Supporting the Troops: No College For You!

post from The Liberal Journal on 05 October 2007 11:24:00 AM. © The Liberal Journal

Supporting the troops Bush-style:

Stay in Iraq, No Body Armor, Exposure to Depleted Uranium, Denial of Gun Rights when You Get Home (if you have PTSD).

Now we can add Denying College Benefits to that list:

When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit. The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush's surge.

1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.

"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."

Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.

Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.

"Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said.

Make no mistake, this is the Military-Industrial Complex at work. This decision is about keeping the cashflow to the Blackwaters, KBRs, Dyncorps, et al. The MIC doesn't give 2 shits about the troops. The money that could go to them goes to the Blackwaters of the world. "Supporting the troops" was never was more than a $1.49 yellow magnetic ribbon at the local gas station.

Read The Full Article:
http://liberaljournal.blogspot.com/2007/10/supporting-troops-no-college-for-you.h
tml

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Iraq: Not The President

post from TalkLeft on 05 October 2007 11:24:00 AM. © TalkLeft

Ezra Klein wrote a great piece taking apart the very silly Roger Cohen's lament that "liberal hawks" like himself are misunderstood. They are NOT neocons Cohen insists. Ezra responded:

This shouldn't be necessary to say, but increasingly, it seems like the only point worth making to the commentariat. American politics isn't about you. It's not about your ideas, or your personal vision of the world, or your purity. . . . It is the impact of your ideas, and your commentary, that matters. . . . Here's why: Roger Cohen is not president. George W. Bush is. And until Roger Cohen's foreign policy vision integrates itself with an understanding of American power, and how ideas interact with the current administration, he is, effectively, a neoconservative, or, worse, an enabler of the neoconservatives who's able to advocate for their policy agenda without needing to answer for their failures.

(Emphasis supplied.) Great stuff. But it is worth asking this question - are progressive pundits, progressive blogs, and progressive activists considering how their "ideas interact with the current administration?" I think not. There is precious little discussion from most about the fact that the only way to stop the Bush Administration's Iraq Debacle is to not fund it after a date certain. So either they are of the view that NOTHING can stop the Iraq Debacle while Bush is President (and if they think so, they should say so), or they are just as guilty of the narcissism Klein accuses Cohen of. Moreover, while George Bush will not be President after January 2009, neither will Ezra Klein or any other progressive pundit, blogger or activist. More.

Let's assume for a moment that in fact there is nothing that can be done to stymie Bush while he is President and that the Iraq Debacle will continue and that we will continue to live under the threat that Bush may springboard an attack on Iran through the Iraq Debacle. And we just hold our breaths and wait it out until January 2009.

Consider for a moment what appear to be the most likely scenarios for what we will see in January 2009. A Congress slightly more Democratic. And either a Hillary Clinton presidency or a Giuliani, Thompson or Romney presidency. How will the ideas of progressive pundits, blogs and activists "interact with the current Administration?" Are we confident that a Clinton Administration that may include a Michael O'Hanlon and preoccupied with reelection in 2012 will end the Iraq Debacle? We surely do not expect a Republican Administration to "lose Iraq" do we?

The impact of our ideas, writings and activism on the "current Administration" (whenever "current" may be) is important to consider. But what about our impact on the "current" Congress? Why no consideration of that? Why no consideration of the role Congress SHOULD play? Why no pressure on Congress to carry out its Constitutional duty? And why not now? Will we "wait out" Bush only to realize that there will be a new President we have to "wait out?"

No, the time is now to try and pressure those who MAY "interact" with our ideas. Standing silent now while the Congress continues to fund Bush's Iraq Debacle is not an option.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/165725435/286

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Hope Dim Two Years After Disappearance

post from IraqSlogger.com on 05 October 2007 11:23:06 AM. © IraqSlogger.com

BAGHDAD, Rayhan Nasir, 24, is losing hope after two years spent searching for his father, who disappeared on his way home from work.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/4558

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Obama's New Ad

post from The Liberal Journal on 05 October 2007 11:14:00 AM. © The Liberal Journal

This ad is really, really good, reinforcing Obama's main campaign theme:

Read The Full Article:
http://liberaljournal.blogspot.com/2007/10/obamas-new-ad.html

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Edwards Launches Four-Day, 17-County "Take A
Stand" Tour Focusing On Iraq, Ending Abuses By Military Contractors

post from John Edwards for President: Full-site Feed on 05 October 2007 11:14:00 AM. © John Edwards for President: Full-site Feed

Trip Will Also Highlight Grassroots Strength of Campaign with Important Endorsements

Des Moines, Iowa – Today, Senator John Edwards launched a four-day "Take a Stand" tour across Iowa to highlight his bold stands on the issues that matter most to the American people. During the trip, Edwards will visit 17 counties to talk to caucus goers and answer their questions about his specific plans for change, including his plans to end the war and stop the abuses by security contractors in Iraq. From ending the war in Iraq to guaranteeing universal health care to revitalizing rural America, Edwards has proposed big, bold ideas to change our country and build One America. The four-day trip will also highlight the grassroots strength of Edwards' campaign, with important organizational announcements along the way.

"Our country faces big challenges and we need more than rhetoric and half measures to meet them," said Edwards. "We need big, bold change – and the starting place for change is in Iraq. Last November, the American people voted for real change in Iraq, but instead the president has refused to change course. Congress needs to stand firm against President Bush and not send him any funding bill than does not include a timeline for withdrawal. No timeline, no funding. No excuses."

Edwards has outlined a plan to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home to the heroes' welcome they deserve. He believes that in order to get the Iraqi leaders to take responsibility for their country, we must show them that we are serious about leaving, and the best way to do that is to actually start leaving. Edwards would immediately withdraw 40,000 to 50,000 combat troops and require the complete withdrawal of all combat troops within the next nine to ten months. He would also step up U.S. diplomatic efforts by engaging in direct talks with all the nations in the region, including Iran and Syria, to bring a political solution to the sectarian violence inside Iraq, including through a peace conference.

Edwards is also outlining his new plan to put an end to the abuses by private security contractors in Iraq. The Bush Administration's outsourcing of security tasks to private industry and political cronies, combined with its poor management and oversight, has led directly to disasters like the recent tragedy involving a convoy operated by Blackwater, an independent contracting firm that was involved in a firefight in Baghdad that left at least eight Iraqi civilians dead. The actions of Blackwater have damaged America's moral standing in the world.

As president, Edwards will end our current system of outsourcing security missions to private contractors. He will fundamentally reform our system for security contractors by restoring democracy to our military decisions about the war, expanding the rule of law, ensuring accountability by placing all personnel under clear operational command, and eliminating cronyism from the system of contract procurement. For more information on Edwards' plan, please click here for the fact sheet.

Read The Full Article:
http://johnedwards.com/iowa/20071005-take-a-stand-tour/

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Hoyer Postpones FISA Roll-out

post from Open Left - Front Page on 05 October 2007 11:10:29 AM. © Open Left - Front Page

Good news.Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, postponed a press conference[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/165741915/showDiary.do

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Good

post from Eschaton on 05 October 2007 11:03:00 AM. © Eschaton

Suck on this, Steny.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, postponed a press conference announcing new reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after progressive lawmakers banded together and said they would fight any legislation that did not include a set of eight principles on wiretapping that preserve the "rule of law."

"What's most significant is that the Progressive Caucus came together and said to the leadership that all 72 of us require that these provisions be included," said Caroline Fredercikson, Legislative Director for the American Civil Liberties Union. "This changes the dynamic significantly."

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/bRuz/~3/165740272/2007_09_30_archive.html

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A Convenient Force

This is actually a rather good point by Rich Lowry: Without suggesting any moral equivalence (obviously), al-Qaeda and the United States can be seen as having had a race in Iraq over who would most thoroughly alienate the Sunni tribes....[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2007/10/a-convenient-fo.html

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Mikes Blog Round Up

Hello, everybody, Steven of The Opinion Mill here. It’s been quite a week filling in for Mike on this Blog Roundup thing, and frankly I’m getting a little misty-eyed at the thought that it will soon be over. After Saturday, I’ll be opening a good bottle of red and sipping it slowly while a recording [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/05/mikes-blog-round-up-471/

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