I saw only brief portions of the President’s address tonight and I have to say I am impressed with his ability to maintain lie after lie after lie. He continued to make the assertion that Al-Qaeda and Iraq are linked to 9/11. Even when his own 9/11 commission proved otherwise. It is high time we purge the Whitehouse of these liars, through impeachment proceedings; these liars who are bent on nothing but their own ideology. While the President rails on about how when the commanders in the field say we need more troops, we’ll send more troops, my brother and many others still sit over there in harm’s way on an indefinite stop-loss order. Can you see the irony yet, Mr. President? Can you see that if troop levels were where they should be, we wouldn’t need to stop-loss anyone?

With all of the Downing Street Memos released, the op-ed article released citing Air Force Gen. T. Michael Moseley stating that, indeed, bombing strikes in the No-Fly zones back in August 2002 were intended as “spikes of activity” meant to try and incite Saddam into starting the war, as well as all of the other mounting evidence shows that this Administration was hell-bent on invading Iraq when we didn’t have to.

Mr. President, you could have given yourself a little bit of credibility tonight by shooting straight with all of America. You could have said that things aren’t as rosy as we have been told. You could have told us that democracy was not taking hold as quickly, nor as firmly, as we would like. You could have said that it appears that we are creating more enemies than we get rid of. You could have said that the reason Iraqi forces are not up to the challenge to policing their own country is that too many of them desert their posts when confronted by the better equipped insurgents. You could have provided a concrete timeline for troop withdrawal. This would have forced the Iraqis to get serious about defending their own country. It wouldn’t have been artificial as you say, Mr. President. You are so resolute about “defeating terror”, why couldn’t you be resolute about bringing our troops home? Your own Vice President, Dick Cheney, stated that the insurgency is in its “last throes”, but your commander on the ground, Gen Abizaid, state differently. Why is it that every one else can see what a mess, quagmire if you will, Iraq has become except for you and your Administration?

With each passing day and each bald-faced lie, you go further and further in debt, Mr. President. The American people WILL be collecting on that debt. You can bet your ass we will.

…but not for the reasons he thinks. Billmon over at The Whiskey Bar has a very interesting post titled Negotiating With Terrorists.

He notes that the Sunday Times of London (God, I love that paper. Michael Smith is the new Woodward and Bernstein) has a new aricle that, once again, shows this country’s administration to be flat-out liars. LIARS, I SAY! I highly recommend reading the linked article.

Thanks Billmon!

For those that have served in the military, you know how it goes with “surprise” inspections. That’s right, they’re NEVER surprises. Every time we were to have a surprise inspection we knew about it days before. The info was usually passed on during formation like this:

Listen up, Marines! I have it on good authority that the [insert dignitary's title/name here] is going to give a surprise inspection on Friday. I want ALL of you to get yourselves and your areas squared away. We don’t want any bad publicity with the IG(Inspector General) over this. Dismissed!

CNN reported today that several members of Congress visited Guantanamo to tour the facilities to “see how the detainees are treated”. Of course, using my above example, it was nothing but feathers in the treatment of those detained there. The guards knew there were going to be visitors. With the foreknowledge the staff at Guantanamo had, they cleaned up the detainees, and treated them with the highest of respect. On top of that, the Whitehouse gets the privilege to throw out a big “I told you so!” to the critics of Gitmo. I’m sorry, but I’m not convinced.

CNN - U.S. lawmakers tour Guantanamo prison

Over at Jesus’ General I found a post about someone by the name of Paul Schafer. Paul is a member of Gonzaga’s College Republican organization who feels that those of us on the left are just a bunch of hippie-pot smoking-terrorists. Paul made this outrageous claim on his own site bearing his namesake. I won’t give him the benefit of a link either. Well, Paul, I served my country with honor as a US Marine. And I’m a Democrat. Guess I don’t fit your mold, do I? Anyway, in one of his other posts he mentions that he won’t take anyone seriously that posts a comment on his site because they appear to “all come from the same 10 or 12 IP addresses” or some such nonsense. In reading the comments on that post, I came across a very poignant and to the point response by someone named Mary. The below excerpt of her comment hits the nail on the head on why Operation Yellow Elephant is necessary:

When you vote for war you vote for some other persons’ certain death. Your positive vote on the issue of war is a demand for the most serious kind of sacrifice from others — from able young men and women, from their families, friends and loved ones.

So you see, that’s what this is about. War = Death. With the damning evidence against this administration provided by the now-infamous Downing Street Memos, it is now apparent that the War in Iraq was ill-conceived at best. So the question to those on the right who STILL feel that we were right in invading and going to war is this:

If you are an able-bodied male or female who still supports this war, and knowing that military recruitment levels are severely lacking, why aren’t you enlisting and volunteering to fight in Iraq?
Click below to read the entire response by Mary.
Read the rest of this entry »

(Courtesy of Jesus’ General for the graphic)
From General JC Christian at Jesus’ General comes this excellent campaign to try and fill the ranks of both the Army and (my beloved) Marine Corps.

This Friday (tomorrow) is the 56th College Republican National Convention (June 24-26). The objective of OYE is to motivate the College Republicans to vigorously defend the vital work they’re doing defending the homefront by holding affirmative action bake sales, immigrant hunts, and subsidizing the Scaife funding of Ann Coulter, David Horowitz, and Michelle Malkin.
By utilizing those young men and women who fully support the War on Terror and the Debacle in the Desert™ also known as the War in Iraq, recruiting levels will be able to be “shored up” so to speak.

The General has updates galore over at his place. Stop by and offer your support! Here’s the post that outlines what OYE is about: Operation Yellow Elephant

That was always the bet. Quarter for the first fish. I rarely won that bet. Mostly because I hated fishing. Okay, I didn’t really hate it, I just had no patience. My Dad told me that often. “Quit your fidgeting!” We did a lot of fishing when I was a kid. My first time winning the bet was when we fished out by the airport off of Baxter Road I think. I caught a sucker.

I remember running around barefoot all the time in the summer. I remember going camping at Lake Carlton and my Dad showing me how to do the “J” stroke when paddling the canoe. I remember him calling me Basketball Jones because of my prolific tummy, especially after eating. I remember going on motorcycle rides with him and feeling the wind in my face as I held him tight. I remember him taking us all to Cave of the Mounds in the old Chevy station wagon with the back seat that opened up and faced the road behind us. I also remember him buying me my first pocket knife there. I loved that old knife.

I remember my birthday at the campground when I got my first new bike. It was a brown banana-seat bike. I rode that thing everywhere. I also remember when I decided to jump the dirt ramp at The Track for the first time. I pulled up too hard and ended up coming down on my back with the bike on top of me. That was the beginning of my back problems I think.

I remember the trip we made to Missouri one summer when we thought we were going to move. What seemed like endless hours of Are we there yet?s and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast lunch and dinner. I remember on the way back resting my head against the car door and watching the trucks go by in the night. I remember my Dad, the “Steelman”, talking back and forth with the other truckers to pass the time at night.

I remember how my Dad played the pedal-steel guitar and how I would always ask him to “make the siren sound”. He’d oblige me everytime. I got such a kick out of that. He tried to teach me to play guitar on numerous occasions, but I still had no patience. I still am glad he tried though.

In looking back on my life so far, a lot of the things I do now and a lot of who I am is a reflection of the things I loved about my Dad when I was growing up. He used to ride motorcycles. Now I do. He still plays just about every kind of guitar you can think of. I still like to pluck the old 6 string from time to time.

I just wish sometimes I could get a do-over and spend more time learning from my Dad. I hurt him quite a bit as a kid, not physically (except one time), and I regret it now. I never seemed to take the time to say “Hi, Dad! Whatcha doing? Working on the car again? Can I help?” No, I always had more important things to do. Things like riding my bike to The Track on the street behind our house or to The Oval down behind Uncle Bert’s house by the railroad tracks. I miss those days, but not for the fun I had with my friends, but for the fun I could have had with my Dad if I would have just given him some of my time. But with all the heartbreak I caused him with my stubbornness, I’ll never forget the look on his face when I got home after graduation from Marine Corps boot camp. At that moment, I knew I had made my Dad proud of me.

So, thank you Dad, for being the best Dad you could be. You didn’t always get it right, but you tried. The good memories far outweigh the bad. Happy Father’s Day, Me Papa.

Ok, not really a word from our sponsors. Hell, I don’t even have sponsors. I just wanted to take a break from all my griping about the Downing Street documents, the inhumane treatment of the detainees at Guantanamo and other places, and the continued asshattery that certain Republicans are guilty of.

I want to take this moment to thank my Dad for helping to bring me into this world. Although his politics and mine are different, I still love him. He has always respected my views and I appreciate that. He has taught me so much about being a man, even if it did take him repeating it 1000 times before it sunk in to my thick head. So here’s to you , Dad: Happy Father’s Day!

I also want to take a moment to say Happy Father’s Day to my brother, RoadRage, who is still serving in Iraq. I want him to know that I’m fighting for him back here to get some truth and accountability from the Whitehouse and hopefully a timetable for withdrawal of our troops so he can come back home and be with his family. Keep doing what you’ve got to do to be safe, bro.

To my step-Dad and Father-in-Law: Happy Father’s Day guys, even though you don’t read this site. You both are important parts of our families and we love you.

To my other brother in Alaska: Happy Father’s Day! You’re doing a hell of job raising all those kids. It takes one hell of a guy to adopt that many kids as your own. Love you , bro.

To my brother back in my hometown: Happy Father’s Day, bro. Keep fighting the good fight with regards to your son, my nephew. I hope everything works out for the best! We may not always agree, but remember I still love you too.

And finally to all of the readers of my site here that are fathers themselves: Happy Father’s Day. The greatest gift a man can be given is the title DAD from his kids. As the saying goes, any man can be a father, but it takes a real man to be a Dad.

Sen. Lindsey Graham makes a mistake that I have seen echoed on numerous right-leaning sites and indeed, have heard from the mouths of Republicans:

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that none of the detainees at Guantanamo are entitled to treatment under the Geneva Conventions, which govern the treatment of prisoners of war, because these detainees did not follow rules of war.

Following this logic, it can also be assumed that US Forces operating in Iraq should have free reign to kill, maim, slaughter, etc. the insurgents and anyone else that gets in our way because they do not follow rules of war. That kind of thinking is not only dangerous, but stupid. One of the things that makes the US great is the fact that we are supposed to be above petty crap like this. We are supposed to treat our prisoners, detainees, whatever you want to call them, better than we would be treated by them. We are supposed to regard human rights highly, not treat detainees, persons of interest, etc. like frickin’ dogs:

20 December 2002
1115: Detainee offered water—refused. Corpsman changed ankle bandages to prevent chafing. Interrogater began by reminding the detainee about the lessons in respect and how the detainee had disrespected the interrogators. Told detainee that a dog is held in higher esteem because dogs know right from wrong and know how to protect innocent people from bad people. Began teaching the detainee lessons such as stay, come, and bark to elevate his social status up to that of a dog. Detainee became very agitated.

So congratulations, Sen. Graham, you’ve earned my Asshat of the Week Award for this week because of your ridiculous comments. It’s no damn wonder the rest of the world hates us. It ain’t because of our freedom, it’s because of our arrogance.

Raise of the glass to CNN and Time:
CNN - Time report fuels Guantanamo criticism
Time - Extracts from an Interrogation Log

Only this time, it’s the President with the flame to his backside. The so-called Downing Street Memo recounts meetings with the President and his advisers well before the “decision” was made to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam. What’s frightening is that the Whitehouse appears to have such a tight rein on the MSM (mainstream media for those who don’t know) that it’s no surprise this hasn’t become the huge scandal it should be.

Briefly, here are just a couple of the things mentioned in the memo:

• There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. (emphasis mine)
• It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran.(emphasis mine) We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

Compared to the Clinton Whitehouse and the Lewinsky affair, this memo should be a no-brainer as grounds for impeachment of President Bush. Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan 14th district) is one of the few who is trying to keep the heat on the Whitehouse to answer the questions that the Downing Street Memo poses.

If you want answers too, Click here—>Letter to President Bush Concerning the “Downing Street Minutes” to sign the letter that Rep. Conyers authored along with 88 other members of Congress.

For more info on the Downing Street Minutes click through to:
After Downing Street and
Downing Street Memo.Com

We need to help Rep. Conyers keep this issue in the news and force the President to answer those questions!