Pot Luck

I see the Vatican has just decided that unbaptized babies can now go to heaven. It's amazing that these men believe it is so, just because they say it.

It's been disclosed that the network hosting the emails involved in the US attorney firings was the same network that hosted Ohio's 2004 election results. The "...official" Secretary of State website -- which gave the world the presidential election results -- was redirected from an Ohio government server to a group of servers that contain scores of Republican web sites, including the secret White House e-mail accounts that have emerged in the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's firing of eight federal prosecutors." according to Alternet.org. And all we hear about is the "stolen election" in Nigeria. Why am I not surprised? And they wonder why people turn to the "alternate" media.
I recommend http://english.aljazeera.net and http://news.bbc.co.uk/ They cover America better than our MSM does.

So the White House Special Council is looking into potential violations of the Hatch Act which requires that all official communications must be preserved and that officials must not perform political duties while working. This because White House officials used a private email system hosted by the RNC (probably by the same guys mentioned above) for political communication from the White House and apparently used it for some official communication. Some say it was done to cover up political decisions regarding the US Attorney firings. Somehow I can't imagine the Bush White House knowing the difference between politics and policy.

So the U.S. Supreme Court has decided what kind of abortions doctors cannot use and this bunch of old farts doesn't hesitate to make such a decision. Even more appalling is that in the process Justice Anthony Kennedy opined that the court had to protect women from making bad decisions. What gall! What balls! What ignorance! What arrogance! Hello!!!! Women and their doctors are perfectly capable of deciding how to manage their reproductive health.


This week on muni: A #37 driver couldn't get the wheelchair pickup to work. She permitted the passenger to drive onto the plate and when she couldn't get it to work began yelling at the passenger. She even said, "Are you deaf?" I explained that he was obviously a quadraplegic and probably couldn't turn around. She finally got off her ass and walked three feet to explain that the passenger would need to wait for the next bus. She's the same driver who refuses to drive into the bus zone; stops in the line of traffic so passengers have to walk into the street to board. I think her driver number was 7170. Today I had a driver on the F-Market line who ran a red light and then a block later waited for a green light to turn red. He was looking right at it. I can't tell you his number because there wasn't one on his sleeve. And it's only Tuesday. But Nate Ford, the head of Muni says the worst of the trouble is over. I guess he just means the trouble with the Metro.


So it's Sego v Sarko in France. I understand Segolene Royal is considered an "empty suit" in France while Sarkozy is scary conservative. Not a good scenario. Of course countries don't elect male empty suits so why would they elect a female one? Right? On second thought maybe it won't be such a difficult decision. It would be nice to see France elect a woman.


Mary & Kevin Tillman and Jessica Lynch had to go to Washington to tell the truth about Pat Tillman's death in Afghanistan and Lynch's capture by the Iraqis. Too bad we can't depend on the chain of command to take care of that.


Will Fredo resign? Will W fire him? I don't see W firing him. He doesn't have the balls. And Fredo will hang on until the bitter end even though he is an embarrassment and will be a drag on his party during the '08 political races. Talk about clueless.

So, what do you think?

Sex Education Done the Right Way

Thanks to the Contra Costa Times for an informative article about how sex education should be done:

"Our Whole Lives, a joint product of Unitarian-Universalists and the United Church of Christ, has proved a popular draw at both churches. Executives could not provide an exact number of the churches that offer the program, but each has trained more than 1,000 teachers...

"Our Whole Lives stresses the value of abstinence, but unlike some faith-based programs, it also includes extensive discussions of birth control, safe sex practices and sexual orientation."

" Today, Unitarian and United Church of Christ youths from California and 12 other states will lobby their congressional representatives to free up more money for comprehensive sex ed programs in public schools."

It's about time we have a responsible approach to teaching children about reproduction. Kudos to the CC Times. Read the full article via the link above.

Firing of US Attorneys

Say what you will about bloggers but some of them are dogging this story to our advantage. Josh Micah Marshall is leading the way. Today he says,

"This isn't about the AG's lies. It's not about the attempted cover-up. It's not about executive privilege and investigative process mumbojumbo.

This is about using US Attorneys to damage Democrats and protect Republicans, using the Department of Justice as a partisan cudgel in the war for national political dominance. All the secrecy and lies, the blundering and covering-up stems from this one central fact."

Read his full post (link above) on Talking Points Memo. You might want to Bookmark his sight.

Josh seems to have more spine than the NY Times. Today's edition went way out of its way to avoid using the L word. An article by Eric Lipton and David Johnston reads, in part:

"An accumulating body of evidence is at odds with the statements of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales...

The conflicts between the documentary record and Mr. Gonzales’s version of events have contributed to an erosion of support for him in Congress...

The disparities are giving Democrats in Congress a rationale...

As attorney general, Mr. Gonzales has become a central figure, and increasingly, critics say, the emblem of ineptitude, in the swirl of contradictions, memory lapses and conflicting testimony that has defined the unfolding story behind the removal of the prosecutors.

Mr. Gonzales also said, more explicitly: “I never saw documents. We never had a discussion about where things stood.” This directly conflicts with documents released late Friday..."

What does Gonzales have to do to get the main stream media to call a spade a spade?

This is one of the reasons I turn to blogs for the real story these days. Main Stream Media (MSM) is way too skittish about legalities; much more so than our CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, Alberto Gonzales.

What is the real reason 8 U.S. Attorneys were fired?

Things we know to date:

a) Alberto Gonzales was talking with the White House in January 2005 about firing all of the U.S. Attorneys at a time when he was still the President's Council,

b) Alberto Gonzales was subsequently nominated to be Attorney General,

c) Gonzales has claimed he was opposed to firing all of the U.S. Attorneys and he swore to the Senate Judiciary Committee, in 2005, he would set aside politics and act a-politically as A.G.,

d) One of the fired U.S. Attorneys was apparently contacted by a Republican Senator and a Republican Congressmember about investigating Democrats in order to shore up that Congressmember's re-election campaign,

e) One of the fired U.S. Attorneys had successfully prosecuted a Republican Congressmember, sending him to prison, and was pursuing further action in the case,

f) One of the fired U.S. Attorneys was in Arkansas - where Sen. Hillary Clinton lived for many years. He was replaced by Karl Rove's assistant.

g) Karl Rove is the President's "political brain,"

h) The Patriot Act contained a little known provision permitting the White House to replace U.S. Attorneys without Senate confirmation, and

i) We know that the firings, although originally proposed in 2005, were pared to a more manageable number and actually completed in 2006-07.

Does this appear to constitute a LOT of coincidences? or

a) Was Alberto Gonzales appointed A.G. to ensure that the firings would happen at a strategically advantageous time and sufficiently prior to the '08 Presidential race to avoid speculation?

b) Was Karl Rove's assistant appointed to the Arkansas post in order to disrupt Sen. Clinton's '08
Presidential campaign efforts?

c) Were the other U.S. Attorneys replaced by people the White House knew would be helpful during the next Presidential race?

d) Did Alberto Gonzales ever stop representing the President? Does he understand that the Attorney General represents the people?

Just wondering...

Sentinels of Freedom help Wounded Warriors

The Sentinels of Freedom, founded in late 2003 by a father of three soldiers, is a non-profit that offers disabled service members comprehensive assistance to help ease the process of re-entering civilian life. And founder Mike Conklin, a resident of Danville CA and a realtor, told the Contra Costa Times (link above) that his employer, will help take the program national. "RE/MAX pledged to commit whatever it takes to cover all expenses for at least five years," said Sentinels co-founder Dan Coleman.

A quick review of Sentinels' website reveals their mission is: "...to provide life-changing opportunities for men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who have recently suffered severe injuries and now need the support of grateful communities to realize their dreams."

"...scholarship recipients receive housing, transportation, employment and education assistance, and are connected to a team of caring volunteers who provide guidance, mentoring and friendship during the four-year program."

"You get a financial planner, an educator, a doctor, a military officer, maybe someone from the clergy, all working together," Conklin said. "They basically walk at the person's side for four years."

The Army's Wounded Warrior program said they believe Sentinels is the first group of its kind. Tim Poch, their spokesman, told the CC Times, "Some groups help with jobs, some with housing, but (Sentinels) is the first that has offered an entire package." They've done some great things for several of our soldiers" he continued.

This looks like a great example of the private sector taking up the slack where our federal government fails to meet its obligation to take care of our troops.

If you have expertise, and a desire to help our wounded warriors, check out some of their success stories at http://www.sentinelsoffreedom.org, then call them at 888-888-9193.

Evangelicals slam torture, support green living

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), "the group that was run by Ted Haggard, the gay-prostitute-frequenting meth-buyer," which represents 30 million people, half of all evangelicals, (that's huge) "take a stand for something Jesus would do - oppose torture and embrace being a true steward of the earth" according to John Aravosis of AmericaBlog.

The more extreme elements of the religious right, tried to get the spokesman of NAE fired for issuing pro-environmental statements (link to Reuter's story above). At the same time "...Jerry Falwell has publicly questioned the science of global warming", Dr. James Dobson..."regards climate change as a distraction from issues such as abortion," and Carrie Gordon Earll, spokeswoman for Focus on the Family says, "We also agree that God's creation needs to be protected, but we disagree over whether global warming is man-caused and can be man-corrected."

I guess protecting "God's creation" is a matter of interpretation - but that's consistent; this bunch typically says one thing and does another - until now.

Does this mean civil war in the religious right?

How Can We Help the Troops?

I've heard many people criticize the Iraq War effort saying that the only people who have a stake in it are the troops who are actually fighting - and their families. I refuse to accept that and have found one way to make a difference:

The Semper Fi Fund, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, provides financial assistance to:

• Marines injured in combat and in training
• other service members injured while in direct support of Marine units
• their families to defray the expenses incurred during hospitalization, rehabilitation, and recovery.

Their goal "...is to alleviate the financial burden placed on the family so that their focus can be on their loved one's recovery."

I know that many of us expect the Pentagon and Veteran's Affairs Departments to provide such service but that isn't happening and we can bitch about it or we can do something about it. Here's what I suggest:

1. Let your congress member and senators know that you expect them to do something to change the situation, and meantime

2. Contribute to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (link to their website above). I'm sure we all know of someone in whose honor, or memory, we can make a cash contribution.

And there's one more thing you could do: if you live near a VA hospital - volunteer.

Vountourism: an idea whose time has come

Athough people have been spending their vacations volunteering for many years it is now the thing to do. It's called "voluntourism" and so many people are doing it that the Los Angeles Times features an article about it in today's edition (link to article above).

Kim Yoshino's story quotes "voluntourists" who've provided everything from physical labor for victims of Katrina to one San Franciscan who went to Africa on safari and spent two days at three orphanages "where he played with children and dropped off suitcases full of clothing."

Even Orbitz and Cheap Tickets are getting into the act: teaming up with United Way to launch a website today that will link travelers with volunteer opportunities all over the world. And although it isn't required, they're only too happy to make the travel arrangements for you. But even more telling is that United Way is on MTV, MySpace, FaceBook, and YouTube; offering travelers a mixture of "a good time with good deeds."

Voluntourism is here to stay and people of all ages are interested in doing something for others while doing something for themselves. It's about time.

For the life of me I don't understand why Ann Coulter is the darling of the ultra-conservative movement. I wouldn't want to be associated with her gratituitous fabrications. I realize that some find it acceptable to say or do anything to sell books but I think it speaks to the difference between right wing radicals and progressives: integrity and conscience. We have both, they have neither.

It's gratifying to see that Coulter is losing some advertisers as a result of her attacks on John Edwards but conservatives should take care not to get too close lest her smut rub off on them. As of this morning her website still carries an attack on David Bonior, Edwards' campaign manager: "It's always good to divert Bonior from his principal passtime which is fronting for Arab terrorists."

David Bonior is a respected former congressmember from Michigan and a person of high integrity. If Republican members of Congress, and more particularly Republican candidates for the Presidency, don't denounce her and take steps to divorce the Republican establishment from her, the Democratic Party should not hesitate to make note of the fact.

The Democratic Party should rethink its decision to air the first Presidential debates (in Nevada) on the Fox News Network - given their cozy relationship with Coulter. Their stated strategy: reaching conservative voters who rely on Fox for their political news coverage, exposes the candidates to unprincipaled commentators (read right wing hate mongers) who are likely to distort, if not outright lie about the content of the debate. I'm not sure it's worth the risk.

So Dick Cheney thinks Don Rumsfeld was one of the best Sec Def's the U.S. has ever had. Tell me, why would anybody believe anything Dick Cheney has to say given the myriad lies he has told over his 1-1/2 terms as V.P.? He's such a liar that it would laughable if not so tragic.

His lying and influence over the President contributed to, a) The invastion of Iraq and subsequent debacle (read occupation), b) his own enrichment via an improper and unethical relationship with his former employer, and c) a devestating energy policy written by the energy industry at his bidding and to the detrminent of our environment, and fiscal health.

I have thought for some time that he might be suffering from PTSD. I believe he was truly traumatized by the events of 9/11/01 and fearing that the bad guys were out to get him, descended into a paranoid state from whence he began to see the enemy everywhere.

I'd say it's time for Mr. Cheney got help from mental health professionals and, failing that, be brought up on charges. That's right, he should have to answer for his profligate lies and secretive dealings via impreachment proceedings. There is ample evidence to support charges and the American people have the right to be rid of him. And while I agree it may not be possible to get a conviction, given the makeup of the Senate, it is important that his nefarious activities be exposed and the administration stripped of any further plausible deniability. Sunlight cures many ills and this is one that could use a good dose of sunshine.

I am outraged that our President isn't outraged about the mess at Walter Reed. Building 18 should be shuttered and all vets moved away from there immediately. This is just one more example of the administration's incompetence and lack of care for the citizens of this country.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate, very much, how hard Secretary Nicholson is working and especially honor his willingness to talk candidly about the VA's need for more funding. But, he can't possibly do an adequate job unless his boss gives him the support he needs.

The Bush Administration is completely removed from the real world, the one we live in, and seemingly not interested in changing the situation: Our President picked a fight with a bully who wasn't threatening us, committed other's children to fight him, tried to do it on the cheap, and then had the audacity to neglect their care in the aftermath.

If you presented a work performance like that, what would your boss do? S/he would have long since demanded that you clean up your act or fired you. So, why hasn't that happened? Becuase those we hired to monitor his performance were 'sleeping' with him. We tried to head this train wreck off at the pass last November when we changed management in Congress but a ship the size of this country doesn't turn on a dime. It will take years to clean up this mess and, in the meantime, good men and women are paying a horrible price for the CEO's incompetence.

As I see it, the first priority is to get adequate care for the wounded troops caught in the middle of this mess. Some ideas: 1) close Building 18, 2) move all of the wounded to other facilities - private ones, if necessary, 3) provide them with everything they need to reintegrate into society, 4) don't even consider questioning their right to disability payment. Concurrently determine what is actually needed to put things right at Walter Reed and make it happen.

If all of this sounds expensive it's because it will be, and we simply have to suck it up and find the money. I would suggest a tax increase on the wealthy - you know, the ones who got a nice tax break a few years ago so they would invest capital and create jobs. The kinds of jobs that would, ostensibly, generate sufficient taxes to replace those the rich were excused from. It might have worked - eventually - if the CEO hadn't, concurrently, given his buddies a fire-sale price on government.

I just have a few questions for you, Mr. President. Where's your outrage? Why aren't you demanding accountability? What are you going to do to protect the troops you're so willing to send into harm's way? Oh, and DON'T SEND AND MORE TROOPS INTO HARM'S WAY!!!

Step up to the plate, Mr. President. If you really admire Harry Truman model his favorite saying, "The buck stops here."

In case you missed the interview, John Edwards recently stated that "Don't ask, don't tell" doesn't work and that if he were president he would repeal it. When asked whether he would permit gay and lesbian people to serve openly in the U.S. military he answered, "yes."

When asked whether he believes in equal marriage for gay people he said, "no." He explained that although he believes that gay people should have access to civil unions, his upbringing as a Southern Baptist has rendered him "not there" on equal marriage. I disagree with him but respect his honesty.

Those are some of the reasons I am supporting his bid for the Democratic nomination for President at this time. Other reasons?

1) He has a universal healthcare plan. I would prefer single payer but he, at least, has a plan,
2) He has a comprehensive plan for ending the war in Iraq,
3) He created the "One Corps" which enlists Democrats to take action locally; to make change locally; not to wait for the next Presidential election to turn the country around,
4) He is not afraid to answer questions directly even when the answer may not be favored by many people (see above),
5) He has integrity.

I encourage you to choose a candidate and support him/her. Some of us may switch our support to different candidates before the Democratic Convention next year but if we want to have the best possible candidate representing us in the general election we need to get involved now before someone sucks up all the contribution money and buys the nomination.

So, Tim Hardeway hates "gays." I wouldn't care what he thinks if he didn't have a soapbox from which to bash people like myself. Because he does, I choose to use my own soapbox to say to him,

Tim, in my experience we hate most in others that which we fear most in ourselves. Are you hiding from something in yourself? Just a thought...

For those who haven't seen the story, Tim Hardeway stated on a Miami radio show that he hates gays, and he repeated it, apparently in response to former NBA player John Amaechi coming out.

You can get the story at: http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_045205258.html or wait long enough and it will hit the national news.

So, our Mayor dipped his wick in the company inkwell. Crude, I know, but true. I guess it means he's not perfect after all. Go figure.

Actually I was just reading C.W. Nevius' column in the Saturday 2/3/07 Chron titled, "Unforgivable breach of Man Code." I'd like to suggest an alternative headline: "Unforgivable breach of Cave Man Code."

Apparently men all over the Bay Area are bent out of shape because our Mayor had the temerity to have sex with his buddy's wife. They aren't concerned about Ruby (the wife), or about whether it was a relationship between consenting adults. They're simply outraged because Alex Tourk's manhood was called into question. How? Our Mayor breached Cave Man ettiquette by trespassing on Tourk's property. Yep, that's right, his property: his wife.

Come on guys, lighten up. Get over yourselves. It's the 21st Century. Consenting adults have relationships all the time. Some of them are illicit and the fallout can be messy but unless a minor or subordinate was victimized we should be able to chaulk it up to bad judgment on the part of both parties and get on with life.

As for the Rippy-Tourks, what they need is some privacy so they can try to repair their relationship. What say we give it a rest? Move on to issues of import and relevance to the lives of San Franciscans. You know, stuff like a) Why don't we have Wi-Fi yet? b) What's happening with SFPD's overhaul? c) What's the plan for getting these potholes filled? d) How are we going to pay for healthcare for 82,000 people? e) What can I do to help reduce global warming?

I know, it requires that we behave like adults and that's a stretch for some of us. But I have confidence that, given healthy alternatives by the press (both print & electronic), Bay Area adults will find much more important issues to concern themselves with.

Here's the elephant in the room: we need healthcare NOT insurance.

Nobody will acknowledge that there's something ghoulish about making a profit from illness and that healthcare should be the right of every American, even though providing it would solve the biggest economic problem of the middle and working classes, and wipe out more than half of the country's bankruptcies.

In the 1940s Henry J. Kaiser offered healthcare coverage to attract workers because we were at war and needed to build ships. It worked. Sixty years later the world has changed and tying healthcare to one's job no longer works. It's time for the federal government to step up to the plate and solve the problem by expanding Medicare. The administrative savings alone would likely yield sufficient revenues to provide comprehensive healthcare services including vision, dental, and prescription drugs to everybody in the country.

But, you argue, The market place is the best provider of such services - except that flies in the face of the obvious: if that were true, it would already have happened. The fact is, "market forces" can't handle the job. Administrative costs for Medicare are less than 2% while the insurance industry causes up to 1/3 of revenues to be spent on same.

Compare: The Austrian government spends 9.6% of its GDP on healthcare and everybody in the country is covered. We spend 15% of our GDP on healthcare and 47 million of us have NO healthcare. I am convinced that by expanding Medicare to cover everybody the cost of healthcare in the U.S. could be provided for about 10% of our GDP.

The pols and corporate community still don't get it - or they just don't have the guts to do what's right. Talk truth to power: a) Remind the insurance industry that causing 1/3 of revenues to be spent on administrative costs has priced them out of the market, b) Acknowledge that single payer healthcare is NOT socialized medicine.

With single payer healthcare every American would still choose their favorite doctor, hospital, dentist and drugstore - each of whom would continue to operate independently. The only difference? They would receive payment from one source rather than from 50 (or more) sources. The cost savings would be HUGE.

The time has come. America needs single payer healthcare and there no longer exists any logical argument against it.

Well, well, well. It seems that Iraq has begun diplomatic talks with Iran against the wishes of the U.S. And they're sending their Foreign Minister to Syria for diplomatic talks. It would seem that Iraq's new Govt. knows more about diplomacy than the Bush administration.

The LA Times is reporting today that the Iraqi Govt. is demanding the U.S. release five Iranis they captured in Irbil saying that they (Iraq) have been working to designate the Irbil location as a consulate. Apparently Kurdistan depends on Irani tourists to support its economy. The U.S. insists that the Iranis are from the Revolutionary Guard and have been importing bomb parts for use in attacking American troops.

It appears that Iran's Revolutionary Guard controls the border between Iraq & Iran and anyone wanting to do business with Iran has to deal with them. Further, "Iraq's Kurds share a storied history with the Revolutionary Guard, fighting side by side against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War." says the article in the LA Times. They further report Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad saying, "There cannot be and there should not be relations with security institutions of neighboring states that work against the interests of this new Iraq."

So the U.S. has gotten on the wrong side of Iraq because of its paranoid fear of anything Irani, and because when it says that Iraq is running the show and we're supporting them, it really means that the U.S. is running the show and Iraq had better step in line. Or, to put the best possible face on it, Iraq's interests are different from the U.S.'s.

I guess it proves one should be careful what they ask for, they might get it: A democratic, independent Iraq.

I've been stewing ever since the Prez spoke to the American people Wednesday night. He seemed tentative, sad, defeated - definitely not in a frame of mind to be insisting that "the way forward" is to add 21,500 more troops to the mix.

I suspect he finally realizes he's painted himself (and us) into a corner. He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't escalate. Democrats, and increasingly greater numbers of Republicans, condemn him for putting even more American troops in harms way while the 30% of Americans who still support him believe that redeploying our troops would be an admission of defeat, and uacceptable.

Here are some questions it has raised in my mind. Is he saying:
a) To Maliki, Get your act together by November because if you don't we're out of here,
b) To us, Don't look behind the curtain (at Iraq), look over here at Iran where I just might invade,
c) To himself, I've got to find a way to salvage this mess so I'll give Iraq one last chance and then I can say that I've tried everything and the Iraqis hate each other more than they want 'freedom,'
d) All of the above.

Whatever the answer, it appears that the administration is turning to some of the skeptics who left Iraq in 2003 disillusioned by the direction the "reconstruction" was taking. The Washington Post is reporting, today, that Timothy Carney, a retired American Ambassador, has received a call from David Satterfield, the State Dept's Iraq coordinator asking whether he'd be willing to go back to Baghdad as the overall coordinator of the U.S. reconstruction effort.

It "represents a fundamental shift in the Bush administration's approach to stabilizing the country" says the article by Rajiv Chandrasekaran . Ryan Crocker (Ambassador designate) and David Petraeus, widely acknowledged to be one of the best military minds America has today, were skeptics, as well. Yet Crocker is returning to Iraq from his posting in Afghanistan, and Gen. David Petraeus is taking over command of "all coalition forces in Iraq" at a time when our backs are to the wall and there are no good choices.

Carney, Crocker & Petraeus may make as strong a team as this administration could put together at this stage. But will it be too little, too late?

It strikes me that the "surge" is not just a Hail Mary pass but the President's last best effort to save his legacy. I hope he's right.

It's official: conservatives are deserting the sinking ship like rats. In fact all six NY Times columnists (both liberals and conservatives) now agree "it's over." This may be a first: Brooks, Krugman, Friedman, Dowd, Kristof, and Rich are all against escalation of the war in Iraq. Plus, George Will, in today's Washington Post says that a surge is too little too late. But even richer, Oliver North opposed the idea in his syndicated column on Friday (I know, who knew he had one?).

It makes Nancy Pelosi's appearance on Face the Nation, yesterday, even more powerful. Madam Speaker laid out the NEW rules: If the President wants to escalate the war he will have to justify it to Congress. No more blank checks. You can watch her interview at cbsnews.com.

But check out George Will's column at washingtonpost.com. He says that a surge recalls the Vietnam policy of Robert MacNamara and Gen. Westmoreland and recommends Bush move toward Mel Laird and Creighton Abrams' strategy: phased withdrawal of U.S. troops along with economic aid and increased numbers of advisers. Frankly I'm not sure that even that will save Iraq.

An aggressive economic reconstruction project should have been launched immediately after Baghdad was taken in April 2003. It might have forestalled the sectarian violence providing we had resisted the urge to debathify the country as well.

But there may not be anything, at this stage, that can turn this sow's ear into a silk purse. Still I'll keep my fingers crossed that W has an epiphany and comes to Jesus - sorry I just couldn't resist the religious reference given Bush's mesianic approach to the Presidency.

Today is historic: Nancy Pelosi will become the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives. I plan to watch the entire day of festivities on television.


I confess I am a fan of hers: have enthusiastically voted for her at every opportunity and in 1991, when my son was in Iraq with Desert Storm, I'm proud to say, I volunteered in Speaker (to be) Pelosi's district office here in San Francisco. I worked on constituent issues and found her staff to be every bit as caring as she.


Don't mistake the Speaker's well publicized ventures to be stumbles or mistakes. She is very bright and seldom does anything that hasn't been thoroughly thought out, eg,


a) She knew that Jack Murtha couldn't win the party leadership post he coveted but she wanted to support a loyal colleague while making a statement. Murtha is known for his outspoken call for redeployment of our troops out of Iraq and Nancy agrees with him. Her support for his candidacy simply highlighted that support and signaled that getting us out of Iraq is at the top of her agenda. Nancy Pelosi didn't get where she is without being able to count votes.


b) Her decision not to enact full bipartisan processes before the six in '06 are enacted makes sense: until the House has re-established civility it wouldn't be productive to open every piece of legislation to full participation. Her edict that the House will work a five day week is intended to restore civility while giving the American voters their money's worth. She envisions a House like the one we had under Tip O'Neill; when members lived in Washington, socialized together, became friends, and recognized their commonalities as well as their differences.


Don't let the MSM lead you around by the nose. Pay attention to events as they unfold and interpret them through your own filters. You'll be better for it - have a fuller understanding of events and avoid the heartburn that can result from listening to the chattering class.

Gerald Ford was a thoroughly decent man; perhaps the last of the REAL Republican Presidents. My favority Jerry Ford quote: "There can be no justice without mercy, no peace without forgiveness." It explained his decision to pardon Richard Nixon.


Too bad the citizens of Iraq can't/won't internalize and live the sentiment. Unfortunately "we" have so thoroughly f***ed them up that the Shiites can only see revenge and the Sunis still think they're the majority.

Somebody do something before W sends more troops over there to be killed. It feels like it did before Nixon went into Cambodia and I don't know whether we can survive the loss of tens of thousands more of our men & women to a small man's ego. Use your telephone, email, or snail mail and demand that your Congressmembers stop him!