Don't Be a Dick (Cheney, that is)

(Via The Borowitz Report)

BAGHDAD —In a development that offers a faint glimmer of hope for Iraq, both Sunnis and Shiites are finding common ground in the view that former Vice-President Dick Cheney seriously needs to shut up.

In the days following the publication, this week, of a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece about Iraq that Cheney wrote with his daughter Liz, hatred of the former Vice-President has, to the surprise of many, become the first thing that Sunnis and Shiites have agreed upon in centuries. 

Iraqi observers in recent days have reported seeing both Sunnis and Shiites reading the Cheneys’ op-ed then tearing it to shreds in a rage. 

“Cheney is an ass!” a Sunni merchant reportedly exclaimed in a Baghdad market on Thursday, to the resounding cheers of several Shiites nearby. 

“Historically, it’s been challenging to find anything that Sunnis and Shiites agree on,” said Sabah al-Alousi, a history professor at the University of Baghdad. “That’s why their apparent consensus that Dick Cheney needs to shut the hell up is so significant.” 

Visiting Baghdad on Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the joint Sunni-Shiite calls for Dick Cheney to shut his pie hole were a cause for optimism. 

“If Dick Cheney winds up being the one thing that brings Sunnis and Shiites together, the United States owes him a debt of thanks,” he said, adding that the two sects’ view of the former Vice-President was also shared by the Kurds.

Remembering . . . . .

I am Bradley Manning

Recycling the old lies:

(Via Juan Cole)

These Guys

Thanks to Steve S.

An Amazing Speech by an Iraqi War Vet

Our real enemies are not those living in a distant land whose names or policies we don't understand; The real enemy is a system that wages war when it's profitable, the CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it's profitable, the Insurance Companies who deny us Health care when it's profitable, the Banks who take away our homes when it's profitable. Our enemies are not several hundred thousands away. They are right here in front of us - Mike Prysner

Watch it here:

Is using a minotaur to gore detainees a form of torture?

(Via The Onion)
Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture?

Finally! Having this debate is proof that we are a democracy.

That we have to have it at all is proof that we are an empire in decline . . . .

Bobblespeak speaks on health care reform:

Via Bobblespeak:

Republicans want to keep the system the way it is, which has all the flaws they accuse health care reform of having.

Health insurance is not health care.

If Bush had submitted a 1,000 page bill in support of invasion, would we have gone to war in Iraq?

So much worse than we thought:

(Via GQ)

As bad as everything that was happening during the Bush administration seemed, it was so much worse than we knew. Here are actual covers from briefings issued by Donald Rumsfeld's office back in the day:

God, I am so grateful these insane creeps are out of there! This kind of shit rivals anything to come out of Nazi Germany.

Between Iraq and a hard place

This is so true:

(Paul Krugman via Atrios)

One addendum to today’s column: the truth, which I think everyone in the political/media establishments knows in their hearts, is that the nine months or so between the summer of 2002 and the beginning of the Iraq insurgency were a great national moral test — a test that most people in influential positions failed.

The Bush administration was obviously — yes, obviously — telling tall tales in order to promote the war it wanted: the constant insinuations of an Iraq-9/11 link, the hyping of discredited claims about a nuclear program, etc.. And the question was, should you stand up against that? Not many did — and those who did were treated as if they were crazy.

For me and many others that was a radicalizing experience; I’ll never trust “sensible” opinion again. But for those who stayed “sensible” through the test, it’s a moment they’d like to see forgotten. That, I believe, is the real reason so many want to let torture and everything else go down the memory hole.

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

This is a very basic fact of the whole Iraq war experience. If you were questioning the logic that led us into that debacle, you were accused of being un-American, a traitor, and supporting the terrorists. Of course, you were also right, as history shows us, but let's forget all that . . . .

The polarizing event of this nation's recent history was a pointless war that has left us broke, exhausted, and less safe. But it was a mistake that the "serious" elites wanted to make, so it must not have been a mistake, eh?

On to Afghanistan, bitches!!!

A question for you:

Why is it, when you look at Iraq, the economy, or the stimulus vote, what the Republicans call "success" looks an awful lot like disaster?

Top Ten Moments of the Bush Years

From David Letterman, via Crooks and Liars:

Ahhhh, it's like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer; it feels so friggin' good to stop!

Yay, Bernie!

(Via Talking Points Memo)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has written to the Smithsonian raising questions about the caption that sits beneath its new portrait of George W. Bush. The current wording of the caption states that Bush's term was marked by "the attacks on September 11, 2001, that led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq." Sanders, bless his heart, points out that the 9/11 attacks -- all together, now -- had nothing to do with the Iraq war.

From Sanders' letter to Martin Sullivan, director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington:

When President Bush and Vice President Cheney misled our country into the war in Iraq, they certainly cited the attacks on September 11, along with the equally specious claim that Iraq possessed vast arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. The notion, however, that 9/11 and Iraq were linked, or that one "led to" the other, has been widely and authoritatively debunked ... Might I suggest that a reconsideration of the explanatory text next to the portrait of President Bush is in order[?]

This is amazing---that a supposedly non-political entity is making a basically political statement. Thanks, Bernie, for standing up to this utter bullshit.

By the way, doesn't the portrait shot make Bush look like he's taking a dump? now that's appropriate!

Amen to this

(Via Paul Krugman)

Unusually, I’m having a vocabulary problem. There has to be some word for the kind of person who considers his mild discomfort the equivalent of torture, crippling injury, or death for other people. But I can’t think of it.

What brings this to mind is this from Alberto Gonzales:

"I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror."

This reminded me of Laura Bush’s remark on carnage in Iraq:

"And believe me, no one suffers more than their president and I do when we watch this."

Remember this. And remember, too, that for long years these people were considered heroic patriots, defenders of the nation.

This is so true. These idiots are so self centered, so lacking in empathy, that seeing suffering on TV is as bad as actually suffering, and losing your job is as bad as dying for a meaningless cause. When do we get our new administration?

Bush is a real shoe in for dick of the year:

So now it is said that the brave soul (pun intended) who threw his shoes at Bush was tortured so badly that he couldn't appear in court at his own arraignment. and Bush has the balls to say this is what happens in a free society?

More shoes, please.

Isn't that what Custer said about the Indians?

“The national media has written us off. Sen. Obama is measuring the drapes and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we’ve got them just where we want them.” - John McCain

The Fourth of July in my town

Small towns aren't all the same, and when the Fourth of July parade comes to my town, our uniqueness becomes evident. Oh, we have fire engines:

And the VFW:

And the traditional July 4th Brit:

But then there's the Straight Pride guy:

(I think he just does this for the kissin' . . . .)

And the nearly topless unicyclist:

The Artists for Peace:

The Parents for Peace:

The Kids for Peace:

The Gay Marriage Couples:

The dogs (I'm not sure of their sexual orientation):

The Mamas for Obama:

This thing, which confused me:

People who REALLY support the troops:

Uh, not sure about this:

Hummers for Peace:

Miniature cows:

A yodeling banjo guy:

Peaceniks for Peace:

And a whole lot of people having a lot of fun. Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

Quote for the Day (Comedian Division)

I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq. - Stephen Colbert, Speech to White House Correspondent's Dinner, April 30, 2006

935 Lies

Ya know, I just can't "get over it"! This is for you, Dubya!

(Via My Damn Channel)

The truth is finally coming out, sort of . . . .

"Doh!"

(Via truthout.org)

At the conclusion of a town hall held this morning outside in Denver, McCain decided to toss in a plug for his upcoming energy policy rollout. But in the midst of decrying the dangers of Americans reliance on foreign oil, McCain seemed to suggest that this reliance caused the current struggle in Iraq.

"My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will - that will then prevent us - that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East," McCain said.

The problem with lying is that you have to remember who you said what too. We were told that we went into Iraq to find WMDs---NO, to depose Hussein---I MEAN, to bring democracy to the Middle east---Oh, shit, yeah, it was the oil all along.