The Sick Carnival Game That Is Iraq

"I'm playing for October-November," Bush says. "To get us into a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable with maintaining a presence."

So forget all the talk of improving security, new alliances, and breathing space. Forget the shiny promise of bringing our men and women home if the situation improves.

It's all a lie.

Because all Bush cares about is playing. You know, what he does when he 'gets bored and goes down to the ranch.'

It's up to America to recognize the sick carnival game that Iraq has become. Mr. Bush will promise you the giant stuffed elephant on the top row ... but by the time you actually win it, you've paid more than it's worth.

Speaker Pelosi, it's time to impeach this irresponsible bastard and his vice-president. Indict them on criminal charges - of which we have several, provided you don't keep passing laws to excuse them.

Because our men and women in the military are not tokens on a game board, even in the worst of moments. And the pride of our nation must not be allowed to descend to being the stakes in a sick, twisted, immoral game being foisted on us by George W. Bush.

Oh, yes ... the Washington Post has a report that suggests the 'villages' which General Petraeus has been conducting his guided tours are a sham, with paint, windows, and doors hastily slapped on by soldiers, the shopkeepers paid $2,500 to open those doors - even if they have nothing to sell but dust and scraps.

What a surprise.

Not that it's a revelation, but we're again seeing the real meaning of 'listening to the commanders on the ground.' It's cherry-picking data until you find something that supports what you believe, and discarding the rest.

A couple of days ago, I made light of the NASA prediction that global warming would lead to more frequent and intense tornadoes. And I scoffed at the similar prediction from last year, that we would be seeing more frequent and intense hurricanes (the 2006 hurricane season was fairly unremarkable).

Dean and Felix both came in off the Gulf of Mexico as Category 5 storms, and, as of yesterday, Henriette was getting ready to slam into Baja - which would put two hurricanes on the same regional landmass at the same time.

It's entirely possible that we're seeing a pattern, but how do you draw significant meaning from data that has only been tracked for the last century or so?

So Senator Larry Craig has decided he doesn't really want to resign, and may fight to retain his seat. (God, that sounds horrible, given what kicked this whole thing off ...)

It still isn't about whether consenting adults decide to rendezvous in airport bathroom stalls.

It's about the sheer stupidity of a United States Senator pleading guilty to something solely because he wanted to make the charges go away.

This wasn't a speeding ticket, Senator. There's no trip to traffic school to expunge your record.

You went to court and you pled guilty. You cannot have backsies or claim King's X; the legal system doesn't work that way. You'd have to claim you pled under duress, or that new evidence has come to light.

I expect clueless, drunken slags like Paris Hilton to be blithely ignorant of the law, not U.S. Senators.

(Though if the Democrats keep handing away the shop, I'm either going to have to revise that opinion, or see if Paris wants to run for a senate seat.)

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