January 29, 2008
The Issue is No Longer Bush's Failed Play
We all know what a disaster Bush has been in far too many ways to bother itemizing. The issue now is with the response by the MSM to him and the Republican candidates. Given the disaster in Afghanistan, what is the Main Stream Media doing to adequately confront the President and the guys on the right running for his position? (AP)
Afghanistan risks sliding into a failed state and becoming the "forgotten war" because of deteriorating international support and a growing violent insurgency, according to an independent study.
The assessment, co-chaired by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones and former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering, serves as a warning to the Bush administration at a time military and congressional officials are debating how best to juggle stretched warfighting resources.
What is their strategy? What are they gaining by not seriously questioning them? Why do they continue to defer to the O.I.L.? Why do they still believe what he says? Are they gaining something here?
Posted by Chip Spear at 6:24 PM
May 24, 2007
Dems Slammed by Olbermann
Keith lays into the Dems for backing down on the Iraq troop withdrawal. (MSNBC) I won't bother putting in a little excerpt. You should read the whole thing.
It seems about right to me. They are cowards.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:07 AM
May 22, 2007
O.I.L Hits One "Outta Here"
O.I.L (Our Illustrious Leader) smacked a big one out the park when the Dems backed off the timetable withdrawals. More than 3 weeks ago Pat Buchanan said on Hardball that the Dems would cave, and guess what? THEY DID. Anyway you spin it, this is another win for the Pres to keep on, keepin' on. To say that they are going to tie funding to Iraq benchmarks is garbage. That is putting the onus on an external player that we do not control in any way. In fact that player is playing another game, in another stadium. Forget that. This game is between Congress and O.I.L., and the slimy one smacked it.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:42 PM
May 2, 2007
The Withdrawal Game
It is certainly no surprise that the Congress sent O.I.L. a bill calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. And it is certainly no surprise that O.I.L. vetoed the bill, his second veto in six years. (NYT) The real fun begins now. I am very curious to see how the two players, O.I.L. and the Democratic leadership, find a way to resolve the impasse so they both can claim victory. Can we assume that they will agree to Iraqi benchmarks? That seems to be the prevailing projected scenario. How boring that would be. I am hoping for a surprise here.
Posted by Chip Spear at 7:55 AM
March 24, 2007
Cheney says House Dems don't support the troops
So, our Illustrious Vice Pres. says because the Dems don't support the disastrous implementation os the Iraq War that they are against the troops. This tactic is not unexpected. Given the state of Congress, being controlled by the Dems, and the actions of the White House, it is not surprising that the Democrats are against administrations policies. I am not sure how that translates into "not supporting the troops", but I am certain that the White House figures that it can still get some traction out of the charge in the "red" states and shore up flagging poll numbers. They probably assume that the tactic they have been using for the past few years still has some life it it. We shall see, now won't we? (AP)
Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday accused the Democrat-led House of not supporting troops in Iraq and of sending a message to terrorists that America will retreat in the face danger.
"They're not supporting the troops. They're undermining them," Cheney told a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition at the oceanside Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manalapan, Fla., about 60 miles north of Miami.
On Friday, the House voted to clamp a cutoff deadline on the Iraq war, agreeing by a thin margin to pull combat troops out by next year.
Do people actually believe this crap anymore?
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:53 PM
March 21, 2007
Showdown Looms in Attorney Firings
Ha, ha, ha. I have to laugh. This is sooooo ridiculous. What did you expect, really? For the past 6 years the President has treated the entire country, and especially the Democrats with comtempt. The Democrats have taken it on the chin. Now the Dems have some power. They are not about to back down to the Pres on this one. To expect otherwise is silly. (AP)
On the flip side, the President is not going to suddenly roll over to the Democratic leadership in Congress. He is going to continue with the gameplan...Attack! Put the Dems on the defensive anyway he can. He proposes a compromise solution. Of course it is his rules and conditions; no press, no oath, behind closed doors, no record, no nothing. My own guess is no truth either, but who knows.
How do you beat this?
Posted by Chip Spear at 8:32 PM
March 17, 2007
Alberto's On Deck
Everybody and their brother has weighed in on the Alberto Gonzales Federal Prosecutor flap. I would like to remind folks to consider the strategy and tactics of the Administration over the last 6 years. The White House has shown a consistent disregard for many of our laws. They do not respect Congress. They seem to have little respect for the American people. They mislead the country about the Iraq war, the war on terrorism, Katrina relief, the environment, immigration, health care, the budget....you get the idea. They have absolutely no respect for the actual government they run, which is perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind. Would you actually expect Karl and company to suddenly rollover and comply with Congressional requests for information related to the firings of federal prosecutors? Given Gonzales's role in issues involving rendition, torture and the Patriot Act that recently came to light, why should we expect him to tell the truth about the firings? What would compel him to change tactics? Who's ends would he be serving? This is what I am wondering.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:00 AM
May 12, 2006
Random Thoughts
So, the Justice Department attempts to investigate the NSA. The NSA says you don't have the proper security clearance to investigate us. The Justice Department says, okay, oh well, and walks away. Wow! Does something smell fishy about this? The NSA could be doing something very illegal, very dictatorial or something. They tell the Justice Dept., who is supposed to have the authority to investigate anything and everything like this, to take a hike and the Justice Dept. gives up. I hope that bothers you as much as me.
Congress, more specifically Republicans, passed a Bush backed bill to extend his tax cuts another two years. Most all of those cuts help the wealthy and hurt the middle class. Nothing new here, it is just more of the same play they have been running for the past 5 years. Perhaps this is one of the reasons his poll numbers are so anemic. Maybe one day he will start doing something that actually helps most people in the country instead of his major campaign contributors and friends.
NSA phone taps and Gen. Hayden to lead the CIA - the path to dictatorship by a thousand tiny steps......
Karl Rove & Bush's poll numbers - A Harris survey reports that OIL's poll numbers are currently tracking at 29%. If Rove is indicted OIL's poll numbers could drop to 26%. From a strategic standpoint, I have no clue how he can reverse this. Attacking Iran would seriously inflame the country. The economy, despite government numbers is not raising all boats. And then there is the ever expanding corruption disease. Every day brings new charges and new investigations throughout the Republican arena. The team has some serious problems. It actually reminds me of what is happening to the NY Knicks. Dolan, the owner, and Isaah Thomas insist that they are doing the right thing while the team self-destructs.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:36 PM | Comments (2)
April 28, 2006
The NFL Draft and Mid-Term Elections
I am soooooo sick of all the media attention about the NFL draft and the mid-term elections. In both cases the media can't seem to think about much else. It is definitely a case of networks, newspapers and magazines having too little to do, or competely losing sight of the big picture of events. Prognosticating is certainly fun, to a certain extent. I like to think about the future and try to figure out what might happen, it is fun, sort of. However it is more than a little bit like staring at your navel....a waste of time.
I have heard way too much information about draft picks. Everyday a new analysis comes out about Vince Young. He didn't take enough snaps under center during his college career...so he drops 3 slots. Matt Leinhart ran a pro-style offense, up 2 slots. 15 articles each week repeating the same stupid stuff. D'Brickashaw Ferguson, I love that name, moves up as the others drop, so does Mario Williams. Now today Vince is picking up steam and up to #3 in SI's mock draft. (SI) STOP already.
And then there is the endless banter about the mid-term elections. Every day we hear more about the impending collapse of the Republican majority. Who is going to lose, what Dems will win. And what about the Senate, can the Dems take that too? Who is vulnerable? Where are the tight races. This has been going on for months. The party nominations haven't even been finalized. In addition, many races aren't decided until the last couple of weeks, or days. Talking about this once in a while is fine, but not all the time. It is like focusing completely on the NFL draft, or spending all your time thinking about next year's Super Bowl. Get a life....watch the game and shut up for a while.
Posted by Chip Spear at 11:03 AM | Comments (2)
April 2, 2006
A Few Good Men
I was channel surfing last night and stumbled onto the last 15 minutes of "A Few Good Men". Tom Cruise's scene with Jack Nicholson brought up some interesting parallels to our present situation. Check out the video.
Posted by Chip Spear at 9:18 PM | Comments (1)
March 8, 2006
Molly Hits it Long and Straight
Molly Ivins hit the Democrats good and hard, as she loves to do, here She is not hesitant to call them spineless, money-grubbing snakes, little better than the Republicans.
I can't see a damn soul in D.C. except Russ Feingold who is even worth considering for President. The rest of them seem to me so poisonously in hock to this system of legalized bribery they can't even see straight.
Look at their reaction to this Abramoff scandal. They're talking about "a lobby reform package." We don't need a lobby reform package, you dimwits, we need full public financing of campaigns, and every single one of you who spends half your time whoring after special interest contributions knows it. The Abramoff scandal is a once in a lifetime gift - a perfect lesson on what's wrong with the system being laid out for people to see. Run with it, don't mess around with little patches, and fix the system.
Posted by Chip Spear at 2:13 PM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2006
Player of the Week - Feb. 20 - Sen. Pat Roberts
Senator Pat Roberts, (R-Kan.) wins this week's Political Sports Player of the Week for his superb play on the part of the administration. The play started when Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller called for a broad investigation into the NSA wiretapping program. Sen. Roberts thought he had the votes to defeat the measure along party line votes within his committee, however two Republicans, Senators Snowe and Hagel, indicated they would not support Roberts. In a closed session Roberts then called for adjournment until March 7, which passed along party line vote. Roberts has since come out for some sort of Congressional oversight of the program, but not an investigation.
Roberts gains significant political yardage supporting the White House and the NSA in derailing any investigation into past events. Not letting the White House hog all the attention he grabs the spotlight himself by calling for "some" type of Congressional oversight on the wiretapping. It certainly remains to be seen what he will agree to and how far he would stand against his fearless leader. However, it does establish a degree of independence, which can be useful in any future Kansas political campaigns. It was a very good move.
We should also mention that this is the same Sen. Roberts who claimed that his committee did not have time to investigate the use of pre-war intelligence leading up to the Iraq war. Roberts has done everything he possible to delay that particular investigation. He is clearly a major Senate player for the administration. Congratulations on winning this week's award!
Posted by Chip Spear at 12:07 PM | Comments (1)