Iraq and Budget Cuts Forever!

I got the latest RNC email today, from none other than George W. Bush himself. He can't stress enough how important it is that Republicans retain control of the White House and retake the House and Senate. Why? Because Democrats will pull us out of Iraq and return us to the "days of tax and spend."

Now, it's pretty obvious that being an Iraq dead-ender isn't the route to electoral success in 2008. And given Bush's transmogrification of surpluses into deficits with the help of a pork-loving Republican Congress, does anyone really believe the rhetoric about the GOP being the party of fiscal responsibility anymore? I didn't think so.

If this is all the GOP has to run on, that's fine with me. But what's really interesting is what Bush doesn't give as a reason to vote Republican: anything having to do with "family values." I doubt that homophobia and forced pregnancy are being abandoned as election issues, but I wonder why you wouldn't include a shout-out to them in a fundraising email to the base?

"Bait"

How fucked up is the war? This fucked up:

A Pentagon group has encouraged some U.S. military snipers in Iraq to target suspected insurgents by scattering pieces of "bait," such as detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition, and then killing Iraqis who pick up the items, according to military court documents.

Bad enough that, but here's how we learned about this program:

The classified program was described in investigative documents related to recently filed murder charges against three snipers who are accused of planting evidence on Iraqis they killed.

If this is what we have to do to "win", then we've already lost.

True Colors

From today's Washington Post:

The leading contenders for the Republican nomination have indicated they will not attend the "All American Presidential Forum" organized by black talk show host Tavis Smiley, scheduled for Sept. 27 at Morgan State University in Baltimore and airing on PBS. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) all cited scheduling conflicts in forgoing the debate. The top Democratic contenders attended a similar event in June at Howard University.

…

Making matters worse, some Republicans believe, is that the decision to bypass the Morgan State forum comes after all top GOP candidates save McCain declined invitations this month to a debate on Univision, the most-watched Hispanic television network in the United States. The event was eventually postponed.

The most frustrating job in the world surely has to be doing minority outreach at the RNC. Why these staffers even bother getting out of bed in the morning is beyond me.

Ratcheting Up the Crazy

The GOP Presidential primary just got a whole lot loonier now that Alan Keyes has formally thrown his hat in the ring. I might even watch some of the debates now, just to see him in all his wingnut glory.

Iraq 1-Pager

Paul Krugman breaks it down today in his NYT column. Short story shorter: Petreus and the White House are just making shit up, Bush can never be counted on to do the reasonable thing if he's given the option of doing the stupid thing he really wants to do, and the GOP will attack Democrats on national security and terrorism even if they give Bush everything he asks for. What Democrats need to do, then, is do what the voters want them to do and move decisively to end this war now.

To coin a phrase, read the whole thing. For those without NYT Select, excerpts are below the fold.

Continue reading...