Why are you people so eager to defend the Iranians but tear down our own military? -- Stan Babco

Come on Stan, give it a rest. You don't honestly see it that way do you? Some of us commenting here were part of "our military" for a time.

No one is tearing down our military as far as I can tell. People were tearing into a rightwing authoritarian warmonger who was in way over his mutton filled head. Does merely telling the truth now constitute an eagerness to tear down our military?

Most of the so called liberals that post on this site "support the troops" in the only way that matters at this point. Namely they would rather our troops don't have to go off and get shot to shit for lies and moneyed interests and want to bring them out of that illegal occupation quagmire ASAP. In other words, they support them in the exact opposite ways that BushCo and Haliburton "support the troops." BushCo, Haliburton, Big Oil etc. -- they don't support the troops. Hell they don't even support America. They support only themselves and their bottom line.

Maximus Decimus Meridius,

Obama would be surrendering the extreme right's illusions in response to reality.

Knows better,

Obama’s flip flops are necessary because the media vampires want to create freakshow spectacles. McCain’s flip flops, on the other hand, are because reality is exposing his illusions.

McCain really is stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's his last chance to be president, so he cannot sit out this election. On one side, he has the remaining Republican base, a base whose votes he desparately needs to have a reasonable chance of being elected. But most of the reasonable Republicans have fled the party, leaving a radical base of neocons, wingnut evangelicals, racists, bigots and such. So, he in turn must ingratiate himself to the base by vocalizing agreement with radical policies and positions. On the other side he has the more centrist independents. To woo the independents in sufficient numbers to achieve electoral victory, he must tone down his rhetoric. He must convince folks in the heartland he is the mythical regular man who you'd want to have a beer and a shot with, while sitting on barstools facing one of those scenic Hamms beer signs (like this one: http://wesclark.com/am/our_hamms_sign.jpg), as a low silky voice croons, 'from the land of sky blue waters (wa-ah-ters)...Hamms, the beer refreshing...Hamms, the beer refreshing...Hamms...' But if he deviates too much from the policies favored by the radical base he risks displeasing the base, thus demotivating them, ensuring they will stay home in droves on election night, leading to an inevitable Obama victory. And we haven't even mentioned the war in Iraq.

So you see, McCain really is stuck between Iraq and a hard place.

Truly, what do you think? Typo or truth? Seeing as I regularly fly around this neighborhood, don't you think I know the difference?

Given it was a US airstrike that very possibly lost us Pakistan as an ally yesterday, never mind the strange sounds emanating from the West Wing these days?

Short version is yes, I trust you would know the difference, and no, I don't trust airspace and territorial violations (deliberate or otherwise) aren't happening. Error's like yours aren't encouraging either.

Now answer the issue raised: Iranians are actively involved in killing American and British troops in Iraq. Are you among the naive idiots who actually believe they wish us well?

Why should they, given we invaded a neighbor of theirs, wrecked the place, and are threatening them now? You did read my previous comment to you, did you not?

See aforementioned link about lions and lambs, and please stop being so literal. (Or are you just dense and don't know your historical/literary/biblical allusions when you see them?)

I attended a Catholic primary school in my long-ago youth; what do you think?

The allusions fail, irregardless of the spirit and intent with which they were made, and only a fool believing the cliches of Fox News would try making them anyway.

Iran is no lion, the US is no lamb; I believe this insane march into Babylon clearly proved that. Or have you no faith in your fellow servicemembers?

Enjoy the quiet.

It's a foregone conclusion that I will vote for Obama this fall but I can relate to some of McCain's dfficulties such as telling a story and forgetting I had already told it until I see the glazed look on people's faces. We had better be careful not to pile on too heavy or he'll get a lot of sympathy votes. No one likes to see an old person get picked on.

The President in some sense is pursuing his responsibilities. Not very well, not with truth on his side, and by trampling the Constitution.

However, that a vigorous President might be tempted to overstep his Constitutional bounds was foreseen by the founding fathers. That is why we have the Congress.

It is the Congress that has abdicated its Constitutional responsibilities, more so than the President. It is tempting to point out that Congress has lower approval ratings than the President as proof that Americans understand this. That is a dubious argument however.

What is not dubious is that the Republican-controlled Congress was a rubberstamp for the President; and that the Democrat-controlled Congress is only slightly better.

What is strange is that the cure is supposed to be voting for more Democrats. A Constitutionalist might argue that to make the Congress follow its duties, if we're voting for a Democratic President, we ought to vote for a Republican Congress. A realist would say that we have no good choice, we have only bad and less bad choices.

At least Maximus has shut up.

Enjoy the quiet.

Yes, that was a bright but brief flameout.

I think I'll dub him "de Minimus" if he shows his putz again.....

Cheers,

Does anyone know if the Counter Punch website is a propaganda site or whether they publish accurate info? The reason I ask is that I just read a piece that if true is stunning.

SueAnn Arrigo’s Explosive Revelations

Exposing Pentagon and CIA Corruption

By STEPHEN LENDMAN

http://www.counterpunch.org/lendman06112008.html