War monger Feith declares war... on truth

When I woke up this morning, a replay of The Daily Show was on Comedy Central where Jon Stewart was interviewing Doug Feith, the former under secretary of defense for policy under Donald Rumsfeld. Feith, one of the architects of the War in Iraq, has written a book, War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism, that he's pimping to try and make money off of, since his diplomatic career is in tatters (unless another Bush makes it to the White House, heaven help us). To me, Feith is simply another war profiteer, trying to make money off another destructive war that he played a role in provoking (But who certainly didn't play a role in planning out adequately. Wait, no one from this administration did).

I have to give Jon Stewart a great deal of credit for how he conducted this interview - not lots of jokes or levity - he kept it pretty serious, which isn't always the norm. Kudos to Stewart for holding Feith's feet to the fire, especially the PR and propaganda tactics the Bush administration used to build public "support"during the run-up to the war. At one point, Stewart even quoted then-White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, which seemed to catch Feith off guard.

Note that the footage is just a clip from the full interview, which ran over 20 minutes. If you visit Comedy Central's Website, you can find the full-length interview.

In some circles, including some inside the Bush administration, Feith is known as a totally incompetent imbecile. In fact, Gen. Tommy Franks, the original commander of the ground forces in Iraq, once very famously said regarding Feith, "I have to deal with the stupidest fucking guy on the planet almost every day."

I have to admit that at some point (when it comes out in paperback, at best), I would like to read Feith's book, to try and better understand why this administration blundered us into this disastrous war. Maybe, in the end, I won't agree with Gen. Franks' assessment, but for now, I certainly do, from what I've read and heard about Feith. The above interview did nothing to dispel that opinion, either.

Thought provoking Brit piece on terrorism

I found this on YouTube the other day - it's a video, obviously English made, or at the very least told from the British point of view. It explores the question of why terrorism isn't being thought about differently, specifically in the wake of the 2005 bombings in London, which was only 18 months ago. I figure this is apropos to us in America for two reasons: We are England's most important ally (and vice versa), and also because of British soldier hostage crisis, which mercifully came to an end yesterday.

American society has become so corrupted and frightened in the face of 9-11, that many among us are now easily deceived by our leaders. It's not an exaggeration to say that our very way of life hangs in the balance - our Democracy. I don't count myself as among the gullible or easily deceived, but really, we (including me!) don't make it easy these days on politicians who operate with their own agenda, constituents be damned.

As I watched this video, I thought back to an interview of General Tommy Franks I read in Cigar Aficionado three or four years ago. I've referred to this quote several times, but it bears repeating:

What is the worst thing that can happen in our country? The worst thing that can happen is, perhaps—and this is my personal opinion—two steps. The first step would be a nexus between weapons of mass destruction of any variety. It could be chemical, it could be biological, it could be some nuclear device; and terrorism. Terrorists or any human being who is committed to the proposition of terror, try to just create casualties, not for the purpose of annihilation, but to terrify a population. We see it in the Middle East today, in order to change the mannerisms, the behavior, the sociology and, ultimately, the anthropology of a society.

That goes to step number two, which is that the western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call democracy.

That's about as succinct of a quote as I've heard from anyone about terrorism, the 9-11 attacks, or post-9-11 America.

The right-wing political talking heads among us are so busy marginalizing not only the terrorists who did this to us, but everyone like them. They are also shameless to attack and smear anyone who doesn't agree with them politically - the phrase "If you don't ____________, then you're siding with the terrorists" has become very mainstream in the Republican Party and Dick Cheney is the proud father. It doesn't hurt one bit to go back and remember what some have said.

I'm not going to do a laundry list here, there are a few that stick out in my mind, most notably asinine Ann Coulter: "We should go in and bomb these countries and convert them all to Christianity."

When you read that, you might laugh - I do, on a certain level. But, when I think about the many people who agree with her, millions in fact, my smile disappears quicker than it came.

What we really need to do is to analyze WHY the terrorists did to us (and our allies like the U.K. and Spain) what they did, and then try and think about what we can possibly do to prevent it. Of course, this has been suggested before.

Remember what the Right, and the Bush Campaign, did to John Kerry in 2003-2004 when he merely insinuated this approach? He was portrayed as the biggest pussy in America this side of Jane Fonda (and some called him worse things than she ever heard, and no, I'm not defending what Fonda did in North Vietnam).

But, Kerry was right about the necessity for a new approach.

Our foreign policy could be twice as effective for arguably half the money we spend annually on defense. I heard this on Thom Hartman's show the other day, and since he is quite literally the smartest guy I've ever heard on radio, I'm inclined to believe him - the U.S. spends more on defense than every other country on Earth combined. Even if that's not true, it can't be far off from the truth.

Just like the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty and the War on Illiteracy need to be rethought, so does our War on Terrorism.

Any right-winger reading this would immediately call me a name to make him/her feel better, such as a Pinko Commie. Fine - we live in America. But, for heaven's sake, get a new slur, will you? Pinko is so 1955. I'm a good American and I pay my taxes and obey the law - the least the right could do is have the common decency to use a contemporary slur when I opine that war should be the last resort, not the first one.

Anyway, I'm fairly certain I'm right - we need a fresh approach to terrorism - a new way of thinking to help our country get out of the hole we are in domestically and internationally.

President Bush only has 654 days to go. That's a looong time to wait for new leadership. I urge you all to write your members of Congress to address these important issues: most notably Defense, Homeland Security, the War in Iraq, and the Environment.

I'm waaaaaay behind on letter writing, but I plan on catching up this weekend and on Monday. I will share with you what I write.

Michelle Malkin is wack

Every once in a while, I run across something so good, I just have to copy/paste it to my blog and bring it to you with simply a few comments, and this is one of them.

Michelle Malkin is one of the premiere right-wing fear and hate mongers in America today, but this piece from her Website is one of her "best" pieces of work yet. Take a read...

Dear Muslim Terrorist Plotter/Planner/Funder/Enabler/Apologist,
You do not know me. But I am on the lookout for you. You are my enemy. And I am yours.

I am John Doe.

I am traveling on your plane. I am riding on your train. I am at your bus stop. I am on your street. I am in your subway car. I am on your lift.

I am your neighbor. I am your customer. I am your classmate. I am your boss.

I am John Doe.

I will never forget the example of the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 who refused to sit back on 9/11 and let themselves be murdered in the name of Islam without a fight.

I will never forget the passengers and crew members who tackled al Qaeda [sic] shoe-bomber Richard Reid on American Airlines Flight 63 before he had a chance to blow up the plane over the Atlantic Ocean.

I will never forget the alertness of actor James Woods, who notified a stewardess that several Arab men sitting in his first-class cabin on an August 2001 flight were behaving strangely. The men turned out to be 9/11 hijackers on a test run.

I will act when homeland security officials ask me to "report suspicious activity."

I will embrace my local police department’s admonition: "If you see something, say something."

I am John Doe.

I will protest your Jew-hating, America-bashing "scholars."

I will petition against your hate-mongering mosque leaders.

I will raise my voice against your subjugation of women and religious minorities.

I will challenge your attempts to indoctrinate my children in our schools.

I will combat your violent propaganda on the Internet.

I am John Doe.

I will support law enforcement initiatives to spy on your operatives, cut off your funding, and disrupt your murderous conspiracies.

I will oppose all attempts to undermine our borders and immigration laws.

I will resist the imposition of sharia principles and sharia law in my taxi cab, my restaurant, my community pool, the halls of Congress, our national monuments, the radio and television airwaves, and all public spaces.

I will not be censored in the name of tolerance.

I will not be cowed by your Beltway lobbying groups in moderate clothing. I will not cringe when you shriek about "profiling” or "Islamophobia."

I will put my family’s safety above sensitivity. I will put my country above multiculturalism.

I will not submit to your will. I will not be intimidated.

I am John Doe.

##

Now, take a read at what Jesus' Patriot put on his Website as a response to Malkin. I wish I could say that I authored this piece, because it's simply brilliant:

Michelle Malkin
Out Lady of Concentration Camps

Dear Mrs. Malkin,

Although I enjoyed your (Jesse's?) "I am John Doe" piece, I think you held back a little bit. I reworked it to make your point a little more clearly.

Dear traitorous Brownislamunistofascist, Homoislamunistofascist, Femislamunistofascist, Poorislamunistofascist, JehovahWitnessislamunististfascist, Hebrislamunistofascist, and/or Libislamunistofascist,

You do not know me. But I am on the lookout for you. You are my enemy. And I am yours.

I am Michelle's hood.

I am tucked away in your neighbor's sock drawer, your boss's personnel files, and your Republican National Committee's campaign playbooks.

Talk radio hosts wear me in their studios. Columnists stroke my soft white cotton for inspiration. Pundits use me in lieu of Viagra.

I'm part of the official uniform of the Washington Times and the unofficial uniform of the National Review, Fox News, and ABC Radio. Mickey Mouse wears me to Disney board meetings.

I am Marty Peretz's muse and Lou Dobbs's raison d’etre.

I am Michelle's hood.

My owners will never forget the shame they felt when a brown man was promoted over them, when a homosexual tricked them into arousal, when a feminist convinced their wives that they were equals.

They will never forget that Jews don't love Jesus, that Jehovah's Witnesses are cultists, that the poor are just lazy, and that liberals are traitors.

I am Michelle's hood.

I serve as a symbol of conservative values.

I motivate Republican voters.

I inspire Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity, and Michelle.

I am Michelle's hood.

I will be with those who racially profile.

I will be with those who torture.

I will be with those who spy on our citizens.

I will be with those who lynch homosexuals.

I will not be censored in the name of tolerance.

I will not submit to your concepts of decency. I will not be intimidated.

I am Michelle's hood.

Well, that's it. I think it makes your point much more clearly. I hope you'll consider using it.

Heterosexually yours in a chaste and biblically appropriate kind of way,
Gen. JC Christian patriot.

So, there you have it, straight from Jesus' General. If you haven't checked out his Website, get there when you have a spare half hour. You'll need it, because you won't be able to visit it for just a few minutes.

It's people like Malkin who make me frightened for the future of our country. Not her specifically, because she's simply a hysterical lunatic, but people who follow and listen to her and actually believe this garbage. She must have some sort of following, or she wouldn't have the fame and notoriety she enjoys. I'm guessing her followers are just like Ann Coulter's - horny, white male Republican sheep who can't think for themselves, watch Fox News like it's some sort of religion, and who blindly utter "Support the Troops" and have bumper stickers that read "As for me, I stand with my President, George W. Bush."

Like Coulter, it's frightening to me that someone with these messages can gain any traction in American, but so it goes. Malkin is the hotter Coulter, but they are both ugly lepers on the inside.

Her blatant, overt jingoism and xenophobia add nothing to our political discourse, other than to stir up hate.

I quote retired General Tommy Franks, who said following 9-11:

"If terrorists succeeded in using a weapon of mass destruction against the U.S. [again] or one of our allies, it would likely have catastrophic consequences for our cherished republican form of government. If the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government. The Western world, the free world, would lose what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call democracy."

I'll take the word of Tommy Franks over the shrill voice of a Republican hack like Malkin.

Should we be vigilant? Absolutely. But, if Malkin were so concerned with Homeland Security, she'd be writing letters to the leaders of this administration and Congress, who have seen fit to sell the American people short when it comes to protecting us. All one has to do is walk around any large American city to see where the deficiencies lie, and there are many.

Any American who wants to discriminate against a foreign national in the name of homeland security is easily duped; these are probably the same people who readily concur that individual Welfare is a big problem in our country, all the while ignoring corporate welfare, which costs the U.S. Treasury hundreds of billions every year.

Malkin tries to tap into the collective psyche of hateful, narrow-minded people who would rather be angry at an Arab (these people probably call them rag heads) than at our government, which, it bears repeating, has done appallingly little to protect us.

But, Dick Cheney wouldn't have you believe this - he's constantly on television, bragging that there hasn't been another attack since 9-11. Honestly, I attribute that to luck more than anything else.

Our enemies sure must be stupid, we have so many flaws and holes in our homeland security.

Heaven help us if they ever wake up and get smart.

***
Major hat tip to Crooks & Liars and Jesus' General for Malkin's letter, Jesus' response, and the pictures in this post