I thought that the best protest sign I'd ever seen was one in a pre-Iraq-invasion anti-war protest in Vancouver. The snowfall that winter was a bare sprinkling in the hills, and one group carried a sign that read "Disgruntled Season Ski Pass Holders Against War".
But this one is brilliant: </BUSH>
I'm still in vacation recovery mode (washing and drying tents and tarps really takes it out of you), and unable to focus for long on much that is political, but the entertaining Dean Esmay posts this:
The situation in Iraq, which has been going better than anyone had really expected a year and a half ago, just keeps getting better and better all the time.Well, that's great news. Meanwhile, in the real world, sabotage has cut off all Iraq's oil exports. The CSM reports that support for the cleric al-Sadr has become even more widespread than before:
...It's rather astounding the warped view you get from just skimming headlines and watching the nightly news, isn't it?
Sadr and his forces agreed on Friday to put down their weapons and withdraw from the Shrine of Imam Ali, one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites. But interviews in Baghdad suggest that Sadr is walking away from the standoff with a widening base and supporters who are more militant than before.So while I think it's a good thing to take note of positive advances in the region, like planned mall openings and noting how well the Iraqi soccer team is doing, to ignore other events (like a major insurrection) simply because it incoveniently doesn't support one's political views is simple partisanship.
...All sides are claiming victory in Najaf - the Americans say they expelled Sadr's forces, the Sadrists say they forced the Americans to withdraw from Najaf - but the momentum may be with Sadr. Interviews with Iraqis since the siege in Najaf ended indicate some of the moderates becoming radical, the radicals becoming suicidally committed, and the average Iraqi Shiite - while discontented with Sadr's methods - showing no sign of uniting in a backlash against him.
Despite torrential downpours, that was a pretty good vacation. A great mix of people and kids resulted in a camping holiday that included:
I am out of here. I'll be offline for a whole week, and will probably not even read the papers. We're camping at a lake with family, friends, and neighbours, 20 of us at the last count. Should be fun, although rain is forecast for the next five days or so, dammit to hell.
TTYL
Via Michael Bérubé, Ken Layne:
Somehow, over these past three years, Dubya's each and every weakness has been embraced by his mouth-breathing followers -- although his poll numbers have gone from 90-odd percent to the 40s as his nonexistent charm wears off on those finally recovering from Sept. 11. Consider: The nation is attacked and his bumbling administration is helpless to stop it, or even prevent the Pentagon crash with an hour's advance notice. The wuss president then flies around the middle of the country all day, oh please don't land they'll blow me up. Like the kindergarten weakling threatening to beat up the bullies from the safety of his parents' house, Bush puffs up his little chest and says he's gonna get that Osama bin Laden, oh yes indeed. Osama & Co., of course, zip away to plan new attacks, never to be seen again except as mocking reminders on an Arab teevee network. Impotent and helpless, losing every war, he hides under the desk, clutching a cheap tear-stained stuffed animal from the Texas State Fair and a picture book about a friendly goat. And now the Oval Office teevee is tuned to "The Daily Show," and there's Clinton laughing it up, saying how Dubya and Cheney and even Big Bill himself were cowards, hiding from the Vietnam War while the God of Life & Death handed out his cruel and random awards on the Mekong.Geez. Well, as I pointed out in a post a few months ago (Presidents Who Kill), Kerry may well be The President Who Has Killed Men. Twenty of them, in fact.
It took three years for the hard-core Bush lovers to completely fall in line. As recently as 2002, many of them were still asking questions about "homeland security," Saudi Arabia, etc. Now, all doubts are gone and all doubters are exiled. What's interesting is how much faster this has happened with Kerry ... even though most Democrats saw him as a Dull Loser earlier this year, it has only taken a few months for him to become flawless in the eyes of his party (except for a few cranky old socialists like Cockburn). An increasing percentage of those in the political middle are starting to think Kerry is bulletproof, too. The anti-war protests are forgotten, as the War God has willed it. After all, he is a trained and savage killer who could care less if he's shooting the enemy or twisting off the head of a three-year-old orphan just to amuse the guys on the Swift Boat.
Via VanRamblings, a Texan journalist's experience with ever-so-polite Canadian questions about the upcoming US election:
While vacationing in Kananaskis, Alberta, Ms. Ivins was, she says, queried repeatedly by Canadians about the prospect of electing George Walker Bush to a second term in office.Hmmm. Nincompoop. Well, I guess that's a bit more polite than "moron."“You couldn’t possibly …” they begin, only to break off. “Are you not aware of what …” “Surely you realize how …” But they can think of no polite way of asking if we are such freaking idiots that we haven’t noticed the damage that has been done by the Bush administration to the American reputation all over the world.Ms. Ivins finds herself at some pains to try to answer the ever-so-delicately phrased question: Are you people actually going to re-elect that nincompoop?
Watched the Men's 800 metre relay last night with the kids, and a post-loss interview with Rick Say, Canadian team captain. This wonderful sum-up had us all laughing:
"I'm pissed off, I'm disappointed. This is crap."Attaboy. There's too much political correctness in sports, and it's refreshing to get something that isn't "We gave it our best, and we'll try to do better next time."
Well, I guess if the alternative is to talk about a worsening situation in Iraq, a desperate Glenn Reynolds would gladly drone on and on and on and on about whether Kerry was actually across the Cambodian border, or within 50 miles of it some thirty-plus years ago.
Me, I don't really understand the fuss, but I do know one thing. While John Kerry may have been within 50 miles of Cambodia, George W. Bush was 8,500 miles from the Cambodian border, and probably heading the other way.
Oh good, Russian scientists have discovered what caused the Tunuska event in Siberia in 1908. It was a UFO crashing:
Russian scientists claim to have discovered the wreck of an alien device at the site of an unexplained explosion in Siberia almost a hundred years ago, the Interfax news agency reported.Superior alien civilizations, my ass. They hit a planet. What were they, drunk?
The scientists, who belong to the Tunguska space phenomenon public state fund, said they found the remains of an extra-terrestrial device that allegedly crashed near the Tunguska river in Siberia in 1908.
Via Matthew Yglesias - Christmas in Cambodia. Not from my political neck of the woods, but still a damn fine job of political commentary in rhyme:
Twas the night before Christmas and we were afloat
Somewhere in Cambodia in our little boat.
While the river was lightened by rockets red glare
No one but the President knew we were there.
The crew was all nestled deep down in their bunks,
While the Spook and I watched the sampans and junks.
Our mission was secret, so secret in fact,
No one else would remember it when we got back.
When out on the water there arose such a clatter
I leaped down from the bridge to see what was the matter.
The incoming friendly was starting to flash
And I knew that the ARVN’s were having a bash.
[ ... ]
Guilty of thoughtcrime. So very guilty.
