“I think what makes us different and what makes us in some ways when we have good leadership, much more ruthless and much tougher than any other country in the world, is we don’t send soldiers and sailors and Marines and airmen to war.

We send our children. We send our fathers. We send our brothers and sisters. We send our mothers, and therefore there’s a preciousness to this decision, unlike any other country I know of. I think our position has been historic.”

So Newt “Is My Wife Well Enough To Divorce Yet?” Ginchrich – a former college history professor – thinks it’s only Americans on the battlefield that have children, fathers, brothers, sisters & mothers??!?

It should be noted that Gingrich himself, was never on a battlefield, let alone in uniform.

But this one, this one, is so typical of today’s GOPer: they just don’t care what others think:

“…and we frankly couldn’t care less what the rest of the world thinks.”

Why does serial adulterer and Chicken Hawk Newt get away with spewing that cr@p, before an alledgedly “conservative Christian” group, at an event titled “Thanksgiving Family Forum” – and get applause?

Because, as I always say: “Those that forget the lessons of history tend to vote GOP.”

Of course, another explanation is what Ronald Reagan told the adoring masses at the 1988 Republican National Convention: “Facts are stupid things.” Reagan said it, today’s GOP lives it.

And this sordid story is just anther example of You Couldn’t Trust The GOP Then, You Still Can’t Now, And Tomorrow Won’t Be Any Different.

(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject; comments welcome there)

MinnPost has the story:

College Republicans protest water bottle ban at St. Ben’s
By Joe Kimball | Published Tue, Sep 13 2011 9:50 am

A ban on the sale of bottled water at the College of St. Benedict — for environmental reasons, because of the plastic waste — is being protested today by College Republicans.
(more, here)

And The Cucking Stool has the snark:

Won’t somebody think of the free market?

The antics of college partisans are always cute, but the Minnesota College Republicans really are masters of the image event that backfires. I mean, who could forget their 2004 masterpiece shaming Matt Entenza for not shoveling his walk. And what a visual it was, when they showed up with media in tow to see a perfectly clear stretch of sidewalk. Zing!
(more, here)

Well, not one to let a GOPer gaff go un-mocked (when I got the time!), I thought it’d be a good time to repost a link to a great This Modern World cartoon, “Young Republicans Want To Help!”

But I am going to take issue with The Cucking Stool’s Arron Klemz – the antics of college partisans are NOT always cute, and the sordid story of Abramoff et al show that.

Now, when you go to that This Modern World cartoon, ask yourself – which/how many of today’s College Republican “leader/s” is/are going to end up on THIS list (or worse)?

(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

If you were following my tweets yesterday (follow me on Twitter here), I posted a bunch of quotes concerning Iraq from Boy Blunder And The Plunderers.

To me, the lesson of 9-11 is what I always say:

Republicans run on the platform “Government doesn’t work!” – once in power, they prove it.

And the amazing thing is, GOPers co-opted the Teabaggers – and TeaBaggers aren’t smart enough to figure that out.

I went to a Teabagger Candidate Training last February; it was produced for Teabagger Wanna-Bees by AmericanMajority.org. None are as blind as those that refuse to see. As I look back at that terrible terrorist attack ten years ago, I see a Republican Party that turned a tragic event into something worse.

Below is what I wrote on September 11th, 2008 – and reposted on 9-11 last year. I said it before, I said it again, and I still stand by it.

****

From The Archives: “T-130 – It’s Hard”
by: TwoPuttTommy Sat Sep 11, 2010 at 08:58:48 AM CDT

(I said it before, and I stand by it now. This one is a post I made on September 11th, 2008 – and the T-130 was the countdown to The End Of An Error; the misAdministration of George orWell Bush. And BTW – where the (cheney) IS “Osama Been Forgotten”??!?)

“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” — George orWell Bush, CBS News interview, September 6th, 2006

Looking back, I remember where I was 7 years ago, today, when I first saw the replay of the first plane hitting the tower.

And I watched the news about that attack, closely. For a long time. As in, “still.” But I didn’t hear about what Condoleeza Rice was scheduled to do, on this date 7 years ago, until April of 2004.

She was going to give a speech. Not about Osama Bin Laden; not about al Qaeda; not about Extremist Islamic Fundamentalism. No, Condoleeza Rice was going to talk about what this misAdministration felt was the most dangerous threat to America, long-range missiles, furthering the goals set out in 1997 by the neo-conservative goup, Project for the New American Century.

Fast forward to George orWell’s comment, on September 6th, 2006, above – “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, this misAdministration has never been focused on the real threat to America; this misAdministration used the ol’ “bait ‘n switch” ruse to do what the Neo-Con Right Wing always wanted: topple Saddam and radically transform America’s military. From Project for the New American Century’s 76 page “Rebuilding America’s Defenses:

Further, the process of transformation,
even if it brings revolutionary change, is
likely to be a long one, absent some
catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a
new Pearl Harbor.(page 51)

So, just who are the people that formed PNAC; the PNAC that thought that a “new Pearl Harbor” might speed up the transformation of the American Military in a way they thought beneficial? Let’s look:

Elliott Abrams, Gary Bauer, William J. Bennett, Jeb Bush,

Donald Rumsfeld, Vin Weber, George Weigel, Paul Wolfowitz

So, today, as we mourn those that fell as the towers fell; those that fell in the heroic struggle on United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania; those that fell on American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon; those brave men and women that have fallen in Iraq, remember this:

“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” — George orWell Bush, September 6th, 2006

Of course it’s hard; Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11 but everything to do with furthering neo-conservative goals.

In 130 days it will be January 20th, 2009 – The End Of An Error

“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” — George orWell Bush, CBS News interview, September 6th, 2006

Looking back, I remember where I was 7 years ago, today, when I first saw the replay of the first plane hitting the tower.

And I watched the news about that attack, closely. For a long time. As in, “still.” But I didn’t hear about what Condoleeza Rice was scheduled to do, on this date 7 years ago, until April of 2004.

She was going to give a speech. Not about Osama Bin Laden; not about al Qaeda; not about Extremist Islamic Fundamentalism. No, Condoleeza Rice was going to talk about what this misAdministration felt was the most dangerous threat to America, long-range missiles, furthering the goals set out in 1997 by the neo-conservative goup, Project for the New American Century.

Fast forward to George orWell’s comment, on September 6th, 2006, above – “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, this misAdministration has never been focused on the real threat to America; this misAdministration used the ol’ “bait ‘n switch” ruse to do what the Neo-Con Right Wing always wanted: topple Saddam and radically transform America’s military. From Project for the New American Century’s 76 page “Rebuilding America’s Defenses:

Further, the process of transformation,
even if it brings revolutionary change, is
likely to be a long one, absent some
catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a
new Pearl Harbor.(page 51)

So, just who are the people that formed PNAC; the PNAC that thought that a “new Pearl Harbor” might speed up the transformation of the American Military in a way they thought beneficial? Let’s look:

Elliott Abrams, Gary Bauer, William J. Bennett, Jeb Bush,

Donald Rumsfeld, Vin Weber, George Weigel, Paul Wolfowitz

So, today, as we mourn those that fell as the towers fell; those that fell in the heroic struggle on United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania; those that fell on American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon; those brave men and women that have fallen in Iraq, remember this:

“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” — George orWell Bush, September 6th, 2006

Of course it’s hard; Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11 but everything to do with furthering neo-conservative goals.

In 130 days it will be January 20th, 2009 – The End Of An Error

(cross posted from ; comments welcome there)

The RumsFailed Doctrine

On September 11th, 2001, our country was attacked. President Bush rightfully issued ultimatums that the Taliban ignored, and he made the correct decision to send troops into harm’s way. Americans united and the world stood with us as American forces led coalition troops into Afghanistan.

The initial results were spectacular. Our volunteer military performed with valor and distinction in this war of necessity. In little more than two months, our enemies had been driven from power and the interim Afghani government was sworn in. The Taliban, Osama Bin Laden, and al-Qaeda were on the run.

The Battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan’s White Mountains marked the change in U.S. military doctrine. The replaced Powell Doctrine called for overwhelming air and ground forces and a specific exit strategy. But this is the era of the Rumsfeld Doctrine. Indigenous troops staged the direct assaults backed by American air support but only a few American Special Forces Teams. The perimeter of Tora Bora was left unsecured. Most experts now agree that this strategic decision allowed the majority of trapped al-Qaeda fighters to escape.

Then the colossal error by Rumsfeld and others to more or less cut and run from Afghanistan to Iraq was made.

The lack of boots on the ground in Afghanistan prevented the country from achieving stability and peace. Whatever progress had been made quickly began to erode. The Taliban and Al Qaeda, far from being eliminated, have now regrouped, rearmed, and recommenced insurgency operations. Schools that were built have been attacked; many have closed. Newly-built roads now provide ambush opportunities for the Taliban.

Poppy fields flourish. Afghanistan now produces around 90% of the world’s heroin. The drug trade accounts for half of the country’s economy. Despite the connection between narcotics and terrorism, the Bush administration, with a compliant Republican-led Congress, has not devoted the proper attention to Afghanistan’s drug problem. For example, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) began a multi-national law enforcement program in 2002, with a goal of breaking the link between drug trafficking and terrorism. But the continually increasing Taliban and Al Qaeda violence (fueled by narco-dollars) shows this hasn’t worked. U.S. and NATO forces are now in fact engaged in intense fighting amid Afghanistan’s deadliest spate of violence since U.S. led forces toppled the hard-line Taliban regime.

As in Iraq, there is no obvious exit strategy in Afghanistan. The limitations of the ‘War On The Cheap’ Rumsfeld Doctrine as exemplified at Tora Bora, are evidenced in the prosecution of both the war of necessity in Afghanistan and the war of choice in Iraq. The results of cutting expenses on the front end has incurred incredible expenses on the back end. Congress’ inaction speaks for itself. In our system of representative democracy, Congress serves as the check and balance to ensure change when change is needed. Over the last five years, Congress has unquestioningly given the administration everything it has wanted with no oversight. In fact, this year’s Republican-led Congress is eerily reminiscent of the 1948 ‘Do Nothing Congress’.

Either it is time to go back to the Powell doctrine, or to implement a new doctrine based largely on input from the officer corps of the United States Armed Services, not armchair warfare think tank civilians. However, the implementation of a new military doctrine is the prerogative of the new president to be elected in 2008. This mid-term election is about whether Congress, as an institution, will exercise its constitutional duty to serve as a check and balance against ineffective executive policy, a duty the current Congress has abdicated. Certainly those who marched lockstep with this administration need to be held accountable for that abdication this November.

(co-written by Coleen Rowley, a retired FBI Agent and Candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s 2nd District, and Tommy Johnson, an Army Paratrooper veteran who served with the 7th Special Forces Group – Airborne; September 05, 2006)

The 2008 election of President Obama has occurred; it is now President Obama’s perogative to determine doctrine. Like it or not, this now is his war.

According to the Minnesota National Guard, “More than 20 Soldiers and/or Airmen are currently deployed to Afghanistan” and “More than 1600 Soldiers are currently deployed to Iraq.”

May God Bless, and Godspeed, to each and every one of ‘em.

Eight years after the horrific attack on America, Afghanistan is still a mess. From CBS News, today:

Sept. 11, 2009
Eight Years Later, War’s End Not in Sight

Americans are Increasingly Frustrated With the War in Afghanistan, and President Obama Can Offer No Easy Answers
By Brian Montopoli

It was supposed to be swift and decisive response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan, launched less than a month after the attacks and designed to destroy al Qaeda and the Taliban government that harbored the group.

Eight years later the conflict continues — and the endgame seems elusive. Insurgent Taliban forces have gained ground; coalition troop casualties have steadily risen; and Americans have grown increasingly weary of the war, which some critics have begun to describe as a potential quagmire.

Criticism of U.S. policy on Afghanistan from the president’s own party, meanwhile, has grown louder. Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold is calling for a “flexible timetable” for bringing the troops home, arguing that “we’ve become embroiled in a nation-building experiment that may distract us from combating al Qaeda and its affiliates.” House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey of Wisconsin, another Democrat, said Congress could cut war funding in the spring if things haven’t gotten significantly better.

And the criticism is not confined to the left. Last week, conservative columnist George Will offered a much-discussed column calling for the U.S. to pull troops out of Afghanistan and instead “do only what can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, airstrikes and small, potent Special Forces units.”
(More, at CBSNews.com)

When our soldiers come home, make sure they are given a hero’s welcome. Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.

(originally published at MnProgressiveProject.com)

The Department of Justice internal watchdog, the Office of Professional Responsibility, submitted to Holder a report today that recommended the department re-examination earlier decisions, made under the Bush administration, to decline to prosecute apparent violations of anti-torture laws.

In reaching his decision to appoint a prosecutor, Holder also reviewed a 2004 report compiled by the CIA inspector general’s office. “As a result of my analysis of all of this material, I have concluded that the information known to me warrants opening a preliminary review into whether federal laws were violated in connection with the interrogation of specific detainees at overseas locations,” Holder said in a statement today. (Law.com)

So, what do the Obstructionists in Party Of No have to say? Let’s look!

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, expressed his strong disagreement with the appointment.

“I respectfully regret this decision by Attorney General Holder and fear our country will come to regret it too, because an open-ended criminal investigation of past CIA activity, which has already been condemned and prohibited, will have a chilling effect on the men and women agents of our intelligence community whose uninhibited bravery and skill we depend on every day to protect our homeland from the next terrorist attack,” Lieberman said in the statement.

…

The ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), and the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), were among nine GOP senators who sent a letter last week to Holder urging him to back off from the idea of appointing the special prosecutor. (TheHill.com)

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen: The Part Of No, demonstrating once again that when they break laws, laws don’t matter.

Which, of course, is but one reason why GOP now stands for GreedOverPrinciples.

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)

Now, with as much time as Paulsen’s spent running from the republiCon brand, stepping in front of a microphone at the RNC is a big step for Paulsen.

I just checked Paulsen’s website, and used the search feature for the term “Republican.” On Paulsen’s website, the term “Republican” exists exactly 7 times. Not on the home page; not on any of the sub-pages; but buried in 4 stories (three of which were about GOP endorsement conventions) and 3 documents.

After a political career that includes Majority Leader for the Republican Party, Paulsen is certainly hiding the brand. It’s not on his campaign signage, nor literature, either.

But there’s a lot of things Paulsen doesn’t like to talk about; his being a republiCon is only one. Erik Paulsen, Republican-Endorsed candidate, has no position on Iraq. His website is pretty much bereft of any content, and has been since I posted this way back in January. Then, as is now, this picture is worth a thousand words:

(originally published at MnBlue.com)

Well, all “right” then! That explains these!

“Iraq is a very wealthy country. Enormous oil reserves. They can finance, largely finance the reconstruction of their own country. And I have no doubt that they will.” – Richard Perle, Chairman of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board, July 11th, 2002

“Ladies and gentlemen, these are not assertions. These are facts, corroborated by many sources, some of them sources of the intelligence services of other countries.” –Secretary of State Colin Powell, testifying about Iraq’s chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons capabilities before the United Nations Security Council, February 5th, 2003

“It’s hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would take to conduct the war itself and to secure the surrender of Saddam’s security forces and his army. Hard to imagine.” –Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, testifying before the House Budget Committee prior to the Iraq war, February 27th, 2003

“My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.” –Vice President Dick Cheney, “Meet the Press,” March 16th, 2003

“There is a lot of money to pay for this that doesn’t have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people. We are talking about a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon.” – Paul Wolfowitz, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, testifying before the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, March 27th, 2003

“The United States is committed to helping Iraq recover from the conflict, but Iraq will not require sustained aid.” – Mitchell Daniels, Director, White House Office of Management and Budget, April 21st, 2003

“Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” – George orWell Bush, standing under a “Mission Accomplished” banner on the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier, May 2nd, 2003

“I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.” –Vice President Dick Cheney, on the Iraq insurgency, June 20th, 2005

This one just in, 4 hours ago:

Baghdad bombs kill 4, wound 15, Iraqi police say
Reuters
Sunday, August 24, 2008; 5:03 AM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Two roadside bombs exploding in quick succession killed four people and wounded 15 in central Baghdad’s Nahda district on Sunday, police said.

The first bomb apparently targeted a police patrol in the busy neighborhood. When bystanders rushed to the scene to tend to the wounded, a second bomb exploded, police said. (Washington Post)

I think that the above clearly demonstrates that:

1 – reasonable people cannot reasonably trust republiCons to tell the truth, and

2 – January 20, 2009 will be The End Of An Error.

(originally published at MnBlue.com)

“Spectacular”?!? “SPECTACULAR”??!?

As apposed to, say, “tragic”?

That’s what Bush The Lesser said two years ago, to the day. This one is just in, today:

3 Canadian soldiers killed in Kandahar
Scott Deveau , Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Three Canadian soldiers were killed and one was seriously injured early Wednesday morning when their convoy hit an improvised explosive device on the main highway outside Kandahar City.

Another Canadian soldier was wounded in the strike and was transported to hospital, where he is listed as being in serious but stable condition.

There was a daylong embargo on the news while the families of the three soldiers were contacted. The news was announced Thursday morning by Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, Commander of Task Force Kandahar.

The attack, which brings to 93 the total number of Canadian soldiers killed while serving in Afghanistan, occurred at 10:30 a.m. local time in Zhari district, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar Airfield.

One of the soldiers was identified as Sgt. Shawn Eades, but the names of the other two soldiers who died in the attack have been withheld for now at the request of the families. It is Canadian Forces policy not to release the names of injured soldiers.

The three slain soldiers were combat engineers with 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, which is based out of Edmonton. While in Kandahar, they were attached to the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry battle group.

Insurgents routinely use IED attacks along the dangerous strip of highway outside of Kandahar, and across the country, as a means of ambushing NATO and International Security Assistance Forces. (emphasis added)

Supply convoys and patrols are commonly targeted in such attacks, making travel by land not only difficult, but dangerous.

A Canadian diplomat and two aid workers have also been killed since Canada’s military and developmental assistance mission in that war-torn country began in 2002. Including the aid workers – Jacqueline Kirk of Outremont, Que, and Shirley Case from Williams Lake, B.C., who were ambushed on Aug. 13 – seven Canadians have died in Afghanistan this month alone. (emphasis added) (more at Canada.com)

Six years of The RumsFailed Doctrine’s “War On The Cheap” and convoys are still being blown up; routes are still considered “…not only difficult, but dangerous.”

This one is also just in, just a few minutes before the above story about Canadians dying as a result of the failed polices of Boy Blunder And The Plunderers:

France pays tribute to 10 fallen soldiers in Paris ceremony
Last Updated: Thursday, August 21, 2008 | 7:00 AM ET 4CBC News

France held a commemoration ceremony on Thursday to honour 10 French soldiers killed in a gun battle with insurgents earlier this week in eastern Afghanistan, as questions are being raised over the official account of how the soldiers died.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined dignitaries and the soldiers’ families inside Paris’s Invalides palace, where France’s war dead are honoured, as lines of uniformed men and women filled the boulevard outside the iconic building.

Under the great dome of the Napoleonic institution rested 10 identical coffins bearing the bodies of the soldiers, whose deaths mark the largest single loss of life for any of the international forces engaged in combat in Afghanistan in more than three years.

The solemn ceremony is an effort to soothe not just grieving families, but appease an increasingly wary nation at war, the CBC’s David Common reported.

A majority of the French are opposed to the mission in Afghanistan, and the opposition Socialists are demanding a parliamentary committee meet to examine this week’s battle.(more at CBCnews.ca)

Ladies and Gentlemen, that Al queda “suiciders” are still occuring in Iraq; that soldiers are still dying from IEDs in Afghanistan; that soldiers are dying as insurgents attack coalition fortifications; is certainly not “spectacular”.

What will be spectacular, is Boy Blunder And The Plunderers being removed from power in 151 days, which will be The End Of An Error.

(originally published at MnBlue.com)