pedal to the metal, good buddy). I think the consensus around here is that Iraq is a combination of most unfortunate confluences; money for free (our money,as you illustrate, that is), some warped-speed-beam-me-up-scotty version of ArmagaDdoom and the big-wigs aint' getting none (not even on the side.). And if that's not enough, they are completely insane.
that about it. The microbugs have got me grizzled plumb-out bop.
When in doubt; hum
bah.
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Lyin' Little Lowry
I classic Glenn. Great stuff.
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Chat amongst yourselves
Or, go read the new post up above.
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Gore vs. Hillary
These guys are British academics. They have no dogs in this hunt. No bias and a more balanced and objective take on American politic. I was a bit surprised by this myself. According to their calculations Hillary is the least authoritarian of the Democratic frontrunners. The only Dems who score better on that scale are Gravel and Kucinich.
Gore isn't plotted so it's unknown where he would score on that scale. Ron Paul score only slightly lower (lower being better), yet they are virtually the same, and that has more to do with his strong anti-statist leanings. I think they may have got Romney (the most authoritarian) and Giuliani (less so) mixed up. Maybe not.
US primaries
In response to many requests, not only from Americans, The Political Compass™ has charted the most prominent names in the 2007 US Primaries. They have been evaluated through scrutiny of public statements, manifestos, interviews and, crucially, voting records. Our apologies for those not included.
It is important to recognise that The Political Compass™ is a continuum rather than consisting of hard and fast quadrants. For example, Ron Paul on the social scale is actually closer to Dennis Kucinich than to many figures within his own party. But on the economic scale, they are, of course, far apart.
When examining the chart it is important to note that although most of the candidates seem quite different, in substance they occupy a relatively restricted area within the universal political spectrum. Democracies with a system of proportional representation give expression to a wider range of political views. While Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel are depicted on the extreme left in an American context, they would simply be mainstream social democrats within the wider political landscape of Europe. Similarly, Hillary Clinton is popularly perceived as a leftist in the United States while in any other western democracy her record is that of a moderate conservative.
http://www.politicalcompass.org/usprimaries2007
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@ Pedinska
We have a kaiko writer here as well.
:-) I believe you are correct, and that Violet would have appreciated his poetry.
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What they've done with our money
The situation that KBRTrucker describes makes perfect sense to me. You've got an army that is too small and a war that is not popular at home. People are not signing up, so you make the ones you've already got your hooks into do longer tours. You give them all those goodies because if they were living in pup tents and eating MREs, they would revolt and you wouldn't have an army at all. The expense for those gyms and movie screens and driving ranges are what the American taxpayer pays, along with the cost of independent contractors, for not having a draft. Of course, if we had a draft, this war would never have gotten off the ground. And around and around we go...