War in Error

I was drawn to the telly to take in the testimony of Gen. David Paetraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker like a moth to a flame.  The result was undesirable, but unavoidable.  I sat transfixed listening to politicos of both stripes produce rhetorical statements of huge pomposity which may have contained the hint of a question, while The General (TG) and The Ambassador (TA) tried to figure how to react to a non-question question and  staying on the pre-agreed talking points. Seeing TG handle his own charts recalled a more virtuous and tender time when I was a chart holder for another general giving a presentation of great moment.  I was a 1st LT in the service of...

The Spinmeisters

I thought I had seen or heard it all, or almost all.  The guys who can make chicken s**t and sell it as chicken salad.  The ones that called the Edsel an “advanced piece of American engineering”.  The Swift Boaters turning Kerry’s military record into a liability in the face of Bushies stalwart record of avoiding the draft.  The miscreants who can make an apology via a non-apology for stepping on their tongue and offending millions.  The bios that make Chaney sound like a warm and fuzzy fellow…..well, that might be taking it a bit too far. But to spin Tony Blairs announcement of their “staged withdrawal” as a sign of our success in Iraq  strains the...

To Fund or Not to Fund, That’s Not the Question

Much has been made lately of the parliamentary wrangling in the Senate (many would say that all they do is wrangle) over whether the Repubscan introduce and debate a resolution on cutting off funding for our military activities in Iraq as a pari pas sou for a vote on the non-binding censure of Bush’s surge plan.  Very clever, what. The repubs strategy is designed to put the demos in the box of being seen as “not supporting our troops” by voting to limit funding or being seen as giving tacit approval for Bush to proceed with more of the same on steroids.  Now, the demos are not entirely dumb. They understand a trap when they see one and have, therefore, chosen...