September 12, 2007 10:35 PM
Open Thread
The Petraeus Slide after the pony. [nb: There seems to be an agreement in the blogosphere that brilliance like this should be linked rather than stolen.] h/t Corrente
About Bluegal aka Fran
Executive Producer of The Professional Left Podcast. On staff at Crooks and Liars since 2007. Master's degree from Harvard. Happy wife of Driftglass. Mother of three geniuses. Obsessive knitter. Blogs at http://bgalrstate.blogspot.com. .
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Help! Does anybody know how to search Haloscan for old comments (by words or phrases)?
Please wake me up when the talking money in the suit is no longer capable of launching thermo nuclear weapons.
Great idea, put pre dementia patients in charge of bombs capable of vaporizing whole cities . . . well I got to go get some sleep . . .
Quote from WPE speech tonight:
"Our troops in Iraq are performing brilliantly. Along with Iraqi forces, they have captured or killed an average of more than 1,500 enemy fighters per month since January."
No wonder the citizens of occupied Iraq are so fond of us.
Well no wonder Patraeus is a General. Not only is he an accomplished wishful-thinker – he has charts to prove it. He deserves a pony.
I love this. Yahoo headlines say that Bush called for a troop reduction in Iraq. Talk about taking something out of context.
BofA thinks you should pay $3 to take out your own money. Will L.A. ban fast food?
Does red meat lead to global warming? Rudy blames Hillary for Petraeus MoveOn ad. Global warming causes Long Beach to ration water! Black churches want the torturers of that poor WV woman to be tried for hate crimes. The White House agrees w/ the GAO on our "progress" in Iraq.
Then there's definitely a pony under all that Sh*t! Woohoo! I wanna Ride!
I actually sat through the entire thing. prelude with keith, the fiasco speech and the aftermath.
BaScOmBe @ 7:
And you didn't sock your t.v. once?
The White House agrees with the GAO on our "progress" in Iraq. Local churches demand the assailants of that poor black woman in WV be tried on hate crimes. Long Beach is forced to ration water! Rudy blames that MoveOn ad on Hillary. Does red meat cause global warming? L.A. is not taking any chances, and might ban fast food joints. BofA thinks it deserves
$3 so you can get your own money.
In a recent interview, Don Rumsfeld revealed he never has nightmares.
Why would he? The Agent of Chaos accomplished his mission. His dreams are our nightmares, and vice versa.
Does red meat cause global warming? L.A. is not taking any chances, and might ban fast food joints. BofA thinks it deserves
$3 so you can get your own money.
> Then there’s definitely a pony under all that Sh*t! Woohoo! I wanna Ride!
Genuwine: Pony -
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BWh8XKvsYqc
BofA thinks it deserves
$3 so you can get your own money.
Sorry for repeating myself. This thread took a while to process my posts.
Site Monitor: Your posts get caught in the spam filter if you have six or more links in them. We have to manually remove them from the filter when that happens. Try to limit your links to five or less per post.
Well, I hope he's happy. My tv now smells like shit.
Patraeus = propagandist
Ponies RAWK!
hope @ 9:
I decided to sit through this one and I needed to hear the latest framing of the great lies he tells. From form through content, there is no lie this scum won't try to sell. tonight's speech was a concoction/ amalgam of ALL his prior speeches, laced with Iraq, 911, nukular, alQaeda, Iran, the way forward, something 'success', 30% and a continuous "fuck you America! I'll spend all your lives and all your money and your cowardly congress won't do schitt about it! So fuck you, America! I own you and your government! And even your future will be in service to my whim, even after I'm gone and cashing in on the speech circuit!"
busybusybusy also has an excellent parody of the slide. (I suspect there are many more.)
http://www.busybusybusy.com/images/PetraeusPlan005a.jpg
Don't you think there should be 36 different ponies up there? A pony for each "coalition parter."
The US public has been on a slow boil since 2001. It's no surprise many Americans feel apathetic.
Brilliant!
And funny, too!
:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03WHHclCar4
Seeing Petraeus' presentation reminds me how PowerPoint makes you dumb
L.A. Confidential @ 22:
Like a boling frog.
Where is Admiral Fallon?
Stanley Rosenthal @ 1:
The only thing I know is good old control-f.
Bush says "that extends beyond my presidency".
This translates to "I broke it and you bought it, suckers!".
Stanley Rosenthal @ 13:
Stan - are you flirting with me? ;)
do a keyword search at Altavista using the plus sign and quotes and you will probly find the old post you are looking for. here is an example. +Bush +"constitution is just a piece of paper" like that.
Dang, that original is one incredibly lame-ass chart, even for something from the Pentagon. The x-axis has no coordinates, so you can't even read it. And I think we have a few more than 20,000 soldiers in Iraq, don't we? Nice colors, though. And I like the little stars going "wtf?"
It really points up the fact that Bush's idiotic whims are the only thing affecting troop strength in Iraq. It says, "you want us to predict this mess? Why bother?"
And then we have the sky ponies: "Nothing but blue skies" -- Big Brother explains the fine points of the Forever War.
even better: larry craig meets avenue q
> The only thing I know is good old control-f.
That would work if I could find the original thread that the comment is in to do the control-f on ...
> do a keyword search at Altavista using the plus sign and quotes and you will probly find the old post you are looking for. here is an example. +Bush +”constitution is just a piece of paper” like that.
I had to use the Advance Search and put it in with the + signs in the "this exact phrase" box, but it worked!!!! ThanX a million!!!!
But I'm not sure what thread I was gonna post it in anymore, so I'll dedicate the old find to the President's repetition of lies that he spewed tonight -
+- +- +- +-
'50 Ways To Beat An Iraqi' - Stan and the Sequencers
parody of 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon
The problem is all inside Iraq Bush said to me
The answer is easy if you take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free
There must be fifty ways to beat an Iraqi
Bush said it's really not my habit to intrude
He was lying of course whilst Rush was downing 'ludes
But Bush repeated himself whilst being crude
There must be fifty ways to beat an Iraqi
Fifty ways to beat an Iraqi
Shove a broom up the back, Jack
Make a new pyrimid, clan
Don't need to be a boy, oye
Just incriminate thee
Hop on the triangle, Dud
You don't need to urinate much
Just drop off that load, GEEEIIIIII
And pretend that your free
She said it glees me so to see you in such pain
I wish there was something I could do to make you puke again
I said I appreciate that and would you please explain
About the fifty ways
She said why don't we both just piss on it tonight
And I believe in the moaning you'll begin to see the right
And then she kicked me and I realized she was probably a Shite
There must be fifty ways to beat an Iraqi
Fifty ways to beat an Iraqi
Just strip off the clothes, Joe
Make a new prison, plan
You don't need to record it, Roy
Just get yourself greed
Hop on the guts, Just
Don't discuss much
Just drop off the body, greed
And call yourself free
+- +- +- +-
Anyone else watching CNN and Michael Ware right now. Anderson 360. please for me, a long time C&L follower, get this one up. the iraqi dead. I'm weeping right now. please. The forgotten dead, the poor, the unwanted, the forgotten.
What was that part about a letter from a newly minted widow talking bout how her husband believed the war was basically good vs evil ... thanks Bush I needed to hear that from you ... everyone's a hostage to this insanity oh boy, can i have a pony too, i'm gonna need it
1,000,000 dead Iraqi's during your tenure senor bush, tell me again who the good guys were?? ...
I cannot believe you all and the MSM cannot see the wisdom of that graph.
Just look at the left side numbers: 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 20
It starts at 5. Of course! 5 years since we entered Iraq. Just ask Bush predicted in his State of the Union speech 5 years ago... when was that again?
Then it jumps from 2 to 7. Of course! Incrementing by 2 is a natural number, like man and woman (no man-animal hybrids allowed unless they are man and woman of course). So it jumps from 2 to 7. Of course!
Then it jumps from 7 to 10. Of course! Incrementing by 3 a natural number, like mom and dad and baby makes three, so there is no other logical breakdown but 5 then 7 then 10. Of course!
Then it jumps from 10 to 12. Of course! Incrementing by 2 is a natural number, like man and woman (no man-animal hybrids allowed unless they are man and woman of course). So it jumps from 10 to 12. Of course!
I give up...
I HATE GEORGE BUSH, YA GOT THAT SECRET SERVICE, I FUCKING HATE HIM! There are poor people in Iraq being buried by strangers out of fear and or lack of money with DRILL HOLES in their bodies. DID YOU GET THAT! DRILL HOLES. I HOPE YOU SUFFER, BUSH, LIKE THOSE POOR IRAQIS WITH DRILL HOLES AND BEING BURIED ALONE. ALL ALONE! Sorry for caps. but NO ONE deserves to be buried alone.
Did Bush actually say anything? I am sure once he "draws down" he will find an excuse to build back up. I actually think his "draw down" is to get troops in position to invade Iran.
He needs to go!
===================================================
Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4198
Ted @ 42:
I sure would like to know the TOTAL casualties for this occupation. The 4000 or so number does not count the Special Forces, those who were wounded in battle and latter died, private security forces, contractors, Foreign Nationals, or reporters. And these are on OUR side.
Add this to the Iraqi Citizens and soldiers, et al – and you get a REAL number of casualties. What is that number? Anybody?
> I sure would like to know the TOTAL casualties for this occupation.
As far as US casualties, the tens of thousands. I think it's now somewhere between 30 and 40 thousand.
Brilliant. Petraeus' ponies can fight with Sadly, No!'s hungry pumas and bears.
Well there's Iraq Body Count. And at a minimum 70K refugees in Syria. (U.S. was complaining about "fighters" coming from Syria to Iraq. Could it be some who made it out trying to come back to help others out?)
shame on us (shame on us)
we knew from the start
may god have mercy
on our dirty little hearts
shame on us (shame on us)
for all we have done
and all we ever were
just zeros and ones.
Indonesia's having a bad week.
The Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation
Thing Fish @ 48:
OMG That's funny.
Thing Fish @ 46:
I heard it was one and a half million refugees in Syria.
That is more than twenty one times what you heard.
Stanley Rosenthal @ 44:
Geez.
I think it disingenuous to be constantly reporting the US Combat Troops killed number when this Total number is so much higher. Regardless of how you feel about mercenaries and opportunists, they’re still Americans dying in Iraq.
xoites defends Constitution @ 50:
Wanted to be conservative so I was quoting a WaPo article. Just rechecked the article's print date - Feb '05.
One thing that always bothered me about Hezbolla was 'were did the come from'? No one seems to care if large numbers of refugees seem to vanish. And then we wonder where terrorists are coming from. Or why they hate us.
Taarak, casualties and killed are two different things. As I understand it, casualties refer to the number of troops that have been injured (or killed) enough to take them out of service enough to keep them from being able to fight in a war or occupation.
I have 1 million dollar for Democrat president hopefull. Please take dirty chinese money. Who cares, Republicans are evil. My money help Democrats. Keep Republican out of White House. I want to rent Lincoln bedroom. I pay 30,000 dollar a night.
Stanley Rosenthal @ 53:
Thanks Stanely, I guess I never made that distinction.
I would usually try to look this up myself, but it’s late and I’m lazy tonight. What ARE the numbers of Killed/Wounded? Like I said before, the 4000 +- number is limited to those “Combat Troops” killed in action. I have seen what this number doesn’t count (Special Forces, Wounded Later Died, Private Security, Accidents, Contractors, etc.), but not any accumulative totals.
I really want to just go off on people who think Code Pink is too "Pink" or too shrill.
I do not get this.
Here is a group of people who have been actively and visibly opposing this war in Iraq since before its inception. In fact their name is a parody of the "Terror Alert" color code.
And yet, because they made some noise during the Petraeus hearing the left is...
Ashamed of them?
Disconcerted?
What?
I do not get this shit.
Taarak @ 54:
This is THE best source:
http://icasualties.org/oif/
"Impeachment is off the table."
"Protest is off the table."
And, so what do we have left?
"Well, we can write our congress members..."
There just is not enough ink on the planet for what i want to say to them.
I likes all the purdy colors. That man in the suit said we's gonna bring the troops home. Must mean we won.
This kind of shit may work with your average repug, but those of us with more than half a brain can see right through it. The WH must think that since chimpy is pres. that the rest of us must be dumber than he is.
xoites @ September 14th, 2007 at 1:33 AM - PDT,
"You say you want a revolution" - Lennon/Beatles
More importantly there are not enough keys on my keyboard for what i want to say to the namby pamby "left" leaning "sit on my ass" "i do not want to look uncool" jerk off "leftists" who pretend they care and will watch it all on tv and snipe at those who actually do something ASSHOLES who have done not ONE THING in their ENTIRE FUCKING LIVES to stand up to injustice and stand up FOR ANYTHING! pronouncing Code Pink to be an EMBARRASEMENT!
Just not enough keys.
Not enough swear words...
Got it xiotes – Thanks. Now I have to get out my calculator!
And I saw your post in the Code Pink thread too.
Personally, I do find the Code Pink ladies shrill and annoying. Their methods are not how I would personally protest this Administration or its policies. I consider them Flower-Empowered Militants.
That being said, I would also like to thank each and every one of them - for their efforts, for their protests, for their actions, and for their goals. Most times we all feel helpless and unsure of the most effective actions to take in protest. It’s likely these ladies do as well. But they are doing more than most, and they haven’t stopped in the face of neocon ridicule. Good for them!
Taarak @ 63:
Then personally protest it your own way. Tell me what you are doing and/or going to do and i will get the word out as best i can. Refuse to be violent and you can be as quiet or as loud as you like and you will have my full support.
classic take down
I have been arrested 30 time protesting war and homelessness. I never scream, it is not my style. I am never dragged away, i get up and walk (i know a cop who incurred a back injury dragging away a protester.) I never resist and i always plead guilty.
We all have our own styles and our own ideas.
Be loud, be soft.
Resisting war and violence and poverty is the point.
Do it in your own fashion. If you like what i do, do it better.
And as useless as it may sometimes seem to be, vote.
The calculator remark was refering to this link: http://icasualties.org/oif/
Nothing else.
Taarak @ 67:
I knew that. :)
This war in Iraq (and the greater Middle East) is just getting started. It took longer than this for people in the US to notice how screwed up the War in Vietnam was.
Now is not the time (although if you look at it in perspective maybe it is) to denegrate those actively and OUTRAGEOUSLY opposing the war. It is time to ask yourself why you are not.
It is funny, our sacrife to the war, according to Bush, is to go shopping.
Current American Deaths: 3776
Current Wounded: 36,943
Total Shopping Days since Operation Iraqi Freedom began: 1760
Total number of hearings justifying prolonged war in Iraq disrupted by anti war protestors wearing outlandish pink clothing: 3
Total number of hearings justifying prolonged war in Iraq disrupted by anti war protestors wearing suits and ties: 0
The message is clear. You left leaning liberals out there wearing suits and ties are falling behind.
I’m aware of your past protests, and commend your style. As you say, we all do what we can in our own way.
Believe it or not, I do think the tide is turning. It’s been a long ebb. The divisive mechanisms that have been used for so long in the political arena were very effective; the social divisions profound. People are becoming increasingly aware of these methods though, and fewer are buying into it. I think in a few years we will be in recovery mode.
The DeLay/Rove/Bush tactics are self-defeating in the long run. They can’t be sustained because their result disenfranchises too many people. Our current ME policies (and occupation), and culture of corruption is the same way. I’m not being callous to the destruction we’ve wrought, just philosophical about the long-term effects. Our goal is to get past this, and start recovering. How to get past it is problematic, but we’ve come to the point of eclipsing the patriotic cheerleading garbage so often used by those in power to quiet objection.
Protests, objections, opinions, and run-of-the-mill water-cooler discussions are all part of getting past the problem. There is no single best approach and no magic bullet. They’re all working.
And there may come a day when we have to scrap this whole American experiment altogether. When that day comes, people will know it. But that day is not today, nor is it next year. In the mean time, I, like you, will have my vote count. I’m counting on it.
72 Taarak
"Protests, objections, opinions, and run-of-the-mill water-cooler discussions are all part of getting past the problem. There is no single best approach and no magic bullet."
This, i fully agree with. We need to all do what we can and all of us have placed certain "limits" on ourselves. The people we are financially in debt to have place even more limits.
Never the less i feel we all need to take it to our own personal next step.
That is not easy. I have conflicts pondering this challenge myself.
I am still infuriated by people who are criticising Code Pink, i just do not get it.
"Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said he doesn't remember much about the Terri Schiavo case that commanded the nation's attention in 2005 - though he appeared in a "Law & Order" episode ripped from those headlines."
Go figure...
Nice!
Strawberry @ 37:
xoites defends Constitution @ 69:
that's a great point! I keep reading all the outraged keyboardists rail against people who are anti-war. WTFITA?
xoites defends Constitution @ 74:
he's a repug! we won't get the truth from him even if it's extracted in gitmo.
An actual quote, said out loud and on TV, by Howard Kurtz:
I think the argument that I've heard Olbermann make in the past about Fox News -- it's not an argument that I embrace -- is that, because it poses as a news organization and puts out dangerous misinformation and is a cheerleader for the Bush administration, that it's misinforming our society. But you know what? They're entitled to do that.
Oh, and, he said it to Glenn Beck, who implied that although both he himself and Keith Olbermann engage in misinformed opinion mongering, "at least I [Beck] admit it."
Karen @ 79:
Karen @ 79:
fuck howie
fuck beck
fuck fux
but at least we know that that attacks on olbermann are beginning in earnest.
[corrected - I started typing in the middle of the blockquote]
Daily Reading pt 1...
Climate change is affecting Europe faster than the rest of the world and rising temperatures could transform the Mediterranean into a salty and stagnant sea, destroying seafood industry Italian experts said Wednesday.
- http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6Yg-hZ55TkIyVhoOySNyJC0X6iA
Its not 'alarmism'...its dealing with reality...you right wingnuts & deniers should try it sometime...who knows...it might agree with you...
Step Right Up, David Petraeus, You are the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week: "We had it figured out that Petraeus was playing the Bushevik lackey to position himself for a Republican Senate run. But now it turns out that he told a high-level Iraqi that his sights were set a little higher: Petraeus, apparently, has his eyes on the White House." Maybe He Has a Chance. Like Bush, His Record is One of Failure in Iraq.
- http://gophypocrites.com/2007/09/hyp07037.html
The Real Story Comes Out After a Week of Propaganda: A new White House report on Iraq shows slim progress, moving just one more political and security goal into the satisfactory column: efforts to let former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to rejoin the political process, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.
Also, The Government Accountability Office progress report on Iraq, released Sept. 4, said violence in Iraq remains high, fewer Iraqi security forces are capable of acting independently, and the parliament in Baghdad has failed to reach major political agreements needed to curb sectarian violence.
- http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_REPORT?SITE=DCUSN&SECTION=HO...
AP Fact Checks Bush's Lies in Thursday's Night Propaganda Statement - http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
COLD BUSTED (Saddam Hussein speaks from the grave): Chevron (while Condi was a board member) second-largest American oil company, is preparing to acknowledge that it should have known kickbacks were being paid to Saddam Hussein on oil it bought from Iraq as part of a defunct United Nations program & Lifelong GOP contributor 83 year old Texas billionaire oil tycoon, Oscar Wyatt Jr., are accused of fraud and conspiracy charges (not treason) against the United States.
The prosecutors suggest Wyatt funneled millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein and himself through the United Nations' oil-for-food program during the international embargo against Iraq.
- http://newssophisticate.blogspot.com/2007/09/saddam-hussein-speaks-from-...
THERE IS NO LEVEL OF MEASUREMENT TO GAUGE THE CORRUPTION OF THE BUSH CRIME FAMILY & ALL THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH BIG OIL
Daily Reading pt 2...
Dollar falls to an all-time low against the euro; Oil prices surged to a record; No, there isn't good news to go with that bad news.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/business/12cnd-econ.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
The new numbers on consumer confidence are out. They show American consumers very confident that the economy is going down the tubes.
- http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003879888_harrop12.html
"There will also be growth in certain "niche" occupations, such as mosquito-control technician. It seems that swimming pools behind abandoned homes in Southern California are turning green, a sign of mosquito infestation. That is a health hazard. Thus, local governments are hiring mosquito-control technicians to fumigate.
The green in the swimming pools is not the color of money, but of happy mosquitoes."
Get ready for corporate layoffs...and if you're already doing the work of 5 people...be prepared that your greedy CEOs & board members will make you do the work of 10 as you pickup the slack for upcoming layoffs (ie, code word for we have to keep the executive pay stable...keep the chiefs rolling in the dough...by reducing the indians in here)
The perfect encapsulation of any corporation: "Too many chiefs, not enough indians" (apologies to anyone offended)
$8B in pork clogs U.S. infrastructure plans - http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-09-12-earmarks_N.htm?csp=34
Obama says Dems lack votes for timetable - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070914/ap_on_el_pr/obama_iraq;_ylt=Atlp.8R7...
And he's correct....this 'Dead Certain' 'president' will always veto every single bill...every one of them...he will pass the pottery barn rule vase he broke onto someone else to return to the store...so they, not him...face the music
Edwards Does What All the Dems Should Do, Muscle Bush With the Truth: "White House candidate John Edwards criticized President Bush in a televised response Thursday for failing to pull out of Iraq, but also spread some of the blame to the Democratic-led Congress." Got that right.
- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070914/ap_on_el_pr/edwards_bush_rebuttal_5
There's a huge new media scandal breaking this morning, and the headline so far -- that a much-used consultant (GOPer works at 'Nixon Center') to ABC News published a phony interview with Barack Obama -- may well be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The news about now ex-ABC consultant Alexis Debat is just dribbling out, but I'm surprised people haven't been connecting the dots. This post will seek to connect a couple of them.
- http://www.attytood.com/2007/09/the_disgraced_abc_consultant_a.html
Daily Reading pt 3...
Now We're Getting to the Nut of the Iraq War -- And Bush Can't Even Succeed at Corporate Greed: "Compromise on Oil Law in Iraq Seems to Be Collapsing." It's All One Big Oily and Bloody Fiasco.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/world/middleeast/13baghdad.html?th&emc=th
Colin Powell warns of "terror industrial complex" - http://mainstreambaptist.blogspot.com/2007/09/powell-warns-about-terror-...
Its going great over there ("Who the hell is shooting at us?" - American soldier): U.S. troops have taken into custody an Iraqi army battalion commander suspected of ordering militia attacks on American forces, the military said Thursday.
- http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070913/API/709130767
Every chickenwarhawk is a scumbag...every one of you....put your a$$ where your mouth is...
The Weekly Whip Around Of News You Missed
My 84 year old life long Republican mother's last political statement before dying was, "Why hasn't someone shot that dumb fuck yet?" Ah, memories.
Patthemokey @ 84:
why indeed
Bush's gub-mint didn't act after e-coli outbreak....yep, no surprise there folks...... After blowing off Katrina, anyone thinks these fools are gonna worry about what they probably regard as a little bad lettuce???? Short answer... no..... JD
Arrrghh!!! Wrong thread...my bad.... Above post meant for the e-coli thread....ehhh, I have fat fingers today..................JD
steambomb @ 29:
Yep. Nicely put.
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