Posts from ‘March, 2008’

So, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki decided to crack down on Shi’ite militias in southern Iraq, many of which finance their operations with criminal activities — and got his head handed to him. Not surprising, given that stage-managed leaders and their unmotivated, mostly-for show soldiers don’t stand much of a chance against the real things.

Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army form the real power center in Iraq now. That doesn’t bode well for minority Sunnis, if U.S. forces were to withdraw. If there’s one foreign power Bush & Co. kowtows to more than Communist China, it’s the Saudi royals who control a significant portion of U.S. petroleum needs — and the Saudis are Sunnis.

Sen. John McCain, who not only wants to succeed the worst president in U.S. history but continue that president’s worst policies and blunders, has as one of his campaign co-chairmen, stump speakers and closest cronies none other than ex-Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas. Some enter politics to help make government better serve all the people. They seek more opportunities, fairness and safety for everyone. They are known as good-government types. Throughout his 23 years in Congress, Gramm was the polar opposite of all that.

Quote: “We, especially those of us who have opposed this war, have been too quiet, too docile, too ready to find comfort in our own presumed moral righteousness. . .”

At the center of Nelson’s reforms are scrapping the Electoral College in favor of electing presidents who win the popular vote and replacing current party primaries and caucuses with a system of “six interregional primaries.”

Looking sleep deprived and stressed, Sen. Hillary Clinton this week insisted millions of people who’ve yet to vote in Democratic primaries should get their chance, that the process should run its course. The problem is that the process has turned into an ugly offensive by Clinton and her surrogates to drive up Sen. Barack Obama’s negatives.

Belatedly, President Bush has urged his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to show restraint in dealing with Tibetan dissidents and to hold talks with the Dalai Lama.

American forces in Iraq passed a grim milestone Sunday: four soldiers’ deaths from a roadside bomb bringing the casualty total to 4,000.
That marker was reached only days after the fifth anniversary of President Bush’s order to invade Iraq and a few months before the fifth anniversary of his — literally — showboating declaration that [...]

For reasons Bush should be pressed to explain, Tibetans acting to secure more religious freedom and greater autonomy rank lower on his scale of those who deserve help achieving freedom and democracy than do Iraqis.

Whether these hacks acted out of curiosity, were interested in identity theft or had darker political motives remains to be seen — which is probably where the question will remain, since Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assures the matter is being investigated. Bush administration self-investigations of wrongdoing have proven to be worth less than the hot air expended in announcing them.