Late Nite Tunes: Pennywise - Fight 'Til You Die

I saw these guys about 10 years ago, and they put on a pretty good show. This clip is from Warped Tour in '99.

Hail To The Chief, Jon Stewart

The New York Times has a massive article on Jon Stewart being the king of media and stating that the Daily Show has been a massive cultural force in contemporary America. Some have accused The Daily Show of having an overtly liberal bias, especially after the whole Jonah Goldberg diatribe, but I suspect the perceived bias has more to do with there being a Republican presidency. The Barack Oboner segments could be a consistently hilarious portion of the show in the future if the presumptive Democrat nominee wins the general election. Keep 'em coming, this show has been consistently good for years.

Flashback: Remember the whole "Hanging Chad" ruckus back in 2000. Check out Jon Stewart ridicule the stupidity that often comes with the democratic process.

A Plea To Pakistan: Don't Be Ellis

(shirts available at Cafe Press)

Jihadica has an al-Sahab release from Al-Qaeda #2, Zawahiri, who uses rhetoric to plead with Pakistan to side with the terrorist group. This is highly disturbing to anyone concerned about the capability of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Newsweek reported last year that militant Islam was gaining popularity in Pakistan, and their government's preponderance to attempt to broker deals with militant groups in the northwestern tribal areas, such as the Waziristan Accords, have proven disastrous for the worldwide counterterrorism effort. That is why an there is an urgent need to plead with the powers that be in Pakistan with this simple meme: Don't Be Ellis.

Ellis was the sleazy businessman in Die Hard who attempted to negotiate for the surrender of McClane (played by Bruce Willis) to the terrorist thugs that had seized the Nakotomi Plaza in Los Angeles. While Ellis held no ill-will in his heart, he attempted to appease the enemy, when the only logical discourse was to meet an irrational foe with overwhelming force.

U.S.-Pakistan relations saw a boost when the U.S. provided aid after the devastating earthquake in 2005, but they have soured considerably since then. However, both the U.S. and Pakistan have a love of cinema, and iconic movie like Die Hard could transcend cultural boundaries to comprehend the serious threat that appeasement of terrorists could bring.

Shabaniyah

3 Million in Karbala took part in Pilgrimage

Al-Jazeera English says that the pilgrimage to Karbala, Iraq to commemorate the birth of the Imam Mahdi has been a success. They quote Ministry of Interior Bolani saying "The day will come soon when we will announce that al-Qaeda's coffin has been thrown in the garbage of history." This is in stark contrast to last year's pilgrimage where Sadr's band of thugs fought with the Iraqi Security Forces in Karbala (many of them Badr corps)...dozens of civilians were killed in the cross-fire. No word yet from Sadr's enablers in the American media about this event, but they'll most likely assert that the Mahdi Army is lying low and only Obama's gift of speaking can convince them to disarm.

Seattle Hemp Fest Lights Off

The Seattle Hempfest is currently ongoing, and there are reports that many of the baked revelers are railing against our cougaresque Gov. Gregoire for applying limits to the amount of marijuana medicinal users can possess. Currently, state law vaguely states a "60-day" supply, but new legislation would rule for a more definitive amount of 24 ounces and 6 plants. The Seattle Times reports from Hempfest the opposition to this law:

"Every single patient I know will not be in compliance with the 60-day rule. It's not going to work. It's driven by law enforcement, not science," said Douglas Hiatt, a lawyer who represents medical-marijuana users.

While 24 ounces (1.5 lbs or ~0.7kg) seems like enough for a Cypress Hill backstage pass, the root of the problem is that law enforcement should have no business fighting victimless crimes such as marijuana usage. For anyone who grew up in a town with a prevalent drug culture, you are well aware that the worst thing a stoned person could ever do is talk philosophically about the infusion of communism inherent with living in Smurf village while eating a bunch of Cheetos. Reason TV has an interview with a 34-year veteran of Seattle's Finest, where he discusses how draconian drug laws can lead to heavy-handed police work that include raiding the wrong house and jailing non-violent offenders. Our police need to devote their resources to prosecuting real crime in the Puget Sound area, and when society clamors for arbitrary laws to criminalize citizens who use a plant that grows naturally, it overburdens law enforcement assets.

This is not to say that being stoned on the job should be condoned, in the same vein that being drunk on the job should not be accepted by society. Recently, I had trouble getting some dinner at KFC because most of the teenaged staff was obviously high as a kite (bloodshot eyes, paranoia setting in that "someone would know", initial fear to help me at the register because I was in uniform, etc.), but that really is just a humorous example of routine life such as this classic article found in The Onion, and I was hardly about to call the cops.

The U.K. Becoming More Isolated

The U.K. Stood Up to The Blitz, What Happened Since Then?

Michael Portillo, a former conservative in the House of Commons, writes about British inaction during the recent crisis in Georgia. He doesn't call for some sort of aggressive military intervention, but he does find the lack of even a diplomatic voice from Britain a bit disturbing. After dissecting that Iraq was a bit of a blunder for the Blair doctrine in the British mind, Portillo laments:

Is it too much to hope that Britain can again find a role in foreign affairs of the scale achieved by Thatcher and Blair?

While British imperialism in the 19th century (particularly in India and South Africa) was rife with human rights abuses, our friends across the pond bravely fought against world-wide tyranny during WWII. English culture provided the world with everything from Shakespeare to Iron Maiden, and Locke and Hobbes are often considered the architects for modern Western democracy. The fact that the international language is derived from an island way the hell up in the north Atlantic should say something about the importance of England shaping our world. We'd be missing out on a lot if Britain chose to isolate itself and live in a watered-down world of nanny-state totalitarianism where culture is squashed because it might offend someone.

NYT Op-Ed Suggests America is a Bunch of Whiners

Is America a Big Bunch of Pussies?

Conservative NYT columnist, David Brooks, writes of a heroic tale of Chinese citizens amidst suffering in the Sichuan Province after the devastating earthquake earlier this year. Citing the Chinese people's desire to move on with their lives, he brings up the question of whether or not America, by comparison, is a bunch of over-emotional ninnies regarding our trite, little problems.

While America is much more modernized than China, with buildings that are designed to withstand the devastating effects of mother nature in places like Los Angeles, it doesn't necessarily suggest that our comparative lack of suffering would lead us to be a nation of pussies. The fundamental purpose of innovation and engineering has been to utilize science for the improvement of mankind, which will hopefully continue our domain off of earth to expand humanity one day. The fact that life is no longer nasty, brutish, and short should be a celebrated effect of mankind's achievements, and not regarded as making us weaker.

IMHO, the real reason America has become a nation of whiners is due to our continuing belief that the all-powerful state should provide everything from free healthcare to cheap gas, while we go about our banal lives paying taxes and not asking a lot of questions. The introspective nature of democracy to just vote for one's short-term self interests leads to a culture of viewing the sole purpose in life as "being happy" and "feeling good". Evidence of the self-serving by-products of modern western civilization include dog daycare and spas, Cuddle Parties, and fastest text messaging contests. It's difficult to combat current crises (terrorism) and looming crises (energy and resource shortages) when people adopt such a solipsistic view of the world. Ayn Rand would probably punch me in the face for asserting such a collectivist argument, but the purpose of life being self-gratification seems to be a bunch of bullshit, and its manifestations in modern society are bullshit too.

NGO in Afghanistan Concerned with Civil-Military Involvement

ISAF Soldier Engaged in Soft Power

Taliban thugs murdered four workers for the IRC NGO just south of Kabul in a brutal attack. AP has the story, and it was surprising to see that the director of the NGO cast doubt on military involvement in civil affairs, which can be rationalized to say the Taliban will target Westerners regardless of their military status:

The two IRC officials said they were concerned that international militaries are taking on humanitarian projects, potentially blurring the lines in the eyes of locals or militants between what humanitarian groups do and what the military does.

NATO militaries carry out reconstruction projects throughout the country.

"There are very real ethical and operational concerns that arise from the confusion between humanitarian and political and military objectives," Donnelly said.

This type of logic would assume that the Taliban followed Geneva Convention restrictions about attacking humanitarian workers, which they obviously don't. Also, this line of thinking could be poisonous between civilian and military cooperation, since both sides could blame each other for not fulfilling their mission, when they are both dependent on each other. The State Department is the logical arbiter to bridge the communication gap when it comes to improving stability in Afghanistan, but the Foreign Service has not been adequately increased to meet this challenge. The Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan is an important mission to improve governance, infrastructure, and self-reliance and both civilian and military members on the ground in Afghanistan will hopefully find new methods to improve its effectiveness.

Five Bits of Information For the Friday Meat-Market

News you can use to impress your potential one-night stand at 1:30am on the club floor:

• Bigfoot press conference is an epic FAIL as the two samples for DNA testing were human and opossum [Reuters]
• Crazy man resembling The Shredder with a samurai sword and shotgun at The Capitol in January gets 22 years in the joint [Politico]
• High-tech toilets no longer to be used to shoot up heroin and smoke meth in Seattle [Seattle P-I]
• 12 year-old schlepps Mom in the family mini-van to the alehouse for a night of partying (what is the problem here?) [Breitbart]
• Zombie mob to attack SF tomorrow (h/t MezzoSF)

And now a flashback from our great cultural past, Psycho Dad:

Late Nite Tunes: The Chimpmunks Go Punk

Apparently there was a Chipmunk Punk album in 1980, which is kinda shitty but rather hilarious. The creep of counter-culture in the 80s was also evident when CHiPs had a punk band as the basis for a show. Don't ask me how the fucking economy works.

War and American Culture

Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari has discussed with the press that a draft is being hammered out between the coalition and the Iraqi government to withdraw American forces. This should be welcomed by anyone who supports a stable and democratic Iraq, since it shows the newfound confidence that the Iraqi people have in their own security forces. Also, our scant resources in the military are overworked and needed elsewhere. This is remarkably different than the language of surrender that many members of Congress offered up during the controversial "Surge" strategy, which has been compiled by the Greyhawks in the above video. With the Islamic State of Iraq in serious decline, according to Jihadica, and the Mahdi Army badly weakened, the most pressing problems in Iraq are of a more political and economic nature (refugee crisis, inability to spend surplus of oil revenues, delay of provincial elections, etc.) Therefore, it seems appropriate that now would be the time of discussion to withdraw coalition forces.

But what if it didn't work out like that? Would America remember the Iraq in the same vein as they remembered Vietnam. I was watching Gonzo last night, (which is a film about the life of the greatest journalist ever!), and Thompson harkens back to San Francisco in the 60s saying it was a magical trip to be part of. With movies like The Big Chill and even some old hippies living in the dead husks of the past, my take on the previous generation is that they were very proud of their opposition to the Vietnam War (despite poor treatment of veterans). Many also seem to be very proud of their "anything-goes" decadence of their wild days on college campuses and carry themselves with an aura of self-righteousness than really pisses a lot of younger people off. If the Surge hadn't worked out the way it did, we would've been treated to smug conversations from self-proclaimed intellectuals for the rest of our lives that would've produced a glut of more crappy anti-war movies like Redacted, Stop Loss, and Lions for Lambs to infuse our culture with bullshit. Endless swarms of tweens growing up to be proud of the fact that they were
penning bogus essays about Iraq to win Hannah Montana tickets. It could've been a show like "The Wonder Years", except without the comedic stylings of Paul Pfeiffer.

While, the cultural ramifications in America of the Iraq war should be the least important thing a nation worries about, I'm just grateful it didn't work out that way. Maybe American Carol will be a huge success, who knows.

Highway to Hell

(Graphic From NY Times)

The road between Kandahar and Kabul has become more dangerous than Mel Gibson driving a fuel tanker through the wasteland of Lord Humongous in Road Warrior. The NY Times details 3 soldiers being brutally murdered during a 26 June attack and 7 contractors being beheaded on 24 June while doing a convoy mission on the perilous road. This is reminiscent of Route Irish (the road between the Baghdad Airport and the Green Zone) being labeled "The World's Most Dangerous Road" in 2005. Now attacks on it are incredibly rare, but only after standing up ISF checkpoints, T-walls galore, and swarming the surrounding neighborhoods. Of course, that road in Baghdad is only about 7 miles long, and as a colonel lite once remarked to me, "Iraq and Afghanistan are totally different balls of wax".

It is obvious that the NATO-built highway between Kandahar and Kabul is essential to maintaining governance in the southern portion of Afghanistan, but does anyone have any ideas on how to secure it? More UAVs to monitor for bad dude activity? Enlisting support from the tribes around the highway? It is probably the result of the mission being "under-resourced" that the ISAF commander noted a few weeks ago. Why are we and our NATO allies allowing Afghanistan to be forgotten?

The Defining Moments of Political Ideology

Matt Welch discusses in Reason how he came to question the will of the majority in his latest piece, which is well worth the read and even mentions the late, great, and obnoxious Wally George. There's often moments like this in life, where massive, symbolic events greatly affect your political ideology based on how you experienced it. I'd like to mention an event that I'm sure has affected many people's outlook on politics: 9/11.

I was about to start my senior year at UCLA, and my political beliefs could best be described as a bit nuttier than Ron Paul. I actually thought there was a world-wide banking conspiracy in cahoots with the U.N. to take away my revolver that I planned on purchasing for my 21st birthday. Also, since Clinton has been in office for most of the period where I fomented my political opinions, I assumed there was some kind of tie in with the government and the "librUl" media to defraud the average joe of his hard-earned money through the egregious process of taxation. The irony that I went to a state-funded college was totally lost on me. Anyways, my belief in a righteous, Randroid-style individualism made for some interesting discussions at keggers, but sure as hell wasn't winning over any converts.

But after the smoke from burning bodies was still hanging low over NYC, many of my fellow college students were already protesting against military action (which hadn't even happened yet except for some Carrier groups doing donuts in the Indian Ocean). The local student newspaper was filled with politically correct nausea on "How to Report a Hate Crime" if you were accosted for being a Muslim. This is despite the fact that most of LA's Muslim community was hoping that Osama Bin Laden would get killed in short order. I came to realize the corruption of many elements of the American Left: that endless desire to feel good and self-righteous about one self while not acknowledging troubling realities of the world. Hardly anyone at UCLA was rushing to the recruiting station as a defining moment of a generation, and many just wanted to preemptively condemn any military action or just ignore the rubble in NYC all together.


While events since then have probably changed my political orientation to be a little more leery of just counting on the military for everything, I thought that particular period of time was pretty significant. So, do you have a moment like that in your life, or am I just talking out of my ass?

Sasquatch Lives!

Some dude who's been looking for Bigfoot since 1971 says Bigfoot Lives in northern Georgia (Hot Air has the details if the link is flooded with too much traffic). There's a Sasquatch-themed press conference tomorrow to explain. It better not be a bunch of hype to hawk some cheesy new product (Bigfoot Jerky, Bigfoot Perfume, Sasquatch Home Pregnancy Test, etc.). Remember back in 2001 when there was the "It" campaign that was supposed to unveil some anti-gravitron device that could travel through time or whatever, but it turned out to be that crappy-ass Segway, which would result in a monster-sized ass whopping if you were spotted within 20 feet of one. This better not be anything like that, the world is already too depressing a place to have our hopes vanquished for the umpteenth time.

Health Care at the DMV

Is This the Future of Health Care?

The debate over having the government run health care is ramping over at Yglesias' blog. He argues that government agencies such as the military are well functional, therefore it is not inconceivable that a new bureaucracy of health care administrators employed by the federal government could be just as effective and respected institution.

1) Comparing the military to any other American agency is a bit of a fallacy, since being in the service requires a surrender of many rights (freedom of speech, freedom to quit your job, etc.) for the sake of forming a cohesive unit. It is also deeply rooted in tradition and already well-respected by American society, which is a selling point for "signing up". Does Mr. Yglesias really think that employees filing medical claims would be lined up out the door at the recruiting station for this new monstrosity of a government program?

2) Supposing Yglesias just mentioned the military to show that the government isn't necessarily incompetent, other respected government-run agencies (like law enforcement, the fire department) aren't at the whim of getting abused by the consumers. If all health care was free, what would be the motivation for people to stay healthy if the state were picking up the tab? This type of system would reward sloth and poor life decisions by American citizens.

3) Massive health insurance plans practically bankrupted the biggest automaker, logic would follow that a federally-administered health care program of unending benefits would bankrupt the entire country.

Reason has proposed solution of more competition between hospitals and better transparency on costs, which would better suit us.

Late Nite Tunes: Judas Priest - Pain Killer

If you are old enough, you may remember when Judas Priest was taken to court because they were supposedly putting subliminal messages in their songs that caused two kids in Reno to kill themselves. That gave them a lot of street credit.

Power of Imagery

Errol Morris discusses the power of imagery on the average citizen in the NY Times, even if it is deceptive and fake, such as the photo-shopped Iranian missile test outed by Charles Johnson. Imagery is also useful in spreading the meme on a blog, since it's easier to upload a few pics you stole off Google Images than to construct a rational argument.

Stalin would be proud!

Disturbing People in Today's News (in Photos)

Paul Harpin: A man in Vermont who was arrested on charges of animal cruelty, who had piles of dead, maggoty carcasses and an alive pooch dwelling in his own filth.

Mark David Chapman: The guy who shot and killed John Lennon gets denied parole for a fifth time. Why? Because he's a nut.

Anita Stewart: Jumbo-sized Code Pink heifer who thought that posting a picture of her XL panties that say "No Peace, No Pussy" would be an effective anti-war statement. Much like TSO who unearthed this internet atrocity, I considered this absolutely revolting and it has not changed my political opinions.

Good Thing Pundits Aren't Running the Country

While Georgia Burns

Call me the bloggin' Benedict Arnold if you must, but the ugly stain of partisanship in today's RSS feed regarding policy towards Georgia is a bit disturbing. While lefty blogs dispute whether or not McCain lifted his statement from Wikipedia and Kristol licks his chops at the prospect of sending in US forces, the list of atrocities against Georgia by the Russian military continues to grow by the day:

• Russian troops are on the ground in Georgia outside of the disputed areas of South Ossetia and Abhkazia
• A Russian cyber-attack has shut down Georgia's websites forcing them to use the blogspot domain
  
• A BBC camera crew almost got taken out by a Russian jet
• Families at the U.S. embassy have been evacuated to neighboring Armenia
  

Lucky for the Georgians, the American President has issued public statements condemning Russia's brutal behavior, and the French President is going to Moscow in an attempt to hammer out a ceasefire. That's right, mark it, filthy politician rats are acting more responsibly than sweat-pants wearin' bloggers and actually showing leadership. This reminds me of the time we were getting shellacked in the Green Zone and all people in blogland were either ecstatic that Sadr was making Bush look stupid or that Iran was behind it all and we should start bombing them. Politics has an awkward role in conflict, and it seems that people get carried away with supporting this or that position that they don't realize civilians are getting killed while they nitpick at gaffes. Fortunately, the Russian propaganda machine seems to have missed the disputes in the blogs and sees America united behind a message of condemnation. From Pravda:

The evidence to proof the USA’s hand behind the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia can be found in Western media. Western news agencies, Reuters, for example, have been distributing countless photographs depicting Russia’s supposed atrocities in Georgia. Such photos along with adequate headlines can be found in practically all US newspapers (The New York Times is the best example for it). All of them unanimously accuse Russia of aggression against Georgia, but they do not say a word about Georgia’s actions against civilians in S. Ossetia.

Good thing the editors at Pravda didn't read the dumbass HuffPo post about McCain engineering the whole thing to win the American election.

Late Nite Tunes: Big Gay Sundays

90s kitsch doesn't get the same respect as that of the 80s. This is possibly because it is not as memorable and ridiculous, but "What is Love" is a classic tune that deserves space in the book of embarrassing Americana.

Badass Isaac Hayes Passes Away

What a tragedy, first Bernie Mac and now Isaac Hayes! The "Duke of New York" has passed away at 65. From Fox News by way of Dirty Harry's:

Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless "Theme From Shaft" won Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday afternoon, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. He was 65.

A family member found him unresponsive near a treadmill and he was pronounced dead an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, according to the sheriff's office. The cause of death was not immediately known.

IMHO, the best Isaac Hayes performance was during the John Carpenter classic, Escape From New York. Watch some of these videos to judge for yourself:



This scene is one of the most powerful cinematic sequences in history. After spending the first half of the movie building up the hardcore aura of Snake Plisken, the Duke (played by Isaac Hayes) shows up unexpectedly in the movie as even more of a badass. They don't make villians like that anymore.



His talent will be difficult to replicate....godspeed.

Ideas From 70s movies Could Spice Up the Olympics

Canada Wins Women's Badminton! (besides off-color jokes about shuttlecocks, this shit is zzz-inducing)

So I just finished nodding off after watching Men's Volleyball in the rain at Beijing, and I probably would've better spent my Sunday afternoon watching reruns of Mama's Family. Why is the Olympics so absolutely boring? Asian Sweetheart suggests more scantily-clad babes, while Reason says the end of the Cold War has lessened the stakes of the games. We probably aren't going to have a Miracle on Ice scenario, like in 1980 against the hated USSR, with people chanting "USA, USA, USA!" after the Women's Fencing Team sweep. So, let's face it, while the standing ovation for the Iraqi team was a significant moment, the Olympics in this day and age is totally lame. Fortunately, some cinematic classics from the 1970s offer hope on how to improve the schnooze-ridden games.

Rollerball: Imagine a world without the brutality of war and troublesome international boundaries, where mankind feeds their incessant bloodlust by watching a horribly violent game where people kick the crap out of each other on roller skates. This Olympic sport could settle disputes such as the conflict over Southern Ossetia without the associated civilian casualties. Plus, we could worship the lone survivor of this gorefest and have him or her lead us into Utopia.

Death Race 2000: The Olympics highlights the most genetically favored that have chosen a lifestyle of fitness and health to represent each respective nation. Normal folks hate people like that. An Olympics event like Death Race 2000, where competitors drive across the countryside running over people for points, would involve the common man like no other. It would also help the rural Chinese become more modernized, as they would have to be on the lookout for 2 tons of industrial reality with Sylvester Stallone at the wheel.

The Warriors: The Furies were the only good thing to come out of the otherwise dull sport of baseball. With their combination of make-up and pinstripes, you know they are not the gang to fuck with. A baseball-type event at the Olympics, where whacking people with bats was not just illegal, but encouraged, could provide interest for an international audience. It would also give a pretty good advantage to Team America.

While these movies are all three decades old, they clearly envisioned sporting events that could propel interest well into the 21st-century.

Motley Crue in WA, A View From The Lawn

This concert attained a 4 out of 5 Flying V rating in Awesomeness!

The Motley Crue concert last evening at White River Amphitheater in WA was an excellent sight to behold, despite the fact that all members of the Motley Crue should be seriously brain damaged by now due to their lifestyles. The Crue played all of their classic stuff that you can think of (Dr. Feelgood, Livewire, Girls Girls Girls, Shout at the Devil, Looks That Kill, Home Sweet Home, Don't Go Away Mad, Primal Scream, etc.), which had been a bit of concern before hand, since they are promoting a new album and could have forgone the old shit. The concert was packed with a kickass group of metalheads, which was a sight to behold in the Puget Sound area, since it gets a bad rap as yuppie central. My only complaint is that Vince Neil, despite having all the rocker moves he did when he was younger, seemed to have gotten a little tripped up on the opener "Kickstart My Heart". Mr. and Ms. Kiyum first noticed the sad phenomenon of Vince Neil forgetting the lyrics to his own songs back at the House of Blues in 2003, and last night was no exception. Despite an impressive opening pyrotechnics show, Vince and the band seemed off rhythm, and he botched a few of the lyrics. Here's a YouTube vid from DC a few weeks ago for Kickstart My Heart, and I'll let you decide. But other than that, the show kicked ass.

4 Shits N' Giggles: Here's some observations from the lawn


I was enthused that younger people were rocking out to the Crue, however, they seem to not understand the fundamental rule of concert-going: Don't Wear the T-shirt of the Band You See


Who let the hippies in? Security!

Another rule of concert going seems to hold true. The fatter and drunker someone is, the more likely that individual is prone to disgusting acts of PDA on the lawn or, alternately, in the parking lot.

A prized mullet shot of a balding gentleman in a denim Hard Rock jacket. Denim jackets are extremely difficult to come by in this day and age, and sporting one indicates an appreciation for classic metal. I salute you, sir!

Brutality in Georgia and Our Response

Casualties From a Russian Airstrike in the Town of Gori (from AP)

Russia has entered Georgia's airspace to conduct airstrikes, and this AP photo proves that there were civilian casualties. Al-Jazeera English has some good background if you are a bit ignorant (like yours truly) on the details behind this explosive issue :



The clip includes the Georgian President asking for help from Western allies, and President Bush's response, which can also be read here.

Greyhawk discusses how it will affect Iraq, since Georgia has 2,000 troops as part of the coalition.

Politico highlights the differences between the McCain and Obama statements about the conflict, but I'm not seeing huge chasms in opinion here. Both campaigns reject the violence and they both seem to side with Georgia, since Russia is the aggressor into the sovereign state. Yet the two campaigns are at each others throats about the issue. Goddamn politicians. Instead of uniting behind a strong American message to end the bloodshed, these knuckleheads are vying for cheap political points.

COIN Guru Has an Op-Ed in WaPo About Iraq

Mansoor Argues that Surge Forces were crucial to Iraqi stabilization

COL Mansoor was one of Petraeus' inner staff at MNF-I, so I'm assuming he is a smart and knowledgeable dude, since the only officer I personally knew that worked directly with the General Petraeus was a Rhodes Scholar. Anyways, the Colonel has an Op-Ed in WaPo that is worth reading for straight-forward insight on Iraq and the Surge during a time of vicious political bickering back in the states (h/t SWJ):

• The arrival of additional U.S. forces signaled renewed resolve. Sunni tribal leaders, having glimpsed the dismal future in store for their people under a regime controlled by al-Qaeda in Iraq and fearful of abandonment, were ready to throw in their lot with the coalition.
• Improved security led to greater Iraqi confidence and lessened the need for, and acceptance of, Shiite militias that for too long held sway in many neighborhoods. When the Mahdi Army instigated a gun battle in Karbala last August that forced the cancellation of a major Shiite religious observance, the resulting public pressure compelled Moqtada al-Sadr to declare a unilateral cease-fire.
• The surge has created the space and time for the competition for power and resources in Iraq to play out in the political realm, with words instead of bombs.

It's important to note that legitamate Iraqi Security Forces hamepered the public's willingess to accept security and services from Shi'ite militias. Hezbollah thrives in Lebanon do to a weak state and the populous is more willing to see them as benefactors, and the Mahdi Army was analagous in predominantly Shi'ite areas like Sadr City for far too long. With Sunni terrorists trying to detonate VBIEDs in their markets, and the Iraqi government stalling in providing goods and services, one could almost be sympathetic to the plight of the poor Shi'ite citizen, and understand why they would turn to a group of thugs operating outside the Rule of Law. Luckily, that tune seems to be changing as clerics loyal to Sadr are calling for a large-scale reduction of the Mahdi Army.

Elizabeth Edwards Defends Her Loser Husband

Having never been married in modern America, I assume that fathering a love-child and having a steamy affair would get a man kicked to the curb faster than Chinese leftovers on trash day. But Elizabeth Edwards, opts to "stand by her man" with this Kos diary:

None of these has been easy. But we have stood with one another through them all. Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him.

She also takes a cop-out by blaming those evil creeps in the media for all of her family's problems:

The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown. But now the truth is out, and the repair work that began in 2006 will continue. I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John’s conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time.

Whatever, lady. It's hard to be sympathetic to politicians and celebrities who have a fit whenever the media says something bad about them, since their job is to have a relation with the public and the media frequently acts as that conduit of information. It'd be the same if people in my profession got all pissed off about having to wear a uniform, or bloggers got upset when someone they didn't know visited their website.

Seeing how the Edwards' have done a pretty rotten job of getting the presidential nomination, perhaps it's time for John to revert back to his career as an ambulance-chasing lawyer.

Lucky for John, He Always Has a Future Extorting Money From Slip and Fall Injuries

Late Nite Tunes: Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart

See you all at the show tomorrow...

Obama's Scary Goatse Salute

New Campaign Ad Totally Offensive!

The new way for Obama's supporters to show support may seem harmless, but from the depths of the Gateway Pundit comments, chirsbg99 suggests that this is a not-so-subtle reference to the disturbing goatse...the internet meme that will not die! If you already know what "goatse" is, please continue on to the next post. But if your favorite movie is Toy Story, you think gambling will prevent you from getting into heaven, and you thought 7th Heaven was too racy for television, under no circumstance should you click here to see the resemblance. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Meet The New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Hang Out With "Them" On This Podcast

Here's a lengthy podcast of an AM radio interview with my old boss, a decent guy, and his spouse. He talks about working with General Petraeus and life in the Green Zone being, what MAJ John calls, "one of them!". It was an odd time to be in Iraq, and my ex-boss does a good job explaining this. Things weren't going very well in Iraq when I first got there in June 2007 (sectarian violence was still rife, AQI had control of much of Diyala province, the Iraqi government was in disarray, etc.) It's one of those situations where you are glad that the people superior to you know what the fuck they are doing, which I'm sure many folks in the military could relate to. It was a bit uncertain what was going to happen with this new wiz-bang COIN strategy, and I'm glad it had a major affect on the decline in violence in Iraq. Not really for me, since I was leaving in 12 months anyways, but there's a lot of people who actually live there (see the Pottery Barn rule from Colin Powell). We have a tremendous responsibility to the Iraqis, and I hope this recent delay in provincial elections doesn't result in significantly more violence and instability.

Hillary Already Dreaming Up Grand Schemes When Obama Inevitably Gets Elected

The presidential candidates are neck-in-neck in the polls right now, but that didn't stop Hillary from assuming Obama has got it locked up and dreaming up foisting her grand health-care scheme on us rowdy, unwashed subjects. From the "Let's Chat" segment with her 15 supporters online today (h/t Wonkette):

Question #5:

One of the main reasons that I voted for Hillary is her plans for healthcare. Can you make a comment on how healthcare carried out in the next administration?

by RichardA OH at 8/7/2008 12:02:43 PM

Answer: I am so pleased that Senator Obama shares my commitment to universal health care. Once he is elected, I will be working closely with his administration, members of Congress, health care advocates, and others -- to help develop a plan that ensures access to health care for every American. I know how important this issue is and it will be my top priority.

She didn't even say "if he is elected", which seems a bit presumptuous, IMHO. But maybe she knows something I don't, after all she's probably got some pretty good connections. Assuming that Obama's election is for sure, we can expect $5000 of taxpayer dollars to go down the drain for every smelly little urchins being born, and forcing companies to provide health care plans which will probably cause rampant unemployment. Yeah for democracy!