Circles

Want to know why the GWOT makes you think you're stuck on the set o Groundhog Day? Because you are.

Six years after the terrorist masterminds of al Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans and caused billions of dollars in damages - and caused Rudy! and EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman to ignore toxins in the air and allow the brave rescue and reconstruction workers to suffer respiratory and other ailments - we are not even at square one. We're struggling to find square one and begin to address the problem of Islamic extremism.

Back then, Osama bin Laden escaped to the mountain hideaway at Tora Bora. It seems really odd to type this, but at the time Georgie and Rummy and Kheneyev did not want to commit American troops. Can you imagine? They didn't want to send US troops somewhere? Nowadays they're dropping them all over the place. There's a flea market in Timbuktu that's been occupied since '03, and they wouldn't send troops to get the guy who attacked us.

At Tora Bora, Afghan forces, as expected, did not get Osama. American forces, unexpectedly, dropped the whole matter. It's like they forgave him or something.

And now here we are in the middle of 2007, back at Tora Bora. This time, there are American troops as well as Afghans. Unfortunately, it's long after Osama and Mullah Omar got away Scot free.

We are so lost and broken now it's hard to track back to 2001. Over a year into his failed presidency, Georgie was only starting to bankrupt the federal government through giveaways to the anti-needy and uncontrolled spending. Americans were not yet the targets of surveillance. People were not yet being disappeared like Pinochet's victims and tortured like, well, Pinochet's victims.

The appropriate response to 9-11 was to crush the Taliban, root out al Qaeda, and rebuild Afghanistan. Instead, we oversaw the marginal ousting of the Taliban, let al Qaeda off the hook, and watched Afghanistan slide back into its cycle of poverty, opium production, and religious extremism.

Our abject failure started at Tora Bora. The troops were not deployed to get Osama because they were being held for the invasion of Iraq.

We do truly like in the Bizarro United States where everything wrong is right. We're back to square 'negative 100,000.' Progress is something we used to do, but gave it up for simple obedience.

Best at Bad

I guess "Turdblossom" is still at the White House, because they keep making the kind of backward violent narrow decisions that are his hallmark. To be fair, this latest looming debacle smacks of Dikh Kheneyev, the last die-hard member of the Soviet Politburo.

The quaint old Soviet strategy of using violence to intimidate opponents (and for the sheer joy of abusing anyone weaker than yourself) will never die until Dikh's shriveled prune of a ticker finally decides that even it can't muster the necessary enthusiasm to support him. Of course, it's been years since Kheneyev acually required a flesh-and-blood pump to keep his circulation going. Vampires wish they could be as cold and lifeless as Kheneyev.

The looming debacle to which I refer is the move to declare Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Gee, you think somebody's trying to start a war?

No friend am I of the Rev Guard. I think they're a bunch of totalitarian thugs and racist Jew-hating scum. But what does it do to declare them a 'terrorist organization?' After all, we are fighting a "Global War on Terror." Our leading jack-booted brownshirts have already declared that they'll strike at terrorists anywhere.

But wait - that's not true, either. Because Obama said he'd go after Osama bin Laden or other al Qaeda types in the lawless border regions of Pakistan if Musharraf wouldn't, and the rightists had A FIT.

So, we can trample on any sovereign national territory of any country in the world, friend or foe, as long as there are no al Qaeda terrorists there. Go ahead and build secret 'black' prisons in European countries where it's expressly forbidden. Invade and occupy anybody you feel like - as long as you're no closer to our boyhood chum Osama.

If a branch of the Iranian military is declared a terrorist group, there is no legal impediment to hitting them. Any opposition by the increasingly spineless Democratic Congress will be literally supporting terrorists. The Neocon wet dream of a GWOT-excused invasion of Iran will be fast-tracked.

My great fear in the remaining days of the worst leader in the history of democratic governments is that Georgie really has a messiah complex and will feel the need to whack Iran while he still has a chance. If, as reported, he thinks he's been called by his backward myopic caricature of a deity to 'free' the Middle East, he could very well order the strike any time up to the last day.

Whereas the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen happened so close to the turnover of power that Bill Clinton didn't want to be the one to strike back and start something that the next president would be stuck with ending, Georgie will have no such qualms. He's already proven that he's delighted to literally mortgage the future and take out massive multi-trillion dollar loans in his grandchildrens' names (or actually the names of other people's grandchildren).

He's already fighting a war he shouldn't have started and can't finish. Why not one more?

Watch out for this one. We could be getting in deeper and deeper.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

Rove

Karl Rove is leaving the White House - one would hope for good - at the end of August.

I've often, like many Progressives, wondered whether Rove was truly "Bush's Brain," or whether he was more the executioner of the King's will. Was he the power behind the thrown, or was he Luca Brasi to Bush's Vito Corleone?

For a long time I saw him more as the brains of the outfit, a political no-holds-barred kingmaker who picked up the dumb malleable faux populist silver spoon dry drunk son of a former president and made lemonade out of a very sour lemon. And there still is some truth to that. But, from what I've read, that isn't the end of the story.

Because Georgie isn't just Rove's clay doll - he's everybody's. The Neocons saw what Rove was doing to Georgie and they jumped in. They saw a know-nothing blue blood who thought he could tell everything about a person from the glint in their eye and the firmness of their handshake. And, like Rove, they saw a sucker they could brainwash like the Manchurian Candidate.

Rove is only political in the sense that he is completely made of politics, but has very little in the way of ideology. He favours those things that he thinks he can sell. He strongly favours those things that can be used as currency to buy support from rightists. Tax cut are only viable if they serve as a pay-off for the support of the wealthy and corporations. So, of course, they're perfect.

Does Rove favour secret prisons and torture? I'd guess not - only because it hurts his guy politically. There's nothing in secret prisons and torture and all that which can help his agenda.

And that agenda is perfectly clear: complete political domination by the Repub party. It permeates everything this administration does. And that, finally, will be Rove's legacy.

Nothing is off the table for him. Formerly sacred duties to justice - like the whole justice department - are tools to help win elections. Race baiting in particular is a key ploy to get the white robes to the voting booth.

I think one of his real strengths has always been his ability to appeal to white racists, the the kind of Southern white voter who believes in "reverse discrimination." I think there is a strong undercurrent of racism in American like those vast underground reservoirs of fresh water that we tap into for our daily use. Rove knows that there are lots of voter out there who would never say a racist word, but feel the tugs of their fathers' and grandfathers' Jim Crow attitudes.

Jim-Bob III doesn't say he hates anybody, but he would never vote for a black politician, and thinks those white-robe boys have a point about a few things, but he knows joining up would wreck his career. His father used to say the "N-word" all the time and would have joined the KKK if it was convenient. Grandpappy did join and marched with them (they had millions of members from coast to coast and even in the Northeast in the early part of t he 20thy century).

Rove could talk to Jim-Bob, and all the Jim-Bobs out there. He also knew how to scare the shit out of people. From September 12, 2001, he had his political axe out. While everybody else was going all soft and gooey about 'unity,' he took that axe and started chopping. He drove 9-11 as the excuse to impose complete political domination over the country.

But I don't think he was the one who actually used the power. While he was consolidating, Rummy and Cheney were planning - the invasion of Iraq they'd wanted for years. The Patriot Act that would give them dictatorial powers. The huge secret CIA infrastructure of secret prisons and worldwide bases to impose the iron fist on virtually everyone.

Rove is lost when he's given power to use. His grim ability is in its acquisition by any means necessary. He was hopeless when in charge of domestic policy - the fumbling attempt to eliminate Social Security was his baby, as was the original failures to react to hurricane Katrina, as well as the pathetic attempts to recover. The fact that the relief effort is a complete failure and has helped only the foreign-based reconstruction companies is sadly no surprise to anyone.

Rove's legacy is that he was the first man to use the executive branch of the American government as a totally partisan branch of one political party. From justice to science to the military to the government services agency to the State Department - it was all sold out. And the sad part for him is that it's all a complete failure.

None of it works. The budget is in shambles. The State Department can't get anything done because no other government will deal with us - they know us for what we are. The military is a complete wreck, a "broken force" from the army to the National Guard to the Marines. We can only hope the navy is still afloat.

Rove's legacy is that by giving the extreme right the power to do anything they wanted, they proved conclusively that they are wrong about everything. Everything they believe in, front 'trickle-down economics' to military force restructuring to neocon foreign policy has been demonstrated to be utterly the exact wrong thing to do in the world.

What's next? He talks about writing a book. That should be interesting.

My guess is that he lays somewhat low, making some heavy money from the fascist speakers circuit. The current group of Repubs is pathetic, and there's nobody, I think, he wants to help. The devastation that he's helped bring upon the federal government will make the next president's job untenable, so he'll wait until 2012 to play kingmaker again.

It will be the un-fixable mess that he's left that will help him in 2012 - after all, why didn't Hilary fix Iraq? Why didn't Obama balance the budget? Why didn't Edwards keep torturing and why did he close all the gulags?

In the end, we have a man who is as un-American as Joseph Stalin - or Joseph Goebbels. He does not 'get' America at a fundamental level. He doesn't see it as a country shared equally by its citizens. He sees it as a giant shell game, a contest to see who can get the most out of it using whatever methods will work.

He gave Bush and Cheney and Rummy and Condo the power to do whatever they wanted - and look where we are.

Shame. Deep deep shame.

Vick Done

First of all, the definitive word on the Mike Vick story is being written by Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com (link to the right). And what Mike F has been saying is that the real jeopardy for Vick is not (just) the dig fighting, but the gambling. Apparently, Vick has bet tens of thousands of dollars on these "fights."

Interstate gambling is a huge deal for both the federal authorities (even under the bumbling AG Gonzo) and the league. Any hint of player involvement in gambling brings the integrity of the game into question, even when the gambling is not connected to the NFL. Especially with the recent stories about a corrupted NBA referee, the new law and order Commissioner of the NFL is bound to come down hard on this.

USA Today has a story on Vick, which concentrates on the dog fighting angle, but does have this to say on the gambling:

Although the public outcry against Vick has stemmed from the alleged animal cruelty, the specter of illegal gambling on the alleged dogfights has been largely overshadowed.

"Not from our standpoint," Goodell told USA TODAY last week while he was in Canton, Ohio, for the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

So there. At this point, I'm betting (not a legal wager) that Vick never plays in the NFL again. It's odd to think, because reports (once again via Mr. Florio) say that Vick himself didn't consider this a big deal when the news was first breaking.

Maybe that's because local authorities had turned a blind eye to it for so long. Certainly, the foot-dragging on the investigation by the local prosecutor may have been the key factor in bringing the feds into it. If the locals had properly, this might still be a state matter. Which wouldn't necessarily be a lot better for Vick, but he'd certainly have had a more sympathetic jury, and the gambling angle may not have been as fully investigated. Maybe.

Interesting that the Goodell comment came from the Hall of Fame. Many people had a reasonable expectation that the first quarterback ever to rush for 1,000 yards would end up there one day.

If this situation resolves itself the way it looks to be going now, Vick will need to buy a ticket to enter like the rest of us.

If he can get the work-release.

Thursday

Yes, goddamn it, it's Thursday. It is, in fact, the ninth of August. There are some troubles and ripples around the world, but enough of that. It's not good enough on August Thursday.

It was a week ago that I received word that my application for admission had been accepted by the York University School of Graduate Studies. In a few short weeks time, I'll be starting work on a Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management. I'm scared to death.

This is a great program for me, and is a perfect fit with what have become my profession. But it's school. More school, after many year of going to school and then many years of not going to school. It's the latter that worries me.

I'm going to have to add a regimen of reading, researching, and studying to my already overstuffed head full of work, Junta, and sports. A man of my age should be all about the job and the leisure (whatever either of those things may be), and not about heading off to do another academic program.

So Congress is on vacation - as id the Iraqi Parliament.

One question, here: what's up with Iraq having a "parliament?" Didn't the US clear the administrative decks a while back and impose an occupational government on them? We don't have a 'parliament,' so why do they? Was Georgie so averse to the notion of a 'congress' that he had to create a parliament? I mean, if it's good enough for us, isn't it good enough for Iraqi's?

But enough about the lawless and the murderous. Their crimes are too vast and historic for me to get my head around today. I'll just settle for the notion that it's Thursday and leave it at that.

Where have I been?

For the last one true reader, you may be wondering where the hell I've been. It's been a while since I missed a whole week. Well, I've had a few things come up lately, so my posts will be fewer. I will not write one of those ridiculously maudlin "I'm leaving this blog so thanks for the memories" bits. I fully intend to blog whenever the spirit or schedule permit.

I am deeply and desperately disappointed in the Democrats in Congress. It's past the time when the ineffectual cop is a bigger problem than the serial killer. The Bush boys keep shoving it in our faces, and these Democrats keep taking it. I don't know how Glenn Greenwald can continue to take this stuff on. Maybe because he's making a living out of it. Dunno.

But the Democratic cave-in over the FISA court really kicked me where it hurts. That's expressly why they were voted in. If for no other reason, they are supposed to do no more damage. They are supposed to pass no more tax cuts, fund no more religious loons, approve of any further war making, and cease all possible madness.

Instead, they cave into the worst and least popular president in the nations history on a life-and-death constitutional issue.

Why did the Revolutionary generation put their lives, wealth, and sacred honour on the line to fight the world's greatest and most powerful empire? So that George Bush could become king and the 'loyal opposition' could crown him?

If Washington and Jefferson were around today to see what has become of America,m I really believe they'd question why they bothered with the whole thing.

Shame.

More later...

Where have I been?

For the last one true reader, you may be wondering where the hell I've been. It's been a while since I missed a whole week. Well, I've had a few things come up lately, so my posts will be fewer. I will not write one of those ridiculously maudlin "I'm leaving this blog so thanks for the memories" bits. I fully intend to blog whenever the spirit or schedule permit.

I am deeply and desperately disappointed in the Democrats in Congress. It's past the time when the ineffectual cop is a bigger problem than the serial killer. The Bush boys keep shoving it in our faces, and these Democrats keep taking it. I don't know how Glenn Greenwald can continue to take this stuff on. Maybe because he's making a living out of it. Dunno.

But the Democratic cave-in over the FISA court really kicked me where it hurts. That's expressly why they were voted in. If for no other reason, they are supposed to do no more damage. They are supposed to pass no more tax cuts, fund no more religious loons, approve of any further war making, and cease all possible madness.

Instead, they cave into the worst and least popular president in the nations history on a life-and-death constitutional issue.

Why did the Revolutionary generation put their lives, wealth, and sacred honour on the line to fight the world's greatest and most powerful empire? So that George Bush could become king and the 'loyal opposition' could crown him?

If Washington and Jefferson were around today to see what has become of America,m I really believe they'd question why they bothered with the whole thing.

Shame.

More later...

Iraq

You don't have to know a lot about Iraq to know how badly it's going over there. Conversely, you can be sure it's not going well when our reptilian Vice President goes on TV and says it is. The malevolent Cheney went on Larry King and informed the viewing public that it's all marching along swimmingly.

Which means it's probably worse than ever - Cheney's pronouncements are invariably 180 degrees off the heading of the truth. The guy is simply incapable of acting as a democratically elected representative of the American people - that sounds like a joke when I type it. No, honest: he really is supposed to be the democratically elected representative of the American people. We can't help it that he's the representative of fascist corporatist authoritarianism. That's just how it is.

Anyhoo, as Dick says: "don't take my word for it." Sure Dick, like we were going to. For all the bluster of the 'surge' and the gold-standard Gen. Petraeus, we seem to be losing faster than we were in the past.

As everyone (both demented war mongers and Americans) admits, the resolution of the conflict must be a political settlement. The purely military approach does not work (and never did anywhere and never would, as people have said for years). The 'surge' itself was intended purely to provide security to allow the political process to happen. So what's happened?

Well, the Sunnis have walked out of the government. 70 people died in a car bombing today, too.

Okay, but is it good or bad that the Sunnis walked out? Are we fighting them or not? Well, apparently it's the Shiite militias that are the biggest problem. But isn't the Iraqi government run by a Shiite majority? You betcha.

In fact, it's the Sunni-Shiite battles - and increasingly fights between different factions internal to each sect - that are causing all the problems. In this conflict, the US is just another player. Only we don't know whose side to be on.

And this is all supposed to be "winning?" This is utterly hopeless. It's a huge debacle that's being passed on to the next administration.

And that's why it's crucial to make the Junta wear it. If Congress like Georgie run out the clock, it will become their problem entirely. And the traitorous turncoat Repubs will start the "blame game," pointing fingers at Democrats (as they've started to already) for not solving the intractable mess the Repubs got us into in the first place.

It's like the recent budget veto threats. Georgie's trying to buff up an image as a responsible spender, and paint the Democrats with accusations of overspending - after having broken all the budget restraints and creating the biggest deficit in the nation's history.

There will be some sadly gullible voters who go for the lie. Which makes it all the more important to get the truth out - and smack them in the face with it.

Any takers? Reid? Pelosi?