The most depressing thing about blogging is watching so-called “citizen journalists” turn in to little more than easily offended partisan hacks. Any remark that is slightly less than completely and totally scripted and can give the slightest opportunity to offend some delicate soul somewhere is used to set off a series of partisan screeches and cries of outrage that would make the Church Lady jealous. The latest scandal that has the right venting their collective spleens are the remarks by Barack Obama:
OBAMA: We ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged and to which we have now spent $400 billion and has seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.
Of course, the usual suspects are pretending this is a slam at the troops. I’m not even going to bother linking to the fools, so you can just take a wild guess who has their knickers in a twist about this gaffe.
Obama, when confronted with the comments, rephrased his remarks (link via Reason) to please the net nannies (who really don’t give a shit about Iraq, or, I have come to conclude, the soldiers in Iraq, but who are really, really exercised about the political implications of Iraq):
Obama tells the Des Moines Register he regrets using the term “wasted” and what he meant to say was “those sacrifices have not been honored by the same attention to strategy, diplomacy and honesty on the part of civilian leadership that would give them a clear mission.”
Pretty much. If you think, as I do, that this administration has bungled Iraq in every way possible, and that we are now in a chaotic situation in which the options range from awful to terrible, to state that we have wasted the lives of thousands of Americans, tens of thousands of Iraqis, and billions of billions of dollars should not only not be construed as a grievous assault on the sacrifice of our troops, but it should be self-evident.
So maybe that is Obama’s real sin- he stated the obvious, and the obvious is a threat to the political ambitions of the GOP and their blogosphere hacks/supporters. We have wasted a lot of lives and lot of money, and Barack is on the hot seat for stating that publicly.
And a quick aside on Obama- I loved his wife on the 60 Minutes episode. She just seemed so normal, and, well, likable. As a former smoker, I laughed out loud when she told the American public to all her if they catch her jusband smoking.
jg
No matter what you say they will twist it. Gotta feed the base. They want to hear that Obama isn’t electable. And we all know that electablility is all that matters to the right. Competence at your job is secondary at best.
Zifnab
You’ve got to keep that “Democrats Hate the Troops” meme running or it goes cold. Kerry hates the troops because he was in Vietnam and can’t tell a joke. Clinton hates the troops because he wasn’t in Vietnam and tried to cut the pork out of defense spending. Now Obama hates the troops because he thinks this war was a waste.
Wars are never a waste. Someone, somewhere is buying a three story yaht because of this war, and to say otherwise offends the memories of those brave dead 20-year-olds we sent out into the desert.
Eural
Dead-on John, the unrepentent supporters of this debacle will twist anything to defend their abdication of civic duty (you know, oversight, skepticism, looking out for the best interests of country and citizen not the Party). Hearing the truth hits them in that dark, unlit corner of their souls called the conscience.
Reminds me of a quote I once heard somewhere – “the truth will set you free, but first it will make you really really angry.”
Andrew
A quote from a Resaon commenter:
carpeicthus
Boy, “bravest young Americans” sure is an insult.
Bubblegum Tate
Hmmm, I dunno…Obama sounds pretty shrill there, huh?
The Other Steve
I don’t think Malkin quite understands that the “Democrats hate the troops” meme is going to be a failure with teh voters in 2008.
I also suspect the usual suspects are going to be pretty angry when Bush withdraws troops in early 2008.
The Other Steve
Especially that followup. It just confirmed that he also eats babies.
Jimmmm
Poor fright-wingers. Scared shitless of Obama, and because computers now get the Internets, they can’t use the “N”-word, even in each other’s company.
The Other Andrew
I think this is one of the largest psychological hurdles America has to overcome: when considering all the blood and treasure we’ve spent on this war, it’s natural to not want to believe that it all means nothing, or that it’s even making things worse. I think the fear/reality that our troops really are dying for nothing is the only thing that’s keeping some of the war supporters from seeing reality. When they have that realization, the war will truly be dead, in terms of public support.
Bubblegum Tate
Oh, naturally. I mean, I thought that was just a given. You can’t become a Democratic candidate without eating babies. Duh.
I’m sure the hypersensitive “if I disagree with you, then you have insulted teh tr00pz!” wingnut faction–the Malkins and Noonans and RedStaters of the world–are ecstatic at the support the Bush administration is providing. Bush luh da soljahs!
Richard Bottoms
A year from now Iraq will still be in ruins, only then 4,000 soliders will be dead. We don’t need anyone who needs Michelle Malkin to vote for Obama, nor would they in any case. As I told John a year before the vote in 2006, not only do we don’t need his vote, we don’t want it.
Once a Republican, always a Republican as far as voting is concered. There will always be a McCain or a Gulliani who will say to moderate Republicans they would never overturn Roe v. Wade and pretend they aren’t radical loons and as soon as they are elected they start pandering to Pat Robertson. Fuck em.
Fear of fags and Swift Boats won’t work with Democrats anymore and independents have seen Katrina and Teri Schiavo.
All we need are true independents and Democrats who were fool enough to believe George Bush’s hogwash in 2000 to win, screw the rest. They will only desert us down the road.
Keifus
[net nannies]
I’m going to go out on a limb here and assert that this phrase probably applies pretty well to Sen. Obama himself, at least on a relative scale of giving a shit. Disappointing to see the man back down from the obvious and necessary like that.
K
Tom
Why is she worried about his smoking? According to her, he’s in danger of being shot for pumping gas while black.
Jake
So, Obama says something. The rightwingy thingies get a big knot in their panties. He comes back with a remark that is an even clearer slam on their fearless leader.
This is going to be amusing … like the Monty Python bit where the professional boxer fights a 12 year old girl.
Sam Hutcheson
As I told John a year before the vote in 2006, not only do we don’t need his vote, we don’t want it.
On a site where comments are far too often dominated by the idiotic ramblings of Darrell you have managed the rather difficult task of posting a contender for “stupidest thing I’ve read in Balloon-Juice’s comments section.”
We need John, and the guy just to the right of John, and the guy just to the right of him, on and on until we run up against the last possible convert to reason and rationality, not in order to build a just-enough-to-win electoral margin, but because we need the citizenry to be engaged, reasonable and rational. Stop being an ass and stop being an impediment to meaningful dialogue.
Zifnab
We need good, solid, honest left-wing candidates. If Pelosi does start drinking from the public trough and Hillary goes all weak-kneed in the face of public opinion and Reid lets the Republicans walk all over him in the Senate, then all this was for nothing. I don’t want to vote out a bunch of right-wing cowards and crooks for a bunch of left-wing cowards and crooks.
That’s why Hillary doesn’t win my vote. She’s the left-wing’s John McCain. I don’t trust her to have a spine in the face of big money or big stupid (ie the media). And its why John Edwards does. I’m still out on Obama.
Pb
From The American Heritage Dictionary:
From Obama:
Obama 1, Hacks -1.
Mike S
Deflect has been the MO of the gasbags on the right for years and years now. They look for a word or sentence that they can highlight in order to stop talking about an issue that hurts them.
That’s why we see the approval ratings of the GOP dying more and more every day.
RSA
I think that the attacks are only going to become more virulent. The unstated implication behind Obama’s “wasted” lives line is what General Odom wrote on Sunday in the Post:
Eventually people will have to face the idea that we’re losing the war in Iraq, and that given all the constraints we’re under, the outcome is probably inevitable. Some people are going to fight that idea with everything they have. (The loudest ones, of course, wouldn’t consider real fighting in Iraq; it’s the battle of ideas that’s more important to them.)
Richard Bottoms
I didn’t create this mess. His party, his president, his philosophy did and now 3,100 soliders and thousands of Iraqis are DEAD because of it. As a person he shares in all my appreciation for another living being. As as Republican he has my complete distain and utter contempt as all Republicans do.
I am perfectly happy with a disallusioned, demoralized John because it means he either stays home or pulls the lever for Republicans only at the point of retching.
The fag bashing, anti-science, anti-woman, anti-equality cro-magnon right wing theocratic assholes who make up the modern Republican party need to be driven from office at every level possible and made to be a permanent minorty political choice.
We need to crush the Republicans, drive their moderates out to be replaced by Democrats so that their right wing crazies will be even more obvious.
Zifnab
Listen, I hate to break this to you, but the Republicans do have one valid criticism aimed at the Dems. Most of the shit they pull is just a cranked up version of what the Dems were doing 20 years ago. There’s a reason Democrats were swept from office in ’94 – real, legitimate complaints that people had about corruption and mismanagement.
Republicans just lied their way into office and made the problems worse. They didn’t invent the military-industrial complex. They didn’t invent frivalous spending. They didn’t invent kick-backs and graft and K-street.
We need people like John because people like John were the ones who voted these guys in on the assumption that they were going to end this unethical shit. People like John quit the party when modern Republicans turned into everything they despised in the Democrats. People like John are still in the party, trapped in the echo chamber of lies and bullshit. These are good guys who’ve been getting very, very bad information, and we need them to fix the problem everyone is now sitting in.
So Sam has the right idea. Get John. Get the guy to the right of John. Get everyone who believes in sane, honest, legal government. Because this situation is a total mess and we’re going to need alot of people to help clean it up.
John D.
Bullshit.
Once you start blaming a group for the actions of a few, you’re engaging in the exact same behavior as they are (have you forgotten the treason accusations thrown about for the crime of having a (D) after one’s name). Admittedly, the effects of your tirade aren’t 3000+ dead soldiers, but the principle is the same.
Not all Republicans are evil. Not all Democrats are angels. Quit conflating individuals with groups. Blame individuals for their actions.
Bubblegum Tate
I am already fairly loathe to hitch my wagon to most political movements (and I would rather undergo vasectomy via weed-whacker than join a political party), but I do very much appreciate folks like John Cole who pride honesty and integrity over political calculation and “punishing” the other team. Saying a given political movement “doesn’t need” people like John is pretty much a guarantee that I’m not going to cosign your movement. I have no desire to link up with the crazies, the purists, and the hard-liners of either side–I’d rather just let them engage in a war of attrition with each other so the rest of us don’t have to deal with them.
Richard Bottoms
No, not all. But enough of them are.
Just ask Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, was arrested in December 2003 in Macedonia as a terrorist suspect and abducted by the US intelligence agents to Afghanistan, where he was interrogated and tortured for a period of four months.
Or ask Moazzam Begg a British citizen who was working to construct a girls school in Afghanistan when he was taken into custody by U.S. military forces. He was tortured and held as a prisoner in Cuba and at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan for more than four years — much of that time in solitary confinement. He never was charged with a crime nor shown any evidence against him.
Just ask any of the hundreds of innocent people swept up by revenge and the suspension of due process by George Bush.
We were attacked and surelyhave enemies in this world. But I didn’t agree that the constotution should be shredded and the values I once defended as a solider be flushed away by Alberto (Habes, what’s that?) Gonzales.
Valerie Plame, Teri Schiavo, Katrina, the lies that led to war. When do enough of your politcal fellows have to be proven evil doers for you to become an enabler of their crimes by voting for anyone who shares their banner?
Give me a number and I’ll use that to measure when the GOP has become too corrupt, too destructive, too.. evil to be a viable politcal party.
Sorry, you don’t get to say Alberto Gonzales is not your responsibility. If you voted for the man who put him in power, especially if you voted for him in 2004 knowing all that was known then, you share group responsibility.
This isn’t a blow job, a bad land deal or bad behaviour. It’s the lives of hundreds of thousands destroyed because of the man you gave the ultimate keys of to power.
Fuck George Bush and anyone who helped him get to where he is today.
dreggas
Ditto.
The Other Steve
4,000 seems rather low.
Bubblegum Tate
Doh! That should be “loath,” not “loathe.”
The Other Steve
Now now children, let’s stop the bickering and fighting.
We’re all either going to hang together, or hang seperately.
Go take a look at the dailyKos community to see what happens when you start leaping on one another to prove you’re more pure than the other guy.
Darrell
Ah yes, those who object to Obama’s careless reference to fallen soldiers don’t really object to calling their lives “wasted” while in the middle of a war by someone running to be CiC of this country.. no, they are just trying to score cheap political points and worse, could care less about the troops or Iraq.
John Cole is turning into quite the lowlife smear merchant with accusations like that.
dreggas
Another reason I don’t hang out there as much anymore. Go over there and point out Chavez is not the messiah and watch what happens.
Zifnab
You end up with a site that generates millions of dollars for the party and tons of political activism in the local, state, and national levels?
Richard Bottoms
But you do have to deal with them.
It’s your taxes that fund the weapons that rain on the children of Iraq. It’s my taxes too.
And that is the source of my burning rage at all that has transpired. I am an Amercian and I wasn’t able to stop the leader of my country from imprisoning people without charge or due process. I couldn’t keep him from starting a war with no plan for how to keep the peace.
I should have yelled louder, or given more money or joned the protests, or… something to keep Amercia from becoming as hated and feared as we are now.
Our rightous indignation and anger at 9/11 does not justify what we have done as a country. The stupidy, the pure incompetence which young men and women are dying for at this very minute is my fault because the president of my country waged war in my name.
So I’ll do what I can to limit his power, to keep his believers from having any more power than a voter can manage.
I am not a crazy, but I am horrified at the blood that runs in the strrets of Bhagdad due to this fool of a president and anyone who voted for him. I am horrified that for two more years this idiot has the power to do almost anything until we elect someone new to the office.
dreggas
I think that was more meant for the ones who jump all over you for not being ideologically pure enough and not toeing their line.
t. jasper parnell
RE Darrel and wasted, much of the internet tubes and whatlike you use are wasted, and I like internet tubes and what not, just not the use to which you put them, which, wastes them; like the dead American soldiers who fell and fall in an incompetently managed war; their valor, patriotism, youth, and etc were wasted by an administation and its idiotic mongoloid cheerleaders who have no appreciation of any of the above attributes, lacking, as all of them without distinction do, any of them. Just like you are a waste of space, the space you occupy could be better used holding a tree or failing that some kind of cactus; and yes this does pass for deep thought on the left and no it is not personal, it is all true.
Richard Bottoms
I’m sorry, am I saying 3,100 dead, illegal abduction and incarceration too loudly? Because I have a suspicion 50 years from now we’ll be piloried for not yelling it loud enough.
Zifnab
All those who, Darrell? Where’s your reference? Who are you even refering to? Just like a slimey little right-wing hooker to go sucking the facts out of every debate. Why can’t you drop a link with your half-assed smears you lying little bogger-face?
TenguPhule
Darrell speaks the truth but is unable to see it.
Sad.
Darrell
Show of hands lefties – how many of you share this characterization of what’s going on in Iraq?
I can understand those that say it’s time for Iraqis to take control of their country. What I don’t understand are those who say our efforts are mainly resulting only in dead Iraqi children or similar description, as if that defines what we’ve done there.
Do you similarly object to the Afghan children who have been tragically killed?
dreggas
It could also be argued that this administration is a waste not only of air but also a waste of the flesh they were printed on.
TenguPhule
Shorter Darrell: Fuck those ungrateful Iraqis who don’t appreciate all the security and order we liberated them from!
600,000+ corpses, 2+ million refugees, and a state even worse off then it was under Saddam shouldn’t be that hard to understand.
Shorter Darrell II: Look an obvious distraction.
How is that neglected Afghanistan mission going anyway?
Darrell
As per my blockquote, I was referring to John Cole’s smear on all those who objected to Obama’s careless use of words, including military personnel who are affected by it, as net nannies who really don’t care if soldiers live or die. Here are JCole’s exact words since you are too stupid to read them in my original post
Back on the shortbus zifnab..
TenguPhule
Shorter Darrell: Let me wrap this dead American soldier around me as a shield against the words of Obama! Because speaking the truth hurts the war effort!
Dave
Instead of blaming John, how about all the Dems that voted for the war, then quietly sat on their hands afterwards. Only time I’ve seen the Dems get the least bit uppity is when they are following public opinion.
There are plenty of Dems who have blood on their hands and have enabled this administration.
jg
Darrell, JC isn’t talking about the people who got upset at Obama’s words he’s talking about the ones who will use his words to fire up their base. The ones who will ignore his correction and continue to use his original words and take them further and further out of context everytime they repeat them.
Have you read 1984 yet? We wouldn’t have to keep explaining this to you if you read it.
TenguPhule
Darrell has not only read it, by the way he argues he apparently lives by it.
Dave
jg. It’s working haven’t you noticed?
Richard Bottoms
How about them. We were in the minority, now were not. Kind of changes things a bit.
Their party: Alberto Gonzales, Darryl Issa, George Bush.
My party: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards.
It’s so hard to choose, but it’s a two party country so I’ll choose my less evil party. Fewer war criminals, much fewer fag bashers, and not the party of George Bush.
Perry Como
I don’t. Like a good American, I cheer at every Afghani child that is tragically killed.
John Cole
Darrell-
It is unrepentant know-nothing loudmouth fools like you who have led me to that conclusion. I honestly don’t think you give two fucks about thesoldiers in Iraq anymore than they can be used as a prop for political gain. Your ‘support’ consists of cheerleading a lost cause, attacking anyone who disagrees with you on the situation on the ground, blaming the media, and some inane ramblings on a few blogs. Usually, as is the case here, one phrase has you all bent out of shape.
I don’t think they care about Iraq, otherwise they would be pressuring the administration to get it right. Not sticking their thumbs up their collective asses, figuring out how the next disaster can best be used to smear Democrats, and giving this administration carte blanche to be as incompetent as they can be.
There is literally nothing too stupid or ill-coinceived that this administration can do or say about Iraq that you will not defend. Some support for the troops that is.
Does anyone really think that Michelle Malkin was honestly offended by Obama’s remaks? Dan Riehl? The folks at Hot Air? If so, I got a fucking bridge to sell you.
ThymeZone
This
is worth just what John gave it, a dismissive nod and no links.
These idiots are the people who got us into this shitpile, I have no interest in their agita over how we go about cleaning up the fucking mess they’ve made. Fuck them.
Zifnab
Which soldiers Darrell? Show me a soldier that has suffered because of Obama’s words. Show me a casualty that can be definitively linked to Obama’s speech. Point to a road-side bomb that wouldn’t have been planted or a helo that would not have been shot down if he’d just shut up.
You’ve got nothing Darrell. Go back to refuting Global Warming. You’re absolutely full of shit. There is not a bush short enough to hold you or your lies. Why don’t you go back into the basement, D.
Darrell
Noble truth teller John Cole, last true conservative (TM)
John, what are the collosal mistakes that the admistration should have been “pressured” on? Taking out Sadr? Yeah, he should have been taken out, but it’s nothing but Monday morning quarterbacking to point at that. Should he have better predicted the sectarian violence?
Where really, are the areas where Bush should have been pressured that would have significantly alterned the position we find ourselves in now?
Zifnab
I’ll take “Finishing the job in Afganistan before we go charging off into the Iraq Desert” for $200 Alex.
John Cole
Darell, you troll, why don;t you start with the mistakes that Bush, Rice, Wolfowitz, and the Pentagon admit to.
Then, when you are done, go through the ones they won’t admit to- like Abu Gharaib and the torture crap.
Then, go through the ones they will not even acknowledge, like the wasted billions, the contractor issues, the piddling surge, etc.
And then, just go away.
Perry Como
Yeah, that pretty much came out of nowhere. The White House should hire the Amazing Kreskin before we invade Iran.
Zifnab
Darrell doesn’t use Google. He’s too smart for it. Searching algorithms have a notoriously liberal bias.
TenguPhule
I hear it leads to nowhere in particular.
TenguPhule
Come on John, you know you want to ban him once and for all. Let the Dark Side Flow through you!
The Other Steve
At least Darrell is arguing in good faith. You gotta grant him that.
demimondian
Fixed
Darrell
What? You mean mistakes were made in a war? That administration officials and the Pentagon were {gasp} not able to predict with near-perfect accuracy the amount of sectarian violence they would encounter, arms supplies, effectiveness of IEDs, quality of Iraqi leadership, Iraqi corruption?
Again, what are the “collosal” missteps that those of us who don’t care about the lives of soldiers should have been pressuring the administration?
Tsulagi
He finally had a coherent moment of clarity even while firmly afflicted by BFS. But then it was wasted.
tBone
Darrell admits he doesn’t care about the lives of soliders. Yes, that kind of moral depravity is sickening, but he can’t help it. It’s just who he is.
Tsulagi
Exactly. See Bush’s dead chimp bounce in the polls after his SOTU. See amount of groundswell support for The Surge. For most of the population, they’ve come to realize they have a gutless, retarded, incompetent waste of air as president with a Gay Old Party machine backing him every step of the way.
Just because someone has a “R” after their name means they support the troops? Yeah, right. Pure bullshit proved daily. They’re only campaign props for those assholes. The greatest enemy our troops have faced in Iraq hasn’t been al Qaeda or insurgents, it’s been this brain-dead admin and its fluffers.
dreggas
Let’s see….
1.) Faulty Evidence for the war
2.) Not having enough troops to get it done right.
3.) Believing Chalabi
4.) Not finishing the job in Afghanistan
5.) Not providing the armor needed for vehicles.
6.) Ignoring the evidence that predicted the exact outcome we face now, a sectarian civil war in a country that was only held together by the hand of a ruthless dictator.
7.) Trusting George Bush to do this right.
8.) Letting Powell take the blame and shame for the Admins cooked intel.
9.) Believing in pie in the sky flowers and candy bullshit
10.) Believing that this war was even necessary in the first place.
11.) Trusting George Bush period.
The list could go on and on and on and on. Uranium from Niger, mushroom shaped clouds over our cities, allowing ourselves to be overcome by the fear they fed us.
Zifnab
Shorter Darrell: “Lalala!”
Five bucks says he works for Raytheon.
ThymeZone
What are you, fucking Rip Van Winkle? Have you been asleep for the last 6 six years?
dreggas
One of Kool-aids little known side-effects.
Steve
Darrell, still think it wasn’t a mistake to disband the Iraqi Army? Just wondering.
John S.
Bullshit.
There were plenty of officials that accurately predicted the circumstances we find ourselves in now. The Bush administration frog marched every last one of them into retirement or obscurity.
Paul O’Neill said the war would cost significantly more than the $50-60 billion that the White House estimated. What a kook!
General Shinseki said the war would require far more troops than the paltry figure that Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz came up with. What a lunatic!
Yes, Darrell, there were many voices that predicted with near-perfect accuracy where we are today, but just like when they first spoke out, you still don’t want to hear them. That is your shortcoming, not theirs.
jg
JC takes the time to adress the issue that Darrell seemed to completely miss and what’s Darrells response. ‘Oh yeah but what about….?’ It never ever ends does it Darrell? He responded that you types pick a phrase out of an entire post so you can bitch about that instead of the issue and you actually did that in your response. Classic, baby.
numbskull
I realize that, having only visited here a few times over the last year, I may not understand all the ground rules. Possibly an old timer can help me.
Is there a rule that says anyone, including John and Tim, MUST respond to Darrell? And if a response MUST ensue, can it not be some previously agreed upon shorthand to save us all time whilst stroking Darrell’s ego with an acknowledgement? A contest for such might be interesting.
My first suggestion is “DYIS,” which of course stands for “Darrell, you ignorant slut…” Please suggest your own; mine’s not very original.
Maybe John can create one of those cool online polls, we’ll vote to choose one, then we can go on with our lives, Darrell will chime in every once and while to try to catch the unwary newbie, but will eventually go away after every one of his brainfarts (aka, “posts”) meets with the shorthand reply.
Or, we could just ignore him. I haven’t in the past, but then, it’s taken me a while to realize that he is 100% dishonest and isn’t worth my time.
Dave
And that excuses the 27 Democratic Senators and 81 Democrartic Representatives who voted for the war how?
By your logic used throughout this thread, they are as responsible as Cole. Actually, they’d have to be more so, since John just blows hot air (by his own blog’s subtitle) on the Internet. These Democrats actually enabled this war. If the Democrats in the Senate had some actual conviction in the run up to this thing, they could have pulled off a filibuster. I see a lot of names in that yea list that now “regret” (Edwards and Clinton anyone?) their vote.
This isn’t completely on the GOP’s head. Democrats have plenty of blame in this too.
Dave
I have been for a while now. It’s pointless. He simply doesn’t actually care about issues or discussion, he cares about validating his world view by “arguing” (read blowing talking points out of his ass) with “liberals”.
Perry Como
Keep barking moonbat. No one could have predicted the amount of sectarian violence in Iraq.
Zifnab
darrellResponse = “Shorter Darrell”
darrellResponse = darrellResponse & “: ” & sharkyRephrase(Darrell)
Response.Write darrellResponse
Response.End
Zifnab
*snarkyRephrase
dreggas
ASP is sooooo out of date :P
Ted
I don’t know why everyone doesn’t just use the Pie Mask for Darrell. He can bleat and rant, and you’ll never see a word of it. If everyone did that, or just simply ignored him (I know it isn’t easy to just pass on by comments deliberately made to be as stupid and/or dishonest as possible), he’d eventually go away. Attention is the only thing I can figure he’s here for.
Wilfred
For lots of reasons I’m like Cole – forced to vote for Democrats. But you people are as fucking insufferable as the right. How about trying this on? Obama is a pussy. He spoke the truth the first time -YEA! and then copped a plea to appease the War Pigs crowd. He did this because even though the war is a complete waste the only way to stop it is to…to…to…to waste more lives and money! YEA! Then, afte two more years of waste, we can elect Obama and finally stop the war. Chickenshit.
Richard Bottoms
How about trying THIS on.
There’s going to be two more years of waste no matter what because YOU dumbasses voted for George Bush.
We’re not going to commit electoral suicide for you. The goal is to get elected and to throw the fucking Republicans out. You guys were the architects of this mess, our guys did what they could within political reality.
So no impeachment, no cut off of funds, nothing that will keep us from winning the White House.
srv
While Darrell apologizes for every screwup, and rants about how the left hates the troops, let’s look back to what someone said five months before Bush’s War:
Whatever they say, the Fluffersphere was wrong, and Barack Obama was right.
ThymeZone
Wow, somebody’s chitlins got pissed on this morning.
You stupid fuck! The war is over in a year, because the GOP is going to run away from it. By this summer, it will be a stampede. You are looking at a 20-year Dem majority now.
Good work. Good job, well earned.
jake
[Whimper] I didn’ wanna do it, but … but … Nancy Pelosi and her [sob!] San Francisco DemoNcRATS slipped me some roofies and had their wicked way with me in the voting booth. Oh I feel so DIRTY [Waaaah!]
Ah, quit whinin’ ya pussy.
Rome Again
God, I can’t wait!
Rome Again
“How sweet it is!”
Steve
I don’t know if any of us are willing to let the Democrats off the hook for their role in enabling the war. That’s probably the main issue the netroots have with Hillary to this day, after all. But like it or not, this generally milquetoast party is the only hope we have of ending this debacle. If the process of natural selection replaces enough Tom Daschles with enough Jim Webbs, it might even happen. All we can do is hold their feet to the fire.
It was hard to oppose the war in a political sense, but it really wasn’t that hard in an intellectual sense. Bob Graham, one of the most respected Democrats on foreign policy, voted against the war because he felt like Hezbollah should be a much higher priority in the war on terror than going after Saddam. Gee, that wasn’t so hard to say. Howard Dean opposed the war because he actually looked beneath the surface of Colin Powell’s presentation to the UN and said hey, there’s like nothing here. Gee, that wasn’t so hard to say. Al Gore gave a brilliant speech which illustrates how a real statesman and foreign policy expert should have looked at the war. In fact, Gore was one of the few Democrats to make the right call on both the Gulf War and the present war, which was part of the problem.
You’ll have a hard time convincing me that many Democrats, given the chance to really dig into the intelligence and the facts concerning Iraq, did nothing more than say “Wow, we looked like fools when we voted against the Gulf War and it turned out to be a cakewalk. We’re not going to make that mistake again!” All the Democrats who intended to run for President – Clinton, Kerry, Biden, Edwards – voted for the war. They knew that if the predictions about being greeted as liberators came true, their credibility would be shot; oddly, they were prescient enough to see that if you’re equally wrong in the other direction, your credibility remains relatively undamaged.
Political courage is in short supply these days. But I hang my hat on the Democrats because the one thing beyond dispute is that no one else will be getting the job done. Whether the Dems will grow a spine at any point remains in question.
Rome Again
Yup, and if they do actually grow a spine, I head down to the election office and switch by affiliation back to DEM ::smile:: I hope that happens, I truly do.
ThymeZone
Shorter Steve: Dems, yay. Repubs, boo.
None of the Dems you mentioned are going to be the nominee for president, none of them can win.
Clinton, already having problems. Biden, no shot to begin with. Kerry, out. Edwards will fall short.
My prediction? Glad you asked. Barring big mistake or skeleton in closet, Obama is nominated and wins by landslide.
The end. We all live happily ever after.
Rome Again
I certainly hope so TZ, truly I do.
ThymeZone
As do I, Rome. As do I.
Wilfred
Chickens sqawking and belching out shit. You won the election and still don’t have the balls to stop the war flat out. Electoral suicide? What the fuck were you elected for then – to continue the war? So you’re going to let more soldiers’ lives be wasted rather than…what exactly? What a joke, sounds like testicular deficiency syndrome to me.
Over in a year? Home before the leaves fall, eh? You’re dreaming if you think this is over in a year.
ThymeZone
$100 says I’m not.
Mouth, meet money.
Put up or shut up.
Rome Again
Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day (trust me, I know). After the mental mindfuck that the publicans put this country through for the last six plus years, it takes time to gain momentum.
It CAN happen, it just takes a little time. Dems have been in the majority for exactly one month and six days, give it a little time, huh?
lard lad
Speaking of pathetic smears against Barack Obama, how about this li’l gem, where conservative gnat Tucker Carlson gets on his high horse and — get this — attacks Obama’s church:
Need I even mention that Tucker gives the precepts of Obama’s church a rather, um, selective interpretation?
The “soldiers for Black Freedom” quote, before Tucker stripped it from its original context:
Y’know, I wasn’t so sure about Obama at first… but the virulence of the right-wing assault on him, coupled with the laughable content of the attacks themselves (the image that comes to my mind is Neil Cavuto, clad in full body armor and threateningly brandishing a rolled-up newspaper) has me thinking “Damn, the right is terrified of this guy, and they can’t dig up squat to slime him with… color me impressed.”
ThymeZone
Bingo.
Rome Again
I’ll tell you what, I’m not a Christian, but the most awe inspiring church service I ever attended was in a black church. If I were Christian now, that’s exactly where I’d go, and I’m caucasian.
ThymeZone
Me too. The music is awesome.
Richard 23
From the urban dictionary:
Looks like Osama owes our troops a real apology.
See also Blogs for Bush, Osama’s “Botched Joke” Defense:
Indeed, sKerry and Osama. Peas in a pod.
Krista
(/stares at ceiling while whistling nonchalantly, waiting for John to remember that he actually has the ability to make Darrell go away.)
ThymeZone
Thus ended your career as a second rate spoof at BJ.
Blogs for Bush? Jesus, not my yard man, man. Blogs for Fucking Bush? Even the Bush family wouldn’t be caught dead reading that piece of shit.
Blogs for Fucking Bush. Dude, you should never post drunk. It just doesn’t work.
Rome Again
Wow John, You couldda had a V-8!
Rome Again
I guess that means we’re not ethnocentric?
[my professor from college would be so proud I used that term LMAO]
Vladi G
Why are people like Darrell the dipshit and Dickhead 23 and the rest of the wingnut poo-flingers too stupid to tell the difference between someone accusing a soldier of wasting his/her life (not what Obama did) and someone accusing the administration of wasting the lives of our soldiers (what Obama did). Is it because Darrell the dipshit is a serial liar? Is it because Dickhead 23 is dumber than a sack of crap? Is it both?
I’d be a lot more impressed with Darrell the dipshit’s and Dickhaed 23’s pearl-clutching over Obama’s comments about soldiers if they were, ya know, actually soldiers. But since they’re just a pussies and serial liars, can’t say as I really care all that much.
Vladi G
No one said they were mainly resulting in children, or only raining on children. Darrell, you are nothing but a lying piece of shit.
ThymeZone
I think we’re more ergonomic.
Richard 23
Steel Reserve is the wind beneath my wings.
Keefer, I’ve missed you!
Rome Again
Maybe, let’s find out! LMAO
demimondian
I think you two are just egocentric, and egomaniacal.
Rome Again
well, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be egocentric and egomaniacal with.
::blowing raspberries at you::
ThymeZone
Not very economical. Two words to convey one idea, when one would do it better.
Are you a math major? Such sloppy speech. Ugh.
demimondian
Hmm. The two words don’t even denote the same thing, much less have a common connotation. Egocentric has to do with narcissism, egomania has to do with self-importance; they’re quite different.
So, to answer your question: yes, I’m a math type. That’s why I speak precisely.
::blowing raspberries back at Rome::
ThymeZone
Yeah, I own a dictionary, I know what they mean. You just threw in two of them to look cute.
Stick to your equations, dude. Listen to your crappy mathematically perfect music devoid of all soul. Speak precisely and say precisely nothing.
Rome Again
Oh, sure… answer HIM and then blow raspberries back at me. I see how you are, bastard.
jake
Translation: Je suis toujours une chatte!
I can’t wait until 2008 when the lefty moonbats MAKE YOU vote Democrat again. Practice saying “Thank you father, may I have another?”
demimondian
It is better to speak clearly and be thought vapid, than to speak sloppily, and remove all doubt.
demimondian
Think of yourself as having rendered me speechless.
Rome Again
TZ said I had the talent to render him speechless, I didn’t believe him… but now that you confirm it, I’ve come to the conclusion it must be true. :)
ThymeZone
Well then, for you, Mission Accomplished.
Good job.
ThymeZone
If only.
Rome Again
Ooooooh, two points!
ThymeZone
Heh.
Rome Again
Sneaky… Very sneaky. I cry foul!
demimondian
Well, TZ, I’m not going to begrudge you that. The points you take that way are the only points your writing ever has.
Wilfred
I’ll take that bet- understood to mean that by 14 February 2008 all American soldiers and marines will be out of Iraq.
Even if I lose I’ll be happy.
Richard 23
To keep things fair and above board, each of you should send me $100. When the outcome is decided, I’ll send the winner $100. This will ensure the loser doesn’t weasel out.
Sherard
Oh please. He knew EXACTLY what he was saying because you and Tim and the rest of the nutroots know perfectly well that those remarks play beautifully with the loony anti-war left. The rest of America doesn’t go for that kind of rhetoric, so big surprise he would later “clarify” his remarks. Apparently your cynicism is conveniently forgotten when it comes to the left.
RSA
i.e., about 60% of the American public.
John S.
i.e. about 30% of the American public.
ThymeZone
Understood to mean that the Congress will no longer fund the war unless there is a timetable for withdrawal and turnover of Iraq security to Iraqis. Basically, whatever the Republican members tell Bush he is going to have to do. They will tell him the war is over, and they will do it soon.
At that point, I win.
If these things haven’t happened by a year from now, you win.
demimondian
Oh, please. Sherard, you know, your crystal ball…it’s not working so well right now. Maybe it needs polish?
RSA
“He forgot the Polish!”
Zifnab
You’re right. How dare Barak Obama pander to the majority. Shouldn’t he be out deciding something, like a real leader? What is this, a Democracy?
Sam Hutcheson
those who object to Obama’s careless reference to fallen soldiers don’t really object to calling their lives “wasted” while in the middle of a war by someone running to be CiC of this country
As loathe as I am to quote Darrell, his inane babblings here present an opportunity to correct an all-to-common misconception of our system of government. We, the people, are not and have never elected a Commander-in-Chief. We, the people, do not and have never _had_ a Commander-in-Chief. We elect Presidents, who also serve as Commander-in-Chief of the combined armed forces. This is a huge difference.
Darrell’s formulation, which is the basic understanding internalized by a majority (SWAG) of the right-wing, places the President as “Commander” of the nation, of the country, of the people. He is not. The office of the President _serves_ the people, the nation, the country and the Constitution. He reports to us in the chain of command.
The _military_ reports to him in his second role as CiC of the armed forces. It is this structure, set up specifically by the founders, that places military in subservience to the nation. It’s a failsafe to prevent military coups and dictatorships. It is pivotal to the functioning of our constitutional republic. It is this distinction that led Eisenhower to refuse to wear his military uniform while holding the office of PotUS.
Barack Obama is not running to be the “CiC of the country.” Neither is Rodham-Clinton or Edwards or Guiliani or any other candidate for the presidency. They are running for the presidency, the highest civil servant of the republic and the civilian who holds the office of Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy.
There is no “Commander-in-Chief of the country.”
Parker
John Cole –
Do you think that you have ever gone in this direction?
Obviously you were irritated by Darrel, but your response to him brings to mind the old saw about wrestling with a pig –
ThymeZone
Unless you are talking to a Dominionist.
God is the Commander, you know. Man’s law is impotent in the fact of God’s law.
Their goal is to “restore” God’s dominion on earth. You know, back to the way it was in, say, 1912.
Rome Again
Is this an official bet? Today is Valentines Day (good way to remember). Should someone keep track of this?
Rome Again
Not exactly TZ, their goal is to restore their “idea” of what God’s dominion on earth would look like, they haven’t a fucking clue what that means, it’s actually not God’s dominion at all, it’s merely human misinterpretation, and man shouldn’t play God.
They wouldn’t know God’s dominion if it came down from heaven and squished the mlike ants… ants, and apparently that is where they are headed .
ThymeZone
He won’t make the bet, he wants a rigged bet. All troops out of Iraq. That may not happen for 50 years for all we know. Irrelevant. It’s the war, not the presence of troops, that we’re talking about.
He’s a buffoon. Let’s see if he can make a real bet.
ThymeZone
Exactly right. Even if there were such a goofy thing, they would be the last people on earth I’d go to to get an understanding of it.
Rome Again
Shhhh, be vewwy vewwy quiet… I have it on good authority, that these dominionists are really working for the bad guy. Don’t tell anyone.
ThymeZone
I know.
I was expecting more cards from this bunch. Or at least some Herhsey kisses. Where is the love?
Rome Again
I love ya TZ, is that enough?
ThymeZone
Oh my yes.
Rome Again
Good, you can be MY Valentine then. To hell with the rest of them, they don’t know what they’re missing.
I’ll bring you an Almond Snickers when I see you, okay?
Wilfred
Burden’s on you, sport. I’ll take your loaded conditions if you give me 10-1, a thousand against my hundred. If you can’t pull your end, lay some off with your friends here. Secretariat went off at 1-10 and won by 30 lengths. Easy money for you. I mean, since you’re so sure.
ThymeZone
You surely have the key to my heart, Rome.
{ voice of Homer Simpson }
Mmmm …. Snickers.
ThymeZone
Uh, and I would do that ….. why?
Your puffed up bullshit isn’t worth a lousy hundred bucks? Then take it somewhere else.
Rome Again
I see what you mean TZ, screwy deal…
Wilfred, you started with the wrong premise. If you aren’t both equal in this, there’s no way TZ would ever take you up on this offer.
You apparently don’t know him very well.
Wilfred
I know 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag when I see it. He offered me a bet. I took it. He changed the conditions, I demanded odds for what is a sucker’s bet for me, and he couldn’t put his money where his mouth is. A real gambler takes 1-10 if he’s sure of the outcome.
Rome Again
He didn’t change the conditions. You’re moving goal posts now. Prove he changed the conditions.
ThymeZone
No, you lying sack. No conditions were specified. Everyone here can read the thread.
STFU and go away, you are a pest.
Krista
Awww…Happy Valentine’s Day, TZ.
ThymeZone
And to you, Krista.
Wilfred
Fuck off, gasbag. You challenged me to a bet that the war would be over in a year. I took the bet. Then you came with this nonsense condition:
So if that happens, but the troops ‘stay for 50 years’ (which by your reckoning would include at least 20 of Dem Majority) getting picked off a few here and a few there, then the war is over and you win? The end of the war means the end of the war, not some politically covenient double-speak, and that goes for Bush, too. He’ll be declaring victory shortly.
ThymeZone
Like I said, people can read the thread and decide for themselves. Go fuck yourself, man. You serve no purpose here.
Rome Again
Without funding, there is no war, Wilfred. How do you conduct a war without money? Answer me that, please?
demimondian
Technically, the president can order troops wherever he pleases with or without funding. The Congress would need to order that “no moneys be disbursed for support of” blah blah blah to stop any activity in Iraq.
Wilfred
Thyme Zone,
Get over yourself – you wanted to fuck, instead you got fucked.
There’s a purpose here? All I see is a circle jerk with you as the ringmaster. This site is like a research group that hasn’t had any new members in years – it just spits out the same results. But don’t pout little Lesley Gore – it’s still your party.
Steve
“The war will be over in a year” means all the troops will be out of Iraq in a year? Oh please. We still have troops in Germany, so stop being a clown.
sali
In Iran, Putin Warns Against Military Action:
http://salihome.info/show/index.html