I just don’t feel the need or desire to blog today, so you guys are going to have to go elsewhere or just argue amongst yourselves in the comments threads.
This piece on Henry Rollins and the USO in the NYT Magazine is fun (quick disclosure- Rollins and Black flag are an old fave of yours truly, back in the days of Jodi Foster’s Army, the Dead Milkmen, the Butthole Surfers, the Dead Kennedys, etc.).
Also, Tom Maguire has plenty of stuff up to start a flame war/discussion:
Left unexplained – how the Democrats unrelenting focus on the use of pre-war intelligence is going to substitute for a plan to resolve the situation in Iraq. Was it really only two weeks ago that Harry Reid forced the Senate into a closed session to discuss that?
Perhaps Sen. Reid was simply intending to commemorate the second anniversary of the leak of the strategy memo explaining how the Democrats could politicize the Senate Intelligence Committee hearings for maximum benefit.
This political posturing by the Dems is understandable – their party is pretty well united around the desire to have a mulligan on the decision to go to war against Iraq.
However, on the slightly more topical question of where we go from here, the problem that crippled John Kerry continues to vex the Democrats – their anti-war base wants to declare Bush beaten and leave Iraq, while many of their leaders continue to argue that defeat is not an option.
Unless the world blows up, I will be back tomorrow. I believe Tim is in DC seeing the Dalai Lama, so he may or may not be around later on to report on his trip.
Davebo
Apparantly our only problem is the dreaded “mainstream media”.
If folks will just stop watching the news and reading the papers the world would seem just fine.
Steve S
Left unexplained – how the republicans unrelenting whining about Democrats is going to substitute for a plan to resolve the situation in Iraq.
Kimmitt
What Steve S said.
caleb
I am still looking to find a copy of the “Live 1984” JFA record. Damn I loved that record. Recently found “We know you suck”….just not the same though. Their originals were great, but I have yet to see any band cover the likes of The Peanuts Theme, Low Rider, and Walk, Don’t Run, like JFA did.
Where the hell is that Live 1984 damn it?!!!!!!!!
And it’s always good to see a fellow traveler who appreciates the music of the Dead Milkmen.
Never, though, got into the DKs.
Descendents, although not listed, rocked too.
Paddy O'Shea
While our righty pals congratulate each other on Team Torture not using WMD against Iraqi civilians, and how this makes everything else OK because they have proven that the republican leadership in Washington not as bad as Saddam Hussein (or some such nebulous, bizarre and absolutely absurd shit), the next cloud about to rain on their parade of disgrace is a-billowing in Britain:
Sunday Herald – 13 November 2005
Blair faces new inquiry into Iraq war
MPs organising the campaign to impeach Tony Blair believe thet have enough support to force a highly damaging Commons investigation into the Prime Minister’s pre-war conduct.
A renewed attempt to impeach Blair over claims he misled parliament in making his case for war against Iraq, will be made in the Commons within the next two weeks.
Organisers say they are expecting 200 cross-party signatures, including those of former govt ministers, to force the Commons to set up a Privy Council investigation that would examine in detail the case for impeachment against Blair.
The size of the Labour revolt, allied to unified opposition benches, is said to have changed the climate inside the Commons.
sundayherald.com/print52851
Now here’s a conundrum for the Bushie Apologist Choir: If the Parliament in the UK decides that Blair, using many of the same specious claims as Team Torture, lied and therefore should be tossed out into the streets, how will that reflect upon such things as Georgie’s little “I Am Not A Liar” temper tantrum last Friday? While the Republicans here do control Congress and can therefore shield Bush’s posh patrician ass from any serious inquiry into his push for war in Iraq, Parliament is run by a bunch of disgrunted and thoroughly cranky lefties who do not thing too highly of the man they refer to as “The Poodle.”
But if Blair is impeached for the same things Bush is suspected of doing? My my, wouldn’t that be something.
Paddy O'Shea
Small world, ain’t it? I used to do cartoons for JFA’s fanzine, Phenis. Also used to do some stuff for the Butthole Surfer’s fanzine, Throbbing Cattle. And how many of you posers are aware that before it was a record label Touch & Go was run by Tesco Vee of the Meatmen? Did stuff there, too. Home base was Flipside, though.
“We’re the Meatmen and you suck! Meatmen stomp!” The Meatmen, now THERE was a band. Any outfit that could have engendered the amount of sheer hatred they inspired in the wee punkies just had to be the shit. Of course, I still await a follow-up to their paen to The Beatles, “One Down Three To Go.”
Maybe something along the lines of: “Georgie said Buddha could never fail, then rode to hell on a coffin nail.”
Ah me, back in the day …
Otto Man
The JFA cover of the “Peanuts” theme is a masterpiece.
Matt
But you have to wonder, if the Dems did have a viable exit strategy, would it matter? As you said earlier, John, this has been a very arrogant administration, and I think the feeling among a lot of Dems is that as long as Bush is strong politically at home, their input will be ignored.
joshua
I don’t see how you were able to listen to some of those bands if liberals push your buttons, since the “Dead” bands were really into pushing those buttons.
rilkefan
JFA? John For America?
scs
Since this is an open thread, I just wanted to post about some grammar that has been irritating the heck out of me the last few years. Everyone is starting to say “him and I” or “to she and I” – like “I gave the papers to she and I”, or ” the difference between him and I is “. That is just plain wrong people! And I find it creeping everywhere. Not only do I hear regular people using it, but I am starting to find TV news broadcasters using it. You can’t mix cases!
To test it – you would say – “That is the difference between us” or “I gave the papers to them” , not “That is the difference between we ” or “I gave the papers to they”. I can put up with bad grammar, as I use it too, but I can’t put up with bad grammar done with the intent to make the speaker sound more snooty. Let you and I spread the word! No wrong. Let US spread the word! Phew. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
CaseyL
I agree the Dems should do more than sit back while the GOP implodes, but they need to present it in such a way that emphasizes GOP errors and complicity.
One way they can do this regarding the war is remind people how Dems support the troops while the GOP does not, esp. when it comes to issues like pay, healthcare, and equipment. Remind people that our soldiers in Iraq have to buy their own armor, and that during the first year soldiers had to buy their own water, even as GOP-connected comapnies like Halliburton were skimming off billions of dollars. Dems can also remind people that Kerry had many ideas about to fight the war better, which Bush adopted as if they were his own.
Dems can also tie the GOP firmly to Chalabi, esp. now that Bush has been so obliging as to bring the fraudster back to DC and parade him around. They can do so particularly by endlessly repeating his infamous statement that it doesn’t matter that he fed the Bush Admin lies about WMDs, since he “got what [he] wanted.” This gives the Dems an opportunity to talk about faulty, distorted intel.
Dems can ask, rhetorically, why US blood and billions of US dollars were spent to give Chalabi “what he wanted,” and then ask what the US has gotten out of the deal. And then Dems can answer that rhetorical question: “More terrorism, more radicalization, more hatred.”
If the GOP wants to make an issue over “Well, Democrats had the same information that the President did,” then Dems can definitely make that an issue. They can say, “Committing America to a war is the gravest decision a President makes. Like all Americans, Democrats believed the President would be honest about this most grave decision. Like all Americans, Democrats believed the President when he said Iraq was a danger to us; a danger so great that war had to be waged immediately; that war could not wait until the weapons inspectors had completed their mission. And, like all Americans, Democrats were shocked, saddened and angered that the President misled us.”
Davd_Violence
I have a copy of JFA’s “Live 1984.” I bought it nearly 20 years ago. Bidding starts at $100,000.
I am a fan of Rollins because a) I like his music; all of it. b) I appreciate his hostility. c) He has integrity: he performs and is a good showman. d) He’s a punk.
Rollins has been all over the world, met lots of people, run a record company, etc., etc. He’s entitled to his opinions, too. I wouldn’t vote for him for any public office, but I would pay money to hear him speak or hear his band play.
ppGaz
Gratuitous crap. Why are we even talking about this?
By what tortured logic does the fact that BushWHIG manipulated us into a war and needs to be held accountable translate into the idea that I have to come up with a “solution” to the fucking mess they’ve created?
You got yourselves into this hole, asshole Republicans. Let me know when you stop digging.
Otto Man
Yeah, even though it’s awfully hard for us to present a plan on how to unshit the bed, I think the first step would be for the administration to stop shitting.
KC
John Cole a DK fan. Never thought I’d see the day.
kl
We’re losing ppGaz, somebody get the defibrillator!
Steve S
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
I ran over my neighbors
BITCHIN CAMARAO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Now it’s in all the papers.
My folks bought me a BITCHIN CAMARO with no insurance to match;
So if you happen to run me down, please don’t leave a scratch.
I ran over some old lady one night at the county fair;
And I didn’t get arrested, because my dad’s the mayor.
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Doughnuts on your lawn
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Tony Orlando and Dawn
When I drive past the kids, they all spit and cuss,
Because I’ve got a BITCHIN CAMARO and they have to ride the bus.
So you’d better get out of my way, when I run through your yard;
Because I’ve got a BITCHIN CAMARO;
And an Exxon credit card.
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
Hey, man where ya headed?
BITCHIN CAMARO, BITCHIN CAMARO
I drive on unleaded.
p.lukasiak
When I think about Cole listening to DK, what pops into my mind is a comparison to a gay man reading Playboy for the articles.
Mike
Found this over at Andrew Sullivan’s:
“According to [my son,] Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not only believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see shit like Are we losing in Iraq on TV and the print media.”
Congrats to all the Libs in the MSM, I’m sure the troops just love all the fine work you do.
SeesThroughIt
Wow, John, I had no idea you listened to skate punk like that. What about Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, Crumbsuckers, Agent Orange, and Social Distortion?
andrew
Many people believed that Iraq had WMD.
From a national defence stand point the issue is whether or not the bureacracy (as Colonel Willkerson puts it) was distorted to make inconclusive evidence more conclusive.
This kind of distortion is dangerous just as lting to put someone you *know* is guilty away because it undermines the entire information gathering process.
We could have chosen to go to war with inconclusive, incomplete and circumstantial evidence which is what we had and which turned out to be basically wrong. Still it could be argued that it was the best judgement call. I will leave it to others to decide how imminent the percieved threat was.
However no matter how severe their flaws when the intelligence agencies are “reformed” to provide only what we want to hear we undermine our capacity. The mocking of the chairman of the joint chiefs and the firing of Lindsay indicate an administration that wanted to surpress and ignore conflicting information and opinions.
The attack on Wilson was a further sign of this. He was correct the Niger reports were false.
Many of us fear that this process has continued, that institutions have been stacked to provide faith based “intelligence.”
The issue is fundamental and the partisan games of both sides give the wrong focus.
james richardson
what Matt and ppGaz said.
Paddy O'Shea
Doesn’t really surprise me that so many punkers grew up to be conservatives. They were just little suburban white boys playing ‘wanne be bad’ back then, too.
Steve S
Cool! They ought to be home by Christmas then.
DougJ
How about the Minutemen? Good article tangentially about them.
DougJ
What are they arming those reporters with?
aop
They think they’re winning because they are winning in case-by-case combat scenarios. What they don’t see, and what the press is reporting on, is the larger failure of leadership that didn’t have any kind of viable plan for occuying the country and hasn’t, found a way, or the will, to shut down the Iran/Syria borders to prevent foreign insurgents from entering the country.
rilkefan
aop, there’s a growing feeling in the analysosphere that the borders aren’t that important – 90% of the insurgents being ex-Baath or just ordinary radicalized locals. Beyond that, perfect border control isn’t achievable. Consider the Jordanian situation…
Kimmitt
Weapons of Mass Deception, of course.
James
Stars And Stripes Of Corruption (original release date 1985)
Finally got to Washington in the middle of the night
I couldn’t wait
I headed straight for the Capitol Mall
My heart began to pound
Yahoo! It really exists
The American International Pictures logo
I looked up at that Capitol Building
Couldn’t help but wonder why
I felt like saying “Hello, old friend”
Walked up the hill to touch it
Then I unzipped my pants
And pissed on it when nobody was looking
Like a great eternal Klansman
With his two flashing red eyes
Turn around he’s always watching
The Washington monument pricks the sky
With flags like pubic hair ringed ’round the bottom
The symbols of our heritage
Lit up proudly in the night
Somehow fits to see the homeless people
Passed out on the lawn
So this is where it happens
The power games and bribes
All lobbying for a piece of ass
Of the stars and stripes of corruption
Makes me feel so ashamed
To be an American
When we’re too stuck up to learn from our mistakes
Trying to start another Viet Nam
Whilke fiddling while Rome burns at home
The Boss says, “You’re laid off. Blame the Japanese”
“America’s back,” alright
At the game it plays the worst
Strip mining the world like a slave plantation
No wonder others hate us
And the Hitlers we handpick
To bleed their people dry
For our evil empire
The drug we’re fed
To make us like it
Is God and country with a band
People we know who should know better
Howl, “America riles. Let’s go to war!”
Business scams are what’s worth dying for
Are the Soviets our worst enemy?
We’re destroying ourselves instead
Who cares about our civil rights
As long as I get paid?
The blind Me-Generation
Doesn’t care if life’s a lie
so easily used, so proud to enforce
The stars and stripes of corruption
Let’s bring it all down!
Tell me who’s the real patriots
The Archie Bunker slobs waving flags?
Or the people with the guts to work
For some real change
Rednecks and bombs don’t make us strong
We loot the world, yet we can’t even feed ourselves
Our real test of strength is caring
Not the toys of war we sell the world
Just carry on, thankful to be farmed like worms
Old glory for a blanket
As you suck on your thumbs
Real freedom scares you
‘Cos it means responsibility
So you chicken out and threaten me
Saying, “Love it or leave it”
I’ll get beat up if I criticize it
You say you’ll fight to the death
To save your worthless flag
If you want a banana republic that bad
Why don’t you go move to one
But what can just one of us do?
Against all that money and power
Trying to crush us into roaches?
We don’t destroy society in a day
Until we change ourselves first
From the inside out
We can start by not lying so much
And treating other people like dirt
It’s easy not to base our lives
On how much we can scam
And you know
It feels good to lift that monkey off our backs
I’m thankful I live in a place
Where I can say the things I do
Without being taken out and shot
So I’m on guard against the goons
Trying to take my rights away
We’ve got to rise above the need for cops and laws
Let kids learn communication
Instead of schools pushing competition
How about more art and theater instead of sports?
People will always do drugs
Let’s legalize them
Crime drops when the mob can’t price them
Budget’s in the red?
Let’s tax religion
No one will do it for us
We’ll just have to fix ourselves
Honesty ain’t all that hard
Just put Rambo back inside your pants
Causing trouble for the system is much more fun
Thank you for the toilet paper
But your flag is meaningless to me
Look around, we’re all people
Who needs countries anyway?
Our land, I love it too
I think I love it more than you
I care enough to fight
The stars and stripes of corruption
Let’s bring it all down!
If we don’t try
If we just lie
If we can’t find
A way to do it better than this
Who will?