Maddow: Iraq Engagement on "Constitutional Autopilot" with Absent Congress

President Obama Authorizes Air Strikes, Humanitarian Aid in Iraq

Image from source, TPM

Ugh. I don't like any of this. I don't like the hovering threat of a renewed Iraq war. I don't like that we have to be involved at all. I don't like that the Twitter comments from #TCOTs was overtly negative before the President had finished a sentence. "Thanks Obama, you screwed up Iraq" is a paraphrase of the comments I saw rolling in.

Sure, Iraq was going perfectly when Dubya left office, right? And the end date he settled by treaty, the one that President Obama followed? Mistake! But Obama's mistake. Dubya was just goofin', seeing if the radical Kenyan socialist would fall for it, right? In reality, we should have stayed in Iraq forever. Right?

Listen, I don't pretend to be an expert on Iraq, the Middle East, or much of anything going on over there. Like most Americans, I kind of cringe, and hope it resolves itself before it gets out of hand, but I don't know why it's our problem. Other than that pesky "Pottery Barn Rule." But I sure would like to see conservatives act like Americans when there's a crisis, instead of blaming everything on the President as a reflex.

[Excerpt]

Obama Authorizes Military Air Strikes, Humanitarian Aid In Iraq

President Barack Obama announced Thursday night he had authorized the U.S. military to launch targeted airstrikes if needed to protect Americans from Islamic militants in northern Iraq, threatening to revive U.S. military involvement in the country's long sectarian war.

He also said the U.S. military had carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid to Iraqi religious minorities under siege by the extremists. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Jon Stewart: Mess O'Potamia - 2014, And the Return of Iraq War Architects

This was a great bit from Tuesday night's Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It's not lost on most of us that the very people who were the architects, planners and cheerleaders of the Iraq War, those people who were wrong about everything, have come back, and are presenting themselves as experts. It's not at all funny, but somehow, Stewart makes it so.

The Daily Show
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Rachel Maddow Exterminates Dick and Liz Cheney

I used the word "exterminates" in my headline as a bit of purposeful hyperbole, to a) poke fun at typical hyperbolic interwebz headlines, b) to indulge in a little wishful thinking about the loathsome Cheneys, and c) because Rachel really does manage to almost fulfill words like "annihilates," or "destroys" with this story. She manages to give a thorough history lesson, ties it together with what's going on now, and uses it to paint the Cheneys (or as they might say, Cheney's) as clueless, tone-deaf, craven opportunists. And she manages to be entertaining while doing it!

It's long, but very much worth a view.

A Proposal for the Iraq Situation

When I was a kid, and was acting up, I remember being told, "Be quiet, or I'll give you something to cry about!" Well, I have a similar suggestion for those weirdos down in Texas who want to go everywhere with their big, shiny guns:

Draft the members of OPEN CARRY TEXAS, and send them to fight in Iraq.

That's all. What do you think?

Can We Please Ignore the Iraq War "Experts?"

Image from source, Politico

I would never claim to be an expert on the Middle East. I'll be honest, I've never even really understood the fervor of our support for Israel. So, I'm not going to put on a front like I have the answer to what's going on in Iraq right now. But I'm pretty sure about a couple of things:

- Whether our withdrawal from Iraq spurred the current unrest or not, we had to leave, a) because we couldn't stay indefinitely, b) because George W. Bush signed an agreement before he left office (remember, he had a shoe thrown at him), c) the Iraqi parliament voted us out, and d) the overwhelming sentiment of the American people was for us to leave.

- The architects and players of the War in Iraq, including Rice, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Hadley, Tenet, Rumsfeld, and Dubya himself should have no role in any decisions made. They also shouldn't be viewed as experts on cable news or the Sunday political shows. Add to the Bush Administration the cheerleaders for war, such as Bill Kristol, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and really the whole of FOX "News" and right-wing talk radio. They were all flat wrong about almost everything. Their opinions shouldn't hold any weight or any sway.

- Most of all, let's get the President out of the damned microscope. Let's have just a smidgen of the old "don't criticize the Commander in Chief in a time of war," attitude again, shall we? Not to insane, grill-the-Dixie Chicks, Patriotic­™ American® ­levels, but in the actual patriotic American sense. Imagine if we did have the dreaded sequel to 9/11. Rather than rallying around the flag, Right Wing World would be sharpening their pitchforks, lighting their torches, and storming Pennsylvania Avenue. It's not healthy individually and not healthy for our country to behave this way.

[Excerpt]

The Case for Doing Nothing in Iraq

Here we go again. Whenever there’s a crisis anywhere in the world, you can count on America’s pundit class to demand action—usually of the military variety. Don’t just stand there, bomb something! After more than two decades of unchallenged American hegemony, Washington keyboards seem almost programmed to call for intervention halfway around the globe. . .

Read more at: Politico

President Obama on Iraq: Not Ruling Anything Out

Image from source, NBC News

There are one or two things I'd like to rule out, please. And I'd also like to point out that the same guys who championed the disaster that was the Iraq War are the same guys championing going in again. Let's not, okay? Sure, we broke it. But it wasn't in pristine shape in the first place. Can't we just leave it on the floor in pieces, and pretend we didn't see it fall?

[Excerpt]

Obama on Iraq Turmoil: 'I Don't Rule Out Anything'

President Barack Obama said Thursday "I don;t rule out anything" when it comes to a U.S. response to worsening violence in Iraq. Speaking to reporters briefly after meeting with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott at the White House, Obama said "my national security team is looking at all the options" available in stemming an advance by Islamic extremists in the north and west of the country. "This is an area we've been watching with a lot of concern, not just over the last days but the last several months," Obama said, adding that his administration has "been in close consultation with the Iraqi government to try to address problems they have. . .

Read more at: NBC News

Right Wing World: Spinning Syria

Do you remember the run-up to the Iraq War? I do, but FOX "News" and other conservative outlets seemingly do not. In the period after September 11, 2001 all the way through "Shock and Awe" and pretty much up to "Mission Accomplished," President George W. Bush and his administration was given the kid glove treatment from the press, and much of the public. I mean, I'm a lefty liberal moonbat blogger, and I didn't much question the Iraq decision at the time. I was skeptical, but what the heck did I know? No, it was a very slow burn, a very gradual awakening of the press, the birth of the blogosphere, and the dawning realization that we were lied into war that shook us out of the"Freedom & Liberty" free pass we were giving Bushco.

Image from the fabulous NewsCorpse

But Right Wing World is revising history, or trying to. They're conflating Syria and Iraq, but they're not using what actually happened. . .which is completely expected of course. I'm also seeing in various places (Iowa radio host Steve Deace, for one) that the liberals who did speak out against the war are somehow now marching in lock-step behind President Obama. Which--if you pay attention to Left Wing World (such as it is)--is completely wrong. 10 minutes of The Ed Show should disabuse anyone of that notion. But again. . .to be expected.

[Excerpt]

Fox News Dementia: Media Is Not As Hard On Obama/Syria As They Were On Bush/Iraq

On Fox News this morning there was a segment debating the media coverage of the “Crisis in Syria” (video below). On any other network this would have been a legitimate subject for debate and a fascinating topic. But leave it to Fox News to broadcast a version of history that makes Snow White’s adventures with seven diminutive forest dwellers look like a PBS documentary. . .

Read more at: NewsCorpse

Irony Alert: Rumsfeld Says Obama Hasn't Justified Syria Attack

Typical Rummy quote, this one on the location of WMDs: "We know
where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad
and east, west, south and north somewhat." Image from Raw Story.
 

I've already explained that I'm no expert on this Syria thing, and therefore will try to keep my opining to a minimum here on the blog. But you know who else should maybe take a step back? Donald freakin' Rumsfeld. Actually just about anybody from the Bush administration, but maybe especially Rummy. He's just proof that there is no sense of embarrassment on the right.

[Excerpt]

Rumsfeld: Obama hasn’t justified Syria attack

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday night that President Barack Obama had not done enough to justify an attack on Syria. “One thing that is very interesting, it seems to me, is that there really hasn’t been any indication from the administration as to what our national interest is with respect to this particular situation,” Rumsfeld told Fox Business Network host Neil Cavuto. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Award-winning Journalist Michael Hastings Dies in Car Crash

Image from source, Talking Points Memo

This one is really too bad. Michael Hastings was an accomplished investigating journalist, well-spoken and telegenic. To see that he was born in 1980, well, he just died way too young. Already, there are conspiracy theories blooming: killed by the government, killed by someone he was investigating, and on and on. I'm sure they'll connect it to Breitbart eventually. And who knows, stranger things have happened. What we know for sure is that this really sucks. RIP, Michael.

[Excerpt]

Award-Winning Journalist Michael Hastings Dies At 33

Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings died early Tuesday in a car accident in Los Angeles, his employer and family said. Hastings, who was 33, was described by many of his colleagues as an unfailingly bright and hard-charging reporter who wrote stories that mattered. Most recently, he wrote about politics for the news website BuzzFeed, where the top editor said colleagues were devastated by the loss. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Hastings was a friend and sometime guest of Rachel Maddow on her show. In Tuesday night's show, she remembered him on her show. She also points out that Hastings was engaged to Andrea Parhamovich, who was killed in Baghdad in 2007 in the Iraq War. Hastings had written a book about her death.

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Lest We Forget: Who the Hell Cares What Dick Cheney Thinks?

I haven't read a word of the article I excerpted below. I didn't watch the clip. When I grudgingly watched FOX "News" Sunday this weekend to see what was up their asses this week, I turned it off when Dick Cheney was introduced as the guest. Why? Because I don't care what Cheney has to say. About anything. And nobody else should either.

In fact, there are very few members of the Bush Administration that should be appearing on Meet the Press or Face the Nation or any of the other shows, particularly on matters of foreign policy. Cheney and the rest weren't just wrong about damned near everything, they actually started a war under false pretenses. They presided over the worst terrorist attack on our country since Pearl Harbor.

Cheney says President Obama lacks credibility? A thesis on all the reasons Cheney has no credibility would fill pages and pages so lengthy that no one would read it, so I won't bother. I just had to say to the powers that be, and the universe in general, could you please keep this increasingly creepy man off of my TV, and out of the spotlight? Thank you.

[Excerpt]

Cheney Backs NSA Spying; Calls Snowden A Traitor, Says Obama "Lacks Credibility"


CHRIS WALLACE: What do you think of Edward Snowden?

DICK CHENEY: I think he's a traitor. I think he has committed crimes in effect by violating agreements given the position he had. . .

Read more (but I'm not gonna) at: Real Clear Politics

A Lie-By-Lie Deconstruction Of How We Got Into the Iraq War

Image from source, Mother Jones

What are the odds, do you think, that the real story of the run-up to the Iraq War becomes the official story? Will the history books rely on a he-said/she-said CNN transcript? Will it rely on press releases from the Dubya administration? Will the implausible-but-true rehabilitation of so many of the administration players color how the story is ultimately sold? I ask, because they continue to this day to try and polish this turd.

[Excerpt]

Lie by Lie: A Timeline of How We Got Into Iraq

At A congressional hearing examining the march to war in Iraq, Republican congressman Walter Jones posed "a very simple question" about the administration's manipulation of intelligence: "How could the professionals see what was happening and nobody speak out?" Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former chief of staff, responded with an equally simple answer: "The vice president. . ."

Read more at: Mother Jones

Dying Iraq War Vet Pens Letter to Bush & Cheney

Even their picture still makes me wince.
Image from HuffPo.

I'm not sure George W. Bush has enough of a conscience to be disturbed by a letter from a dying veteran of his own misbegotten war. I'm positive Dick Cheney doesn't. But it's well worth a read. And now that we've passed the 10-year anniversary of the beginning of that war, it's worth repeating and remembering what a bad idea the whole thing was. How we were lied into it, knowingly and repeatedly. Years later, my Republican parents still insisted that it was a necessary response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. It wasn't, quite clearly. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the attacks. But all of that lying, all of that faux patriotism, all of the posturing and snookering got my parents, even though they couldn't come close to explaining why the Iraq War was a response to 9/11. "We had to do something," they told me. Did we?

[Excerpt]

Tomas Young, Dying Iraq War Veteran, Pens 'Last Letter' To Bush, Cheney On War's 10th Anniversary

Days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Tomas Young, then a 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., made a decision repeated by many other Americans around the country: He was going to enlist in the military in hopes of getting even with the enemies who had helped coordinate the deaths of nearly 3,000 men, women and children. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Hubris: Selling the Iraq War

Having followed much of the news regarding the run-up to the Iraq war--both at the time, and in the years after--there wasn't much in Hubris: Selling the Iraq War that I didn't already know. Except that it was presented in Rachel Maddow's typically straightforward, educational style, succinctly and all in a 1-hour package, featuring people who know. It also reawakens old ire in this American, a fire that was largely put out when Bush/Cheney slunk away into (near) obscurity.  When Barack Obama took over, many liberals like myself felt like we could finally take a breath. And though we were initially upset with Obama when he said that we were "looking forward" and not back to the crimes of the Bush era, the fight was largely out of us by then. This documentary brings it all back. We were lied into war, plain and simple.

I'm curious whether the MSNBC documentary will reignite the same anger in other people, or whether its source network and host will cause it to be dismissed by people who consider MSNBC to be the counterpart to FOX "News." Though I  think it would be hard to argue that Hubris is liberally biased, beyond--say--the musical score. Don't believe me, check it out, the whole thing:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Right-Wing World: Republicans Still Believe Iraq Had WMD

Sigh. Sad. And so, so dumb.

[Excerpt]

Thanks alot, Colin. Image from source.

Yes, Iraq Definitely Had WMD, Vast Majority Of Polled Republicans Insist

How misinformed are Republicans about world affairs? If presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's assertion that Russia is "without question our number one geopolitical foe" is any indication, then the answer would appear to be very. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Obama: Thought Romney Meant it When He Said He Wouldn't Get Bin Laden

Politics leads to plenty of WTF moments, but I was actually kind of dumbfounded when I heard Ed Gillespie (professional GOP election guru) whining about President Obama's ad touting the killing of Osama bin Laden, and pointing out that a President Romney may not have even tried to do such a thing. It's sourced, I remember the source. . .so what's the problem? Gillespie portrayed it as unseemly and out of bounds. Even the allegedly liberal Arianna Huffington called it "despicable."  [Story continues below]



What? Why? Are we to believe that with an opposite set of circumstances, Republicans wouldn't touch it? That they can't/haven't/wouldn't tout anti-terrorism operations in an election? That they wouldn't imply that Democrats might do a worse job? Which issue is the despicable one, the "grandstanding" or the Romney slam?

Image found at Common Dreams.

See, I remember seven stinkin' years of Republican grandstanding and/or fear-mongering using terror, terrorism and terrorists as subjects. I remember a flight-suited Dubya landing on an aircraft carrier, artfully staged to look as though it was going out to sea. There was color coordination, pomp and circumstance, and a big, red-white-and-blue banner reading "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"  They even made a stinking (doll) action figure out of it! And yet, the mission wasn't even accomplished. Boy, now that was some freakin' grandstanding.

And they say the left has a woody for Obama.
Explain this! Image from Balloon Juice.

I also remember Darth Dick Cheney flat out saying that if John Kerry were elected, we were going to get attacked again! Now that is freakin' dispicable! So, tell me again--especially you, Arianna--WTF is wrong with the ad. But before you do, tell me honestly. . .if George W. Bush had killed Bin Laden, do you think he'd have been quiet and reserved about it? Really?


[Excerpt]

Obama Defends Attack On Romney: ‘I Assumed’ He Meant It When He Said He Wouldn’t Get Bin Laden


Mitt Romney and his allies have been attacking President Obama for his campaign’s recent video ad, highlighting both his decision to order the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and Romney’s statement in 2007 that he would not have taken similar action given the chance. Romney now says he would have done the same as Obama. “Of course [I would have]. Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order,” Romney said today. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

A Visual Message from Stupid Monkey Planet

For ALL followers of the NFL Religion. Bless your blissful ignorance. ~The Reverend Stu'

Iraq War Veteran Critically Injured at "Occupy Oakland"

War zone in California. Image from ABC.

I have a increasing attraction to the "Occupy" movement, given its motives. I'm slightly less clear on their goals, though I get the gist: Wall Street caused the economic woes we're all going through, but no one was punished, no one arrested, and the 1% who weathered the storm are living high on the hog. Meanwhile, Congress (and let's just say it, the Republican Party) has been throwing goodies to the 1% while preaching austerity to the other 99%. It's enough to piss anybody off.

It's kind of inspiring to see the various groups all over the country and around the world, gathering for a cause. And so far, sticking with it. But the response by police and government has been really messed up in some places. "Beanbags" and "rubber bullets" sound harmless, but are actually capable of some damage. The response seems incredibly out-of-scale. The video from Occupy Oakland--where an Iraq War veteran was critically injured by police--looks like something out of Egypt earlier this year. Crazy.

[Excerpt]


Iraq War Vet Injured During Oakland Protests

A clash between Oakland police and Occupy Wall Street protesters left an Iraq War veteran hospitalized Wednesday after a projectile struck him in a conflict that came as tensions grew over demonstration encampments across the San Francisco Bay Area. . .

Read more at: ABC News

End to Iraq War

Credit to The Guardian

Cheney's New Book Tries to Re-Write History

Evil never dies. Image from source, Time

Also, water is wet. Las Vegas is hot in August. And Glenn Beck is still crazy. Really, could anything be more predictable than Dick Cheney using the occasion of his memoir to spin, polish the truth and outright lie? We'd really expect nothing less. The question is, how long is this heartless man (okay, his heart is still there, it just doesn't beat anymore) going to keep popping up? Goodness knows he really shouldn't even be walking free. Of the huge number of Bush Administration officials who should have long ago gone to jail, I can't think of any (except maybe Karl Rove) more deserving than Cheney.

One thing we do know is that he has continued to lie long after he ceased to have a pulse.

[Excerpt]

In New Memoir, Dick Cheney Tries to Rewrite History


Early critics have argued that Dick Cheney’s forthcoming memoir, held under strict embargo until its official release on Aug. 30, is a predictable reprise of old arguments. Like most examples of the genre, In My Time has plenty of those. But a careful reading of Cheney’s narrative, obtained by TIME, turns up quite a bit of new material. Sometimes subtly and sometimes starkly, the vice president’s story takes issue with the public record on pivotal events. . .

Read more at: Time