Check the President

Roscoe C. Born of the Baltimore Sun has a good idea for Congress:

"Whatever motives led the president to ask, and Congress to grant, authority to use the U.S. military to invade Iraq, the justifications stated in whereas after whereas are not true today. Yet they remain on the books, still the official position of Congress. So the vital decision is not President Bush's alone, and Congress should not wait to proceed on its own.
Congress is morally obligated - now - to review its outdated joint resolution authorizing force against Iraq, and to undertake a new joint resolution declaring, in essence, "Whereas the purposes of the original authorization have been served; whereas the stated reasons justifying the authorization no longer exist; whereas the objectionable Iraqi regime has been removed and the new Iraqi regime poses no military threat to its neighbors or the United States; that, therefore, U.S. military forces are no longer authorized to remain in Iraq."
Far-fetched? Not in the least. Congress used this very procedure in 1993 to withdraw U.S. troops from Somalia."

Yes, mission accomplished, let's see Nancy & Co. grow some, er, get some backbone and do the job they were elected to do. Check the President.

Shoulda Been Jeb 43

Eleanor Clift goes off on the Bush family nightmare:

"The family’s grand design had the No. 2 son, Jeb, by far the brighter and more responsible, ascend to the presidency while George, the partying frat-boy type, settled for second best in Texas. The plan went awry when Jeb, contrary to conventional wisdom, lost in Florida, and George unexpectedly defeated Ann Richards in Texas.
With the favored heir on the sidelines, the family calculus shifted. They’d go for the presidency with the son that won and not the one they wished had won.The son who was wrongly launched has made such a mess of things that he has ruined the family franchise.
Without getting too Oedipal, it’s fair to say that so many mistakes George W. Bush made are the result of his need to distinguish himself from his father and show that he’s smarter and tougher. His need to outdo his father and at the same time vindicate his father’s failure to get re-elected makes for a complicated stew of emotions.
The irony is that the senior Bush, dismissed by Junior’s crowd as a country-club patrician, looks like a giant among presidents compared to his son. Junior told author Bob Woodward, for his book “Plan of Attack,” that he didn’t consult his father in planning the invasion of Iraq but consulted a higher authority, pointing, presumably, to the heavens. The father also consulted a higher authority: family fixer James Baker."

One can only imagine what shoulda/coulda been with Jeb instead of W. I imagine he would have listened to Colin Powell. Once again, we can thank the voters of Florida! Eleanor Clift really goes off in this short article, it's a goodie.

Mission Accomplished

Well, the only part of the Iraq War that worked, the toppling of Saddam, has ended. This is the best thing we have accomplished in our mission, and it didn't turn out pretty. How does America look now?

Joyce Marcel, Common Dreams:

"We Americans love our death. It's the star of most of our television shows, don't you know? And we love our death penalty even more. The civilized world long ago put a lid on revenge killing, but we flaunt it, don't we?

It's so barbaric. How, at the start of the 21st Century, did we suddenly find ourselves in the 11th? Did you know they used a new rope to hang Saddam?

The Daily News reported that at the beginning of this new, American-branded regime, they used Saddam's old rope. And one day it broke. It broke on the 13th man. And they had 14 more hangings that day. They hung 27 men in one day, imagine that. And these are the good guys.

Right after Saddam's neck snapped so loud the witnesses heard it, they hung two more men on the same gallows. The News didn't say if they used the same rope. The gallows? When was the last time those words appeared in an American newspaper? And those black ski masks on the hangmen? Could it get any tackier? O yeah, it could. The taunts and jeers. The dancing in the end zone. And the cell phone video of Saddam swinging by his neck, the one that made it onto Al Jazeera television."

I don't have any sympathy for Saddam, but this hanging did not serve our interests or justice.

Imagine Lennon's a Threat

The FBI has finally released some papers on John Lennon, and I feel soooo much safer now!

I found this part of an article from Harvey Weinstein quite interesting:

"Another document had been blacked out on the grounds of national security when Wiener obtained it more than 20 years ago through litigation brought under the Freedom of Information Act. It is now known that it said two prominent British leftists, Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn, had courted Lennon in hopes that he would "finance a left-wing bookshop and reading room in London."

But the newly released document adds that Lennon apparently gave them no money "despite a long courtship by Blackburn and Ali."

Then I noticed I'd just read an article by Tariq Ali, he's with the Guardian now? Funny how things happen that way.

But what really got me was the WND article by Rebecca Hagelin. This is the most superficial reading of "Imagine" that you can imagine, well worth the laugh.

Update: And then there's this one by Jon Wiener of the LA Times. Declassified does not mean like, available to read, that's for sure.

Carolina Blue T-bird

Carolina Blue T-bird, originally uploaded by Watts4.

...as seen in Wallace, NC at the Christmas Parade

Yar, that's a cool site!

agcpirateb, originally uploaded by watts4u2.

Make your own get-ups at www.pikipimp.com, it's good fun for the kiddies!

Let Go of the Empire

"We must adjust our commitments to reflect our capabilities and, beyond that, to defend only what is truly vital to the national security.

While our armed forces are more than adequate to defend us, they are insufficient to defend an empire. Rather than bleed and bankrupt the nation endlessly, we should let go of the empire.

Americans must learn how to mind our own business and cease to meddle in other nation's quarrels. Iraq was never a threat to the United States. Only our mindless intervention has made it so. "

-Pat Buchanan

Evidence he would have been a better President than "the CoWboy"

I Am Time's Person of the Year!

Last year Bono shared the Time Person of the Year with Bill and Melinda Gates.

This year, I was awarded the Time Person of the Year.
Thank you, thank you very much!
I will have to share the award, just like Bono did. But unlike Bono, who only shared the award with a married couple, I choose to share the award with you.

Window in the Skies Video

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a great, great video:



The song? Reminds me of this one , almost a parody, but the video really helps the song.

Declare War (or else get out)

W. Bush is not the first president to abuse the constitution when it comes to fighting undeclared wars. But, he is the most blatant, and he has no Cold War to blame. We invade and occupy a country halfway around the world, without consent from the UN or even most of our longtime allies, based on allegations that pretty much all turned out to be false. This is the problem with having one 'decider in chief'. I do not think we would have invaded Iraq had the Congress actually had to vote to Declare War, the way our founders intended.

Rep. Ron Paul from TX has this to say:

"...the notion that presidents should establish our broader foreign policy is dangerous and wrong. No single individual should be entrusted with the awesome responsibility of deciding when to send our troops abroad, how to employ them once abroad, and when to bring them home. This is why the founders wanted Congress, the body most directly accountable to the public, to make critical decisions about war and peace.

It is shameful that Congress ceded so much of its proper authority over foreign policy to successive presidents during the 20th century, especially when it failed to declare war in Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, and Iraq. It’s puzzling that Congress is so willing to give away one of its most important powers, when most members from both parties work incessantly to expand the role of Congress in domestic matters. By transferring its role in foreign policy to the President, Congress not only violates the Constitution, but also disenfranchises the American electorate. "

Thank you!

AGC Sings

Appoint Baker President

So, turns out Rumsfeld was not fired because he was doing a poor job... it was his memo that suggested change. Looks like Rumsfeld has moved to the Bush I/Scowcroft/Baker side?

"Indeed, Bush's cavalier dismissal of the key Baker-Hamilton recommendations creates a possible framework for a bipartisan impeachment effort.

A less confrontational approach could be Republican and Democratic pressure on Bush and Cheney to agree to sequential resignations, replacing Cheney first with a new Vice President who would then assume the presidency upon Bush's resignation."

Unlikely (read the whole interesting article from Alternet, by Robert Parry), but imagine a bipartisan group of Congress going to the White House, threatning impeachment unless there are sequential resignations. I suggest they appoint Baker, give him 2 years to work his diplomatic magic...

Alan Caruba's Modest Proposal

Well, somebody had to say it:

"I have a suggestion. Let’s import Israel’s Jews. Let’s offer them all passage to America and a fast track to citizenship. The United States has absorbed an estimated twelve to twenty million illegal Mexican, Caribbean, and South American aliens with hardly a whimper. Why not six million of the most talented people in the world, one of the highest concentrations of brainpower to be found anywhere?

Yes, this means abandoning Israel to the Arabs, but Israel is so small the entire landmass could sink into Lake Michigan and never been seen again. In one stroke, America would have defused the so-called “reason” that the Middle East is in such turmoil. "

Would this be caving in to terrorists/Islamic Fundamentalists? I think so, and I don't think this will possibly happen. But, it is interesting to juxtapose illegal immigration with a solution for Middle East problems, and I encourage thinking big. Interesting article....

Update: Just heard from Mr. Caruba:
"Nice photos! And let me compliment you on your blog's link to my Human Events commentary about the Israelis, but don't you think North Carolina would be an ideal place to stick those 6 million folks? It would be a real estate boom! Throw in a couple of synagogues and you have the makings of a couple of towns. But we both know they won't leave. I worry about them. Happy Holidays!"

Blogging the Bible

David Plotz has an ongoing column on Slate called "Blogging the Bible", and it has been a fascinating read. You can catch up on the whole series here. This is what Plotz has to say about his endeavor:

"There are experts to tell you why the Bible is literally true, others to advise you how to analyze it as history, and still others to help you read it as literature. You can learn how to approach it as a Jew, a Catholic, an evangelical Protestant, a feminist, a lawyer, a teenager.So, what can I possibly do? My goal is pretty simple. I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I'm in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document. So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents? What will delight and horrify me? How will the Bible relate to the religion I practice, and the lessons I thought I learned in synagogue and Hebrew School?"

I've been enthralled with his posts...it's so unlike Sunday School or Bible Study, to see the Bible fresh through the eyes of a "real person" has been quite enlightening for me. Call me modern and lazy, but it's a lot easier than trying to read (and understand) the actual Bible. I highly recommend reading at least one of these articles, if you try it you may find yourself reading them all!