Having problems illustrating our problems in Iraq while discussing the war?  Just remember: Kidnappings average seven a day in Baghdad.

Trombone, Tuba, Drums. (MP 3)  Iggy & The Stooges.  Two great tastes that go great together.  The Ridiculous Trio: Plays the Stooges.  Oh, and IT ROCKS. 

From the Department of Far From God:

Townhall columnist and “pastor“ of “Clash Church“ (no relation to Joe Strummer and the boys), Doug Giles recently penned a missive to the flock he is attempting to gather.  In “Dirty Harry Goes To Church,“  Giles wonders aloud, while describing the visit of Detective Harry Callahan to an “effeminized church” :

There has got to be a church where a man doesn’t have to sacrifice his masculinity in order to be a believer. 

Last week, in “Do You Have A Pit Bull Attitude?“  Giles described the ideal Christian leader:

God intended His believers—especially Christian leaders—to be spiritual warriors, to be pit bulls who smash demonic strongholds, stand for truth and bring life, light and healing to this great planet.

And his Church?  Read on:  

For men, we embrace a masculine spirituality.  We believe God created men to be men without apology.  We believe that Biblical masculinity is necessary for the church to be the overcoming organism God intends for it to be.  Therefore, we avoid the feminization of men and the spiritual emasculation of God’s rowdy warriors that usually accompanies most evangelical churches.  

We are Clash Christian Church.

Mr. Giles' words echo those of other right-wing Christians, the so-called “Deutschen Christen“ or “German Christians” who emerged from the early days of the Nazi seizure of power in Germany:

The “German Christians“ described their creed thusly:

“Christian faith is a heroic, manly thing.  God speaks in blood and Volk a more powerful language than He does in the idea of humanity.“

Like Mr. Giles, they were political--see this description of a church election from Victoria Barnett's For The Soul of The People:

Church elections were planned to be held in all regional churches on July 23, 1933 to elect delegates to a national synod that would officially elect a new Reich Bishop.  In a few regional churches, the Young Reformation Movement, an opposition group, placed its candidate on the ballot; but in many regions, the lists of candidates were almost exclusively “German Christian.”  The Nazi party open supported the “German Christians.”  Three days before the elections, party chief Rudolf Hess ordered all party members to get their names on the elections lists in their parishes, reminding them that “participation in the election is mandatory.“  On election eve, Hitler himself openly supported the “German Christians“ in a nationally broadcast radio speech.  Church members entering their churches to vote were confronted by rows of SA members wearing sandwich boards carrying the names of the “German Christian“ candidates.  Nationally, the “German Christians“ won two-thirds of the vote, giving them the majority in regional synods throughout Germany. . .

Protestant outrage reached its peak after the national “German Christian“ rally, held at the Berlin Sportspalast on November 13, 1933.  A series of speakers called for the removal of all pastors unsympathetic to National Socialism, the formation of a separate church for Christians of Jewish descent, and for implementation of the “Aryan paragraph“ and the removal of the Old Testament from the Bible.

If seeing these passages next to Mr. Giles' lines isn't enough to chill your veins to ice, then think this over:  Look to see the ideological cohesiveness of the Church corrupted by those who see it as a popular vehicle for their own purposes.  In such a situation, there will be a free-wheeling adoption of Christ's name to any number of causes, including political movements of all kinds.

These times present great dangers to lovers of freedom.  That is why we must fight with everything we have now.  We can and will be triumphant, but vigilance, wisdom and strength will be needed.  

  [New York, 3 October 1789]

By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor--and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be--That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions--to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

G Washington
 

From a recent sermon of Jerry Fallwell:

I daily thank God for talk radio, Fox News Channel, internet bloggers and news producers like NewsMax.Com, WorldNetDaily.Com, The Drudge Report, etc.

 

He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.

From Johann Hari's interview with Nixon's hatchet man G. Gordon Liddy:

The Fuhrer was G Gordon Liddy's first political hero. Liddy was a sickly, asthmatic child when he grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, in the 1930s. The town was full of ethnic Germans who idolized Hitler. Liddy was made to salute the Stars and Stripes Nazi-style by the nuns at his school; even now, he admits, "at assemblies where the national anthem is played, I must suppress the urge to snap out my right arm." His beloved German nanny taught him that Hitler had - through sheer will-power - "dragged Germany from weakness to strength."

This gave Liddy hope "for the first time in my life" that he too could overcome weakness. When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it "made me feel a strength inside I had never known before," he explains. "Hitler's sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body."

... how about your fanatical Nietzschean emphasis on Will-power? He has written, "If any one component of man ought to be exercised, cultivated and strengthened above all others, it is the will; and that must have one objective - to win." He used to take his kids to see Leni Reifenstahl's Nazi propaganda movie 'The Triumph of the Will.' When he was a kid himself, he went to insane ends to test his will-power. He stood in front of approaching trains, telling himself he would not die because "I am a machine too." During lightning storms, in order to demonstrate to himself to power of his will, he would climb onto tall trees and yell, "Kill me! Kill me!"

This guy is on the radio every day in the U.S.  Every day.

Nice encapsulation in the three top headlines on washingtonpost.com right now:

Officials Signal Need For Additional Troops In Iraq

Diplomacy Takes A Beating

System Has Eluded Reform

Hell, I won't need to read the papers for another two years.

From Ronnie Earle's own website:

Ronald Earle, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives, former presiding judge of the Austin Municipal Court, and former chief counsel of the Texas Judicial Council, was elected district attorney of Travis County in 1976.  Re-elected four times without opposition, he is currently serving his sixth four-year term. Innovative programs of his office have been featured in the national media, including Parade Magazine, and he has appeared on numerous network news programs, including Dateline, 60 Minutes, Nightline, and others.  He has been named Outstanding Young Lawyer in Austin, Public Administrator of the Year for Austin, and 1996 Texas Prosecutor of the Year. In 1999 he received the Neighborhood Peacemaker Award from the Austin Dispute Resolution Center, and in 2000 was named Elected Official of the Year by the Centex Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration. He received the Texas Bar Foundation Award for Advancing Legal Ethics in Texas and his office has been selected by the National District Attorneys Association as one of ten model offices in the country.  Considered a pioneer of the emerging concept of community restorative justice, he has chaired Travis County's Community Justice Council since 1990.

Gee what a terrible guy!

Normally, I wouldn't pass along this type of thing, but I couldn't help myself.  From Gawker.

Freemans tuesday night the 16th of nov. the bush twins along with 2 massive secret service men tried to have dinner they were told by the maitre 'd that they were full and would be for the next 4 years upon hearing the entire restaurant cheered and did a round of shots it was amazing!!! [Ed: We're hearing that this is actually true.]

Justice works in so many mysterious ways.

From the NY Times report of the discovery of al- Zarqawi's HQ in Fallujah:

U.S. troops sweeping through the city west of Baghdad found what appeared to be a key command center of terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, along with a separate workshop where an SUV registered in Texas was being converted into a car bomb and a classroom containing flight plans and instructions on shooting down planes.

Maybe they didn't get the November surprise memo from Rove on time.

If the kind of stuff we are seeing on the DeLay Rule from Democrats both at the top and in the grassroots is a preview of the next four years, we are in great shape.  We haven't even begun the new session and already the Republicans are out of position.  Case in point:  Josh Marshall, turning himself into the general of an army of Democrats calling their local Republican members to find out if they voted for the DeLay Rule. 

And The Daily DeLay has a great listing of all of the Republican Congressmen and women who have admitted to voting for the DeLay rule or who are part of what Josh calls “the Shays Handful” who voted against it.  Many of these GOP Representatives have refused to say how they've voted.

Kagro X, a diarist over at the Daily Kos, has provided a great list of parliamentary maneuvers to make post-DeLay Rule life uncomfortable our red friends as well.  My personal favorite:  A Discharge Petition to prohibit execution of the duties required of the Majority Leader under the Rules when the Majority Leader is under indictment, forcing a vote on the record on the DeLay rule. 

These moves are having an effect.  According to Josh, a number of newspapers have written editorials condemning the DeLay rule and the type of corruption it stands for.

So, if your Congressman or woman is a Republican, please, by all means give them a call to find out if they voted for the DeLay rule.  You'll be glad you did and I promise, they'll be thrilled to hear from you.

Republican Rep. Trent Franks (2nd Dist. AZ) on the vote on the “DeLay Rule” to change the rules to allow indicted Republican leadership to continue in their leadership positions:

Today's rule change strengthens the very fiber of this democracy

Again, I don't make this stuff up people.

I wholeheartedly agree with Professor Cole's sentiment.  The cold-blooded murder of Margaret Hassan and the killing of a wounded Iraqi by a jumped up marine are not moral equivalents.  Our soldiers are not like Zarqawi's gang of thugs.  Not all killings are equal.

However, I disagree with Professor Cole's conclusion that the author in the Al-Hayat piece was attempting to put the marines and the Sunni Arab guerillas who execute hostages on the same moral level.  This is what the author stated, according to Professor Cole's translation:

"The killing of a wounded Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque by an American Marine and the killing of the Iraqi-British hostage Margaret Hassan epitomize the battle taking place in Iraq. As the American military began its investigation of the marine's motives, an Islamic group broadcast a cassette of the slaughter of the female hostage." 

The author thus juxtaposes not only the acts of killing, but also the conduct post actus reus of the groups responsible for the killings.  A possible war crime by a marine was immediately investigated by the U.S. military, thus conveying the American method of using the process of law to deal with alleged criminal acts.  In contrast, Hassan's murderers immediately broadcast a video of their vicious crime on the Internet.  The juxtaposition is clear: Americans use law and order quietly and efficaciously to pursue justice, punish criminals, and preserve morality, while Islamic terrorists use the Internet to publicize and aggrandize their brutality.

Therefore, the epitome of the battle taking place in Iraq is this: America cannot win this war.  The image of a seemingly defenseless Iraqi being shot to death at point blank range by an American soldier in a place of Islamic worship will not be forgotten or excused by Arabs in the Middle East.  The more this image is broadcast in the Middle East, the more America will be hated, because we are the powerful invaders.  Contrariwise, the broadcast of a cold-blooded murder by a gang of terrorist thugs reveals the futility of America; because no matter how strong America is, no matter how much progress America makes, no matter how much damage and casualties America inflicts, a gang of ragamuffin thugs can execute innocent people at any time in Iraq.

America is attempting, and failing, to use violence judiciously to bring peace, while guerillas are marketing violence to gain new recruits.  Guess which side is winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people?

There are blogs like this one which have pictures of the President kissing a woman who is not his wife.  Then there are others which really matter: such as Informed Comment, Professor Juan Cole's blog, which is simply the most informed American voice on Iraq.  His post today about the Marine in Fallujah and the killing of Margaret Hassan hits home.  Every American should be reading his blog.

Dear House Democratic Caucus:

Now that the Republican Caucus has decided to protect Tom DeLay by voting to lift the rule barring Republican Congressmen from holding leadership positions if they have been indicted, I think what you should do is pass a measure forbidding Democrats from holding leadership positions if they are indicted.  If you already have that rule, I'm sure you can think of other ethics rules you can strengthen to highlight the Democratic position on ethics in government.

Sincerely yours,

The Iron Mouth

Bush congratulates his new Secretary of Education, longtime collaborator, Margaret Spellings.

And GH called her a “darling of Dick Cheney.”

They're very, very close," said Sandy Kress, a lawyer who worked at the White House for Spellings.

Jobs at the Bush Administration are turning over faster than at a Taco Bell.  While it is routine for cabinet positions to change hands during a second term at the White House, the rapid departure of so many cabinet officials so soon after the election is disconcerting.  Something is rotten in the state of our union.

During a time when we are supposed to be fighting a war on terror, the offices of Attorney General, Secretary of State, and National Security Advisor have all become vacant.  Moreover, these departures came shortly after a complete overhaul of the CIA was underway.  Only the Pentagon leadership has heretofore been spared of major change, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Donald Rumsfeld soon saddle up and ride toward the sunset for greener corporate pastures.

To those electors who voted for Bush not because of “moral values,” but because they placed greater trust in him to fight the war on terror, I ask the following: Aren't you a bit concerned by this rapid turnover in the middle of a major offensive in Iraq?  Do you not find it worrisome that officials in clandestine operations at the CIA have resigned so shortly after we received that nice little public service announcement from Osama?

But most importantly, are you not the least bit concerned that Bush is packing his entire cabinet with sycophants handpicked by Dick Cheney?  We now know exactly what Bush meant when he dodged the salient final question in the “Town Hall” debate in Missouri by admitting that the only mistakes he made as President were in some of his appointments.  Bush is sorry only for not packing his cabinet with like-minded ideologues who would never question any decision made by Dick Cheney and rubber-stamped by Bush. 

The President's pick to replace departing Secretary of Education Rod Paige tips his hand.  By choosing Margaret Spellings to head the Department of Education, Bush is attempting to surround himself with only the most loyal of servants.  Spellings is a darling of Dick Cheney and one of the architects of the miserable No Child Left Behind Act.  She proved her loyalty while faithfully serving Governor Dubya for six years in Texas.  Her appointment adds to the growing gang of lackeys Bush has assembled: Goss, Gonzales, and Rice.  

As a result, no longer will there be policy debates within the White House.  No longer will there be embarrassing leaks damaging the reputation of the Administration.  No longer will there be inconsistent messages sent by Administration officials.  No longer will any cabinet official question a decision made by Cheney and Bush, whether it be related to war, the economy, domestic or foreign policy.  Who needs a devil's advocate when God is on the President's side?

If Bush gets his way, the only folks who will remain - from the insular rooms of the West Wing to Capitol Hill, from the Pentagon to CIA Headquarters in Langley, and in all the Federal Agencies that align Constitution and Independence Avenues - are those bobbleheads who have sworn the oath of loyalty to Bush the Fuhrer.

What this means, folks, is that Bush is not at all concerned about building his legacy.  He is solely concerned with staying the disastrous course he began four years ago and making sure that any blunders get covered up.

No doubt the worthless media-run propaganda machine will comply.

On Monday, RW compared the Bush Administration to a sinking ship.  Despite his arrogant claims of having a mandate, Bush can feel the water rising at his feet.  To illustrate, the son of a former head of the CIA has lost the respect and support of the CIA leadership, and the embarrassing details are coming to light.  Thus, Bush has climbed board upon a life raft for salvation.  Goss, Rice, Gonzales, and Spellings have joined him.  Over the next several weeks, Bush, desperately seeking support, will continue to grab hold of more lackeys.

Soon Bush will have a life raft filled with spineless yes men and women.  But a life raft can only hold so much weight before it capsizes.  And as Cheney and Bush continue their pathological bent for making horrible decisions, the weight from the unquestioning support of Cheney-Bush's lackeys will eventually sink the raft.

When this happens, who will save all of us from drowning?

91 U.S. soldiers dead in Iraq this month.  We are only halfway through the month.  We're heading for the deadliest month ever at a rapid pace. 

The president's of the news divisions of the three major networks met and took questions yesterday.  They agreed that:

in retrospect, they should have more aggressively questioned the Bush administration's grounds for invading Iraq in the spring of 2003.

"Simply stated, we let down the American people on weapons of mass destruction, and I sincerely regret that," Westin said.

Two weeks after the election, its a little late boys, a little late. 

Interested in the reporter at the center of the Marine Shooting story?  His name is Kevin Sites and he has a blog.

Patrick Farley brings his many gifts to a new online Graphic Novel:  Mother of All Bombs.

LA Times reports that of the over 1,000 persons detained by U.S. forces in Fallujah, only 15 are non-Iraqi.  If we don't smell the coffee on this one and realize that the problem is that we haven't won the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis, success will always elude us.

Wholesale prices up 1.7% in October.  The highest one-month increase in over 14 years.

Make trouble, fail, make trouble again, fail again . . . till their doom

War is the continuation of politics." In this sense war is politics and war itself is a political action; since ancient times there has never been a war that did not have a political character....
Chairman Mao. 

We need new direction in Iraq right now.  Some big political move--something.  Today  Zarqawi 's chilling vision of the war was put out for all too see:

"The war is very long, and always think of this as the beginning,''

These guys are good.  Its time to stop underestimating them and do something.

Can't say we didn't tell you so.

An exhausted Marine cracks and kills a wounded insurgent while NBC's camera's roll.  These types of incidents are bound to happen and need to be punished.  Of course it will be too late.  Any benefits to be found from striking at Fallujah will quickly melt away in the endless al Jazzera repeats of this little bit of footage.

Its the fault of the leaders in the end.  Without a political strategy in place to win the peace, the inevitable errors of a few lead to poltical defeat after political defeat.  When they write the history of this war they will look to this incident as a turning point. 

People, our leadership is lost.  We must hang on tight for the next four years.  Eventually the dawn will come. 

The Bush Administration shake-ups mean only one thing--the hand of Vice-President Cheney has been strengthened immensely.  The departure of people not closely tied to the President and with some independent power base can only strengthen those that have already created their power base.

In short, it means that Dick Cheney will now have complete control over the foreign policy of the United States.  At the beginning of the administration, it was theorized that the Cheney-Rumsfeld axis was opposed to Colin Powell at State.  The real unknown was Condi Rice.  Experts wondered aloud if she would connect with Powell to counterbalance the “Vulcans” or whether she would chart a middle course or even side with the hawks. 

In the run up to the Iraq war it became clear that Condi was going to side with the hawks.  Powell was isolated, and a second vote at the U.N. Security Council was dropped before the folly of the Iraq war.

Now Powell is on the way out.  The only persons left at the foreign policy apex are Rice, Cheney and Rumsfeld.  Rice, a weak manager at the best of times, will see herself completely isolated at State and a mere puppet of the powers that be, Cheney and Rumsfeld.  Expect both to be in the driver's seat of U.S. foreign policy for some time to come.

The result is not unexpected.  The two expert bureaucratic warriors have long given one another a hand up in the infighting their presence has provoked.  Masters of Beltway power, they have climbed steadily to the top, shoving aside many qualified leaders who lacked the dolchstoss skills of these two virtuosos of the art. 

What does this mean?  More bone-headed foreign policy moves and an expanding quagmire in the Middle East. 

Update Tuesday 11:20 AM: Slate's Fred Kaplan agrees--a win for Cheney.