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We’re never leaving Iraq

Condoleezza Rice basically tells Charlie Rose that we are not leaving Iraq. Period.

My 2 cents -

Okay, just stop it. I’m so tired of talking points. Both sides have ‘em. On one side, we have, “we can’t have politicians telling the generals in the field what to do.” Well, our Constitution has been set up in such a way that politicians tell generals what to do. On the other side, “the American people have spoken and have put us in charge to end the war.” Well, that is sort of true. If the American people unanimously wanted the war to end, then the Democrats would govern with 70 or 80% of the seats in both chambers.

There are a few things that are clear. First, the opinion of the American people has been slowly changing over the last two to three years. We’ve lost faith in the purpose and the execution of the Iraq war. In December 2003 (Quinnipiac University Poll), 46% of Americans thought that President Bush was handling the war in Iraq well. Over the years the percentage of Americans who supported the war and supported President Bush’s handling of the war has declined. In an April 25, 2007 poll from the same researchers, President Bush had an approval rating of only 31% on his handling of the war in Iraq. A new CNN poll (May 4-6, 2007) reveals that 57% of Americans believe that Congress should send the president another bill with funding and timetables. [Read more →]

Tenet on HB

George Tenet seems to be in as much hot water after he wrote this book as before. The president hasn’t really said anything publicly but his troops have. The problem as I have pointed out before is that you should have your fact straight before you write a “inside tale” book about this White House.

Larry Johnson, ex-CIA employee, has a few thoughts on Tenet here.

Terrorist Plot foiled

Six foreign-born Muslims were arrested and accused Tuesday of plotting to attack the Army’s Fort Dix and massacre scores of U.S. soldiers — a plot the FBI says was foiled when the men took a video of themselves firing assault weapons to a store to have the footage put onto a DVD.

The defendants, all men in their 20s from the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East, include a pizza deliveryman suspected of using his job to scout out the military base.

“Today we dodged a bullet. In fact, when you look at the type of weapons that this group was trying to purchase, we may have dodged a lot of bullets,” said FBI agent J.P. Weiss. (more…)

Newsweek poll

President Bush’s rating continue to solidify in the toilet.  (I’m sure that there are several references that I should make but I’ll keep those to myself.)

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time? 25% Satisfied, 71% Dissatisfied, 4% Don’t Know

Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president? 28% Approve, 64% Disapprove, 8% Don’t Know

Countdown – Bush’s continues to slide in polls

Although Bush’s numbers aren’t the worst that I have seen, I take that back His numbers are the worst that I have seen. Every President outside of Nixon was able to do something to get his poll numbers up. Bush can’t do squat. Why? Because, in his own words, he has spent his political capital on Iraq. He has to just hope and pray that something will happen to get his numbers up. If not the Republican’s will get spanked in November of 2008. Since the whole party stood with Bush for 6 years, they will take most of the blame for the mess that we are in. Look for Republicans to start jumping ship to save their own skin if Bush’s numbers stay at 35% or below. I don’t look for Bush to be able to pass anything worthwhile between now and next November unless something dramatic happens in Iraq. Capturing or killing Bin Laden will only give Bush a temporary bump in the polls in my opinion.

TDS – Wilmore on don’t snitch

Anderson Cooper did a story on this about 2 weeks ago.  I thought about posting something it at that time and it just slipped my mind.  I’m happy that it didn’t slip Jon Stewart’s mind.  I had never heard of this “campaign” that some rappers are pushing – don’t snitch.  Don’t talk to the police.  That’s crazy.  What kind of lawless world do they want to promote?  As Wilmore points out in his funny interview, the rappers making all of the money selling this crap can’t wait to move to some gated community where the police patrol every 5 minutes.  While the folks that bought that propaganda are still livin’ in the crime infested neighborhoods.

Countdown – Where’s the National Guard?

You knew that this was coming. With all of our resources in Iraq, we can’t effectively respond to disasters here at home. According to Keith Olbermann, 50% of the Kansas National Guard’s equipment is over in Iraq. This war is costing us in ways we haven’t even begun to calculate.