Warning From Pakistan!

(Thanks to Brother Michael for this gem....)


This morning, from a cave somewhere in Pakistan, Taliban Minister of Migration, Mohammed Omar, warned the United States and Canada that if military action against Iraq continues, Taliban authorities will cut off America's and Canada's supply of convenience store managers. And if this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next, followed by Dell and Sprint customer service reps.

It's getting ugly.

A Salute to "Loveable John," On Veteran's Day

Back in the old days, before Armistice Day became Veterans’ Day, we young Marines were told that the reason November 11th was a holiday was to allow all Marines a day off to sober up from celebrating the Marine Corps Birthday on the 10th of November, and my recollection of some of the more memorable celebrations of that annual event, in Dress Blues and all, is testimony that if this is not a historical fact, it should have been.

Etched in my ancient memory banks, for example, is a picture of stalwart First Sergeant "Loveable John" McIinnis USMC, all buttoned up in Full Dress Blues, toasting the Corps for at least the 19th time at one of our Marine Corps Birthday Balls in the late 50s and falling flat on his back perhaps because his glass had become too heavy to hold in his hand. You can't keep a good man down, as John himself would have said, so after we helped him to his feet, he propped himself against a nearby bulkhead and remained upright for the duration of the celebration.

Years later, Lovable John and I would reunite in Vietnam, John now the sergeant major of an infantry battalion, where his welcoming words were, “Sit down and have a beer, Robert... I want to tell you how this fucking war sucks.”

I have a hunch that many Marine sergeants major embroiled in the quagmire of Iraq might greet an occasional visitor with a similar remark, if the goody-goody-two shoes of the Bushies’ press screening process would allow it to happen. But Marine sergeants major, past or present, are not listened to, unfortunately for the welfare of the nation.

Uncle Bob
Former Sgt. Major, USMC

(Thanks to Uncle Bob for taking this assignment to "write something for Veteran's Day." Uncle Bob is my own personal hero, not just on Veteran's Day, but every day. I salute him, and join with all of you for thanking him and all veterans for their service to our country.)

Weekend Update - November 10th

• The Bush Administration Plans to Blame You for Iraq.


• The Mental Collapse of Poor Joe Lieberman. p m carpenter


• The Viet Nam Memorial, "The Wall," turns 25. A visitor sings, "Looks like we're gonna have to build another wall..."


• Lord save us from this moron: "Some day people are going to look back at this time and day and say, 'Thank God there was a generation that did not lose faith ... because the Middle East is a place free of suiciders,'" Bush said.


• The Myth of the Ticking Time-Bomb.


• The ultra-religious nutcase Pat Robertson says Giuliani presidency appears in Book of Revelation. This is getting better all the time.


• It's official: Bush Derangement Syndrome is now a full-blown epidemic. George W. Bush apparently has reduced more of his fellow citizens to frustrated, sputtering rage than any president since opinion polling began, with the possible exception of Richard Nixon.
• Could smoking pot be good for teenagers? If you follow the White House's twisted logic, the answer could be "yes."

Quote of the Day

Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free....

They [these institutions] would, at the same time, be necessitated to strengthen the executive arm of government, in doing which their constitutions would acquire a progressive direction toward monarchy. It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority”...

The perpetual menacings of danger oblige the government [of a localized confederacy] to be always prepared to repel it; its armies must be numerous enough for instant defense. The continual necessity for their services enhances the importance of the soldier, and proportionally degrades the condition of the citizen. The military state becomes elevated above the civil. The inhabitants of territories, often the theatre of war, are unavoidably subjected to frequent infringements on their rights, which serve to weaken their sense of those rights; and by degrees the people are brought to consider the soldiery not only as their protectors, but as their superiors. The transition from this disposition to that of considering them masters, is neither remote nor difficult; but it is very difficult to prevail upon a people under such impressions, to make a bold or effectual resistance to usurpations supported by the military power.”

Alexander Hamilton
Federalist #8

Comment of the Week - "Maybe Not End Times, But Surely Odd Times"

(Be sure to check out all the links on this one. We loved it so much we're starting a new feature here, and calling it "Bad Hat Comment of the Week." By the way, Rudy has been called "George Bush With Brains." Holy crap! Thanks, Arthur.)

I love it when Godly Men (who attended a "fully accredited college") are willing to take a stand and say weird things. I love it even more when they hate Rudy Giuliani.

But wait, they also see DEMONIC FORCES taking over "Dickie" Scaife and turning him away from his Clinton-hating days!

And against the Iraq war. Is nothing sacred?

Arthur

Scouting the Dark Side

(Our Official Political Curmudgeon, Arthur in Marin County, comments on the GOP frontrunners at this point, and ends with a comment on Barak Obama.)


Florida, who knew? This is as concise and intelligent a take down of Rudy Giuliani as one could hope for. He is intellectually incurious, dishonest, ambitious and appears willing to say or do anything that will get him elected. Nice.

As I look over the GOP frontrunners I see a host of negatives:

Giuliani: sleazy friends, enjoys wearing women's clothing, serial adulterer, hated by NY Firefighters, fear-mongering moron.

Romney: belongs to a religion many Americans believe is a cult, evangelicals see as a heresy, has a record of self-contradiction.

McCain: some of what we might like about him, others hate, the evangelicals loathe him, he is physically failing before our eyes.

Fred Thompson: appears detached and bored, used to be a lobbyist, Nixon on record as saying he is a dolt.

Huckaby: the GOP's Gomer Pyle, not even the evangelicals find him convincing.

(On Barak Obama:)
Obama won my heart by saying something along the lines of "I'm not running for President so I can be famous. I've been on Oprah, I am not hungry for fame".

Aside from being the oddest thing anyone has said, except a lot of things that Mike Gravel says, it really encapsulates it all, doesn't it? Once you've been on Oprah, what pinnacles are left to conquer?

Actually, aside from being a bit odd, he often makes fairly good sense.

Arthur

Weekend Update - November 3rd

• Poor Hillary. Try as she might, that Clinton smoothtalk stuff sometimes gets her into a bit of trouble. They call it the "Politics of Parsing."
• p m carpenter blasts "Our Co-reigning Antichrists: Shumer and Feinstein."
• Has John Edwards moment arrived? In his own words.
• Heartbreaking: A Soldier's Story - Nowhere To Go.
• Consider poor Rummy. Can't even vacation in France without having to flee or face charges as a war criminal. Is this an image of things to come for all of them?
• Interesting rant: "George W. Bush and Dick Cheney shouldn't be treated like criminals who deserve punishment. They should be treated like psychotics who need treatment."
• Some fundamentalist evangelicals have moved from forecasting Armageddon to actually trying to bring it about.
• Obama opens Saturday Night Live. Hilarious.
• Here's an article in the World Nut Daily saying that we should replace those rebellious State Department people who refuse to serve in Iraq with wounded discharged soldiers. What?
• Just another reason why Dennis Kucinich has my vote.