bustardblog

Gonzales Headlines

The implication of posts by both BrilliantatBreakfast and AtLargely is anger at the M.S.M.'s euphemisms when dealing with the latest document drop from the Department formerly known as Justice. They seem to prefer words like "lie."  Even guys on the Republican side, such as Captain Ed, think lie is more accurate, and if a softer phrase is required choose an evasion like Goldberg's  which describes A.G. Abu as "deeply, deeply, confused, out of touch and unprepared."  (h/t memeorandum)

I much prefer the wonderful understatement of the New York Times headline:

GONZALES MET
WITH ADVISERS
ON DISMISSALS
    ---------
Record Seems at Odds         
With Past Comments.

I just think that there is something hilarious and charming about descrbing blatant lies and distortions as 'seemingly at odds."

P.S. I also have this theory that there is a headline writer at the N.Y. Times, one who takes charge on Saturdays, that delights in this kind of a joke. It seems to me to happen with much greater frequency on the day that the paper is read the least.

Jonah Goldberg

The Front Page of today's New York Times features a photo of Pfc. Robert DuBose feeding his 5 month old son as he prespares to go to Iraq.

This slimy fellow is Jonah Goldberg.

He is not serving in Iraq.

"As for why my sorry a** isn't in the kill zone, lots of people think this is a searingly pertinent question. No answer I could give -- I'm 35 years old, my family couldn't afford the lost income, I have a baby daughter, my a** is, er, sorry, are a few -- ever seem to suffice."

While condemning all who oppose the "Surge" as being anti-American, to the best of my knowledge, Mr. Goldberg has not yet enlisted.

Anti-American Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg's piece on whether or not Castro or Pinochet would be the preferred dictator to install in Iraq, begins with the following sentence:

I THINK ALL intelligent, patriotic and informed people can agree: It would be great if the U.S. could find an Iraqi Augusto Pinochet. In fact, an Iraqi Pinochet would be even better than an Iraqi Castro.

The guy engages in never-ending crap-speak.  Crap just oozes out of his mouth, his pen,  - I won't go any further.  All "patriotic" people would like a dictator for Iraq? 

The question must be asked: Is Bush anti-patriotic when he says that he insists on a democracy in Iraq? Or is he a patriot who lies to us?

"In fact, an Iraqi Pinochet would be even better that an Iraqi Castro."  "In fact" - there is nothing in Goldberg's sentence that even resembles a fact.

Typical of right wing "thinkers," Goldberg simply makes up facts, and offers no way to check whatever sources he might have used. If you disagree with him, he has already made it clear in his first sentence that you are no patriot. In fact, guys like him only hurt and degrade the public discourse, thus harming the U.S.

Crashing Civilizations

My post of yesterday essentially condemned the ideas attributed to Pope Benedict, and especially those espoused by Jonah Goldberg regarding the Muslim world.

I received a few comments that helped me clarify my thoughts on the issue. The first comments suggested that I actually read a speech given by Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury -  a speech which has been described as supportive  of anti-Muslim arguments and of the comments made by the Pope.  In fact, the speech in no way confirms such a posture - quite the opposite.

Another comment was from the loyal Rick, who argued that we have long been in a war of civilizations; a war in which we are completely innocent, and that "Islam was spread at the point of a sword, and will be settled at the barrel of an Abrams M1 A1."  Although he is completely wrong in his arguments, I do admire Rick for his honesty in stating the logical conclusion to his statements. The Goldbergs and Malkins of the world merely pass out bromides about "standing up" to Islam, or "confronting" it. It would be even more impressive if Rick were to tell us how many Muslims would have to eliminated in order to stop them from conquering the West. Clearly, the spiral of death in Iraq only grows wider and larger the longer we are there. Rick sees the war as ongoing and unavoidable.

Goldberg, like so many on the right, and like Bush himself, gain personal rewards by being provocative. They earn money, maintain power, and stroke their egos by provoking Islam. It's deeply cynical, and if they believed what they said, seriously dangerous behavior.

Tricked Again - Part II

It comes from a different source, but the same thing is happening with the stupidity of the comments by Pope Benedict, then by Lord Carey, and supported by the Chicken Hawk in Chief, Lord Goldberg.  The right has managed to create a narrative in which a poor little innocent Pope's life is threatened, a nun killed, and Catholic churches destroyed because of the vicious Arab terrorists, who we Democrats would allow to destroy our freedoms - since we're Jihad Enablers.

The distortions that enable such a narrative are boggling. Benedict is a conservative, right-wing guy. As Cardinal he ran the "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" formerly known as the "Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition." In his speech he implied that a reformation was essential in Islam. Yet he, currently, and the group he headed, historically, have fought every reform possible. His is the religion of the crusades, and of the Spanish Inquisition where Jews and Arabs who would not convert had to leave or be killed. The Inquisition was all about killing those whose conversions were not sincere enough. (The Jews (And Muslims) that fled Spain sought and received refuge in the Ottoman Empire) Is it surprising that the comments of a Catholic Pope would be scrutinized in the Muslim world?

Without a hint of irony, Captain Ed describes Lord Carey's position as one where "growth will never occur until Muslims go through a Reformation process that sets their faith apart from their government." (emphasis added)

 

Goldberg is not interested in the refuges Jews received from the Ottomans - "Spare me tales of Jewish accommodation in the 15th century', he writes. But he approves of the Pope's quoting a 14th century Byzantine, and of course bases his support for Israel in part on even more ancient history.

Because of our support for Israel, and because we had established a military base in Saudi Arabia, Osama attacked us. This despicable act is inexcuable. With justification, Bush attacked the country that had harbored Osama.

But we then invaded and have occupied another Arab country for over three years. In the process, its infrastructure has been destroyed, as well as possibly a hundred thousand innocent Arab lives lost. As Robert Pape has pointed out, there had never been an Iraqi suicide bomber,not one, until we invaded Iraq. Al Qaeda is stronger, and the Arab world more radical, because of  our unilateral attack on Iraq.

One of the reasons those of us who objected to that invasion, did so, was because of our certainty that it would bring instabilitly and increase hatred of the West in an enormously important region of the world. The left warned that the invasion of Iraq would cause more terrorist attacks

And it has.

The West now has over 150,000 troops on the Arabian Peninsula, and we have established a Jewish State on land that had been in Arab hands since the founding of Islam. The Arab world is pissed and sees us as its enemy. Would the Chicken Hawk in Chief please spare me the outrage.

This crash between civilizations, if it is one,  is entirely the fault of our President, who has been Driving While Intoxicated, and the real enablers are the Goldbergs, the Bill Kristols, and our corporatized media that dare not speak the truth.

Shame on NRO's Corner

The Corner was even more fun and informative than usual today. We learned some neat stuff:

• Castro is not God.
• Abu Gharaib was all about Hi-Jinks - not torture.
• The U.S. Supreme Court just doesn't understand how much hard, hard work Bush and the Congress do for us all.

The first point was made by the Son of Lucianne, Goldberg, who wrote today of news he had received that Castro had died. It was left to the ever effervescent K Lo to inform us that Jonah had it wrong once again. But she did point out that someday Castro will die. Can you get more informative than that?

Andy McCarthy gave us the other two bullets.  He wants the House and the White House to come up with a new system to try prisoners at Guantanamo, and for the Supreme Court to respect that "Congress and the Administration took the time and care in the middle of a war to enact" the legislation.

"Took the time...  in the middle of a war?" No President in modern American history has spent more time on vacation than George Bush.  As of ten months ago, Bush had spent 20% of his term on vacation.  And the Congress? As of today, it has been in session for  66 days this year. As USA Today reported: "roll call votes are seldom scheduled for Mondays or Fridays. In the House, they are often postponed until late Tuesday."  And those Tuesdays, which often start at five in the afternoon, make up about 22 of those 66 days. The suggestion that the U.S. Supreme Court should give extra weight to the efforts of our overworked President and Congress is hilarious.

McCarthy asks  that the new quasi-judicial system  "reaffirm that prisoners will be treated humanely - neither tortured, not subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment - as has been U.S. policy."

But what is his definition of torture, of cruel or degrading treatment? Those who died after interrogation at Abu Gharaib, were victims of "hi-jinks," not torture, according to McCarthy. They underwent "unpleasant, coercive interrogation," nothing more.  This is normal for The Corner: Jonah Goldberg says he has "no problem with a little smacky-face with prisoners." It sounds a lot like the way Protein Wisdom's Jeff Goldstein likes to play "smacky-face" with those who disagree with him.

When I read these bits at The Corner this morning, I laughed. But it isn't funny. McCarthy, Lopez, Goldstein and Goldberg all specialize in depicting the other as less than human. I hate having to make this argument; but the fact is that this specialty is the same one at which bin Laden and Hitler excelled. For Osama to portray us, or for Hitler to portray the Jews, as agents of the devil is not terribly disimilar from what those writers/bloggers are doing now.

Attacking Those Who Serve

As I write this post, the institution that formerly functioned as the U.S. Congress debates a sham of a resolution. Once again, the Republican Party is using this war as a way to divide the country and gain partisan advantage. I only wish that this administration had tried half so hard to win this war as they have tried to win elections. The non-binding resolution now on the floor is an attempt to embarrass Democrats and to cast them as un-patriotic. It's only value is as a Republican dirty trick.  It  harms the war effort, as it advances Rove's strategy of polarizing the country. This, perhaps the laziest Congress in our history, is engaging in this farce, in lieu of functioning, on the day where the number of U.S. dead in Iraq top 2,500.

This Congress can compete handily with the one Harry Truman described as 'do-nothing', but in one thing: corruption. Republicans in Truman's day ran a Congress that actually did nothing. It did not spend the little time it met breaking House rules, incapacitating the Ethics Committee, and buying and selling votes on the floor like they were pork bellies on a commodity exchange. I haven't even mentioned  Duke Cunningham or Jack Abramoff, whose additional degradation of the institution was considerable. The damage that today's Republicans have done to our legislature is enormous. But I think it reversible. When the electorate finally tires of being robbed, it will want to clean House.

I am much more concerned about the destruction of a more fragile,yet more important aspect of America: the concept of service.  This week we have seen the minions of Bush and Cheney viciously attack, and mock, and demean the service of Congressman Murtha. He fought in two wars, received several medals and awards, and was with the Marine Corps for 37 years. Bush of course did not complete his National Guard Service. (Hell, Bush could not even stand to spend the full six hours he was scheduled to spend in Iraq on Monday. He was out in less than five. Think of soldiers redeployed, and redeployed again.) Cheney had other priorities and so he obtained five deferments during Viet Nam. Both Cheney and Bush have spent their time in that revolving door of politics and business.They have each made tens of millions of dollars this way, while Murtha is counting on his pension from his service with the Marines and in Congress.

The concept of serving our country is being attacked by this administration. Purple hearts earned during combat have no more meaning than little band-aids printed with hearts and handed out at a poltical convention.

A new generation of vets is now coming home. Several are running as Democrats in 2006. What message will Rove send to those still serving, or those contemplating enlisting, when he makes a mockery of service in Iraq?

There will be a guy leaving Walter Reed in a wheel chair who questions the planning of this war. How will his brothers in arms feel while Ann Coulter screams that it was his own stupidity that led to the loss of his limbs?

How long will people want to serve a country where the guy who went off to fight two tours in Viet Nam is called a coward, while the guy who stayed home and pursued his career is now rich and powerful. 

Jonah Goldberg, whose personal wealth and whose career trajectory have so benefited by this war in which he would not serve, decided not to go in order to provide his wife and infant child the life style to which they would like to be accustomed. Soon, the next soldier similar to a Jose Velez, father of two from the Bronx who was killed in Kirkuk this week, will realize that serving one's country is considered a game for losers.

At that time, all the chickens that Ann, Jonah, Karl, Dick and George are so energetically raising, will finally come home to roost. And we will be the lesser for it.

Cheney Shooting

This is real:

"PERFECT

OPPORTUNITY

[Jonah Goldberg]

If I were a Cheney advisor, I would tell him -- er -- ask him to go on one of the Sunday shows. The interest in the shooting would soak up much of the interview time and since he has to talk about it anyway, this would make him seem responsive and open without having to spend a lot of time on the tougher and more politically unpleasant issues like war, Katrina etc. Unless we hear something new, or if Cheney shoots himself in the foot (heh), this story remains all human interest and no politics. "

I mean, he's right, Cheney shouldn't actually have to answer questions about "unpleasant issues like war, Katrina etc."

It's just not fair to expect the Vice President of the United States to actually be "responsive" on things like that - next thing you know they'll even want the President to be responsive!!!