US says 12,000 troops to leave Iraq by September

AP:

About 12,000 U.S. soldiers will leave Iraq by September, officials said Sunday, hours after a Baghdad suicide bomber killed about 30 people in a chilling reminder of the nation's still-shaky security.

The withdrawals, which will most likely come from Baghdad and Anbar province, once main battlefields of the war, are the first step in keeping with President Barack Obama's pledge to end America's role in the war.

It's just a beginning, and while I share the skepticism as to whether we will meet Obama's timetable, one thing is certain: Had John McCain been elected president, we wouldn't even attempt to end our engagement in Iraq. Under Barack Obama, we are finally trying to seriously end this war. Whether Obama will be successful is another matter. Extricating ourselves from this mess is going to be extremely difficult. But just as with the economy, fixing the problem is not going to be easy, but I'm damn glad it's our guy in charge of trying, and not theirs. Read the rest of this post...

Zimbabwe PM claims deadly crash was deliberate

Robert Mugabe needs to go, one way or another. The African Union needs to quit being such pathetic cowards and help the people of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's prime minister believes the truck driver that struck his car, killing his wife, deliberately drove toward them, his party told CNN.

Morgan Tsvangirai left hospital Saturday, a day after his wife, Susan, was killed in the accident, officials said.

The couple, who were married in 1978, have six children.

The crash, on a two-lane highway between Tsvangirai's hometown Buhera and the capital Harare, comes only weeks after the start of a power-sharing agreement between Tsvangirai and his political rival, President Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai's political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, said Friday that it was too early to tell whether the crash was anything other than an accident.

But on Saturday, MDC members told CNN that Tsvangirai thought the crash was deliberate.

Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary-general, speaking during a tearful press conference, said Tsvangirai should have had better security.

Read the rest of this post...

Prince Charles might not be so bad after all

Earlier this week there was a well publicized story of euthanasia in the UK. An elderly couple were both battling terminal cancer and traveled to Switzerland where assisted suicide is legal. Having watched my father die from cancer and spend his final months on morphine because of the pain, I feel for this couple and their families. This is something that the state should get out of and let people control their own destiny. Prince Charles did not know the elderly couple though he did know their son-in-law and he sent them a letter following the announcement. Maybe he didn't condone their actions (maybe he did) but he also was not going to be bullied by the holier-than-though religious nut cases. Good for him.

Prince Charles has sent a condolence message to the family of a wealthy British couple who ended their lives together at a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland, according to media reports.

Peter and Penelope Duff from Bath, England, died in Zurich on February 27, according to a statement released Thursday by their family. Both had terminal cancer.

Prince Charles sent the message to the couple's son-in-law, Simon Conibear, who works as a development manager at his "model village" in Poundbury, Dorset, the British Press Association reported.

Conibear and the Prince had met on a number of occasions, PA reported.

The family said earlier this week that Penelope, 70, had fought GIST (gastrointestinal stromal tumor), a rare type of cancer found in the digestive system, since 1992.

Meanwhile Peter's, 80, colon cancer had spread to his liver.

Dignity in Dying, a British charity that advocates the choice of assisted death for terminally ill patients, said it was "extremely sad" that the Duffs had to travel abroad to die.

"Had they had the option of an assisted death in this country they may still be alive, as their physical ability to travel would not have been a factor," said Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying.

Wootton called on Parliament to modernize laws on suicide to allow for assisted dying.

Read the rest of this post...

Oklahoma tells Obama-voting gun owners to get out

Nasty story. Fortunately, the state handled it well. Well, they apparently didn't handle it well when they were first informed of the problem - it took a third person to tell them that they too were offended before the state felt they "had" to act.

Dunkley and his father, Daniel Reddy, who live in Tulsa, went to Broken Arrow on Tuesday night for a hunter safety course normally required to get an Oklahoma hunting license....

But when father and son arrived at the lesson, the volunteer instructor, Kell Wolf, asked if any of the students voted for President Barack Obama.

Reddy, a transplanted Californian — and former Marine — raised his hand.

According to Reddy and others in the room, Wolf called Obama "the next thing to the Antichrist" and ordered Reddy and Dunkley from the room. When Reddy refused, Wolf said he would not teach "liberals" and would cancel the course if Reddy didn't leave.

So Reddy and Dunkley left, as did a few others.

Read the rest of the story. The state was appropriately outraged AFTER a third person complained. It would have been nice had the state of Oklahoma done something when they were first informed of their state employees violating the constitutional rights of their citizens. Read the rest of this post...

Orszag: There they go again

OMB Director Orszag has been quite the feisty fellow, taking on the Republicans (or perhaps we should call them the Republics) directly and repeatedly over their non-proposals regarding the budget. He even quoted Reagan against them.

One thing I'd like to see less of, from administration spokesmen, but also from the media, is references to the Great Depression. I think at this point people get it, the economic is in bad shape. But, if we're not careful, we may turn the current situation, bad as it is, into an economic 9/11. Not in terms of its gravity, but in terms of its psychological impact (not to go all Phil Gramm on everyone). At some point, watching that video of the Twin Towers falling, over and over and over again, went from informative to trauma-inducing. We get that the economy is in bad shape. We don't need to keep telling people, over and over and over, and then giving them one more shove by mentioning the Great Depression. Let's not create even more damage by unnecessarily scaring the hell out of people, and suppressing demand so much that we end up getting what we didn't wish for.

Initially I thought Depression comparisons were necessary and relevant in order to impress the gravity of the current situation on the American people. Things have changed. The people now get it.

It's time to call off the four horses. Read the rest of this post...

Maureen Dowd hearts Michelle. David Brooks not so much.

David Brooks comes across as a catty bitch in Maureen Dowd's column today. She, on the other hand, captures the essence of our First Lady. People in DC love her (not the smarty-pants pundit types, the real people -- and yes, there are real people in DC):

David [Brooks] was not smitten by the V-neck, sleeveless eggplant dress Michelle wore at her husband’s address to Congress — the one that caused one Republican congressman to whisper to another, “Babe.”

He said the policy crowd here would consider the dress ostentatious. “Washington is sensually avoidant. The wonks here like brains. She should not be known for her physical presence, for one body part.” David brought up the Obamas’ obsession with their workouts. “Sometimes I think half the reason Obama ran for president is so Michelle would have a platform to show off her biceps.”

During the campaign, there was talk in the Obama ranks that Michelle should stop wearing sleeveless dresses, because her muscles, combined with her potent personality, made her daunting.

She ignored that talk, thank heavens. I love the designer-to-J. Crew glamour. Combined with her workaday visits to soup kitchens, inner-city schools and meetings with military families, Michelle’s flare is our depression’s answer to Ginger Rogers gliding around in feathers and lamé.

Her arms, and her complete confidence in her skin, are a reminder that Americans can do anything if they put their minds to it. Unlike Hillary, who chafed at the loathed job of first lady, and Laura, who for long stretches disappeared into the helpmeet role, Michelle has soared every day, expanding the job to show us what can be accomplished by a generous spirit, a confident nature and a well-disciplined body.

I also have no doubt she can talk cap-and-trade with ease and panache.

And, you know Michelle has better biceps than David Brooks and most of the other cranky conservatives. Rush probably doesn't even have biceps.

(I had never seen the word "helpmeet" before, which shows up as an error in blogger.com. Online Dictionary says it means "a helpful partner.")

NOTE FROM JOHN: Let me first say, David Brooks is an idiot. Not always. But certainly today. Having said that, I have to admit, I too saw the First Lady on TV that night and thought "woah, a sleeveless dress?" The issue isn't her biceps (her biceps?) The issue is sensuality. That was a sexy dress, and she looked gorgeous in it. I'm just not sure Americans want their First Lady looking too sexy. And before anyone jumps down my throat, I'm talking about my perceptions of what the public wants. I think being President and First Lady is a bit like running a big company. While the employees, and the public, want you to look your best, want you to look classy, want you to look put-together all the time, they don't want to see you looking sexy, unless it's understated. As I said, I'm sure some of our readers will go ballistic over this analysis, but as I always try to point out, it's not always relevant what "you" think - what's relevant is what the American people think. Obama needs the support of the public, and every little thing counts, whether you or I like it or not. The dress, while stunning, gave me pause. Brooks, in his heavy-handed (and somewhat sexist) Republican way, took an interesting observation and perverted it to his own political purposes. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Looks like the shows are all about money, money, money. At least it looks that way with two appearances by Peter Orszag, who heads the Office of Management and Budget. (Note: the guy is pretty damn smart and also writes a blog at OMB.) I can tell you this much: Both John Boehner and Eric Cantor will look dumb compared to Orszag. Both of them will probably have to resort to typical GOP spin lies. (Let's just call it what it is.)

The cranky old man and his drama queen sidekick are also back. Should be a fun Sunday morning.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala.; Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — White House budget director Peter Orszag; Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

___

CNN's "State of the Union" — Orszag; Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.


"Fox News Sunday" _ Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Democratic National Committee chairman.

Fareed Zakaria's CNN website doesn't tell us this week's guests. Read the rest of this post...

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

My cat-loving friend Dora sent this to me and I love it. Every now and then we try changing the cat food and they almost always refuse to eat it. However, Sushi has started to develop a taste for any kind of fish and can smell it the moment I bring it through the front door. He does circles around my legs, tripping me and meowing like mad. Cat girl still prefers her croquets, day after day after day. Read the rest of this post...

British minister slimed

If you look closely, you can spot the difference between the normal Peter Mandelson slime and the slime attack. The attack slime is green which is as close as he ever gets to being green. His normal slime is another color and usually it's Mandelson who is sliming others. Read the rest of this post...

France responds to the crisis

With capitalism. (The link name is NSFW...in English. It's not proper but not quite as bad here.) If you are young and looking for work, what else do you do besides fight back using the crisis itself to generate some cash? Lots of chatter (finally) in the media about the seriousness of the economic crisis after too many months of suggesting it was a US and UK problem. The talk is now about the benefits of doing more with less and stretching the budget. What change from the global media obsession with excessive displays of wealth that weren't really true after all. Not legal, at least. Read the rest of this post...