A glorious day

It was cold, crowded and you couldn't hear the speeches too well, but it was a glorious day nonetheless. It was glorious because we are finally taking our nation back from the torturers, the "Christians", the warmongers, and the homophobes. We are finally becoming the nation we aspire to be.

A steaming pile

We already knew that Obama had one steaming pile awaiting him as president in the form of the war in Iraq, but who knew an even bigger one would be out there and one that people actually care about- the economy. Unemployment is now at its highest level in 16 years. Bush and his cronies are raiding the bailout faster than you can say corporate welfare or yellow parachute. And Congress is debating how far their "stimulus" plan will fall short of what the economy actually needs.

It's bad out there and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. But here's one suggestion- how about Americans quit spending their money on useless crap they don't need like iPhones and SUVs and ginormous houses and actually save money. Then, banks will have money to make loans with and businesses will have capital to play with. Just a thought.

Another word about Rick Warren

Since writing the previous post, it has come to this clipmonkey's attention that Rick Warren once said that Jews would ultimately burn in hell because they are not Christians. If this is indeed the case, Warren is not qualified to attend the inauguration much less provide an invocation for it.

A word about Rick Warren

Many on the left continue to vent their anger and disappointment at Obama about his choice of Rick Warren to perform the invocation at the inauguration. But the ones who are most up in arms are simply reacting to the word evangelical attached to Warren's name. Yes, Warren was unfortunately involved in the efforts to repeal California's same-sex marriage law, however, he is a largely apolitical evangelical who urges people to help out and give money to the poor. He is even known for reverse tithing- giving 90 percent of his money to charity and keeping only 10 percent. He is one of the few evangelicals who seems to actually acknowledge the Bible's emphasis on helping those in need.

So, while people can be disappointed in Obama for choosing Warren, he certainly is no crazy along the lines of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. Ultimately, he's a shrewd choice for Obama and the Democrats' efforts to bring religious people back into the party. Now let's hope he pushes for a middle ground on abortion...

A Christmas Wish

I hope the Republicans don't try to destroy Obama as they did Clinton. The sh%t happening in this country is too serious for the frivolities of the 1990s.

Hairhelmet-gate

Gov. Blagojevich is clearly a complete d-bag, but on some level, he's also a refreshingly honest politician. I mean, don't we all operate out of self-interest? Some of us are simply better at obscuring our motivations and maybe a bit more charitable in our actions as well.

Clearly, that giant head of hair has a reckless streak. Maybe he even wanted to get caught, but politicians make similar deals all the time. They decide not to run for positions to make way for a favored candidate. They decide to vote in support or against legislation in return for certain favors. They just don't announce it on a phone that's being wiretapped by the FBI.

A disgraceful human being

In his latest column from the Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol advocates for President Bush to give the Medal of Freedom to those who committed acts of torture. This speaks for itself:

One last thing: Bush should consider pardoning--and should at least be vociferously praising--everyone who served in good faith in the war on terror, but whose deeds may now be susceptible to demagogic or politically inspired prosecution by some seeking to score political points. The lawyers can work out if such general or specific preemptive pardons are possible; it may be that the best Bush can or should do is to warn publicly against any such harassment or prosecution. But the idea is this: The CIA agents who waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the NSA officials who listened in on phone calls from Pakistan, should not have to worry about legal bills or public defamation. In fact, Bush might want to give some of these public servants the Medal of Freedom at the same time he bestows the honor on Generals Petraeus and Odierno. They deserve it.

Oh and he is one of the guys who brought us Dan Quayle and Sarah Palin. Is there anything more to say about this fellow Kristol?

Yes, we can

Last night I celebrated Barack Obama’s victory in the streets of Washington, DC with hundreds, if not thousands, of fellow Americans who were exulting in a spasm of patriotism that had been a long time in coming. I overheard one young African-American muttering, “After 400 years. After enslaving my people. Finally!”

African-Americans and whites and other Americans of all races were dancing, crying out, screaming with pride. It was the kind of joy I’ve seen only a few times before- when the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1988 or when the Seattle Mariners advanced to the American League Championship Series in 1995. But this time it really mattered. This time we were celebrating a nation at its best.

After the disgrace of Guantanamo Bay. After the horror of Abu Ghraib. After a war of choice. After Katrina. After years of reckless fiscal mismanagement. After the Florida recount. But also after slavery, after segregation, after Emmett Till. After Selma, after Little Rock, after David Duke, after Bull Connor, after Birmingham. After Willie Horton, after Jesse Helms.

After so many other shameful moments in our nation’s history, we have finally redeemed ourselves and our forebears.

Gas should stay at $4 per gallon

This clipmonkey and Charles Krauthammer rarely agree, but on Friday the often curmudgeonly and deeply out of touch Mr. Krauthammer was right on with his column on gas prices. Excerpt:

At $3 a gallon, Americans just grin and bear it, suck it up and, while complaining profusely, keep driving like crazy. At $4, it is a world transformed. Americans become rational creatures. Mass transit ridership is at a 50-year high. Driving is down 4 percent. (Any U.S. decline is something close to a miracle.) Hybrids and compacts are flying off the lots. SUV sales are in free fall.

This clipmonkey recently bought a house close to a Metro station so that he wouldn't have to fill his gas tank up continually. Now other monkeys will start following in his pawsteps.

Eff Joe Lieberman

Sen. Lieberman loves to pretend that he's a man of conscience, but really it's a cover for his warmongering agenda. As a fellow clipmonkey once told me, Lieberman, an aggressive opponent of violent video games, is okay with violence as long as it's the real thing. His current douchebaggery in support of the McCain campaign is particularly obnoxious. Nice to see that Obama b-slapped him, though. After this fall, Lieberman will be b-slapped by the entire Senate Democratic Caucus.

Yes she can

At the end of the day, she lost because she faced a more charismatic candidate, ran a lousy campaign, and was just too pigheaded early on in the race to admit her mistake in authorizing the Iraq War. But don't count her out. If she's smart, she'll cast aside Gov. Paterson in New York, and use that as a steppingstone to claim the White House in 2016.

Huckabee gets cute

In the presidential race thus far, Mike Huckabee has presented himself as a happy warrior, sort of a Gomer Pyle or Andy Griffith or Mr. Smith. But his latest stunt is an act of marketing genius. Maybe he's got a little George W. in him....

Huckabee and Obama pull ahead

It's starting to get interesting......

Reason for optimism in '08

Dem presidential candidates have raised nearly twice as much as Republicans this year.

'Cause I've got a crush on Obama

The reason why- his unequivocal opposition to torture.

"To lead the world, we must lead by example. We must be willing to acknowledge our failings, not just trumpet our victories. And when I'm President, we'll reject torture - without exception or equivocation; we'll close Guantanamo; we'll be the country that credibly tells the dissidents in the prison camps around the world that America is your voice, America is your dream, America is your light of justice."

Finally!

In Defense of Brian Baird

At a September 21 town hall meeting in Olympia that resembled more of a flogging in the town square than a community dialogue, Congressman Brian Baird commented, "The people who scare me the most are the people who are certain on either side (of the Iraq debate). It was absolute certainty that got us into this mess."

Ever since Congressman Baird returned from a recent visit to Iraq and mentioned that he had seen signs of progress, he has been savaged by constituents in his district as well as anti-war activists nationwide. He has been called a trained monkey of the Bush administration, a puppet of Dick Cheney and worse. Moveon.org has even aired ads in his district challenging his stance.

But given that Congressman Baird clearly and consistently opposed the war from the outset, is his stance a flip-flop or an honest appraisal of the current situation and a recognition of our nation's responsibility to the Iraqi people?

General David Petraeus’ report on the war in Iraq has been greeted with predictable responses from the right and the left. The pro-Bush faction has made dubious claims of progress (how legitimate can reports be that assess sectarian violence based on whether someone was shot in the back of the head?). While the usual suspects at moveon.org and DailyKos have blasted Petraeus for misleading, if not betraying the American people, and ramped up calls for a quick withdrawal.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on whether the United States should withdraw or maintain its force from Iraq, but who really knows?

It is conventional wisdom now that we were drawn into the war under false pretenses. Images of mushroom clouds and claims of Iraq’s ties to Al Qaeda were either exaggerated or fabricated outright. Even Alan Greenspan is now acknowledging the role of oil in the decision to go to war.

Regardless of how we got into the war, do we not have a responsibility to fix the mess we created? Do we not, as a nation, still owe a debt to the Iraqi people? Whether you supported the war or not, can the United States just walk away?

As Colin Powell famously commented to President Bush, misstating a Pottery Barn store policy, “If you break it, you own it.”

Well, we’ve clearly broken it, but would a rapid withdrawal make things better?

The last time we abandoned the Iraqis to their own devices, a bloodbath ensued. That was 1991, just as the first Gulf War was ending. After urging the Kurds and the Shiites to rise up against Saddam and saying we would back them up, President George H.W. Bush stood by while as many as 150,000 Shiite Iraqis were massacred by Saddam’s Army.

In the current war, conservative estimates suggest at least 73,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. Other estimates suggest that over 300,000 have died. More than two million Iraqis have been displaced. Today, we face a challenge like the one facing Bush 41 at the end of the first Gulf War. If we abandon the Iraqis again, how many more will be slaughtered?

Seven soldiers recently penned an op-ed in the New York Times arguing the futility of continuing the war. They argued,

"Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched."

Two of those seven are dead now. Maybe they were right.

Meanwhile, General Petraeus, the guy who literally wrote the book on counterinsurgency operations, thinks we need more time. Petraeus is certainly not immune to political pressure, but is he engaged in a modern-day Pickett’s Charge of sending American men and women to their certain death? Would he be advocating for the continuation of a war that he knows is not winnable?

Either way we need a more honest discussion about the war, not more of the name-calling like that which Congressman Baird has faced. It would be especially nice if the Bush administration would finally admit that things are not going as rosy as they continually claim.

The administration lost all credibility years ago, but that doesn't change the question of what we should do now. Congressman Baird's sobering words about those who are certain are worth examining.

Bush Grows Up

By nominating Michael Mukasey to be the next Attorney General and sparing us an ugly nomination fight, President Bush has finally shown some maturity and decency. Karl Rove has indeed left the White House.

Is Gonzales a liar or an idiot?

The excruciatingly painful performances of Alberto Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee are evidence that the Attorney General is either an absentee leader of the Justice Department or a moron.

How many Monica Goodlings are there?

If this moderately attractive alumna of a fake law school had this much power, how many others are there sabotaging our federal agencies?

Exposed for what they truly are

It’s hard to tell what President Bush ultimately stands for- other than tax cuts for the rich and war for the poor- but one thing that is abundantly clear is that he is a ruthless partisan. Despite carrying himself as someone who would “change the tone” in Washington, President Bush more closely resembles Tony Soprano than a conciliatory politician.

At every turn during his presidency, Bush and his cronies have looked for opportunities to knife their political adversaries. Like a prison inmate facing a life sentence, they act as if they have nothing to lose attacking heroes like Max Cleland, eviscerating environmental policies, and ridiculing Congress.

Indeed, the most galling aspect of the Gonzales-US Attorney scandal is the fact that the attorneys were fired AFTER the Republicans got their derrieres handed to them in the last election. One might think the administration would be chastened after their evil plan to take over the world had been sidelined, but no, they take one more outrageous liberty on their way out of office. Who knows what else they’ll ram down our throats before they exit the White House?