Politics: A new beginning

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

Rush Limbaugh reportedly admitted on his show today that he is addicted to prescription pain medication. He will be checking himself into an in-patient treatment facility for 30 days...

[bridge of love]

Originally posted by Aloha Mr. Learned Hand
Rush Limbaugh reportedly admitted on his show today that he is addicted to prescription pain medication. He will be checking himself into an in-patient treatment facility for 30 days...

you guys thought he was pissed off before. wait till he comes back with the monkey scratching at his back. he is going bring some hell fire down now from the vast right wing, for sure.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by sgtclub
While this is no doubt a campaign to garner support, do you doubt the truth of these statements? Or do you think they are lying, hyping, etc. to move public opinion?

What they said was meant to scare people whether or not their statements were literally true. Take Rice's speech, for example. It is also "true" to say that terrorists "could" use UPS to send us all anthrax, or "could" be plotting to blow up planes at Texas airports with surface-to-air missiles. Literally true, but threats that the National Security Advisor is not emphasizing for obvious reasons. There is no real evidence that Hussein was helping Al Qaeda, but Rice is hyping a hypothetical connection. No wonder 69% of the population thinks that he had something to do with 9/11.

Using the war on terror for political cover is divisive and bad for the country. Think Chicken Little. There is a reason that people used to say that politics stopped at the water's edge.

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by The Larry Davis Experience
Somewhat related question: has it been stated or can anyone speculate as to whether Bremer somehow will be affected by the recent injection of Condi Rice into the command structure in the admin's iraq efforts?

I speculate that they are trying to take the policy control out of Rummy's hands, but without making it obvious. DOD was always, theoretically, under the NSC's perview, but that control wasn't asserted. So, technically speaking, Condi being over his head isn't "new," but it is.

Bremer, however, I don't think will be really affected in terms of his influence or role, he'll just answer to a different master, and probably receive slightly modified priorities (i.e.: not primarily military ones). I wager we'll see something more of a charm offensive, though whether that will be directed at the Iraqis, in the form of differently directed & better advertised reconstruction efforts, or at the US public, in the form of advertising all the happy reconstruction progress instead of the iffy guerilla crackdowns, I don't know. Probably some of both.

[Connect_the_Dots]

Originally posted by The Larry Davis Experience
Somewhat related question: has it been stated or can anyone speculate as to whether Bremer somehow will be affected by the recent injection of Condi Rice into the command structure in the admin's iraq efforts? I've been traveling for a couple of weeks; since coming back I've read and seen various allusions to Condi's added responsibilities, but most of these assert that her increased influence comes at the expense of Rumsfeld and the DoD.

This is the scariest thing I have read so far. Condi Rice is woefully inadequate for the job. She is unqualified. Bush appointed her because he wanted to placate women and blacks, two groups whose support he will need in '04. The repubs would also like to groom her or Powell for an eventual presidential or VP candidate. But she is doesn't know what she is doing.

Condi speaks russian and is an expert on russian affairs. Her entire foreign policy and world view, however, is shaped by her misguided belief in a russian-centered foreign policy in the east. The reality is that russia is a decaying empire that is relying on US aid for life support. It is the Ottoman empire of the 21st century.

She missed the boat. We should be focused on a China centered foreign policy. THey have a billion people, a booming economy, and although still ostensibly socialist are further along in embracing free market ideologies than the russians. Instead of worrying about the russian reaction to Kosovo or Iraq, we should've been plotting with them to disarm the real threat, Kim Jong Il.

Condi better deliver the votes for bush in '04 because IMHO she has been a serious hindrance to an effective foreign policy and he better at least be getting some votes out of her four years in the executive branch.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
.... The repubs would also like to groom her or Powell for an eventual presidential or VP candidate. But she is doesn't know what she is doing. ....

Condi better deliver the votes for bush in '04 because IMHO she has been a serious hindrance to an effective foreign policy and he better at least be getting some votes out of her four years in the executive branch.

I think the Administration is now looking to hobble and then dump Powell as too much of a dove and as a potential threat if the President starts looking vulnerable. But he has enormous legitimacy with the general public and the military as well as in diplomatic circles, so he's a hard guy to hobble. I think they believe that it will be easier with Rice front and center.

I really hope BRC is right on taking Rummy down a notch. I've thought of Condi as a part of the gang, with Rummy and Cheney, but I would love to be proven wrong.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
This is the scariest thing I have read so far. Condi Rice is woefully inadequate for the job. She is unqualified. Bush appointed her because he wanted to placate women and blacks, two groups whose support he will need in '04.

So are you saying that CR is the Donovan McNabb of the Executive Branch? Go easy on the vicodin, CtD, or you may end up rooming with Rush.

[Connect_the_Dots]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
So are you saying that CR is the Donovan McNabb of the Executive Branch? Go easy on the vicodin, CtD, or you may end up rooming with Rush.

I don't think she is the McNabb, because I don't think there can be any serious debate about the fact that she IS overrated. She is the second most overrated political appointee in this administration.

The most overrated is obviously Greenspan. The largest stock market bubble in history occurred under his watch and he recognized it ("irational exhuberance") but kept the Fed Funds rate too low which fed the bubble. Then he bailed out Long Term Capital Management because he was afraid that it's collapse might burst the bubble. This from the same person who once advocated the gold standard for the dollar because it prevented governments from trying to get themselves out of a jam by printing more money. This from one of the few people who rightfully recognized that the Fed, not wall street, caused the stock market crash of '29 and that Roosevelt's policies turned what would have been a recession into a severe depression.

He, like U2, had some good early stuff, but his new stuff is complete shit.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
This is the scariest thing I have read so far....

While I agree that we need to focus on NK, I've already posted the only available answer. Threaten to nuke them from the 38th parallel to the Yalu if they ever take any significant military action against SK or Japan, whether conventional or non-conventional.

As for Condi, I agree with BRC that this is likely a means of taking the matter out of the hands of Rumsfeld. I completely disagree that Russia is not in need of our attention, but that is a red herring for this debate. The fact is, Iraq is in need of our withdrawal as soon as reasonably possible. But Iran and Syria/Lebanon need to feel our attention, so "as soon as reasonably possible" does not mean today or tomorrow.

To address a point made by the Larry David Experience, I don't think the analogy of the "cleaner" works. I used to be a cleaner of sorts for the government, though on a much more local level. My coworkers even called me the "sweeper" (true story). Ahh, easy jokes aside, the cleaner is not brought in to merely improve a situation incrementally. The cleaner is brought in to make it like the situation never existed in the first place. The boss says, do whatever you need to bring us back to the status quo we desire, but keep in mind that we want rational decisions here to minimize casualties and bad press.

The problem in Iraq was that they originally sold Bremer to us as being the guy with the authority to do what was needed. Then we start hearing that the military doesn't answer to him on many levels. Many of us scratched our heads and thought "they didn't do this to MacArthur in Japan, did they?"

Well, I think Condi Rice is being brought in on some level to edge Rummy out too. More than anything, they are giving cover to Bremer et al. to utilize the American resources in Iraq as he sees fit (though not in a tactical-combat sense).

They are being told to make this work. Generally, I'd have to think that they've determined that Rumsfeld's ideas have not been bought by the American public, whether they've worked or not. So they shift the focus, and maybe take the opportunity to highlight successes more often. If nothing else, it would certainly be reacting to concerns of people like me who are beginning to think things aren't moving along quickly enough in Iraq.

Hello

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
Many of us scratched our heads and thought "they didn't do this to MacArthur in Japan, did they?"

I thought bilmore was the only around here old enough to remember that.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
He, like U2, had some good early stuff, but his new stuff is complete shit.

Agreed. He stopped being relevant before he was appointed.

[sgtclub]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

[Vatican says scandal overblown]

[Tyrone Slothrop]

On finding Osama Bin Laden:
"We're going to hunt them down one at a time. . . it doesn't matter where they hide, as we work with our friends we will find them and bring them to justice."
--President George W. Bush, 11/22/02

On finding Saddam Hussein:
"We are continuing the pursuit and it's a matter of time before [Saddam] is found and brought to justice."
--White House spokesman McClellan, 9/17/03

On finding the senior White House official who blew Valerie Plame's cover as a CIA operative:
"I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official. I don't have any idea."
--President George W. Bush, 10/7/03

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by sgtclub
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

[Vatican says scandal overblown]

"The vast majority are generous pastors," said Sodano, 75, speaking in the ornate chambers of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. "Why should there be so much aggressiveness toward them, and so many unjust generalizations?"

You see, if the media were populated with conservatives, you wouldn't have nearly that kind of appreciation for irony. Be careful what you wish for.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Well, just in case they were not clear on the rules in place since 2001, Israel is putting them on notice. The following is a tiny quote from an article today:

>>Israel responded by saying a state that harbored "terrorist organizations" had no right to talk of self-defense<<

Sorry, no link, but its from Yahoo. It seems that *someone* has decided its now okay to clear out Israel's remaining hostile neighbor. This looks like it will get very interesting over the next few weeks.

If nothing else, I love that we can summarize a major tenet of our security policy in 13 words as noted above.

Hello