Good evening.
So this morning I grab some eggs, toast and plop down in front of the computer in the kitchen this morning and Ma says, "Did you know C.I. had computer problems?" No, cause I thought they were fixed or almost fixed. I felt really bad because I would have taken down dictation and posted and would have offered that last night if I'd known about it. There's a really strong post up and now the Democracy Now! post is up too. But I did call C.I. today and make the offer. UK Computer Gurus think they've either figured it and can fix it or can put on a bandaid for it.
I feel bad cause I haven't had a single problem at all. I could copy and paste and use different browsers just like always.
I also want to note another thing about the community, I really think Elaine's doing a great job subbing for Rebecca. Yesterday's post had her noting some stuff she thought Rebecca would note and I'm sure Rebecca appreciated the effort but I'm also sure Rebecca wants Elaine to write about her stuff. And applause and props for Jane Fonda. I learned about that from Elaine's post. I had an e-mail from Kat about how the same day Fonda comes on strong for peace Hillary Clinton's trying to prove . . . Well what is she trying to prove?
I never disliked Hillary until that speech she gave yesterday. She's not one of my senators so I didn't pay as close to attention to her as I did to Kerry and Kennedy. But she was our First Lady and I thought she did a pretty good job of that. Yesterday she embarrassed herself. Now maybe she appealed to some cowards and stuff but she came off pretty cowardly to me.
So let's focus on Jane Fonda who is a strong woman taking a strong stand.
That's Isaiah's drawing and thank you C.I. and Isaiah for permission to put it up here.
My sister said she had the TV on this afternoon and some idiot show called The Insider with that nasal jerk who's off the drugs or whatever and trying to rebuild his career had an interview with the jerk that spit on Jane Fonda. Made me wonder what's next? An interview with the guy who stalked Sharon Stone? An interview with the guy who shot down that woman from My Sister Sam? I don't know The Insider but my sister said it does a lot of "Page Six" nonsense which means it's probably a Murdoch property. Figures, right? My Dad was talking about him the other night wondering if Murdoch would switch his citenzship to China to get a better deal for his networks like he switched to American? Ma jokes that he probably has already but we just don't know.
So that's what the talks been last night and today around the house. Let's move on to Democracy Now!
Report: Iraq Resistance Has Infiltrated Iraqi Police
Another government study on Iraq is also making news this week. A joint report by the Pentagon and State Department has concluded that the Iraqi police force has been infiltrated by the Iraqi resistance. The report also criticizes the U.S. military for failing to adequately train the local police forces.
Poll: 64% Say Bush Has No Clear Strategy in Iraq
Meanwhile a new poll by the Pew Research Center has found that 64 percent of Americans believe President Bush does not have a clear strategy for bringing the situation in Iraq to a successful conclusion.
Yeah, I'm giving you two things to think about today. That's because Hillary embarrassed herself yesterday and people seem afraid to say so. She wants more troops on the ground. While America wants their sons and daughters home, Hillary wants to put more over in the quagmire. Not her own daughter, of course, but other people's kids. She keeps this up she'll be less than popular than Nancy Reagan.
I was one of those people who voted in their first presidential election last year. That was the first year I was old enough. And I really did think John Kerry was the only hope and all. But I mean he was lousy at telling people what he thought. I know C.I.'s talked about how some of that was the press but a lot of it was Kerry.
And that convention was embarrassing to watch. John Edwards coming off like super warrior, like just because he was on the ticket with Kerry he was honorary military or something. When the debates were going on, Mike Papantonio talked about how John Edwards did a lousy job during his debate with Cheney and I agreed with that. Not just cause his voice does that annoying thing where it rises and rises until it's almost a high pitched squeak but because he never nailed Cheney. Like Pap said, Edwards was supposed to be bringing trial experience to the ticket but he didn't even debate well.
So with Hillary embarrassing herself Monday, I've thinking about 2008 and what it's going to take to get my vote. The person is going to have to talk straight and they're going to have to draw a line between themselves and the Republican Party. That may mean I vote Green if Hillary's actions yesterday are any indication of the way the Democratic Party is headed.
I heard this woman going on and on about the Democrats in Congress were lied to and that's why they went along with Bully Boy's invasion of Iraq. The country was lied to but that didn't stop my dad from knowing we were being lied to. If my dad can know, then somebody who thinks they're fit to be in Congress should have known. He doesn't have a staff working for him that he can send out to hunt down facts for him.
The truth is no one wanted to look "weak" before the 2002 elections. And then they painted themselves into a corner if they supported the invasion. They need to get honest about why they voted the way they did and people need to quit giving them wiggle room.
When I spoke to C.I. Jeremy Scahill's "The Smoking Bullet in the Smoking Gun" came up and C.I.'s meant to highlight that and not just link to it. Knowing there were computer problems that might continue tonight I said I'd grab it.
On the eve of the official invasion, on March 8, 2003, Bush said in his national radio address: "We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq. But if Saddam Hussein does not disarm peacefully, he will be disarmed by force." Bush said this after nearly a year of systematic, aggressive bombings of Iraq, during which Iraq was already being disarmed by force, in preparation for the invasion to come. By the Pentagon's own admission, it carried out seventy-eight individual, offensive airstrikes against Iraq in 2002 alone.
"It reminded me of a boxing match in which one of the boxers is told not to move while the other is allowed to punch and only stop when he is convinced that he has weakened his opponent to the point where he is defeated before the fight begins," says former UN Assistant Secretary General Hans Von Sponeck, a thirty-year career diplomat who was the top UN official in Iraq from 1998 to 2000. During both the Clinton and Bush administrations, Washington has consistently and falsely claimed these attacks were mandated by UN Resolution 688, passed after the Gulf War, which called for an end to the Iraqi government's repression in the Kurdish north and the Shiite south. Von Sponeck dismissed this justification as a "total misnomer." In an interview with The Nation, Von Sponeck said that the new information "belatedly confirms" what he has long argued: "The no-fly zones had little to do with protecting ethnic and religious groups from Saddam Hussein's brutality" but were in fact an "illegal establishment...for bilateral interests of the US and the UK."
These attacks were barely covered in the press and Von Sponeck says that as far back as 1999, the United States and Britain pressured the UN not to call attention to them. During his time in Iraq, Von Sponeck began documenting each of the airstrikes, showing "regular attacks on civilian installations including food warehouses, residences, mosques, roads and people." These reports, he said, were "welcomed" by Secretary General Kofi Annan, but "the US and UK governments strongly objected to this reporting." Von Sponeck says that he was pressured to end the practice, with a senior British diplomat telling him, "All you are doing is putting a UN stamp of approval on Iraqi propaganda." But Von Sponeck continued documenting the damage and visited many attack sites. In 1999 alone, he confirmed the death of 144 civilians and more than 400 wounded by the US/UK bombings.
1999 was Bill Clinton. There's a reason he plays dumb on the Downing Street Memo and a reason he couldn't come out against the war. But now we got a bunch of dumb asses with boners for another Clinton era and they don't want to address reality.
Looks like Bill O'Reilly ain't the only one who's not looking out for you.
Let's dip into the e-mail before I spoil everyone's good night. Cody e-mails to say thanks to my mother because he's in his early twenties and his drawers stink. He's always trying to save some money and when the dryer stops, he takes the load out. He asked if there was anything he could do about it. Ma says you can hang your underwear to dry immediately. She also says that if they're white, you can use bleach on them in the wash and that will cut out the mildew too.
Belinda e-mails wondering why every guy she's ever been with has gone straight for her breasts but guys freak out when she wants to play with their nipples?
Well any ideas? If so, send them in.
I know I never thought about my own until the summer of eleventh grade when I was at the lake with my then girlfriend. She's putting lotion on my back and then moves to the front and her hands run over my nipples and it's like, "Woah now! What's that!" It was a jolt of lightening.
So maybe some guys don't know that their nipples are sensitive? Or maybe they don't have sensitive nipples? Or maybe they think only women's can be played with?
So we'll open that up.
Lucas e-mails wanting to know what I'm listening to. White Stripes nonstop when I can listen to music. Lucas says he's been going through an uncle's CDs and has gotten heavy into Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins.
I want to close with my buddy Ty from The Third Estate Sunday Review because he weighed in on Hillary over at The Common Ills today.
Ty: Anyone trying to clampdown on questions for Hillary Clinton better be prepared to stand with her and the DLC. Corporate welfare types like the DLC have repeatedly betrayed the public. As Paul Krugman has pointed out repeatedly, the slow slide for the working class begins in the 1960s. Having aligned herself with corporate cheats and war mongers like the DLC, Clinton's now raised issues that will have to be addressed. As for Al From, he's never spoken for me. As a black man, he's offered no program that speaks to me. The DLC's racist tactics include the shaming of Sister Souljah to prove Bill Clinton could "stand up" to blacks. I'll stand with Michael Moore and prepare for the battle the DLC has just launched on the people of America.
I think that about says it all but if you don't, get over to The Common Ills and read that post because there's a lot about the DLC in there. Hope everybody's surviving in this heat.
