M Dowd: "You know you're in trouble when Henry Kissinger gives you ...

[understandinglife]

... advice on how to exit a war.

<clip>

Domestic support is waning because the president remains too stubbornly ensconced in his fantasy world - it's worse than Barbie in her dream house - to reassure Americans that he has a plan to get out.

As we approach the 2,000 mark of coffins coming home that we're not allowed to see, it doesn't even look like a war. It looks like a lot of kids being blown to smithereens by an invisible enemy.

The mother of one of the 16 Ohio marines killed in a recent roadside explosion in western Iraq addressed the president from in front of her Cleveland home. "We feel you either have to fight this war right or get out," Rosemary Palmer said.

Tricky Dick suggested that he had a secret plan to get out of Vietnam. Bikey W. doesn't even have a secret plan, unless it's to recreate forever, and never again have to speed past those pesky antiwar protesters in a motorcade.

<clip>

From Hey, What's That Sound? By MAUREEN DOWD on August 20, 2005

Link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/20/opinion/20dowd.html?pagewanted=print

Some Op-Ed statements are so compelling they deserve to just stand on their own.

Paul Krugman wrote such an Op-Ed last night.

Maureen Dowd has written one tonight.

Amazingly, the 'old grey lady' who conveys 'the record' managed to publish both of them -- remorse for 'her' ever publishing anything written by propagandist-in-chief Judith Miller, perhaps??


Peace.

[understandinglife]

1. Krugman yesterday. Dowd today. We will prevail my fellow citizens, as ...

... as you never forget -- your vote must be counted as you intend.

"NOT ONE LINE OF SOFTWARE BETWEEN YOUR VOTE AND A VALID ELECTION"

Never, ever forget it -- know your vote is recorded exactly the way you cast it; accept no excuses; demand verification.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

2. "Pollack is a good example of the delusional expert mentality ...

... that brought us to this point. He wrote last month that the Pentagon needs to "relearn the lessons that the marines and Green Berets learned in Vietnam and the British learned in Northern Ireland, American troops need to be on the streets patrolling on foot with the Iraqis to reassure civilians." First, the US forces were forced to withdraw from Vietnam, and the British troops are barracked in Northern Ireland while the IRA retired soldiers are leafletting for Gerry Adams. Allowing American troops to walk the streets like sitting ducks for the next three to five years will only multiply the Cindy Sheehans by thousands more. It could be very painful "politically", says Pollack reassuringly.

And if the counter-insurgency tactics fail, he has another plan: "buy off the Sunni sheiks" by "paying them protection money." He goes on: "Buying your enemies may sound un-American, but it is a time-honored tradition in Iraq."

Good to know. But if one billion dollars a week for another three years is not enough...well, Pollack will have more comments then.

Few Americans have heard of Kenneth M. Pollack. But this is the kind of insight that is highly-prized, not to mention well compensated, as "expert opinion" among the war planners and war correspondents. That is why people like Cindy Sheehan, not the experts, have to bear so much of the burden of ending the war.

From More Mothers Doing Great! by Mark Hayden on August 19, 2005

More at the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-hayden/more-mothers-doing-great_b_5937.html

My fellow Americans, the vast majority of us pay taxes because we don't make that much money.

Bush and his ultra-wealthy neoconster fellow war criminals don't pay -- period.

We need to change that.

This dude Pollack gets fat consulting fees to spew not just drivel but drivel that costs some of your fellow Americans more than money -- it costs them their LIFE.

Listen to Ms Dowd. Listen to Ms Sheehan. Listen to Ms Edmonds.

Never allow your vote to not be certifiably counted as you intend.

Get into the streets on Sept 24th and make it clear you want all these criminals out of YOUR government and punished.


Peace.

[JDPriestly]

7. Think tanks funded by right wing bigots

with huge "foundations" or "trust funds" backing them are sustaining this continuous stream of drivel. It's time to adopt a tax code that takes the handling of excess wealth out of the hands of the spoiled rotten rich and into the hands of ordinary taxpayers. Extremely greedy, extremely wealthy people put their money into family-run "foundations" which purport to support charitable projects. In reality, the "foundations" support the pet obsessions of the very rich who found them. In exchange for establishing these houses of ill intentions, the very rich get tax breaks and, thanks to the extremist propaganda these "foundations" spew, our nation becomes economically and morally even more broke than we were before the greedy "donors" stole our money in the first place. This has to stop. The most important tax code revision we need is to make sure that organizations that earn tax relief for their donors really support charities, not political propaganda. Charitable money should not go to think tanks or political activities. There should be no tax relief for gifts to think tanks that support the spewing of propaganda. Some liberal think tanks will be hurt, but, unfortunately that is the price we must pay to put the Scaifes, et al. out of business.

[Peace Patriot]

8. If OTHER things in our democracy were properly ordered--for instance,

if we didn't have Bushite corporations tabulating all our votes with SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, and if our public airwaves were not monopolized by a few war profiteering mega-corporations, and if we had a constitutional amendment banning all private money in political campaigns--then these rightwing so-called think tanks (propaganda mills) would only have influence commensurate with their distinctly minority views.

I think you may be attacking the the problem at the wrong end. Let them rave away with their greedbag, fanatical views. Just don't let them DOMINATE the political debate, the way they have been, and don't let them and the news monopolies create the ILLUSION that they are anything but a tiny minority. With transparent, verifiable elections, with the public airwaves opened up to healthy political debate, and with candidates made independent of political campaign donations from corporations and the rich, the fascists and Christian jihadists will quickly fade away, as out of touch, irrational, anti-progressive and anti-democratic lunatics and Machiavellian greedheads.

The non-profit codes could certainly be improved. (Some of the churches really need to be looked at, for political activity, for instance.) But I would hesitate to muzzle anyone, if everything else could be made equal--or, if everything else could be made even half equal! I truly believe in democracy--in the good sense, native intelligence, tolerance, generosity and good will of most people. I think democracy WORKS, if given half a chance, and that the fascist stupidities--which are dependent on MONEY, on billionaire funding--would quickly be exposed, if our election system were working right, and if the corporate news monopoly illusions were eliminated, and better information and open debate could occur.

[brindis_desala]

10. No he had it exactly right. It is the "malefactions of great wealth"

that have destroyed American democracy and all the idealism in the world
doesn't trump money and money buys votes (just ask George Washington). These trusts need to be taxed out of existence. Of course when the Democratic Congress rolled over on its belly for Reagan to get tickled by trickle down economics thinking the unions would profit from
corporate partnership and become "investors" the "grand experiment" was all but lost. Now W. may have put the final nail in its coffin.

[Jackpine Radical]

19. Permit me to point out something about your message...

if we didn't have Bushite corporations tabulating all our votes with SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, and if our public airwaves were not monopolized by a few war profiteering mega-corporations, and if we had a constitutional amendment banning all private money in political campaigns--then these rightwing so-called think tanks (propaganda mills) would only have influence commensurate with their distinctly minority views.

But I would hesitate to muzzle anyone, if everything else could be made equal--or, if everything else could be made even half equal! I truly believe in democracy--in the good sense, native intelligence, tolerance, generosity and good will of most people. I think democracy WORKS, if given half a chance, and that the fascist stupidities--which are dependent on MONEY, on billionaire funding--would quickly be exposed, if our election system were working right, and if the corporate news monopoly illusions were eliminated, and better information and open debate could occur.


If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

[leftchick]

11. This is Pollack

I was thinking of someone else and had to look him up. There are much better examples of think tank wackos than him. Anyone from AEI sounds completely insane when it comes to ME policy.

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/Pictures/Persons/1003050/1003050-185137.jpg

[understandinglife]

13. I am not willing to insult anyone's intelligence here by posting ...

... some of the sewage I've seen spilling from several of these tanks. You are correct in your assessment that if one wants to look at one of the largest cesspools out there just go to AEI (and the neoconster criminal Ledeen add another bolus to that one, yesterday, on Iran).


Peace.

[leftchick]

14. So many to choose from at AEI

Ledeen by far is the evil master.

[Lex]

3. "Bikey W?"

LOL!

[evilqueen]

4. Yeah, I thought that was funny too.

:D

[autorank]

5. Hey, I know that sound. It's the sound of tragic victory.

The victory will be the demise of the Bush administration. The tragedy is that it's taken this long. Maybe Dowd and the rest of the :sarcasm: "clever class" will learn their lesson...picking apart the Democrats, particularly the filthy things they did to Al Gore, may be amusing to their condescending little natures, but it has real world consequences.

Glad to see she's come over and stayed this time.

When the CM (corporate media) comes around, it's important to remember that they are MediaWhores, online or off; that these are the people who covered up everything for years; and that these are the people who stuck a knife in Al Gore's back because "they didn't like him." Thanks for nothing CM. We're done with you, leave promptly.

[Flubadubya]

9. Catastrophic Success...

That's what Bush and the Neo Cons call it. What a bunch-o-morans!

[understandinglife]

12. I hope everyone on this board reads these comments. You can ...

.... be sure they will be emailed to all on my list.

Thank you.


Peace.

[me b zola]

6. Everybody better stop....

Hey, what's that sound, everybody look what's going 'round

You better stop, hey....

[lonestarnot]

15. OMG you got that right! n/t

[Daphne08]

16. "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield

Maureen Dowd has reminded me of a song. It was 1967 and we were young.

"For What It's Worth"
by Buffalo Springfield
Written by Stephen Stills


There's somethin' happenin' here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun, over there
Tellin' me I got to beware

(I think it's time we)
Stop, children, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's goin' down?

There's battle lines bein' drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speakin' their minds
Gettin' so much resistance from behind

(It's time we)
Stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's goin' down?

What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singin' songs and carryin' signs
Mostly sayin', "hooray for our side"

(It's time we)
Stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's goin' down?

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away

(We better)
Stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's goin' down?
(We better)
Stop, hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's goin' down?
(We better)
Stop, now, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's goin' down?
(We better)
Stop, children, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's goin' down?

[Burried News]

17. Your thread title will go down in the history books.

It is typically Dowd - God love her. It is rivaled only by Pelosi's George Bush wanted war in the worst way possible ...

And Judy Judy Judy WhatsaMata Hari, what and who do you work for?
What's that? Eggs cold agayan and still taste like cardboard? This is the second time you've called to complain and nothing has been done about it? That's a Shame. Well you could be in Iraq having Halliburton shit on a shingle. Let's see how the weather is there shall we.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day_f.shtml?world=2047
My goodness a cold front must have passed through:
Hi 109F Low 84F

Hell next thing you know the Camel Spiders will be coming out from under the rocks. Dayum do you see the size of these things - they look like Keneybunkport Lobsters don't they George?

These look like the stuff of nightmares - thinkin Kiss Of the Spider Woman. Have a nap now and sweat dreams Judy.

[stevedeshazer]

18. These words send chills down my spine,

having been of near-draft age at the time (1972):

<snip>

In his jaundiced view, the first President Bush had squandered his best re-election card: if the Persian Gulf war had still been going on, Mr. Bush could have been benefiting from that.

"We had a lot of success with that in 1972," Mr. Nixon told us, with that famously uneasy baring of teeth that passed for a smile.

</snip>

And now my only son is the same age.

Now my long-buried hatred of Richard Nixon resurfaces. :grr:

peace

[sakabatou]

20. The reason there is no exit startegy

is to create perpetual war.