Off Center

There are often times when a bipartisan effort is called for, when the right and left come together somewhere in the middle. We haven’t seen many bipartisan efforts over the last 6 years for good reason – the polarization is Washington has been greater than at any time in recent memory. The current Israeli crisis is not a time for bipartisanship.

When Bush was ramping up to the Iraq invasion, the Democratic faction on Capital Hill dropped the ball miserably and by and large fell in line with the right-wing without question. If ever there was a time to question the administration that was it. Many of us on the left were calling for someone to step up and, unfortunately, not many did.

Now, as Israel faces violence from the north and south, the left needs to stand strong on calling for restraint. With our military already involved in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and our so-called diplomatic corps working overtime on the situations in North Korea and Iran, we need to be very cautious in committing forces to another battlefront.

I hope our Democratic representation will be a voice of reason and caution – for the fist time in a long while. If not we risk destabalizing the entire middle-east, bankrupting our nation and (worst of all) putting even more of our young men and women in a no-win situation.

I’ve got to laugh to keep from crying…

• After 6 Years Bush Decides Laws Might Apply To Him Too
  In a rather remarkable turn of events, the Bush administration has bowed to the recent Supreme Court ruling that the Geneva Conventions apply to all U.S. prisoners of war. While this may have seemed obvious to everybody outside the administration, it comes as something of a surprise to the Bush cabinet which, up until now, has viewed itself as well above the law.

  In other news Webster’s Dictionary will once again be allowed to use the words “Human” and “Rights” in the same sentence.

• Stupid Job, Great Salary
  The White House has a Director of Lessons Learned (that’s the actual title) and the position pays an annual salary of $100,000. It also employs a Director of Fact Checking and two Ethics Advisors. Have these positions been vacant for the last 6 years?

  Seriously – one quick post on Monster.com and I’m sure we could get somebody in there who might help this administration get a clue. As Rahm Emanual said on the House Floor yesterday “Maybe the White House could consolidate these positions into a Director of Irony.”

• Halliburton Loses Monopoly
  Air America News is reporting that the Army has decided to end its exclusive relationship with defense contractor Halliburton, bringing to a close a controversial deal that awarded Dick Cheney’s former company billions of dollars worth of logistics contracts on a no-bid basis. Apart from the obvious impropriety created by Cheney’s close ties to the contractor, Halliburton has been accused of double-billing, racking up more than $1 billion in suspicious costs, and knowingly supplying troops with contaminated water.

From deep inside the Red Zone… over and out!

P.S. Shine On You Crazy Diamond

The Eyes Wide Open National Guard Memorial will be in Fargo on July 8th and 9th, 2006. It will be on display in the Nativity School Gym. Saturday morning the exibit an opening prayer ceremony at the Nativity School Peace Pole (adjacent to school gym) at 10:00 AM.

Eyes Wide Open, the American Friends Service Committee’s
widely-acclaimed exhibition on the human cost of the Iraq War, features
a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military casualty, a field of shoes
and a Wall of Remembrance to memorialize the Iraqis killed in the
conflict, and a multimedia display exploring the history, cost and
consequences of the war.

Where:
Nativity School
1825 11th St. South
Fargo, ND [MAP].

When:
Saturday July 8th – 10 am to 7 pm
Sunday July 9th – 10 am to 5 pm

No matter your opinion of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their respective ongoing occupations, I would encourage you to attend to honor those who have fallen. Only those who are brave enough to seek knowledge of this war can hope to understand it.

Please take a moment to watch this video by The Robert Cray Band for the song "Twenty".

http://www.afsc.org/iraq/cray-video.htm

"Standing out here in the desert, trying to protect and oil line.
I’d really like to do my job, but this ain’t the country that I had in mind.
They call this a war on terror. I see a lot of civilians dying.
Mothers, sons, fathers and daughters. Not to mention some friends of mine."

It’s Independence Day and I’m
looking back 230 years and forward 230. Where will this great country be when
it’s twice as old? I hope for our sake, and that of the world, that we stop
repeating our mistakes and take our place as a true leader seeking peace and
prosperity for the world.

Here’s today’s Logic Stew:

• Unfortunately, I predict
  that, before getting booted out of Washington
  by an angry mob, Bush will propose an amendment to the Preamble of
  the Constitution. I think it will read something like this:

  "We the People of the United States, in Order to
  form a more perfect Union in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan,
  establish offshore covert Justice, insure domestic Servitude, provide for
  the common pre-emptive attack, promote the general dissolution of the
  Welfare system, and secure the conservative Blessings of Liberty to
  ourselves (unless you’re gay) and permanent tax cuts and loopholes in
  order to insure wealth for future generations of the Republican Regents
  (and our less fortunate millionaire friends – the TEAM 100 and Republican
  eagles) , do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States
  of America."

• Daily Kos is reporting that on Monday the CIA confirmed it
  has disbanded it’s special unit that had been tasked with hunting down Osama
  bin Laden and the Al Qaeda leadership. The group, known as Alec Station,
  was shut down and it’s agents reassigned. I guess Bush never claimed
  "Mission Accomplished" with bin Laden. Good to know where we set
  the bar on this whole "cut and run" issue.
• According to
  Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, Senator Joe Lieberman might decide
  to run as an Independent in Connecticut’s
  primary on August 8th. While Lieberman expects to win the primary as a
  Democrat he’s hedging his bet by obtaining enough signatures to get his
  name on the ballot as an Independent should he lose. His unwavering
  support of the Iraq war
  has caused a swing towards his primary opponent, Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont (who
  I’ve heard is no bed of roses himself).
• Instead of
  spending the 4th being pelted with egg salad, Resident Bush chose to hang
  out with a group of solid supporters – 3,500 troops and their relatives at
  Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Bush vowed not to "allow the sacrifice of
  2,527 troops who have died in Iraq to be in vain by pulling
  out before the job is done." (as of noon today that count stands at
  2,533 with 6 more deaths pending DoD confirmation).

  To me this is like the butcher showing up at the farm to
  let the cattle know the shop will be open again tomorrow and that beef
  sales are brisk. Of course our American troops are a loyal bunch and they
  gave the Commander in Chief a nice reception.

• Ken Lay, who
  drove Enron up to Wall Street glory and back down to SEC hell, died this
  morning in Colorado
  of a massive heart attack. Nothing funny about it so I’ll leave it at
  that.

That’s it for now. God bless the whole world… no exceptions!

I posted to following item in the Hottalk blog in responce to a discussion about a lack of trianing for our troops before going to Iraq:

In the months leading up to the war, Donald Rumsfeld was made aware
of a plan for a war in Iraq developed by the best minds of the various
military think tanks and war colleges. The giant document was the end
result of years of strategic planning incorporating the knowledge
gained from previous conflicts, international intelligence sources and
exiled Iraqis. This plan was summarily ignored and Mr. Rumsfeld told
his staff he didn’t want to see or hear any more about it – he already
had his own plan.

In the 1990’s Mr. Rumsfeld was a member
of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) – a neocon think tank
whose other members included Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Elliott
Abrams, James Woolsey and William Bennett; all of whom would later
assume prominent positions within the Bush Administration. PNAC had
developed a new concept of war called “Shock and Awe” whereby a small
military force, equipped with advanced weaponry, would be able to move
swiftly, behind a campaign of targeted aerial bombing, towards the seat
of power of an enemy – a maneuver known as ‘decapitation’. The
assumption was that once Saddam was removed from power the military
would simply give up.

The problem for the PNAC group was
that to get a chance to try out their new strategy would call for
friends within the White House and Pentagon – something they had few of
in the Clinton administration. They had to wait for a Republican
presidency. They first looked within their own circle for a candidate
and, although they were all Washington insiders who had served in
several administrations, quickly realized they didn’t have anyone with
the name recognition or star power to make a serious run at the
presidency.

They turned to the party’s chief political
architect, Karl Rove, who knew just the man for the job. His name had
instant recognition and he even had great appeal to the all-important
Christian Right – George W. Bush. His born-again Christian moniker and
his ‘aw-shucks’ southern boy demeanor perfectly balanced the steely
determination of his backers and another neocon favorite with political
experience and desires – then-Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney. Rove dug
into his political bag of tricks and ran a perfectly orchestrated
campaign utilizing 40 years of experience in muck raking and a little
help from some key Republican figures in Florida. The neocons were in.

From
even before their first days in office the PNAC group set about finding
an opportunity to go to Iraq. The unfortunate events of September 11th,
2001 gave them the opportunity they were looking for. Within 48 hours
of the towers toppling the administration was looking for a way to tie
Saddam to Al Quada. After a short campaign in Afghanistan, all eyes
within the PNAC circle turned towards their objective and they began to
sell the idea to America. By this point even Bush was convinced that he
couldn’t pass up this chance to avenge his fathers name.

The
build up to war began. The neocons were so enamored with the concept of
‘Shock and Awe’ that they refused to listen to the warnings of
experienced military strategists or even from the most experienced top
brass. Those who spoke up were either ignored or fired. When Army Chief
of Staff Eric Shinseki, a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient in
Vietnam, dared to tell the Senate Armed Services Committee that
‘several hundred thousand’ troops would be needed to execute the war
and the peace that followed he was pressured into resigning – his good
name smeared on national television by civilian leaders without a day
of military experience among them. The other brass learned the lesson
fast; salute and execute.

And now we find ourselves three
years later still embroiled in a bitter and disheartening insurgency –
two years and six months longer than Mr. Rumsfeld’s initial prediction
for the length of the conflict. Shock and awe have given way to a sense
of dread and loathing.

Even Mr. Rumsfeld long ago
admitted that it could be several years before we’re able to bring our
troops home. Several who have visited Iraq recently have noticed how
the bases there seem to be constructed as permanent installations.

The
evening news, once filled with the accounts of reporters ‘embedded’
with the soldiers, now inserts short reports of the days military
deaths between the latest celebrity baby updates or news of the
dreadful gas prices. The nation has grown weary of the war, much as
they did during Vietnam, and the morale of the average soldier in Iraq
is low.

The problems in Iraq aren’t as simple as a lack
of training or body armor. It’s not a matter of unforeseen problems and
bad guesses. In every war there are surprises and in every war our
brave men and women find brilliant, practical ways to overcome the
obstacles. This is faulty war based on a bad concept developed by men
with no military experience – just a sickening drive for revenge and a
thick-headed desire to proceed without regard for what would follow or
how many lives would be lost.

Well we all survived the day of the beast – or so it would
seem. Of course the day had no real biblical significance anyway… The current
calendar system was adopted, adjusted and rearranged to the point that it has
no actual relevance to the birth or death of Jesus. As John Stewart said -
Wasn’t the real date to worry about June 6th, in the year 6?

Today’s Logic Stew:

• Two more soldiers from North Dakota died in Afghanistan on Monday. The
  soldiers were members of the Security Forces of the 188th Air Defense
  Artillery, which is based in Grand Forks
  and has a battery in Bismarck.
  I just got done doing a Patriot Guard ride for Spc. Hermenson last Friday.
  This makes me sick to my stomach. No Bin Laden and our kids are dying over
  there – meanwhile all of our concentration is in Iraq which
  never attacked us.
• Jon Tester, a rancher from
  Big Sandy, Montana won that states Democratic nomination for the U.S.
  Senate. His opponent was the DLC chosen one John Morrison, the next
  generation of a Montana
  Democratic dynasty. Tester beat the DLC machine while raising half as much
  money. Might be time for the old guard to wake up and realize that there
  are good Democrats outside the normal circles who can win.
• The Senate Hate Amendment
  (The same-sex marriage ban) was blocked earlier today. The measure failed 49-48 which is still
  too close considering Martin Luther King died 40 years ago. Hats off to
  Senator Dick Durbin of my home state of Illinois who said "This is not about
  the preservation of marriage. This is about the preservation of a majority".
  Dead on. The Republican ‘Get-Out-The-Vote’ bill is dead. Let’s try to fix
  some actual problems.
• Sen. David Vitter said about
  the Hate Amendment "I don’t believe there’s any issue that’s more
  important than this one". Where is Senator Vitter from you ask? Louisiana.
  Apparently two men kissing is a bigger disaster than what Katrina did to New Orleans, which
  he represents.
• Ann Coulter’s new book
  "Godless: The Church of Liberalism" hit the shelves
  yesterday. In the book she writes about the widows of men that died
  on September 11th: "I’ve never seen people enjoying their husbands’
  deaths so much." She claims the widows are self-absorbed saying that
  the women act "as if the terrorist attacks happened only to
  them."

  Coulter, the right-wing’s favorite acidic-bulimic, says her criticism was
  aimed at four New Jersey
  women whom she dubbed "The Witches of East Brunswick," after the
  town where two of them live. In response the women issued a joint
  statement yesterday: "Contrary to Ms. Coulter’s statements, there was
  no joy in watching the men that we loved burn alive. There was no
  happiness in telling our children that their fathers were never coming
  home again. We adored these men and miss them every day".

  I’m assuming Ms. Coulter isn’t one of them there ‘Compassionate Conservatives’?

• Resident Bush, on a campaign
  stop in Omaha, Nebraska today, urged immigrants to
  learn English and to embrace the American culture if they are to become
  citizens. He hand picked Homeland Defense Secretary Michael Chertoff to
  head up a new program to educate the immigrants. With that kind of backing
  I’m assuming the "American culture" Mr. Bush was speaking of
  includes consenting to phone tapping, civil rights abuses and each one
  should give up his first born to go fight for oil.

From just inside the RED ZONE – over and out!

I haven’t posted in awhile – not because I haven’t had MUCH to say about what’s transpired in the past month but simply because I haven’t had the time. Being a dad to two young kids this time of year doesn’t allow a lot of free time to write extended diatribes for the web.

So, I thought I might change up my format a bit – at least for the time-being. I’m going to post shorter quick thoughts and comments which, in all truth, is more appropriate for a web log format anyway.

I present to you my first edition of Logic Stew…

• No matter the weather outside – Today is a cold and foreboding anniversary. On June 6th, 1949 George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-four was published and became his eternal legacy. It seems appropriate today to acknowledge it’s impact on modern society and our social conscience, but sadly it seems now to be less a work of fiction than a revelation of probable eventuality.

  Often over the last 6 years, during what has become known as the post-9/11 era, we have seen the signs of our own ‘Big Brother’ watching over our every move. Sometimes slowly, and occasionally in giant strokes of a Presidential pen, our rights have been eroded as we have moved from the ‘beacon of democracy’ to the ‘harbinger of doom’.

• I still think we’ve got this whole marriage thing wrong – all kinds. Marriage is itself a religious institution that has taken on a legal component. I propose that marriage be relegated to strictly a religious recognition thereby allowing each individual denomination to choose whether they recognize a marriage or not.

  From a legal standpoint I think we need to implement a civil partnership – a personal version of a corporate partnership. Any 2 or more people should be able to enter into a personal financial contract to share income, expenses and property just as they can in the business world. This would allow people of any type of relationship to share the costs and rewards of life.

  I especially can think of many living arrangements involving the elderly where shared expenses and benefits would be helpful. I also know of several single mothers who have chosen to live together (platonically) in order to make ends meet.

  Leave marriage to the church but find a way to give equal rights to everybody.

• I’m convinced now that G. W. Bush is just a bad speller. He must have meant IraN, not IraQ. Imagine that – 3 letters off and everything would be different now.

• Listening to Scott Hennen is like a dog humping a leg – a lot of action but no productive outcome. I never thought anyone could make Rush Limbaugh sound relatively well grounded. His side comments after a caller or guest hang up are a nice touch and speak volumes about his character – only fight when you can sucker punch.

From just inside the Red Zone – over and out!

Joshua 6 (New Standard Neocon Version)

   Meanwhile, the people of Baghdad had been locking the gates in their town wall because they were afraid of the Americans. No one could go out or come in.

   The ROVE said to Rumsfeld: With my help, you and your army will defeat the king of Baghdad and his army, and you will capture the town. Here is how to do it: March slowly around Baghdad once a day for six days. Take along the sacred warheads and have seven Generals walk in front of them, carrying swords. But on the seventh day, march slowly around the town seven times while the Generals carry swords. Then the Generals will brandish their swords and everyone else will shout. The wall will fall down, and your soldiers can go straight in from every side.

   Rumsfeld called the Generals together and said, "Take the warheads and have seven Generals carry swords and march ahead of it."

   Next, he gave the army their orders: "March slowly around Baghdad. A few of you will go ahead of the warheads to guard them, but most of you will follow it. Don’t shout the battle cry or yell or even talk until the day I tell you to. Then let out a shout!"

   As soon as Rumsfeld finished giving the orders, the army started marching. One group of soldiers led the way, with seven Generals marching behind them carrying swords. Then came the officers carrying the warheads, followed by the rest of the soldiers. They obeyed Rumsfeld’s orders and carried the warheads once around the town before returning to camp for the night.

   Early the next morning, Rumsfeld ordered everyone to start marching around Baghdad in the same order as the day before. One group of soldiers was in front, followed by the seven Generals with swords and the officers who carried the warheads. The rest of the army came next. The seven Generals carried their swords while everyone marched slowly around Baghdad and back to camp. They did this once a day for six days.

   On the seventh day, the army got up at daybreak. They marched slowly around Baghdad the same as they had done for the past six days, except on this day they went around seven times. Then the Generals brandished their swords, and Rumsfeld yelled:

   Get ready to shout! The ROVE will let you capture this town. But you must destroy it and everything in it, to show that it now belongs to the ROVE. Ahmed Chalabi helped the spies we sent, so protect him and the others who are inside his house. But kill everyone else in the town. The silver and gold and everything made of bronze and iron belong to the ROVE and must be put in his treasury. Be careful to follow these instructions, because if you see something you want and take it, the ROVE will destroy America. And it will be all your fault. The Generals brandished their swords, and the soldiers shouted as loud as they could. The walls of Baghdad fell flat. Then the soldiers rushed up the hill, went straight into the town, and captured it. They killed everyone, men and women, young and old, everyone except Ahmed Chalabi and the others in his house. They even killed every cow, sheep, and donkey.

   Rumsfeld said to the men who had been spies, "Ahmed Chalabi kept you safe when I sent you to Baghdad . We promised to protect him and his family, and we will keep that promise. Now go into his house and bring them out."

   The men went into Ahmed Chalabi’s house and brought him out, along with his father and mother, his brothers, and his other relatives. Ahmed Chalabi and his family had to stay in a place just outside the American army camp. But later they were allowed to live among the Americans, and his descendants still do. The Americans took the silver and gold and the things made of bronze and iron and put them with the rest of the treasure that was kept at the ROVE’s house. Finally, they set fire to Baghdad and everything in it.

   After Baghdad was destroyed, Rumsfeld warned the people, "Someday a man will rebuild Baghdad , but the ROVE will put a curse on him, and the man’s oldest son will die when he starts to build the town wall. And by the time he finishes the wall and puts gates in it, all his children will be dead." The ROVE helped Rumsfeld in everything he did, and Rumsfeld was hated everywhere in The Middle East. 

"Those who have risked their lives for our freedom have the respect and gratitude of our nation" – George W. Bush, 11/11/2005

Renee DiLorenzo was a beautiful young woman from Lynden, Washington – just across the border from Vancouver, Canada. DiLorenzo had graduated from Lynden High School in June of 2005 and she had enlisted in the Marine Corps and was due to leave for boot camp this past December. She had enlisted just like her boyfriend, Saxxon Rech, who had joined the Marines in November 2003 and who had returned to Lynden from a tour of duty in Iraq in February of 2005. On the Friday afternoon of July 29th 2005 one of Renee’s friends found both dead in Saxxon’s parent’s home – a murder-suicide.

Strangely, at a time when many service members are finding their tours of duty extended, Saxxon had been given an early honorable discharge from his service obligation. At the time of the subsequent murder investigation, local officials were uncertain why he was discharged after just 16 months, or whether he saw combat in Iraq, where Marines from his regiment had been killed in action. Marine Corps officials blamed a poor records system on being unable to qualify Saxxon’s service locations.

What’s most disturbing isn’t whether or not Saxxon killed Renee, and then himself, because of something that happened to him in Iraq (if he served there or not). – it’s that the Marine Corps may have released Saxxon knowing that he was suffering from severe depression and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Instead of helping him with his problem they simply got him out of the Marine Corps – out of sight, out of mind.

On a national level there has been a plague of PTSD-related violence involving Iraq war veterans. 19-year-old Spc. Brandon Bare of Wilkesboro, N.C., a U.S. Army infantryman whose wound in Iraq earned him a Purple Heart, stabbed his 18-year-old wife Nabila 71 times with knives and a meat cleaver. Brandon had received a head wound after being thrown from a vehicle by a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq and was left with hearing difficulties and other problems, according to family members.

What’s most troubling isn’t that these service men and women are suffering from PTSD and other combat related mental and physical illnesses – it’s that at a time when an Army study shows that 1 in 6 Iraq combat veterans will need medical and psychological assistance upon returning to the U.S. the Bush administration is cutting funding for Veterans.

The latest Bush budget increases health care costs for 1 million veterans, for the fourth year in a row, by imposing new fees for veterans. It will cost them more than $2.6 billion over the next five years. It would double the co-payment for prescription drugs from $8 to $15, and impose an “enrollment fee” of $250 a year for some veterans who make as little as $26,902 a year. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration continues to block low income veterans from enrolling in V.A. health care.

To add insult to combat injury, the President’s budget fails to repeal the Disabled Veterans Tax, which forces disabled military retirees to give up one dollar of their hard-earned pension for every dollar of disability pay they receive. These men and women earned their pensions defending our nation and yet the budget continues to require nearly 400,000 military retirees with service-connected disabilities to continue to pay this outrageous Disabled Veterans’ Tax.

Government studies show that about one in six soldiers in Iraq report symptoms of major depression, serious anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, and some experts predict that the number eventually requiring mental health treatment could exceed 170,000. Up to one-third of Iraq war veterans are suffering from some degree of PTSD. The current budget allowances for PTSD programs are woefully inadequate.

Additional budget cuts will eliminate $13 million for medical and prosthetic research this year. This would set the research grant program back years, just as many of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming home with terrible injuries that require this expertise.

So – who really supports our troops?