During Asia summit Putin tells Trump once again he did not interfere in election, Trump seems to take his side over American intelligence agencies. Update!

The above video is from Russia TV.

Notice how Trump and Putin seemed to be joined at the hip?


Courtesy of CNBC:

"He says he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. "Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that he means it." 

Trump and Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for an economic summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria. But Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders' relationship — Putin is "insulted" by the accusation, Trump said. In a blistering partisan attack, Trump accused Democrats of using the election issue to create a barrier between the U.S. and Russia as the nations work on crises in Syria and Ukraine. 

"Having a good relationship with Russia's a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way," Trump told reporters, once again casting doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia did try to interfere in the election. "People will die because of it."

You know to me this simply reinforces the idea that Trump knew all along that the Russians were interfering in our election, and was very likely helping them to do it.

Why else take the word of a former KGB agent over the word of our own intelligence agencies?

Here’s the *key* quote from Trump on Putin re: Russian election meddling:
“Every time he sees me he says, 'I didn't do that,' and I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.” pic.twitter.com/kLrx2pNLIf

— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) November 11, 2017

And to call the work by our intelligence agencies, an the Mueller investigation, a "Democratic hit job" is essentially the talk of a traitor.

Update: Well this is kind of an interesting twist. 

Trump and Putin spox Dmitry Peskov are telling 2 different stories -- Trump says they discussed Russian meddling, Peskov says the subject didn't even come up https://t.co/YnuSlenPa8

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) November 11, 2017

So who do we believe?

The Russians who lie to the American media all of the time, or Donald Trump who lies to the American media all of the time?

So Donald Trump met with his Russian handler today.

#BREAKING Trump and Putin meeting #TrumpRussiaCoverUp #TrumpRussiaConspiracy #NeedtoImpeach #FireproofMueller #RussiaGate @CNNPolitics @CNN pic.twitter.com/KK4auXKMGt

— @LOCKHIMUP (@kikissalon1) November 10, 2017

Courtesy of CNN:

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not hold a formal meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here in Vietnam, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday. 

But the two world leaders did briefly meet during the so-called APEC class photo, where all the heads of state come together to take a photo before the summit officially starts. Trump and Putin shook hands and had a briefly spoke before the photo was snapped. 

The two leaders, both wearing an oversized, blue traditional-style Vietnamese shirt provided by the host country, stood next to one another for the picture. 

Citing "scheduling conflicts on both sides," though, Sanders said no formal meeting will take place during the two-day gathering, but that an informal interaction between the two world leaders was likely to happen, a notion reinforced by her Russian counterparts. 

Yeah Trump is not going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin the same way that he did NOT allow those five Russian prostitutes into his hotel room. 

I find it highly unlikely that Putin would allow Trump to leave Vietnam without having the opportunity to swat him on the nose for not ending the Mueller investigation and not getting rid of the Russian sanctions as he was promised.

Even with the Mueller investigation bearing down like a freight train, Trump is still open to having a meeting with Vladimir Putin during his trip.

"I'm not a puppet. You're the puppet."

Courtesy of WaPo: 

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet next week at an economic summit in Vietnam, but there is scant optimism in Russia that face-to-face talks will yield any breakthroughs on the long list of issues that divide Washington and Moscow. 

Sanctions against Russia, tensions in Syria, the threat of ­military conflict in North Korea and the stalemate over Ukraine top the litany of seemingly in­trac­table differences in the U.S.-Russia relationship. 

Looming above it all is the sense in Moscow that the closer special counsel Robert S. Mueller III comes to Trump’s inner circle in his investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the less likely the U.S. president will be to try to reverse the downward spiral with Russia. 

Trump, who set out Friday for a 12-day trip to Asia that will take him to Japan, South Korea, China and the Philippines, told Fox News on Thursday that it was possible he could meet with the Russian leader for the second time. Trump is scheduled to appear at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, which Putin is also scheduled to attend. 

“We may have a meeting with Putin,” he said. “And again, Putin is very important because they can help us with North Korea. They can help us with Syria. We have to talk about Ukraine.”

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that “we aren’t ruling out a Putin-Trump meeting in Vietnam” and that the details “are being coordinated now.” 

One has to ask at this point, "Does it even matter anymore?"

I mean does anybody still not believe that Trump is Putin's Manchurian candidate, and that Trump is , as Stephen Colbert so eloquently stated, Putin's "c**k holster?"

And if there are such people can somebody direct me to the cave that they are living in so that I can interview them?

Over the weekend John McCain all but slams Donald Trump for dodging the draft during the Vietnam War.

Watch. John McCain seems to take a dig at Trump for draft dodging. pic.twitter.com/RVtAtDFHeY

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 23, 2017

Courtesy of the New York Post:  

Sen. John McCain took some veiled shots at President Trump over the weekend — slamming high-income draft dodgers for using their wealth to avoid serving in the Vietnam War. 

“One aspect of the conflict, by the way, that I will never, ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur,” the Arizona lawmaker told C-SPAN3 in an interview that aired Sunday. 

“That is wrong. That is wrong,” he said. “If we’re going to ask every American to serve, every American should serve.” 

McCain, a Republican, didn’t actually name Trump — but the “bone spur” reference appeared to be a direct jab.

Okay so in about a two or three day span of time that is now George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and John McCain taking veiled shots at Donald Trump. 

But my question is why do they remain simply veiled shots?

At this dangerous point in our history why can these individual, who all know what is at stake, not simply call Trump out clearly and publicly for what he is doing to this country?

And what will they tell themselves, and the American people, after it is too late?

Tina Fey teams up with director of "Game Change" to make film about shooting at Kent State.

Courtesy of Philly Voice:  

Tina Fey is co-producing the film “67 shots,” which will depict the events leading up to the 1970 shooting at Kent State University. 

The film will be directed by Jay Roach, who previously worked with Fey on “Sisters,” which Roach produced.

Roach’s other work as a director includes “Game Change,” the HBO drama depicting Sarah Palin’s rise to a vice presidential nomination (and, no, Fey did not play Palin), and “Trumbo,” among others. His more recent political work comes after directing franchises like “Austin Powers” and “Meet the Parents.”

The film will be a historical drama detailing the events that led to the shooting of Kent State students during a Vietnam War protest in May 1970. Sixty-seven shots were fired by the Ohio National Guard, four students were killed and nine were injured. 

“There was a prevailing movement in the country – they measured it with polls – where the vast majority of Americans blamed the students for what happened,” Roach told Deadline. “We have footage of the people on the streets saying, ‘I wish they’d shot them all.’” 

Roach also compared the 1970 events to today’s political protests, specifically the controversy surrounding athletes' choice not to stand for the national anthem. 

“The tamer version of this now is the NFL protest, the hatred that comes out for any show of what some people consider lack of patriotism,” he said.

"Four dead in O-h-i-o."

A troll asked me recently how I could have been so politically aware at such a young age.

Well the answer to that were events like this which shocked and inspired my generation to become more aware and ultimately more involved in the political process.

For me this was a seminal event in my life, and it definitely impacted how I saw government and the military for decades to come.

And I think a movie about it at this time in America will send a very powerful message about how terrible things can become in this country if we do not stand up as speak truth to power.

Just a picture of President Obama eating with Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam for a segment of the show "Parts Unknown."

Source

Okay why does everything this man does look so damn cool?

Apparently in between bites the President also lifted the decades old arms ban in Vietnam as well.

Donald Trump "I always felt that I was in the military." What branch? The Oompa Loompa brigade?

Source

Courtesy of Politico: 

Donald Trump did not serve in the military, but according to a report, the Republican presidential candidate and multibillionaire business tycoon said in a forthcoming book that he still "always felt that I was in the military" because he attended a military boarding school and "dealt with those people." 

According to an upcoming biography and interview excerpts shared with The New York Times, Trump said that his five years at the New York Military Academy provided him with "more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military." 

“After the Vietnam War, all those military academies lost ground because people really disrespected the military,” Trump told the author in an excerpt shared with the Times. “They weren’t sending their kids to military school. It was a whole different thing, but in those days — 1964 I graduated — that was a very good thing or tough thing, and it was a real way of life at military academy.” 

“My number was so incredible and it was a very high draft number. Anyway so I never had to do that, but I felt that I was in the military in the true sense because I dealt with those people,” Trump told the author in another excerpt. 

Yeah you know who doesn't think going to military school is like being in the military? People in the military. 

As it turns out Trump not only had a high draft lottery number, but also numerous deferments which he attempted to explain by taking off a shoe and pointing to heel spurs.

Now here we once again have an issue which SHOULD damage Trump and cause his support to fall away. But of course it won't because Donald Trump's candidacy is following no known rules of politics.

Right Wing outrage of the day. Bruce Springsteen played an anti-war song during concert to celebrate Veteran's Day.

Courtesy of TPM:  

Pretty much everyone has had something to say about Springsteen's performance Tuesday at the "Concert for Valor," an HBO musical event for veterans held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. 

Performing with Zac Brown and Dave Grohl, Springsteen sang "Fortunate Son," Creedence Clearwater Revival's classic Vietnam War-era anthem that examines issues of class and jingoism in America. John Fogerty, the CCR frontman, said that his own experience as a drafted serviceman served as an inspiration for the song. 

"I was the same age as the soldiers serving in Vietnam and from the same lower-middle class as them," Fogerty once said. 

But to some conservative ears, the song hit the wrong note at Tuesday's concert. 

"The song, not to put too fine a point on it, is an anti-war screed, taking shots at 'the red white and blue,'" wrote Ethan Epstein at The Weekly Standard. 

The performance was made even worse, Epstein contended, because "Fortunate Son" is "an anti-draft song, and this concert was largely organized to honor those who volunteered to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq." 

The Boss has been in the Fox News crosshairs all day, too. On Fox Business Network, Stuart Varney questioned why Springsteen, "an outspoken leftist," would play politics with the troops. 

"So much for HBO's 'Concert for Valor,'" Clayton Morris said at the outset of this morning's "Fox & Friends." 

On Fox's "Outnumbered," co-host Andrea Tantaros professed to be a fan of both Springsteen and Grohl, but wondered why they didn't just go with a different song. 

"It's amazing to me that nobody — think of all the people that are involved in a concert like this — nobody had the brains to stop and say, 'You guys might want to pick a different song,'" Tantaros said.

Gee, I really like the song.

Apparently this is the portion that pissed off the Right Wing so much:

It ain’t me, it ain’t me 
I ain’t no Senator’s son 
It ain’t me, it ain’t me 
I ain’t no fortunate one 

The song is written about how fundamental unfair it is that politicians start wars in which their children are not forced to fight and die.

Personally I would think that it is a sentiment shared not just by veterans of Vietnam but by the soldiers of today.

This song is not anti-veteran, it's anti-war. I feel very confident in saying that the vast majority of veterans are not pro-war, and therefore embrace the sentiment.

And of course the song is also anti-warmonger.

Perhaps it is that last part which irritates the Fox News crowd so much. You know the same ones who helped spread the Bush Administration propaganda and cheered from the sidelines as we sent thousands of young soldiers to their deaths.

Lighter from the Vietnam War.

Just as true now as it was then.

I was a kid back in the 70's and naively believed that after that debacle we would have learned our lesson as a nation.

God kids are stupid.

After making her wait 45 minutes, and sending the Palin-bots into hysterics, Greta Van Susteren finally lets Sarah Palin spew word salad, with a light "foaming at the mouth" vinaigrette, all over her show.

Well it is nice that Todd paid the electric bill so that this time people can see the lunacy emanating from the Grizzled Mama's giant pupils. (Seriously how much meth does it take to give somebody that "forever surprised" look?)

And the fire is a nice touch. I mean it's only the middle of summer, and at the tail end of a huge heat wave, so hell why WOULDN'T you build a roaring fire in a fake living room in a television studio? Duh!

Palin's first volley in her war on reality  is aimed at the conservative's newest target. Lois Lerner, the IRS agent who plead the fifth during her last appearance before Darrell Issa and his "hang'em high" posse.

Susteren asks if Issa should call her back.

"They should absolutely call her back, and charge her with contempt if she continuous to refuse to answer questions though she has prefaced her testimony with a claim of innocence, saying she has nothing to do with this IRS corruption. ("Corruption?" When did anybody accuse the IRS of corruption over this?) And then has refused to answer the people's representatives about what bolsters her claim of innocence? Yes they need to call her back. It's amazing she is still being paid in her position though she's not doing a lick of work. (What? She's still being paid?) She's on leave without pay. (Wait, didn't you just say...) It's amazing that those who have been involved in this IRS corruption haven't been fired or been held accountable."

After this Palin closes her mouth and adopts a maniacal stare which appears both incredibly unhinged and self satisfied at the very same time. 

(By the way for those of us in the reality based world, documents which Issa was purposefully withholding from the American people in order to cry "scandal" have already proven that there was no "corruption" and no unfair "targeting" of the Tea Party.)

Greta then asks the Wasilla Wendigo if she thinks that it is time for a Special Prosecutor to be brought in. You know because Palin is such an expert on legal matters.

"Well I would say that it is if Lois is going to return, if she is going to be called back, and with her counsel decide she is going to plead the fifth yet again. Um we need to make sure we're getting to the bottom of this. And if it's not Congress able to get to the bottom of it, via questioning her in front of a panel or committee, then yeah a special investigation needs to ensue. But look this is such a circus. and the ringleader of this circus is (Darrell Issa.) our President Barack Obama (Wait, what?), has opportunity to do something about IRS corruption. He had promised that he would, and yet we haven't heard word one from him since that promise of getting to the bottom of corruption. We haven't heard from Nancy Pelosi who had promised that she would 'drain the swamp,' if she, and some of her colleagues, got reelected. Uh wanting to clean up the corruption in Washington D.C.. All those broken promises just give us fewer and fewer reasons to trust our government." 

Back to that hundred yard meth stare.

Susteren then pulls Palin off of the meatless IRS bone and throws her the fresh meat of Fourth of July fireworks on Army bases being cancelled, due to military spending cutbacks.

Palin eagerly latches on: "Should we do something patriotic like allow our military personnel, who are willing to sacrifice their lives to defend our Republic, should we reward them with something as simple as fireworks on the Fourth of July?  It's a matter of priorities, here Barack Obama is on a hundred million dollar trip to Africa with his family, and extended family, and whomever else he chooses to bring on these trips. And yet wants to pull the rug out from under traditional events, that perhaps would bring some inspiration and some thanks to our military personnel, this is ALL a matter of priorities Greta, and our government has their priorities all screwed up." 

Yes, how could our government possibly choose to keep military personnel, who have spent years ducking enemy fire and having things blow up all around them, from having the opportunity to suffer an episode of PTSD during a completely unnecessary fireworks display? Fucking Obama!

Greta then eggs Palin on further saying it is "beyond" her as to why the soldiers are not getting to see the fireworks. At this Palin "releases the Kraken."

"It's bigger than that though Greta, it's bigger than that. And there are more significant examples than just this fireworks, I mean look at some of our troops with their equipment, some left over surplus equipment that they're using from back in the Vietnam War. We're not equipping them with the tools that they need to, as  I say defend our Republic and do their jobs. And yet we spend money left and right on the most ridiculous things. And you know that's that's for another show because you could go on all day long about the expenditures of our governemtn that make absolutely no sense."

Annnd now we're back to the hundred yard stare. (Okay that is freaking me out!)

Okay so is Palin actually suggesting that our soldiers are currently using 40 year old equipment in Afghanistan? Equipment that has been gathering dust since the end of the Vietnam War?

Now when the wars first started there was an embarrassing lack of adequate armor for the vehicles and the soldiers were creating what they called "hillbilly armor" to compensate, but that was the fault of Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush Administration and has long since been resolved, so I have NO idea what Palin is referring to here.

However I must say that the better lighting did her NO favors.  She looked extremely fucked up and her pupils could not have been larger if you jumped out of one her closets wearing a Rachel Maddow mask,

I think that it is Roger Ailes plan to have her give these short, carefully structured interviews, in the hopes that it will keep her from saying anything TOO stupid.


Unfortunately for Ailes he failed to take into account just how fast the stupid bubbles out of Palin's gaping maw of miserable misinformation.

You know I wonder how much Greta drinks after one of these shows?

Sarah Palin shows up at a traveling Vietnam Wall Memorial. I guess there were no Piggly Wiggly's opening that day. Update!

Courtesy of My Fox Phoenix: 

The traveling Vietnam Wall Memorial is on display in Buckeye. 

It's a smaller version of the permanent Vietnam War Wall in Washington, but still features all the names of the service members who were killed or listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War. 

"So I honor them I thank them, I love them, I'm proud to be the mother of a vet and there are no words to express the appreciation so many Americans feel for the United States military," said Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor, who made an appearance at the memorial.

Still pimping that mother of a vet meme huh Sarah?

For some reason they also let her speak, though I am not certain why?

 I think at this point Palin is just looking for ANYPLACE where people will let her speak and then take pictures of her so that she can remain even vaguely relevant.

Look at me! Look at me! I used to BE somebody!

So sad.

There are more pictures here if you have not had enough pathetic for this morning.

Update: By the way somebody mentioned earlier that Palin appears to now be a permanent resident of Arizona, and that may well be true.

I have heard of only ONE recent encounter with her in Wasilla, and that was while she was came up to the drive thru at her local Taco Bell and was told "Wow, you look just like Sarah Palin."

When Palin responded with "That's because I am Sarah Palin," the female employee said "My husband hates you."

Apparently that really pissed Palin off who drove off in a huff,

Gee I wonder why they don't see more of her around Wasilla?

Rachel Maddow reports that Richard Nixon prolonged the Vietnam War for political purposes.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As a progressive I am not at all surprised to have it reaffirmed that the Republicans have been killing Americans for political gain for decades.

I only wonder why so many of my fellow citizens are so damn slow in figuring it out as well?

Twisted Sister frontman tells the world that the Motor City Madman, and darling of the pro-gun teabaggers, is a cowardly draft dodger. Ooh, that's going to leave a mark!

Courtesy of WRFX News:  

Ted Nugent promotes a lot of conservative ideals, particularly gun rights. But, at least one other rocker sees that stance as hypocritical. Twisted Sister's Dee Snider lashed out at Nugent in an interview with Noisecreep: 

"Ted's always been a gun-toting conservative. But what gets me is that he was actually a draft dodger! I mean, to the point where he didn't bathe for a week, and vomited on himself to deliberately avoid the draft. I totally understand why he did that, but all of these Republicans who love Ted don't seem to know or remember that too well. It's crazy that he's become one of the voices of Conservative America even though he was a draft dodger. If you don't believe me, Google it." 

Dee Snider is citing an interview Nugent gave to High Times magazine in 1977. In the interview, Nugent described how he avoided the draft because he wanted to continue to play guitar instead of serve in the Army. From the 1977 interview, Nugent said: 

"I got my physical notice 30 days prior to. Well, on that day I ceased cleansing my body. No more brushing my teeth, no more washing my hair, no baths, no soap, no water. Thirty days of debris build. I stopped shavin’ and I was 18, had a little scraggly beard, really looked like a hippie. I had long hair, and it started gettin’ kinky, matted up. Then two weeks before, I stopped eating any food with nutritional value. I just had chips, Pepsi, beer-stuff I never touched-buttered poop, little jars of Polish sausages, and I’d drink the syrup, I was this side of death, Then a week before, I stopped going to the bathroom. I did it in my pants. poop, piss the whole shot. My pants got crusted up."

The article goes on to point out that Nugent took back his early story however Snopes.com got a copy of Nugent's deferment which indicates that while the gun toting pedophile received a student deferment for much of the time he was eligible for the draft he also failed a physical exam and was given a 1-Y classification, which are generally assigned to registrants "who have exhibited medical conditions that were limiting but not disabling." You know like having their pants full of their own feces and acting like a lunatic.

Snider calling him out as a coward did not sit well with Nugent who took to Twitter (Where else?) to register his frustration.

Shame on @deesnider for falling for the big lie I challenge u to man up to the truth We xpected btr
— Ted Nugent (@TedNugent) January 23, 2013

Well that's pretty weak. And what "truth" is Snider supposed to "man up" to?

All Snider did was repeat to the interviewer the same story that Nugent gleefully told to High Times back in 1977.

If anybody needs to "man up" and tell the "truth" it is this pathetic excuse for a tough guy. But what can you expect from a guy that measures his manhood by how many guns he owns and preys on underage girls to feed his oversize ego?

Ted Nugent's pants prepare to receive a fear induced load, as the Secret Service arrives to "ask a few questions."

Today the Secret Service is paying the "Motor City Douchebag" a visit after Theodore got himself all excited on the radio and suggested he might break the law or eat a bullet if when President Obama wins a second term.

Here is the statement from the Secret Service:

A Secret Service spokesman declined to directly address whether the federal agency tasked with protecting the president would be meeting with Nugent. 

"We are aware of the incident with Ted Nugent, and we are conducting appropriate follow-up," said spokesman Brian Leary in a statement. "We recognize an individual's right to freedom of speech but we also have a responsibility to determine and investigate intent."

The visit was in response to this rather deranged episode of Theodore Anthony Nugent showing off to a room full of NRA supporters and radio listeners.

Now personally I think that the idea of Nugent suggesting he might off himself when Obama is reelected is the first real sign of patriotism I have ever heard him verbalize.  After all who doesn't think this country would be MUCH better off without him around?

However I seriously doubt that the Secret Service visit will result in any charges of criminal behavior.  Nugent is just one of those panty-waists who like to talk tough when there is no chance anybody will call their bluff  and kick their ass.

Actually Ted had the opportunity to put his skinny white ass on the line, and prove what a he-man he was, back in the 1960's by going to Vietnam to fight for his country.  But instead Theodore spent several days crapping himself (Which is the reason for the above headline) to get a deferment when his number came up in the draft:

(Nugent claims) that 30 days before his Draft Board Physical, he stopped all forms of personal hygiene. The last 10 days he ingested nothing but junk food and Pepsi, and a week before his physical, he stopped using the bathroom altogether, virtually living inside his pants caked with excrement and urine. That spectacle won Nugent a deferment.

Oh yeah, SUCH a man!

I have lived in Alaska my entire life, and these sorry excuses for manhood are fucking EVERYWHERE! You can usually spot them because they are wearing mismatched camouflage clothing, have a clearly mistreated dog chained to the bed of their pickup trucks, and a gun rack prominently displayed next to the Confederate flag in their rear window.

Not only that but their houses are full of animal heads, their refrigerators are full of cheap beer, and their wives are full of regret and thoughts of suicide. When you walk in you are not sure if you should laugh out loud, suggest counseling for his wife and kids, or bring him a pamphlet for surgical penis enhancement.

And speaking of wives, Ted also has yet another problem as revealed on the VH1's "Behind the Music:

"Ted spends the bulk of this program proving what a hypocrite he is. He lambastes drug users and alcohol drinkers, but repeatedly admits (without a trace of humility, however) to being a serial pedophile. Two relationships (one with his wife and one with “muse” Pele Massa, who was 17 when they started dating) were ended due to Ted’s infidelity while on the road, often with underage women."

Gee a guy who craps himself to avoid fighting for his country,  threatens to break the law or kill himself if his candidate is not elected, and preys on underage girls.

Is this REALLY the guy who Mitt Romney begged for an endorsement?

Why yes it is!

Well we know that Romney is a desperate politician who would sell his wife into white slavery to Donald Trump in order to be President, but surely there cannot be ANYBODY else who would allow themselves to be associated with such a vile human being. Right?

(Okay if you did not expect to see this last one, you should be ashamed of yourself.)

Personally I think we have discovered the PERFECT figurehead for the Republican party. After all this is an individual who has a fetish for war (But would never serve himself), makes threats of violence (But is too cowardly to back  it up), and takes advantage of the young, the vulnerable, and the undereducated.

So from now on, when you think GOP, think of this face.

Pretty much says it all, don't you agree?

Mitt Romney learns that you cannot judge a scruffy Vietnam vet by his cover. Because it just might be hiding "teh gay."

Clearly Romney thought he was safe talking with a Vietnam vet, wearing red flannel and sporting grey hair. But in fact he once again demonstrated his incredible lack of intuition and made the mistake of sitting down with somebody he certainly did NOT want to have a conversation with on camera.

Watch the transformation of Romney's face as Bob Garen confronts him on his opinion of gay marriage. Romney's face literally goes ashen as he realizes he is trapped, and that there is nothing he can do to extricate himself without looking like he was freaked out by the exchange.

Gotta love it!

Blackwater guard turned weapon on comrades in attempt to stop the killing in Baghdad.

A Blackwater guard reportedly yelled at colleagues to “stop shooting” during an afternoon of chaos in Baghdad that left 11 Iraqis dead and called into question the accountability of all Western private security firms operating in Iraq.

The New York Times also quoted an unnamed US official as saying that one or more of the Blackwater guards had called for a ceasefire.

The word ceasefire “was supposedly called out several times ... They had an on-site difference of opinion,” the official said. Ultimately, a Blackwater guard “got on another one about the situation and supposedly pointed a weapon”, the newspaper reported.

This story demonstrates that at least some of the Blackwater guards knew that they were overreacting, but I have to wonder how these units are structured. Is there anybody in charge? Is there a chain of command? And when something like this happens does anybody face consequences?

I cannot help but flash back to a situation that happened in Vietnam that is eerily similar. Perhaps you have heard of it, it was called the My Lai Massacre.

Does this ring a bell? Flying high above the slaughter was helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson. Sickened by what he was witnessing, Thompson set down his aircraft and began to rescue the Vietnamese survivors. he ordered his machine gunner to open fire on any American soldiers who continued to shoot villagers.

Justice was not served in the My Lai investigation, since only one participant was found guilty of murder. I am afraid that there will be even less justice in this Blackwater case.

Just how desperate do you have to be to use our experiences in Vietnam to support our policies in Iraq? Lets ask the President.

"Many argued that if we pulled out, there would be no consequences for the Vietnamese people," he was to say. "The world would learn just how costly these misimpressions would be."

"In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge began a murderous rule in which hundreds of thousands of Cambodians died by starvation, torture, or execution. In Vietnam, former American allies, government workers, intellectuals, and businessmen were sent off to prison camps, where tens of thousands perished," he was to say.

"Hundreds of thousands more fled the country on rickety boats, many of them going to their graves in the South China Sea," said Bush, who pleaded for patience with the US-led security crackdown in Iraq.

Of course anybody with any sense of history can see that this is not an argument for staying in Iraq until "the job is done", but rather an argument to not tell the people of a country you will never abandon them on Monday and then run for the border on Wednesday.

We need to start reducing the number of troops in Iraq as soon as possible, but do it in a controlled manner which does not appear that we are being chased out.

No matter if we stay or if we go, there are going to be more Iraqi casualties. And it is almost certain that the months around our pullout will see an increase in violence against the Iraqis and Americans. But it simply has to be done. Because until we leave this thing will just never end.

And we better make some considerations for the Iraqis who supported us, because they will be the first ones killed when we do leave. I don't have a good solution for this problem.

When we went in we should have known that we would cause a bloodbath. Hell we killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of these people ourselves in the lead up to the war.

All of this is our fault. We have no moral ground to stand on here.