Saturday, December 30, 2006

2006 The Last Week

X-Dictator Saddam Hussein is dead. Saddam was tried, convicted of crimes against humanity and met his fate at the end of a rope at sunrise on Dec.30, 2006

Predictions of violent demonstrations were apparently over hyped..Shiites celebrated in the streets of Sadr City. Kurds remembered the massacre that cost them thousands of men, women and children. Even the Sunnis, except for the die-hard Saddamists, were subdued when they heard the news (and saw hangman's tape). All through Iraq victims of Saddam's 35 years of oppression and brutality were relieved that the "butcher of Baghdad" will never return and would be no more.

Saddam's demise is an end of an era but not the end of Iraq's nightmare. Insurgents will still kill civilians over tribal revenge and power...Baghdad and Anbar Provice are hellish...the Unity Government seems unable to keep Iraqis safe from foreign instigators, Iran and Al Qaeda, who fuel the lethal insurgency with Jihadi reinforcements and mass-murder-gear.

President Bush is mulling over a new "surge" strategy which reportedly will send as many as 50,000 more troops into Iraq with the "defined mission" to focus on stability and security in the troubled areas of Baghdad and Anbar Province and perhaps, border control. IF security is achieved, advisors and trainers will prepare the Iraq Military to eventually fight and hold the Government and Iraq's sovereignty on their own. He plans to address the Nation and possibly gain a skeptical public's support on Jan. 10th, 2007.

All Democrats and many Republicans have little hope that this approach will lead to victory. However, the definition of "Victory" out of necessity has been revised..PROGRESS IS possible with this targeted offensive..staying the course has achieved nothing but escalated violence and arrogant insurgents positive that they'll drive out US forces weakened by the loss of domestic political and popular support.


X-President Gerald Ford died this week at 92. There's plenty of biographical information 24/7 and the State Funeral is underway, RIP.

The President and Congress are out of town on Holiday and news was slow..enter Bob Woodward (State of Denial) who took the sad opportunity to release a taped interview with Ford who stated his opposition to the Iraq War. Woodward was sworn to secrecy until after Ford's death; soooo Woodward didn't waste a nanosecond to capitalize and share the spotlight with a dead President, re: the only memorable and controversial event in Gerry Ford's accidental Presidency..Nixon's pardon. Woodward linked the "nightmare" of Watergate and Nixon's resignation to the unpopular Iraq War, naturally taking a last shot at GW BUSH before the New Year.


X-Senator John Edwards formalized his run for President by shoveling dirt in New Orleans with what he called "the poor." The mediocre xambulance chaser, xSenator and x04 losing candidate, plans to recycle his "Two Americas" strategy (class warfare?) for the '08 Democratic nomination. Rumor has it that the Clinton Camp pressured Edwards to run so that Hillary, in contrast to Edwards and Obama, would have the most "gravitas" i.e., related experience, which would predestine D-nomination for Mrs. Clinton.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

2006 WINNERS & LOSERS

House of Representatives

Republican Losers:

Dennis Hastert R-ILL- Speaker of the House..whose lack of cognizant leadership led to the ethical collapse of R-incumbents under his stewardship.

Bob Ney R-Ohio- who should have resigned long before the November election but didn't, pled guilty of conspiring with the convicted lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, lost his seat and smeared the rest of Ohio incumbents running for re-election with scandalous residue. Ney was sentenced to jail time.

Duke Cunningham R-CA- took bribes from Defense Contractors, enriching himself with a yacht, a mansion etc., illegally influencing the decisions of House appropriations for Military hardware, pled guilty to all charges and is doing time in federal prison.

Mark Foley R-FL- a closet homosexual who messed around with underage pages for years, resigned after being outed by Democratic dirty tricks and retreated to rehab.

The results of this scandal, timed insideously to effect the outcome of the Midterm elections, was indeed the icing on the cake for the sweep of victories in the '06 elections which resulted in a the Democrats winning a Majority in the House.



Democrat Winners:


Rahm Emanuel D-ILL- who engineered the defeat of House Republicans across the board by devising a strategy that counteracted Karl Rove's "base only' tactics. He recruited Democratic candidates that fit the demographics of Republican districts; rejecting the tendency of D-Party Leftists to move to the far Left and envigorated the centrist coalition, morphing D-Party into a viable 50 State contender for all future state and local elections. (The Presidential race remains a "horse of a different color.")

Nancy Pelosi D-CA- the first woman and San Francisco Liberal ever to be Speaker of the House. She was in the right place at the right time. Considering her failure to appoint her friends to leadership positions and committee Chairmanships, I sincerely doubt that she would be the choice for Speaker of 2007's majority of centrist Democrats in the House. However, Nancy Pelosi IS a first and deserves credit for this achievement.


The Senate


George Allen R-VA- aka "macacawitz" self-destructed during his campaign for re-election. He was ahead by double digits going into the race against Jim Webb, a former Republican with little support from Virginia Democrats (except for his opposition to the Iraq War); inexplicably Allen blew it Big Time.

He was video taped by a Democratic operative of Indian descent, jokingly calling him "macaca."(later determined to be a racial slur in the far away neck-of-the-woods)

What followed was a deluge of accusations about George Allen's racist remarks in college. Democratic alums crawled out from under every rock and recalled racial slurs uttered by the wise cracker. Allen never recovered. WORSE, when he denied his Jewish ancestry and then embraced it by bringing his 92 year old mother into it..he was chopped livah and went on to lose a once "sure bet" to Webb. If Senator Allen didn't campaign at all, stayed home and didn't utter a discouraging word, he would've won IMO.


That's not saying much for his political skills. Allen's self-inflicted Senate defeat was the deciding factor in R-loss of the majority in the Senate. Not only that, Allen was the Conservative Right's pick for Presidential nominee in '08. Allen's political career is in the toilet..a good man badly beaten by Democratic dirty tricks for sure, but nonetheless, OVER for George Allen.

Senator Allen is my one and only candidate for the BIGGEST loser in the Senate in 2006. (Runner-ups don't even come close?)



The Executive


George W. Bush (R-Texas) "I have come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." He has had the most miserable year of any President in memory. Not only is he insanely hated by Left Wing Democrats and assaulted daily in Print & 24/7 TV News Networks, his own Party is sticking the knives in his torso with relish. "E tu Brute?" Recriminations abound from every quarter for the "thumping" Republicans suffered in the Midterm elections. He's a lame duck, all alone on a rickety limb.

The blame for the Republicans' loss of their local elections is their own faults, as I see it. What did they run on? Stay the course, when voters were fed and swallowed garbage served to them by wiley Democrats who promised the moon they'd never deliver?

The scandal smear muddied all. Republicans seemed unwilling to police themselves and apparently, thought the voters would'nt notice or homees would atleast repay them with a vote for all the goodies, ear marks and bacon brought home. WRONG..the Democrats hammered away at the Republican "culture of corruption" and it stuck. Ear Marks became a dirty word. Republicans were tar and feathered and run out of Congress on a rail.

By the time they realized that a tsunami of discontent and downright disgust was blowing their way..it was too late. But Bush isn't the culprit, if anyone played a roll in their defeat it may have been Rove for his insistence on sticking to his "base only" strategy when this year the base was NOT willing to cooperate with a Republican Congress that surrendered Republican principles to an obsession with POWER. Indeed, absolute power did corrupt Republicans in Congress, but not GW Bush, his power was long since mitigated by the turn coats in his own Party..and now neither has ANY.

Alas, in the Executive Branch, the buck stops in the Oval Office...soooo, GW BUSH is the BIG LOSER for 2006.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

New Year...New War

Regardless of all the hand wringing by defeatists, it appears that President Bush will surge MORE troops into Iraq early next year...a Hail Mary Pass for sure, in the hope to eke out a win in the 4th quarter of a game that most have already pronounced lost.

The one caveat by brave souls who support this risky maneuver is that there be a *clear objective* that frees the combat troops from political restraint. Ending the horrible violence in Baghdad will be the first part of the "surge;" then holding the Capitol City so the Unity Government can do its thing. I assume that al Sadr's militias will finally be confronted, many killed and thousands arrested..and HELD without release by the weak, compromised Maliki government.

Then Anbar Province, which harbors Al Qaeda and Sunni insurgents will be next on the target list. Again, clear, take control and HOLD it. As if that wasn't enough to do, US troops must prevent the influx of foreign fighters by guarding the borders and stopping reinforcements, weapons and explosives pouring in from Iran and Syria from refueling the insurgency.

President Bush will make this dramatic announcement to nation the first week in January. "Operation Victory" is being discussed in DC; its chief architect is retired Army Gen. Jack Keane. It could signal a commitment of up to 50,000 more troops to secure Baghdad...then assuming it's successful in about six months, it will be followed by a similar assault on Anbar Province.

Will it work? Not a chance if the anti-war defeatists monopolize the TV, Print and prime time Public Discussion; don't see the battle as a heroic effort to save the Iraqi people and stop Iran's march to dominate and destabilize the entire ME, but rather, the choir recoils in horror, cries War Crimes!!...as 190 thousand US troops ACT decisively, brutally, with Zero Tolerance to WIN this bloody WAR in lieu of leaving the perfunctory dainty footprint and tap dancing their way to a delicate "graceful exit"...stage Left ofcourse.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

IRAN...Root of Terror

President Bush was right to include Iran in the "Axis of Evil." WRONG not to recognize that Iran was the real menace to the free world and NOT Saddam's Iraq. As a matter of fact, the demise of Saddam Hussein unleashed the long time amibitions of Tehran(which Saddam's militancy restrained) to dominate the Arab world and more ominously, the destruction of all US interests and budding democracies in the Middle East.

The "culture of martyrdom" including the terror tactics of suicide bombers which are utilized by Sunni and Shiite fanatics, originated as the brain child of Iranian clerics who authorized the take over of our embassy in Tehran in 1979 and created the Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, that blew up 241 US Marines in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983.

Today in Iran the government controlled Media, TV and print, daily spew anti-American and anti-Semitic propaganda. The USA is the Great Satan and the Holocaust is a myth devised to justify the existence of the State of Israel in the Middle East.

Iran is behind much of the virulent insurgency in Iraq, and therefore, is responsible for turning thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians into bloody pieces of flesh. They supply Shiite militias, especially al Sadr, with IEDs, grenade launchers, truck and car bombs, and other sophisticated explosives and weaponry which are used to 'ethnically cleanse' Sunnis from mixed communities; but also as the cause of death and horrible injuries to US servicemen.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is emboldened by Iran's progress in Iraq and Lebanon. Now imagine how much more effective and threatening Iran would be to the Arabs in the ME, Israel, Western Democracies and USA...IF he had the BOMB?...nobody anywhere will be safe with an unhinged fanatic in possession of a Nuke.


Furthermore, the recommendation of the Iraq Study Group, that we talk to Iran and get THEIR help to stabilize Iraq bodes such naivete' of reality that I fear that the only wake up call about the odious threat of a Nuclear Iran will be the proverbial "mushroom cloud"...but ofcourse, then it will be too late?

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Pressure Points



The Iraq Study Group


After much ado and anticipation of the Baker/Hamilton review of the Iraq War, it is now clear that hopes for a new credible solution were vastly over hyped by Democrats and the Media.


Right out of the gate, hateful partisans anxious to demean Bush were spewing psycho-babble, calling him delusional, unrealistic, stubborn and in denial because the CIC wouldn't swallow the whole unimpressive diatribe as the silver bullet that solved all the problems in Iraq. The catch phrase to describe the Study Groups' conclusions was spun to label Bush's war policy as an unredeemable failure; "grave and deteriorating"...chock full of ways to get out..not ONE suggestion of how to Win.


On the front page of the very politically incorrect New York Post, Baker and Hamilton were in chimp suits; in BIG print the aging statesmen were called "Surrender Monkeys." Headline: Iraq panel urges U.S. to give up.


Bush is determined to make serious strategy changes. He'll reserve his revised course of action until after discussing the possibilities with the Military commanders acquainted with combat in Iraq. Their suggestions should have prominence over the two week wonders who have little hope of turning things around and coming out of Iraq with a better reputation for resolve and resilience than we did after abandoning our allies in South Vietnam and losing that War.


Afterall, we can't risk a failed state in the Middle East. Iran and Al Qaeda will move in for the kill and use that Country as leverage against the Arab States and bases to launch fatal attacks against Western Democracies and the USA. The consequences of failure are indeed dire for the entire World; that's one thing the Study Groupies got right.

Better minds than the ISG, men in uniform that know the stakes and will accept the sacrifices necessary to defeat the thugs that would enslave the Iraqis, the region, and condemn the USA to Islamic intolerance and terror...will WIN the day for the CIC and America's good name in the World.

All politicians have to do..is get out of the way.


D-Most Catastrophic Congressional Majority in History...


Incoming Democratic leaders and followers are giving the nonsensical American voters a glimpse of what's in store for the next two years...a rocky horror show for sure.


Starting with the purge of competent Republicans in the House enmass, and in the Senate-a few; power laden Democrats forced John Bolten from the UN, not for lack of brilliantly performing and championing American interests in the anti-American body but for purely partisan revenge. Same with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. President Bush, after Republicans got thumped in the Midterms, anti-climatically accepted his resignation the day AFTER the Republican Party lost the majority in both Houses of Congress.

Needless to say, this untimely and inexplicable announcement, if it should have been made at all, could have been done earlier when Rummy's sacrifice might've prevented the sad sweep by the Dems.

Most pols were dumbfounded by the Kerry-like fumble from the WH. The week of the election Bush declared: Rummy will be with me to the end. (Why bring it up?) Then...kabosh, <<----for/agin----->> Rove atleast should've felt the winds of change blowing from sea to shining to sea and used this key replacement for political advantage?


The next Circus attraction was, Nancy, with the nip & tucked eyes, Pelosi's attempt to install her felonious friends as Intelligence Committee Chairman and as her left-hand man, second in command, Majority Leader. Thankfully, ethically challenged John Murtha and Alcee Hastings went down in flames.

After promising the "most ethical Congress" Pelosi was caught trying to finagle around her promise. Democrats were forced to highlight the failings of their Speaker in waiting's choices. John (redeploy the troops to Okinawa) Murtha's brush with a bribery scandal was flashed across the blogospher and (reluctantly) on the front pages of every Newspaper in the Country. A grainy black and white FBI video, showing Murtha hedging his bets with undercover agents was #1 on Utube.

Alcee Hastings was Impeached by D-Senate and removed from the federal bench, but shockingly, SHE wanted to give him access to the nation's classified secrets as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee.


Did she think no one would notice? Geeeze...democrats won because they tagged Republicans with the "culture of corruption" rap and promised "change?"..doesn't that mean "improvement?

Yeah right..Dems will be honest holy rollers?...what a crock! If only voters were on to the scam artists BEFORE they gave these scoundrels the Majority? Perhaps individual voters didn't calculate the odds or the likely-hood of a significant spanking of Republicans..a voter tantrum? Maybe they're just as surprised as Republicans that soooo many voters chose a barrel of monkeys to lead this Country in such serious and dangerous times? OR could it be..misguided Americans really don't have a clue? Sheeesh..It's beyond me.