More lipstick on the pig
Bush and his "What me worry?" speech -- the surge has worked, blah, blah, blah .. stay the course, blah, blah, blah .. don't cut and run, blah, blah, blah .. give me another $100 BILLION for my war, blah, blah, blah .. we are making progress, blah, blah, blah........
That was it. Nothing new in this speech .. no new ideas .. no new direction. This guy lacks even an iota of analytic thought. Just more, more, more of the same. More dead .. more crippled, wounded, damaged. More money thrown away.
More "We'll stand down as they stand up" .. more "We're fighting them over there..." drivel.
If I want to hear somebody lie to me, I'll call my ex-boyfriend.
The truest thing he said was, "Our troops are performing bravely." Nothing about how they are trained to fight armies, not police civil wars .. or having to do 4 tours in Iraq.
He said there are "36 nations" with "troops on the ground in Iraq."
He only missed it by 12.
"Return on Success"? Seriously? He must have been talking about his war profiteering buddies on what kind of "return" Iraq is bringing to their pockets.
And, *of course* we're going for a "long term strategic relationship" with Iraq .. what with all those permanent bases and the billion dollar embassy.
I liked the part where he told us in one breath that the people of Anbar Province were safe to work with the US and Iraqi forces .. then in the next breath told us how the leading Sheik from that area who had been working with the US and Iraqi forces got blown to bits.
Bush tried to make his mess look good by spouting the fairy tale that the Surge has been a success and troops can start coming home. But, over 130,000 of them will remain there indefinitely. Huh? And those 30,000 were due to come home anyway because they'll be at the end of their tour. Huh?
Michael Ware reporting from Baghdad (the best reporter in Iraq if you ask me) and Anderson Cooper on CNN were very good at exposing Bush's denial and omission. Ware talked about ethnic cleansing, lack of electricity, fear of being dragged off, living in communities protected by militias .. all of which were ignored by the president. Some people call Ware a pro-war hawk .. whatever, at least he provides objective reporting.
Bush seemed especially insincere in his eyes .. and they were closer together than I've noticed before .. I wonder how that happens.
His speech was riddled with errors and half-truths. It's a terrible day when the leader of the free world feels he can shamelessly propagandize and deceive the American people like that.
Like -- "Iraq could face a humanitarian nightmare." Uh .. let's see, 2 million refugees, 2 million internal displaced persons, food distribution has been cut, little electricity, a cholera epidemic .. good golly, how could it be any worse?
Then this one -- "To Iraq's neighbors who seek peace...the efforts by Iran and Syria to undermine that government must end." Who on earth can he mean? The Saudis are helping the Sunni insurgents .. the Turks are dealing with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) .. Jordan has helped with refugees. Kuwait?
And how 'bout ol' John Edwards? He certainly looked more presidential than he ever has before, came on and showed a savvy take on the speech .. not buying into the BS and pointing out the many flaws in Bush's "logic".
The longer the campaign wears on the more I like Edwards. He's the one who most gets it re health care, counter-terrorism and several other key issues. But people worry that he concentrates too much on the poor .. and the very poor don't vote much.
If you read the press reports about his reaction to the miner who couldn't get proper treatment of his cleft palate until he was 50, you realize what Edwards is made of -- "In the richest nation on the planet, a man lives for 50 years not being able to talk — a completely fixable, correctable condition," Edwards told the concert audience. "How can that be? How can that be in America? Are we not better than this?" ( http://tinyurl.com/22qb5g )
That said I would still support any of the Democrats over any of the Republicans. The only Republican who looks halfway interesting is Fred Thompson...
... but that just shows I watch too much TV.
