Happy Memorial Day

I found this image (and the essay attached to it) by following a blog link from the comments section of a Newsweek story on the Monica Goodling Testimony. The points made in the essay are not exactly new, but that doesn't make them any less worthy of consideration--particularly on a day like today. A more concise cautionnary note is struck in today's NYT column by Paul Krugman (reprinted at http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052807D.shtml).

There's a thin line between genuine respect for those who have given their lives in military service and manipulating that respect into a public-relations tool on behalf of those institutions that just keep creating more 'honored dead'. In times of war, that line is frequently blurred beyond recognition.

By all means, let us honor those who have sacrificed their lives for what they believed to be the common good. But let us also not fail to hold accountable those responsible for the occasion of that sacrifice.

....and Tinkerbell Dies......

Once again, Bill Maher manages to channel Bill Hicks and come up with a screed that pretty much perfectly sums up the The Right's lack of brains and The Left's corresponding lack of balls. His recent piece in Salon.com contains this choice paragraph:

"...As usual, we've been sucked into a phony controversy about who said what and how it hurt George W. Bush's feelings. Because when you hurt George W. Bush you hurt America's feelings, and when you hurt America's feelings, you hurt the troops. And when that happens, Tinkerbell's light goes out and she dies..."

Last week's congressional democratic capitulation to George Bush was essentially foreordained the moment Democratic Leadership sipped the "Support The Troops" kool-aid. Much like the 9/11 Kool-aid, this beverage is a powerful psycho-active toxic that leaves one bereft of will power and inclined to believe just about anything.

It is time to get past the notion that "the troops" are some sort of sacred victim and that the scoundrels of this administration have continued Carte Blanche to hide behind their sacrifice. The only meaningful way to "support the troops" is to bring them home.

Depending on how you look at it, the war in Iraq is either an obscene and meaningless war of choice, a naked resource grab by a brutal and materialistic empire, or a crusade to save western civilization. Those who believe the latter should spend this Memorial Day contemplating the wonders of The Creationist Museum. It is far past time they were permitted to continue shaping public policy.

Sunday Talking Head Funnies

This week's Sunday Talking Head Funnies kicked off with a 'debate' on Meet The Press between a couple of guys who could easily pass for each other in a police line-up:
Neither Newt Gingrich nor his sparring partner, Chris Dodd, managed to bring anything new to the debate over Iraq Policy. For every sober assessment of unfolding disaster Dodd had to offer, Gringrich had a classically Republican comeback--smug, smirking, and at variance with the facts. Click here for all the boring, tedious, details.

Somewhat more interesting was the exchange that followed on Face The Nation between Diane Feinstein and Arlen Spector on the ever-lively topic of the worst attorney general in U.S. History. Spector's continued refusal to call for the resignation of the man he has described as single-handedly responsible for rendering the US. Department of Justice 'dysfunctional' tells you everything you need to know about why Republicans have no business running this country. Regarding the upcoming vote of no confidence against Gonzales, Spector seemed to believe that Gonzales would resign before facing such a vote. Why? If Alberto Gonzales had the self-esteem of a two-peso crack whore, he would've resigned months ago.

The morning's festivities ended with appearances on ABC's This Week by Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell that were not any more likely to change anyone's mind than the preceding discussions. Pelosi sounded vibrant and confident, McConnell sounded like a dispirited hack and a loyalist to a failed cause.....which, of course, he is. The only thing standing between this country and virtual one-party rule by Democrats in a year and half is the American preference for divided government.