Not fit to be Commander in Chief? The troops don't seem to agree!

Barack Obama is in Iraq and here is a clip from inside the embassy. I don't get the impression he "picked" only those who would cheer him [like some other C-I-C does]

So who really thinks Obama is not experienced enough to be C-I-C? I'm guessing it's that 20-something % of the people who still think mad king george is just doing a dandy job.

These people who will be most directly affected by the C-I-C seem to think Obama is ready!

sobering thought

Petraeus can't say if "success" Iraq will ultimately make us safer at home.....

And that leads to these questions

1 - "why are we still there?" and

2- why is this guy NOT thinking about safety of the United States?

Here we go again

Faux Noise wants WAR WAR WAR - why not - they need more viewers!

The 82nd Airborne: or Things I would not have known if my son had not been in the military!

My son spent 4 years in the 82nd Airborne....and I learned more about the military than I sometimes wanted to now - like how low the planes fly that drop the infantry and that they fly at night....[I am a white knuckle flyer :-0]

As my son rotated through all the levels of readiness I got to know more about how prepared this country was to protect us in any emergency! There was always a group [sorry I forget the lingo] ready to depart in 2 hours! Then there was the group who supported that first ready response group and so on down the line....

Today we as a country HAVE NO READY RESPONDERS! Why? they are all in Iraq.....

My son's comments as we discussed this was along the lines of "everyone is in Iraq, coming home from Iraq or on the way back to Iraq." It seems we are "out of" infantry.

My reading of this situation is:

If we had some major military issue to contend with here or elsewhere - we simply could not attend to it!

Scary thoughts for a country that once had a proud military and saw itself as well prepared for any and all emergencies...
now we pray that hurricanes do not hit - as we have limited National Guard left in the states; we keep lowering the standards for entry into the military - all he while offering bigger incentives to join; and losing equipment and people in Iraq while seeing no end in sight.

If you thought the Democrats were going to do something - and I as on who so thought - you were sorely disappointed that they turned out to be Repug-lite...

A thought on "success"

Shrub keeps talking about "success" in Iraq and we ask him to define victory. It finally dawned on me that he can't define any type of victory - this is a person who has FAILED at everything he has ever done....

Mom and dad and their friends in high places and high finances have bailed him out all all his previous fiascoes. Daddy and daddy's buddies tried to help bail him out of the Iraq fiasco [occupation] but unfortunately for the world, shrub has now decided to try to get out of his messes on his own....ouch - he has zero idea on how to make a worthwhile decision.

The man is a failure by any definition of the word....and the world continues to suffer....

Molly Ivins RIP

I just read that Molly Ivins died today. As she was one to speak truth to power, especially to the shrub, I am dedicating my virtual march tomorrow to her...

Here's a bit from her last column:

'We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on January 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"'

You can read the full column here.

Molly - I will miss you....

Dear Mr. Bush:

Mr. Bush:

I read in the news that you say that critics of your escalation plan ought to come up with plans of their own.

I am not sure where you have been for the last 6 years but surely if you had paid attention to the news you'd have seen that many plans were and are offered to you and to your Administration. Perhaps your underlings have been too afraid to let you know that plans are available - sort of like when they were afraid to tell you about Hurricane Katrina.... They fear your reaction.

Might I suggest that you take a few days off from cheer leading for your escalation and go back and read what has been said about plans for Iraq over the last few years...including the most recent report done by the Iraq Study Group.

Saner heads, and I mean that in all ways possible, have suggested you actually engage in diplomacy with Iran and Syria and not continue to war monger and threaten them. You might see, I hope, that Iraq is a mess....and it needs a political solution. You can not bomb people into liking you - no matter how many bombs you drop...Most hate you more when you kill their friends and family...

And being diplomatic means you actually come or go to the table with no pre-conditions. Your stated preconditions mean you do not really want to talk to anyone. And if you want help from our allies in Iraq - Haliburton and you may actually have to allow other countries to share in all aspects of reconstruction and you may have to take back the onerous laws you and your viceroy put into place for Iraq...

And as to the Iraqi vote- you talk more about that then you do our most recent elections where our USA citizens told you in quite plain language they are most unhappy with you and your policies....

So stay home Mr. Bush and have your staff bring you DVDs on all the plans that have been presented to the public. It won't take you months to learn about the plans and you may yet find a way out of the mess YOU alone [with Cheney] have created for our children and Iraq's children.....

Iraq

I admit there is no good solution to this mess - so if there is no solution, why does anyone think sending in more troops is a solution?

Having been against this stupidity before it started, at least back then "they" should have listened to Shinseki when he said it would take many many troops. He was right - then. But will more help now? I doubt it. Just means more of our children will die and I will keep crying...and my son is safely out of the military. But I cried all during the Vietnam mess and at that time I was not a mother - I think most women understand the loss of all children in a different way than do men....

If women were in positions of power around the world, would we have these senseless armed conflicts? I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to say let's try - the men have made a big mess of the world....so let's let the women attempt to fix it...at least here we'll have a start on this with Nancy Pelosi....

Some military persons have been calling for a change to the deployment "rules" so that troops [read children] can be deployed more frequently - hmmm - because they volunteered ? Nonsense - they did not volunteer for an illegal occupation of a country that had not harmed us. I say if "they" want more troops, there are many young conservative adults out there who ought to put their bodies where their mouths are and go join the military.

96 dead

On Monday OF THIS WEEK I wrote that 86 of our children had been killed this month in Iraq. Only 3 days later, the number has risen by 10! 96 dead!!!! That's 96 of our children - gone. That's 96 families shattered. That's 96 deaths that should not have happened.

When you vote in November ask yourself how many more need to die for the shrub's failed policies? If you have had enough, vote for the Democrats - they will at least put a plan in place to end this hellish situation.

George and the repugs have NO PLAN....they never did and they never will. It's not how they operate. Reality and death are foreign concepts to them.

The tally [from BuzzFlash]

2,810 U.S. Military Fatalities in Iraq (thru today)
343 U.S. Military Fatalities in Afghanistan (thru today)
20,687 U.S. Military Maimed in Iraq (DoD Update: 10-Sep-06)
49,692 Iraqis Reported Killed (thru today; source: Iraq Body Count)
655,000 Iraqis Reported Killed (source: The Lancet)

Gee Wiz - flip floppers

This is today's news from the NYT.....that "left leaning" newspaper.

"The Bush administration is drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, senior American officials said."

Isn't this what some of the Dems suggested a while ago? And for which they were labeled TRAITORS? Seems to me they should have been labeled BRILLIANT - they actually wanted a plan - one with milestones or measurements or outcomes...but that's part of a scientific methodology and some pResidents don't "do" science.

I'll give the administration a hint.... straight out of Psych 101 - there is a phenomenon knows as learned apathy...when someone else does everything for you and you can not do it yourself - you learn to be apathetic. You see there is no way you will be allowed to stand on your own - so you give up.....The Iraqis have learned that nothing they can makes us leave - so they seemingly no longer bother to try. Our stupidity at training - and recruiting - has only gotten them killed and besides that we just keep staying - so they have given up trying....

It works with kids too and that's how shrub seemed to have been raised. He never had to do anything for himself - Daddy or Mommy took care of all his problems....So he became an apathetic human being - but one who was also a bully and narrow minded....he did what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted....he cared not what others thought about him or what the repercussions were of his behaviors because he knew that Daddy or Mommy or their friends would always bail him out... and they are doing it again - Baker is Daddy person and he is bailing George out..

Unfortunately, the earth, and humanity are paying and will continue to pay dearly for the shrub's behavior.

Songs from the 60's

Maybe we need more songs like these - or maybe we need a draft - or some stations that play anti war music - but we need something to awaken the broadest population to the problems in Iraq - with over 50 of our children killed there this month and over 600,000 Iraqis dead.....


I know Dylan was not writing about war - but the lyrics fit....and they are questions that we need to know about the shrub

Pete Seeger

Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?


Bob Dylan

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.