My Morning Wooten

Steaming.

Barack Obama is a text-message president. His speeches have no particular foundation in anything that precedes or follows. In his West Point address, for example, he accused the former administration of denying or ignoring requests for more troops. “Commanders in Afghanistan repeatedly asked for support to deal with the re-emergence of the Taliban, but these reinforcements did not arrive,” he speechified. Responded former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “Such a bald misstatement, at least as it pertains to the period I served as secretary of defense, deserves a response. I am not aware of a single request of that nature between 2001 and 2006.”

Is there no sense of outrage left on Marietta St? How about just plain honesty? Is the new policy that Jim Wooten gets to print anything he wants without accuracy or context? Does anyone even give a damn any more?

To understand why I am so furious watch the video. Not only was Shinsheki's request not granted but he was canned.

(And I understand his request was Iraq and not Afghanistan, but if you try to make that argument, understand that I will consider you just as dishonest in your reasoning as the revered Jim Wooten. Once upon a time we were told to not support a President in time of war was un-american. Things never change - except when they do)

My Morning Wooten

techniques that could be considered mean-spirited or at least insensitive ~Jim Wooten, 1-22-09

This is the Jim I will not miss.

The difference between the Bush Administration’s approach to the events of 9/11 and his critics’ is that Bush saw the attack on the homeland as an act of war. Most of those who opposed him on the war that followed saw it as a criminal justice matter, something akin to gangland killings on a larger scale.

Pardon me, but, bullshit.

Following 9/11, all America, with the exception of a thin sliver of pacifists and anti-war kooks, answered President Bush's call to take the battle to the terrorists' homeland with a resounding yes. 46 nations followed us into Afghanistan in an effort to stamp out al-Qaeda and their ruthless supporters the Taliban.

Then we invaded Iraq and it all began to fall apart.

What followed was a death spiral of US prestige in the world. What followed was a government wiretapping its own citizens, detaining its own citizens and yes, torture. What followed was a cascading failure taking our country from its highest pinnacle to one of its lowest depths.

Jim rolls out the usual litany of revisionism and fallacy claiming there was no torture, only "mean-spirited" and "insensitive" activities. He claims a renunciation of torture will tell the world the U.S. now plays by "recess rules".

He also claims that if the remaining detainees are brought from Guantanamo to the U.S., they will be treated like "pick-pockets" and "shop-lifters". How easily these supposed ardent defenders of our great nation slap in the face a judicial system which has served us well for 220 years.

What Jim fails to note is that by threading the loophole of detaining combatants on non-U.S. soil, the Bush administration gambled it could avoid constitutional protections that lace the bedrock of our principle. But what it did not appear to concieve is one day the detention camps must be closed and the remnants must be cleaned in a manner which not only continued to insure our security but also saw justice served.

Even Republican presidential candidate John McCain correctly noted Guantanamo is a stain on the honor of America. It is a stain which is deep and difficult, but it will be removed. Fortunately for us all, President Obama recognizes the need for prudence and deliberation to prevent damage to the fabric beneath.

But it will be closed. Thank God for us all, it will be closed.

My Morning Wooten

We're going to focus on one salient point this morning, gentle readers.

The problem is that much of the country seems to be unaware of the 60s and 70s, while many of those who are still cling to the era. The old-timers of the flower-children generation want one last Woodstock on the White House grounds before they go...But the question, really, is to identify something in Obama’s promise of “change” that represents actual change.

You may be right, Jim. You may be crazy. But you definitely ignore the point that most Americans understand exactly what happened in the past eight years.

An unneeded war. Foreign policy which wrecked the only remaining superpower's standing in the world. Attempts at suspending habeas corpus for U.S. citizens. Torture.

We could go on but instead let us roll that last word around the consciousness for a moment.

There are a great number of people in this country who understand exactly what change means.

My Morning Wooten

Only a Sith deals in absolutes.

If true — and we’ll have to wait for a more balanced historical accounting that includes first-hand accounts of the actual participants in decision-making to know whether Bush serving future generations, as I believe, or settling an old score for his dad, as the loopy-left believes — the news is hardly indictable.

Or as many reasonable people believed and McClellan is confirming, Bush used fear to forward a radical change in American foreign policy by mirroring the philosophy of the Project For A New American Century. An shift so naive in its absolutes many of us non-loopy folks said at the time it would be stupid and tragic. Do you really think we have to wait that long to be proved right? Hell, do we have to wait at all?

Quote Of The Day

From the Creative Loafing feature on the life of Iraqi Ahmad Ali.

If it's your day to be dead, then that's it.

When you live in hell on earth, even the most profound tends to simplify. Read the entire article. It's worth it.

My Morning Wooten

Just a quick hit.

Jim thinks 59% of Americans are Democrats.

One is that questions like whether Republican voters prefer a candidate similar or dissimilar to Bush, while entertaining, mean nothing to me. Most of the Republicans I know find fault with Bush — but it’s mostly because they think he’s failed to check spending or has failed in some meaningful way to confront Democrats. They grumble but, as with the Democrats’ Iraq withdrawal agenda, will stand with him if it matters.

One of the latest polls on American's opinion on withdrawal from Iraq.

My Morning Wooten: Lies

Down here you better be sure if you call someone a son of a bitch.

You call someone a son of a bitch, it will be with a nervous laugh of respect and fear or it will be with the grimace proceeding violence.

Describe it in any terms you like, but this is a party under the control of the ’60s generation of leftists. General Betray Us. The betrayal, if we follow the advice of the Democratic field, won’t be just of the American patriots putting their lives on the line, as Gen. Petraeus is doing, but of every friend of America, especially those in Iraq, who walk through minefields based on our promises. ~Jim Wooten

Perhaps Jim, you missed Democratic Congressman Jim Marshall who called General Petraus' testimony "powerful and persuasive".

Perhaps you missed Democratic Presidential candidate John Edward's wife Elizabeth calling out the critics of General Petraeus.

Perhaps you missed the preeminent progressive blog in Georgia decrying the idiocy of the MoveOn ad.

Jim, you aren't a son of a bitch.

You are just a liar.

Leave General Petraeus Alone

Houston. We have a meme.

Daily Show Moment: The Video

The Daily Show Moment I mentioned yesterday?

Now watch the video.

There are many insincere moments on television. We are so numbed by the reality shows and the celebrity confessions that at times we no longer feel when we pass through the veil of pretend. But occasionally even celebrities slip up and show their real face. They exhibit honest hurt and pain. You tell me if Jon Stewart's confrontation of Stephen Hayes is one of these moments.

Daily Show Moment

Just watched tonight's Daily Show. Jon Stewart interviewed Stephen Hayes author of the new biography Cheney. He framed the interview in light of the recent 1994 video of Cheney poo-pooing the idea of invading Iraq.

Stewart was obviously upset about recent criticism of his post-9/11 commentary and rightfully so. I'm sure Crooks & Liars will have the video and I will link when John Amato has it up.

Here's the deal. We were right. You were wrong. Get used to hearing that. A lot.

And no matter how many times you call us traitorous, un-American, un-patriotic or whatever latest prejorative gets spit out by your ad hominem decoder rings, it is a fact that will not change.

National Guard Extensions Hit Home

There have been many stories about the effect of extended National Guard deployments in Iraq. Most have focused on Katrina or the recent flooding in the Midwest. However, somewhat lost in the swirl of the politics, the recent firing of Doraville Police Chief John King brings it all home. One of the alledged reasons for the dismissal was his absence due to 18 months of deployment in Iraq. 18 months!

I'm not sympathetic to the Doraville City Council at this point but if you step back to view the bigger picture, one has to wonder just how small towns throughout the land are coping with losing vital citizens for months on end.

The Guard are our sisters and brothers and we should be proud of their service. But we should also be concerned that their gross mishandling is causing the tainted tentacles of mismanagement to reach down to the very neighborhoods in which we live.

h/t: Dorablog

Let The Lies End

Let them end now.

Why Should We Believe You Now?

John McCain appears on The Daily Show.

The hideous hypocrisy of Jim Wooten's article this morning has nearly left my tank empty. So just follow the link, watch the video and if you are of the Republican persuasion answer this question.

Why should we believe your predictions of the future when you predictions of the past have been so catastrophically wrong?

You want to be the party of accountability? Be accountable.

My Morning Wooten

Yesterday, Jessica Lynch and the family of Pat Tillman testified before congress on how they believe the military intentionally misled the public on both tragic stories. For a long time, I myself wondered why these exaggerations mattered. Then someone, I do not recall who, crystallized the matter for me. He said, "Sometimes the only comfort for the family is the cold, hard truth". As we all know now, when this administration's war effort is involved ,the truth has been not been a requirement but rather a tool to further its misguided agenda. The tool is not even set aside for grieving families or traumatized soldiers who simply want to be left alone.

Then, there are those who "support the troops" but only as long as they are seen in the light of the "good" war effort.

This is not a liberal or conservative issue, but the anti-war Democrats in Congress are attempting to make political hay with suggestions that the brass lied about the valor under fire of Jessica Lynch in Iraq and the death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

I would write on but simply reading Jim's article this morning roils my stomach. What about supporting the families (the Tillmans), Jim? What about supporting the troops (Lynch), Jim? Are the also part of the anti-war crowd? Does it matter that the Tillmans have been asking hard questions about their son's death for three years? What about Jessica Lynch? Does it matter that since she arrived home all she wanted to do was receive treatment and return to her life instead of being paraded like a prize pony.

No, in the mind of those who still ignore the cascade of deception and failure that led us to this point, the only viewpoint is a partisan Congress intent on destroying the President. All else is irrelevant, including the actual events of the previous three years.

But should we be surprised? Ignoring history to further agenda has become standard practice in some parts.

Quote Of The Day

Someone please tell me what pagan ritual I need to perform to get Dollar Bill back into politics. Former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley last night on Bill Maher, speaking about Iraq.

It was a conceptually flawed policy. You are not going to create a liberal democracy out of three provinces of the former Ottoman Empire that are really a figment of Winston Churchill's imagination.

Wow.

Air of Superiority?

Just heard on the news we lost another helicopter near Baghdad. That makes five in the past three weeks. In the past, the one arena untouched by Iraqi militants has been the air. Are we now being confronted on this battlefield as well? Anyone still believe we aren't facing organized armies? Anyone still think we aren't just targets for both sides in a civil war?

My Morning Wooten

From this morning's Thinking Right:

The war in Iraq is nearing abortion as a topic of conversation that generates heat, but changes no minds.

An interesting analogy Jim as over 60% of Americans support some form of choice and well over that amount now believe Iraq is an utter failure. Yet, somehow right wing pundits like yourself continue to see the world through some weird prism that lets you believe you represent "mainstream" thought.

I was going to "fisk" the rest of Jim's entry but I vomited in my cereal bowl.

al-Sadr One Of Saddam's Executioners?

IRAQSlogger puts forth some interesting visual evidence. Take a look at the pictures and judge for yourself.


h/t: Joe

Iran: Old Is New Again

With all the saber-rattling towards Iran, I decided to dig up something I wrote all the way back in April 2006.

Also, Iran is not Iraq. Iraq is mostly desert. Iran is mostly mountains. A problem with the geographically challenged American consciousness is we visualize the entire middle east as one vast flat desert. Not so in Iran. The most populous regions actually lay in basins between imposing mountain ranges. If invasion moved forward, there would be no dash to Tehran as there was to Baghdad. The likely scenario would be months if not years of slogging slowly towards the population centers.

Read the entire entry here.

Have We Lost Our Minds?

You really have to wonder just what in the name of holy hell they are putting in the water in D.C. these days.

We have apparently raided the Iranian Consulate in Irbil, Iraq:

US forces have stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized six members of staff.

For those playing at home, consulates are considered sovereign soil. Not only have we rabid-monkey-like thrown poo straight in the face of our biggest (and craziest) rival in the region but we have endangered our own diplomats the world over.

We have gone from foolish to dangerous to deranged.