I'll Have What She's Having
Am I the only one who think's Hillary Clinton's laughing jags are both phony and obnoxious?
September 29, 2007Bringing Back SegregationIf you like the way the partition plan for Israel and Palestine turned out, you'll love Biden's partition plan for Iraq. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Just divide the country up into three "semi-autonomous" (whatever that means) regions based on ethnicity and sect. The folks who happen to live in the "correct" region will be content, all right, living in a region with their "own kind," but life for the others is likely to be mighty unpleasant. According to an Iraqi member of parliament: "But the partition of the country on the basis of ethnic or sectarian divisions is completely unacceptable, since it would terminate the modern state of Iraq. Such a project would be dangerous and poisonous.” And BTW, "dangerous and poisonous" not just for the Iraqis, but, if the Israeli/Palestinian solution is any indication, dangerous and poisonous for the entire world. September 26, 2007A Modest ProposalThe muses sang sweet music to me tonight, during, of all things, the Democratic debate. While the candidates were pontificating about some of the most serious problems we face, like sending our young people off to die in a senseless war, the looming Social Security crisis, out-of-control prescription and medical costs, I had something of a revelation. We can solve all of those problems with a single bold stroke. Draft the elderly. Why do we send the young off to war, anyway? They have their whole lives ahead of them, while the elderly have pretty much lived out their lives already. And being late in life, they're just going to be racking up huge medical bills and draining the Social Security pool. Life expectancy in America is 78 years. After that, you're pretty much living on borrowed time anyway, so off you go to Iraq, or wherever the war du jour happens to be. Between the war casualties and the exhausting second and third and fourth tours, the life expectancy average should get knocked down pretty quick, along with all the expenses that go along with living to a ripe old age. Sure, some of you may think this is a little radical — especially the sixty-something set. But it's better than doing something totally outrageous, like raising taxes to, you know, pay for things that are actually worthwhile. September 25, 2007The Smell of Sulfur at the UNPresident Bush is outraged over the trampling of human rights and freedoms in Myanmar. This from a man with the moral authority of a prune. As McClatchy points out, what Bush had to say would have been a lot more convincing if not for what he neglected to say: Bush didn't mention the U.S. prisons in Afghanistan or at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. practice of holding detainees for years without legal charges or access to lawyers, or the CIA's "rendition" kidnappings of suspects abroad, all issues of concern to human rights activists around the world. Listening to Bush champion human rights in his UN speech, you would have been forgiven for believing that, incredibly, hell was actually freezing over. But an Amnesty International official nailed it when he supplied perspective: "The gap between the rhetoric and the actual record is stunning. I can't help but believe many people in the audience were thinking, 'What was this man thinking?' " Thinking? Please... September 24, 2007Rousing the RabbleLast night on 60 Minutes, interviewer Scott Pelley hurled some pretty tough questions and accusations at the president. It was more a grilling than an interview: Mr. President, I want to be very direct and very clear. Many Americans believe that you have American blood on your hands. ... Was that a "yes" or a "no," sir? ... Sir, what were you thinking? If only American journalists showed spine like that when interviewing President Bush, instead of Iran's President Ahmadinejad, as was the case last night, America might be in a much better place today. And thousands of Americans and Iraqis might still be alive. But Ahmadinejad is an easy patsy to slap around, thanks to the near hysterical hatred that the rabid right has whipped up for him. And so today, another tough guy, Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, found the opportunity to pile on irresistible: The crowd of thousands...most raucous, almost disbelieving applause came when their president, Lee Bollinger, began the program with a scathing introduction of Ahmadinejad, saying this was a chance to "confront the mind of evil." "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," Bollinger said. Those sounds you hear approaching from the distance are the drums of war. September 23, 2007The Silly SeasonFirst there was Super Tuesday, when a handful of states would hold their presidential primaries. This year, there's Super-Duper Tuesday, with 20 states clamoring to hold meaningful primaries for their voters on February 5th. And of course, there are the Me-First states — lily-white New Hampshire and Iowa — who for some unknown reason have been granted the super privilege of holding their primaries first election after election. And now there are the Me-Too states, who are challenging Iowa and New Hampshire's privileged status: Democratic Party rules say states cannot hold their 2008 primary contests before Feb. 5, except for Iowa on Jan. 14, Nevada on Jan. 19, New Hampshire on Jan. 22 and South Carolina on Jan. 29. Michigan has scheduled a Jan. 15 primary. How stupid does this make us look? The Puppet Talks ToughThe Iraqi government is now claiming that up to 20 civilians were killed by Blackwater mercenaries in last week's incident. One witness, an Iraqi police officer, described the carnage that took place when, without provocation, "The Americans fired at everything that moved." This is proving to be quite a test of how "liberated" the Iraqis actually are. The Iraqis say they will bring criminal charges against the mercenaries involved, in Iraqi courts. But the US says otherwise: It is unclear how Iraqi courts will attempt to bring the contractors to trial. A July report from the Congressional Research Service said the Iraqi government has no authority over private security firms contracted by the U.S. government. Iraq already failed the first test of its independence, when Blackwater resumed operations four days after the Iraqi government said Blackwater would be expelled from the country. It will be interesting to see how this second test plays out. My guess is some kind of face-saving legal action will be allowed, but under the tight US control. What we won't see is what is really needed here — a genuine attempt to place the mercenaries under strict rules of engagement, defined with Iraqi participation, with serious criminal and financial consequences for not following them. September 21, 2007The Sun Sets on the US SenateWatching the US Senate in "action" is like watching a football game with only one team on the field — and the team is losing. The Senate fumbled another chance today to bring this hugely unpopular war in Iraq to an end. The losses were coming fast and furiously this week. In case you missed one:
The only thing that amazes me about Congress' 11% approval rating is that it's that high. The Senate quarterback takes the snap. He fades back, back, and now he starts running — the wrong way, towards his own endzone — he's at the 30...20...10...he's in his endzone and falls down on the ball. Safety — two more points for the no-show opposition. September 20, 2007'It is the sense of the Senate...'Today the Senate of the United States took time away from less urgent matters (you know — wars, the Middle East timebomb, the imploding economy) and voted 72-25 to officially "repudiate"...who? Osama bin Laden? The Sudanese government for the Darfur genocide? Israel for threatening the well-being of a million-plus civilians in Gaza? Uh-uh — "the liberal activist group Moveon.org," for its criticism of George Petraeus. It is really getting embarrassing watching these Congressional flagwavers make fools of themselves. And it gets worse. It isn't just Petraeus who's been granted the status of the unassailable prophet Muhammad. Dare to speak out against any member of the US armed forces and you risk a Senate fatwa, as this section of the feel-good resolution makes clear (indignant emphasis mine): (2) to strongly condemn any effort to attack the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces; Holy Moly. So that means what — We have to be careful what we say about US soldiers in Iraq who, say, rape a 14-year-old child and kill her and her family? Well, I'm sure we can find something nice to say about these heroes. But there is a plus to all this. I'm sure our fairminded Senate statesmen will soon be issuing another fatwa for this. September 18, 2007If You Liked HillaryCare...Will someone please tell Hillary Clinton to stop dreaming up health care plans? Her latest formula for universal health care is to take the Massachusetts StealthCare plan and multiply it by 50. The uninsured still aren't making it in Massachusetts, and the rest of the out-in-the-cold 47 million Americans will do just as well under HillaryCare II. John Nichols exposes Clinton's universal mandatory health care plan for the cynical sham that it is: The Clinton plan maintains the current system of for-profit, insurance-industry defined health care delivery. The only real change is that, in return for minimal requirements regarding coverage of those with preexisting conditions, the government would pump hundreds of billions in federal dollars into the accounts of some of the country’s wealthiest corporations... [Clinton] chose to propose a scheme defined not by the needs or desires of the American people but by the demands of existing insurance firms and a dysfunctional for-profit health care industry. Somewhere deep in her stone-cold politician's soul, Clinton may actually want to help the uninsured. But clearly, she wants to be president really, really badly. September 17, 2007States - Do Not Try This at HomeThe "this" being a death-defying (literally) leap towards a health care plan like Massachusetts' new universal mandatory health care. A couple of Bay State doctors are just the most recent to peek behind the curtain of this sham. According to the doctors: In the Commonwealth, 651,000 residents are uninsured, 65 percent more than the figure used by state leaders in planning for health reform... In sum, Massachusetts health reform planners have been wishing away a quarter of a million uninsured people. Why? Because factoring in all those people during the planners' sales pitch would have made the real costs of the plan all too apparent right from the start. But while the Massachusetts health care plan is really just StealthCare for the hundreds of thousands of citizens who have fallen through the mile-wide cracks, another segment of the population thinks the plan is just dandy: While the middle class sinks, the health reform law has buoyed our state's wealthiest health institutions. Hospitals like Massachusetts General are reporting record profits and enjoying rate increases tucked into the reform package. Blue Cross and other insurers that lobbied hard for the law stand to gain billions from the reform... It's enough to make you sick. September 16, 2007American BlendIt would be comforting to believe that all the evil in the world is done by a few sociopathic monsters. And in many cases it's true. But in the case of evil perpetrated by nations, the sociopaths at the top are supported by millions of ordinary people — bureaucrats, teachers, clergy, factory workers, parents — who are simply being good soldiers, good patriots, good citizens. It would be impossible for nations to do evil without them. That's my take on a provocative post on Common Dreams today. But what really struck me was this snippet of a comment: For reasons I don’t understand, liberals have been unable to find a way to present their values and viewpoints in ways that are more compelling than what I believe are the selfish, ugly, immoral, and un-Christian views of the right. The commenter is right. How in hell can we be losing moral arguments to a few sociopaths and their enablers — unless the evil is so subtle and pervasive that we don't even realize we're a part of it? September 15, 2007The Ex-First Lady and the Ex-SoldierWesley Clark's endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president should give her a real boost in the polls. But commenters at The Left Coaster are taking it a step further, speculating on a Clinton-Clark ticket. I'm no Clinton fan, but if the popular Clark, with his military credentials and his early opposition to the war in Iraq, decided to join up with Clinton, the rest of the field can go home right now. The nomination would be theirs. Extraordinary Misery - Made in USAThe other night President Bush claimed that "ordinary life in Baghdad is beginning to return." If this is Bush's idea of ordinary life, his Crawford ranch must be one holy hellhole: Gunmen are driving people from neighborhoods in the city's southwest. Electricity, depending on which block you live on, is available as little as two hours a day. Running water, if it's available, is unsafe to drink. According to one Baghdad resident, a "Sunni in what's become a Shiite capital": "It has become a dream for us to shop from any central market," he said. "No way can I roam freely in Baghdad..." "By what standards can I consider this life ordinary?" Simple — by the standards of an American people who don't give a damn about you. September 14, 2007Lies and More LiesNo, I'm not talking about the president's address to the nation last night, although that was chock full of lies and deception, too. I'm talking about the Democrats' response by Jack Reed. When are the Democrats going to tell us the truth? The Democrats have no intention of taking all our troops out of Iraq, although that's what they'd like you to believe, with weasel words like these: An endless and unlimited military presence in Iraq is not an option. "Endless and unlimited"? Of course not. But we will have tens of thousands of troops in Iraq for decades to come, and the Democrats both know this and support it. When Reed look you in the eye and tells you that the Democrats' plan "addresses regional issues that inflame the situation," he is lying. Maintaining any US troop presence in the Middle East inflames the situation. Many in the Arab world will see it as oppression and occupation. In 2004, when bin Laden outlined his reasons for the 9/11 attacks, he said this: No, we fight because we are free men who don't sleep under oppression. We want to restore freedom to our nation, just as you lay waste to our nation. So shall we lay waste to yours. Muslim countries are the "nation" bin Laden is talking about, and that includes Iraq. As long as we occupy Iraq, and as long as the Israelis occupy Palestinian land, there will be no peace. The Democrats should come clean about that. September 13, 2007It's All About MeRemember this photo of a grinning George Bush next to a decidedly unsmiling Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha last week, during Bush's 'surprise' visit to Iraq (is any other kind possible?) to show the great progress being made in Anbar province? 
This photo op just cost Abu Risha his life. Interestingly, this is how the Guardian reported it (emphasis mine): A key figure in the US-backed revolt of Iraqi Sunni leaders against al-Qaida was killed by a bomb today, hours before George Bush was due to defend his war strategy. The White House suffered the setback when a roadside bomb killed Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha and two of his bodyguards near the tribal leader's home in Ramadi, Anbar's provincial capital. Poor George. Bein' president and destroyin' a country is hard. It's hard work. September 11, 2007Hump DayBush's troop escalation in Iraq isn't so much a surge as it is a hump. Because that is exactly what the 18-month-long troop escalation will accomplish — bringing the Bush gang comfortably over the hump of his second term, to a point where he's guaranteed to have well over a hundred thousand troops, at least, still in Iraq on election day, 2008. In the meantime, the administration doubletalkers keep painting conflicting pictures about the progress in Iraq, as though deliberately trying to confuse the hell out of us. Today, out of one side of the administration's mouth Gen. Petraeus told Congress that he can't yet see the light at the end of the tunnel. Out of the other side, the White House announced that things are going so well in Iraq that it plans to cut 30,000 troops from Iraq by next summer. As though that's supposed to be good news. In reality, this is just the administration's way of letting us know it's going to continue to have its way with us, and with the Iraqi people, right through Inauguration Day, so we might as well just lay back and enjoy it. September 09, 2007A Vote for Common Sense ElectionsLetter to the editor in today's New York Times: In this digital age, why not solve the problem [with presedential elections] with ones and zeros? 1 person 1 vote 0 TV ads 0 private money 1 date for the primary 1 general election 1 winner by popular vote 1 smart letter. 0 argument here. 'My second best bed'
Too bad it may not be true. Many people don't believe that William Shakespeare, the man from Statford-Upon-Avon, is the actual author of the celebrated poems and plays attributed to him. At the very least, there is, according to Sir Derek Jacobi and others, a "reasonable doubt" about the true authorship. Accepting the Stratford man as arguably the world's greatest writer does require a pretty severe suspension of disbelief — for example: [T]here are no surviving letters written by him. His detailed will mentions no books, plays, poems or writings of any kind and he expressed no direct opinions about his art. No letters? No notes? No jottings or scribblings of any kind other than a few legal documents? Strange for such a loquacious gentleman. And it's a little hard for me to believe how the learned, sensitive, passionate sophisticate who created such characters as Cordelia, Ophelia, and Desdemona could, in his will, have made this sole reference to his wife: I gyve unto my wief my second best bed with the furniture. My second best bed? WTF? Can you imagine Romeo making this bequeath to Juliet, had they lived to a ripe old age? In the end, it doesn't matter whether the Stratford man wrote the plays, or whether it was Christopher Marlow, Sir Francis Drake, Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford (as championed by a scholar with the unfortunate name of J. Thomas Looney), or someone else entirely. The play's the thing. But still, it makes you wonder whether anything is as it seems... September 08, 2007The Fun Down UnderFrom a bin Laden look-alike driving through heavy Australian security right to Bush's doorstep, to the embarrassing lovefest between Bush and John Howard, to a bride left to hoof it after her limo was towed, to a 21-bum salute, Cartledge is all over the OPEC APEC follies in locked-down Sydney. Here's a photo of Bush and friends behind the Sydney security fence:  Let's hope it's a preview of what Bush's new home looks like when he finally leaves the White House. Shuffling the Bodies on the TitanicAnybody old enough to remember the games played with body counts during the Vietnam War are just rolling their eyes over stories like this: [This week] the White House e-mailed to reporters heralding a 75 percent plunge in sectarian killings [in Iraq]. Wow — 75%. The surge is working. We're really kicking ass in Iraq. The dramatic 75% reduction is based on Pentagon figures comparing deaths from sectarian violence between December 2006, when such deaths peaked, and April, 2007, after the surge began. Problem is, the Pentagon keeps raising number of people it claims were killed in December — from 1,300 estimated in March, to 1,600 in June, to 2,100 today. In fact, there are no reliable, consistent numbers on the civilians killed in Iraq. "[N]o independent agency collects comprehensive, consistent statistics," and estimates "vary widely." But the Pentagon, which BTW simply isn't talking about how it collects its data, can be trusted to be giving us the straight scoop, right? Update on the Pentagon's secret method of counting the dead, via Paul Krugman: Apparently, the Pentagon has a double super secret formula that it uses to distinguish sectarian killings (bad) from other deaths (not important); according to press reports, all deaths from car bombs are excluded, and one intelligence analyst told The Washington Post that "if a bullet went through the back of the head, it's sectarian. If it went through the front, it's criminal." So the number of dead is down, as long as you only count certain kinds of dead people. September 03, 2007604 v2Yes, you're in the right place. I just got tired of looking at the old, tired site. Welcome to 604 v2. And how did you spend your Labor Day Weekend? ;-) September 02, 2007Anyone Surprised?It looks like the key piece of evidence that convicted a Libyan agent of the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie was a fake. Last week, a Swiss engineer who testified in the case about the evidence — fragments of the timer that set off the bomb — issued a sworn affidavit claiming that he lied about the origin of the timer. For years, the manufacturer of the timer has said that the fragments of the timer found at the scene were not his: In 2001, Bollier spent five days in the witness box at the Lockerbie trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands. "I was a defence witness, but the trial was so skewed to prove Libyan involvement that the details of what I had to say was ignored. A photograph of the fragments was produced in court and I asked to see the pieces again. When they were brought to me, they were practically carbonised. They had been tampered with since I had seen them in Dumfries." |
UpdateAmerica.com 604.UpdateAmerica.com 'It is the sense of the Senate...' States - Do Not Try This at Home The Ex-First Lady and the Ex-Soldier Extraordinary Misery - Made in USA A Vote for Common Sense Elections |
It's a great story — the son of an illiterate glovemaker who grew up in a provincial town, and whose formal education at a school for "