The More Things Change

As the neocons rage about a "lost" Iraq, some of us remember how we were lied into that war by Cheney-Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld, McCain and the gang, including The New York Times, and some of us obviously don't.

Before we go all goofy with the USA! USA! chant, and more stupid country songs about how tough we are, perhaps we should pause and consider the events of June-August 1914.

A whole bunch of smart people, many of whom were related to each other, somehow managed to get their countries into a war that none of them anticipated, killed off a generation of Europeans, started the Russian Revolution, created random boundaries throughout the Middle East, and sowed the seeds of Fascism.

Which led directly to the Spanish Civil War, and World War II.

Other than that things worked out pretty well.

When I was a mere youth, there was a best selling book entitled "The Best and the Brightest". It was all about the really smart people who initially got us mired in Vietnam. Because they were so sure of their superior intelligence, they arrogantly ignored history and every single warning sign. No matter what, they were certain they could think their way out of trouble. Think and/or bomb...

Now, no book about the Cheney-Bush years could possibly be called the best and the brightest--not even in jest. But the results were the same.

And so we find ourselves in what looks like a lose-lose situation, with no clear solution. Partition Iraq? Okay, that would make the Kurds happy, but who gets the oil? What about Iran and Saudi Arabia? They'll have something to say about it. And what about our "friends" in Israel and the Palestinians? Most of us would probably be happy to sit back and watch the Shias and Sunnis kill each other off. After all, they've been doing it for over 1000 years. Why not finish the job? Of course, that could easily spill over into Egypt, Turkey, and all of the 'stans'. And that means Russia and China and India all conceivably have skin in the game.

Considering everything, I think we are very lucky that we have a cautious, intelligent man in charge, and not a hair trigger cowboy nitwit.

 

Please, Just Go Away

Dick Cheney, aka The Dark Lord, and his daughter, Liz, who isn't a lesbian, and, truth be told, not much of a sister either, but who was a laughable failure as a senatorial candidate, have spoken out, for the umpteenth time, about what they perceive to be the abject failure of President Obama's foreign policy.

By failure they mean ol Barack hasn't gotten us into any wars. Indeed, he's gotten us out of the Cheney-Bush wars, and not gotten us into wars with Iran or Syria. And for an old chickenhawk like Dick Cheney, that's a sign of weakness.

It's strange, you know, a guy who got so many deferments, the infamous "other priorities", to avoid service in Vietnam, being such a cheerleader for war. But then, most of those neo-cons are like that, aren't they? Where's dear old Freud when we really need him?

Dear Dick (and Liz), it's time to face the facts. No one who matters cares what you think. About anything. God knows you had your chances. With numbnuts in the White House you and your buddies got to run the country for a few years. And you were wrong about everything*. You fucked it up completely. So, shut the fuck up, OK? Take the big Halliburton payout, load up the old Holland and Holland, and go shoot something. Or someone. But please, just go away.


*wrong about everything is a registered trademark of the Cheney family.

I Give Up

The other day I was walking into the local burrito/taco place, and there were two 20 somethings seated outside, happily smoking away.

You know, it's been, what 50 years or so, since we started realizing that smoking was really, really bad for you. Cancer, emphysema, all those fun things.

And yet, with all the medical evidence, not to mention all of the deaths, people still choose to smoke. Nobody puts a gun to their heads. They just do it.

A friend who has some experience with these sort of things told me many years ago that nicotine was harder to quit than heroin. OK. But people do quit both. Better to not start either, right?

Of course, it does take a certain amount of effort and willpower. More or less depending upon the person. Still, if you really want to do something, you will usually find a way to do it.

So if we really wanted to do something about the proliferation of guns in America, we would.

We'd get rid of all the politicians who are in the NRA's pocket. Every last one.

And we'd demand that their replacements do something. Not talk about doing something. Not join in the prayer vigils for all of the slaughtered innocents and wring their hands about the tragedy of it all. No.

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Then we'd laugh Wayne "A Gun Is A Tool And So Am I" LaPierre, and all the crazies who love guns more than life itself, right out of the public arena. Marginalize those halfwits.

But, of course, it's easier not to, so...

Some Lovely Parting Gifts

It appears that Donald Sterling, part time slumlord, full time racist, will be forced by the NBA to sell the Los Angeles Clippers for TWO BILLION dollars to one of those multi-billionaires who infest our poor, benighted nation.

Said billionaire is paying more than twice what the franchise was valued at by Forbes magazine.

This will no doubt teach Sterling, and all the other owners of professional sports teams, a very valuable lesson:

There's a rich sucker born every minute. And no matter how badly you screw up, one of them will come along and bail you out...

Since Don is apparently suffering from the onset of dementia, (karma anyone?), his wife Shelly, a woman who has set the bar incredibly high in the category of looking the other way, will handle all of the details of the sale.

You are an evil, disgraceful person and for your "punishment" you get to walk away with $2 billion.

This is the most compelling justification I can think of for estate taxes.

Crazy White Men With Guns

No, it's not the next Quentin Tarantino movie. It's the country we live in.

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

"My right to own as many guns and as much ammo as I can afford trumps you and your kids right to safety."

So sayeth that towering intellect, Libertarian Republican sage Joe the Plumber. Because...uh...Black Panthers?

And Fox News agrees.

So that settles it.