Rumsfeld blows off question from troops about their need for more armor

Fire the man, now.

From The New Republic

Q: Sir, my unit, the 2nd Brigade -- (inaudible) -- Cav, we have five out of the six red zones in this country. And with the up- armored humvees, the new -- (off mike) -- humvees they're bringing over with the -- (inaudible) -- those doors are not as good as the ones on the up-armored humvees -- (inaudible). We even lost quite -- we lost some soldiers due to them, and we're trying to make a change -- (inaudible). The question is, are we going to get more up-armored humvees?

And the second question I wanted to ask is, they have the new -- (inaudible) -- vests out that covers your -- (inaudible). We need those because we have taken some casualties due to the shrapnel from IEDs going through the side. The front parts are good, but the sides are not. Thank you.

General Myers's answer: "We're trying to get them to you as fast as we can." Rumsfeld declined to field that one.

No, a sheriff in Florida (see post further down) is trying to get them to you as fast as he can. No idea what the hell Rummy or Myers are doing at all. Read More......

Who says that France is ungrateful?

You will have to go down on the page a bit to April 28, but check out this story about the French government handing out 300 rooms in some very posh hotels in Paris for WWII vets. What a great move and too bad they did not receive more press for such a classy move. Then again, not many French-bashers recognized that France was critical in the War of Independence.

"In a joint effort between the Minister Delegate for Tourism and for Veterans, this appreciation campaign and offer holds for Legion of Honor winners from the 14 Allied nations, but France expects most of its decorated visitors to hail from the US, Great Britain and Canada." - MSNBC

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Bishop: No communion for evil Democrats (basically)

The Catholic bishops are expanding their jihad to include even more Democratic/moderate/independent voters. I really grow tired of a pedophile-enabling church telling the rest of us how to live our lives.

TimesLeader.com: "Catholics who vote for politicians in favor of abortion rights, stem-cell research, euthanasia or gay marriage may not receive Communion until they recant and repent in the confessional, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Colorado Springs said."

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Can Bush be trusted with spending our money?

For all of the talk from these guys about spending or not spending taxpayer money, they sure don't know how to control themselves at all with spending. Bush has a long history of spending other people's money (private and taxpayer) and it just keeps getting worse. Cracks are showing in his once disciplined party machine and even his allies are getting nervous about his international objectives as well as his out-of-control spending. He's a serial spender who can't control himself. George, it's time to get help and get your latest addiction under control. Until you admit that there's a problem, you can not be trusted to spend our money.

“The Bush administration may back down from its proposal to fully control the initial $25 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan year after senators demanded a role for Congress.

…most of the money would be used for operations and maintenance for the Army and other services. But the proposal would let the president shift the money to any defense or classified program after simply notifying Congress five days beforehand.

"I'm going to support this $25 billion, but we're going to put limitations on it because we're sworn to protect the people's money," said Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who waved a copy of the Constitution at the witness table.

Even the panel's chairman, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said lawmakers want to make sure "we can maintain our oversight" of the funds.” - AP/Yahoo!

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60th Anniversary of D-Day coming

I just visited the landing beaches in Normandy last week with visiting friends from LA and this article about the gathering triggered my memory about what I suspect will be the next "Operation Flightsuit" photo op for Bush. The tombstones closest to the memorial and the bronze statue "The Spirit of American Youth" were all roped off, surely to keep the grass as green as possible for the Bush visit next month. Karl Rove must be planning new photos for the campaign and he wants the color to be the perfect contrast to Bush's suit. Details, details, details.

I have been laughing about the European spin on the issue of who has invited the Germans to attend. The French all repeat the local news stories about the English insisting on including the Germans and the Brits will insist that it was the French who wanted the Germans. Boy, the press in every country really spins the news for the home crowd. Read More......

Prison scandal continues and Rummy grinning about interpretation

It's funny how the administration usually promotes a black and white world and now we're hearing Rummy grinning as he says that "Geneva doesn't say what you do when you get up in the morning" and the attorneys are suggesting that the Geneva Convention is open to interpretation, despite General Pace telling the Senate that it sounds like there is a violation. I didn't know that these guys did nuance. In case you missed the arrogant smirk on Rummy's face, check out the video portion of the story.

"Abusive treatment under the supervision of military intelligence officers may have been intentionally used as part of the interrogation of Iraqi captives at the Abu Ghraib prison…” NBC News/MSNBC

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