Open Thread

8 Comments

1. 

   KNUCKLEHEAD on November 29, 2006 at 1:23 pm

   The meeting in Jordan between Bush & Malaki has been canceled till tomorrow, because of the leaked Hadley memo on the “no confidence” in Malaki. I think you`re giving too much time before the charade game is over.

2. 

   Izzy on November 29, 2006 at 1:28 pm

   I didn’t want to post this in clammyc’s excellent thread (it seemed to frivolous), but his title has had this song ringing in my head all morning — Shot by Both Sides by Magazine.  

   I was driven to find a YouTube link, but must admit I liked this song better before seeing this.  The 70’s were an ugly time…

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwKv3H9WAkY

3. 

   Omir the Storyteller on November 29, 2006 at 1:45 pm

   Honestly, I think the charade is already dead, and just doesn’t know it yet. Dead idea walkin’. All that remains is for something ghastly to happen to completely turn the American public against this administration for having sacrificed so many soldiers and so much money for nothing.

   I would like to see Bush and Cheney impeached as much as anyone else, Bush’s library die from recoil at the very idea and his legacy become a memory of lies, theft and unnecessary death before their term of office is even up. But if the choice is between impeachment, fueled by the massacre of American soldiers on a huge scale, or of the troops coming home before any more lives are lost unnecessarily . . . I would unhesitatingly choose the troops coming home and prepare to face Bush and Cheney for two more years.

4. 

   chimneyswift on November 29, 2006 at 1:45 pm

   It’s really very sobering how bad things are getting. Regardless of our collective oppostion to the completely idiotic policies that are playing out over here and there, lets all keep in mind the U.S. troops who are working hard and doing their best to accomplish what was never really possible.

   A general collapse of the Iraqi gov’t or a general uprising of the Mehdi Army could be catastrophic for our armed forces. Let us sincerely hope that saner heads prevail for just a little longer.

5. 

   idredit on November 29, 2006 at 2:04 pm

   Former President Jimmy Carter’s statement that the invasion was one of the worst blunders is the understatement.

   Iraq unravelled – long ago – right after the elections in 2005, but fearless ducks were in denial.

   Talk about a smackdown day. Bush-Cheney administration has lost control. What’s left to do?

   First the Hadley memo

   Next the al Sadr bloc quits the government and the Bush-Al Maliki meeting postponed. Al Maliki miffed.

   Then, there’s  Colin Powell in Dubai: “Iraq Is In A Civil War And Bush Should Stop Denying It”

   To cap the day, comes word, ‘our axis of evil’ country, Iran:Iran and Iraq reaches security agreement and Iran’s president writes to the American people to demand we leave.

   And Saudis, alarmed at developments say they will intervene if US withdraws (h/t: Thinkprogress)

6. 

   susanp on November 29, 2006 at 2:30 pm

   it’s become obvious to everyone that Bush has no control or influence over the situation in Iraq. to see him speak it’s clear to the world that he is either clueless, in deep denial, or just plain lying. no good choice there.

   apparently Shooter’s trip to Riyadh over the weekend was commanded by the king. interesting. so Darth does take orders from someone.

   my hunch is that Iraq and Saudi Arabia will divvy up Iraq and cut the US out of the deal….and then expel US forces. A Shiite-Sunni bargain, and the winner is…..theocracy!!

7. 

   dada on November 29, 2006 at 2:34 pm

   Dubya may well be unravelling as well…this from Wolcott:

   All Fall Down

   The normally imperturbable and steady-as-ye-goes David Gergen sounded a mite rattled today on Hardball (sub host, David Shuster), his phlegmatic concern aroused by President Bush’s recent mouthings from Estonia , where he seemed to be preempting the recommendations of Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group report by overestimating the influence of Al Qaeda in the Iraq maelstrom and declaring that US troops would remain there until the job was done. What appeared to alarm Gergen and the others present was the scary prospect that Bush’s frail tether to reality has snapped and that he is determined to deny what is apparent to all–the whirling chaos in Iraq and the rapid air of urgency that threatens to engulf US forces.
   .
   .
   .
   It has been the wish, hope, and dream of Beltway centrists that the “grownups” would step in and stage an intervention to save Bush (and the US) from his folly. But suppose the grownups intervene and Bush still doesn’t take heed? Suppose he tenses his jaw, sticks out his lower lip, and makes it clear that nobody (including his daddy’s cronies’s gonna push him around? Perhaps what troubles Gergen is the growing fear that not only is Bush unable to avoid catastrophe, he’s unwilling to, because that would mean he was wrong, and Bush can’t admit he was wrong–the cracks of doubt would bring his entire psychic superstructure crashing. And at that point we’d have a presidential crisis that would make Nixon’s lunar unraveling look like a teddy bear’s picnic.

   The wheels are coming off the BushCo™ juggernaught, as we speak.

   The 25th. Amendment lurks just over the horizon…and unless Darth is removed, bodes ill for all involved.

   Constitutional crisis on top of everything else?

   We shall see.

   • 

     supersoling on November 29, 2006 at 2:54 pm

     From Alien:

     Ripley: Ash, can you hear me? ASH!
     Ash: Yes, I can hear you.
     Ripley: What was your special order twenty-four?
     Ash: You read it, I thought it was clear.
     Ripley: What was it?
     Ash: Return alien life form, all other priorities rescinded.
     Parker: What about our lives, you son of a bitch?
     Ash: I repeat, all other priorities rescinded.
     Ripley: How do we kill it?
     Ash: You can’t.
     Parker: Bullshit!
     Ash: You still don’t know what you’re dealing with do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.
     Lambert: You admire it.
     Ash: I admire its purity, its sense of survival; unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.
     Parker: I’ve heard enough and I’m asking you to pull the plug.
     Ash: One more word. I can’t speak for your chances, but… you have my sympathies.