Month: November 2006

Last Wednesday, the president held a news conference in the wake of that election thumpin’ in which he announced the sacking of Donald Rumsfeld, made (strained) jokes, pledged himself to bipartisan good feelings, and even volunteered to recommend some “Republican interior decorators” to help Nancy Pelosi pick out drapes for her new office. He spoke … Continue reading “Dubya Votes for Dunkin’”

Lose a war, lose an election. What else should anyone expect, especially when the war is one we never had to fight? Had Spain defeated us in ’98, does anyone think McKinley/Roosevelt would have won in 1900? A logical corollary is, lose two wars, lose two elections. With the war in Afghanistan following that in … Continue reading “Lose a War, Lose an Election”

Unless November’s new blood improves the Democratic Party’s civil liberties pedigree, the Democrats will have failed even before they are sworn in next January. In its disregard for truth, public opinion, the separation of powers, the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. Constitution, and statutory law, the Bush administration has been more of a regime than an … Continue reading “Are Democrats Turning A Blind Eye to Civil Liberty?”

Most of official Washington has long believed that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld needed to be sacked. Unfortunately, it took a major Republican loss at the polls to finally prompt George W. Bush to cut loose a key player from his inner circle. The removal of Rumsfeld signals that Bush is listening to the voters … Continue reading “Iran-Contra Revisited”

Updated at 11:09 p.m. EST, Nov. 13, 2006 After a violently active Sunday, Monday followed suit with at least 109 Iraqis killed and 47 more injured. American officials added the news that four American soldiers were killed and another four injured in separate events. Also, Turkish offcials released the news that a kidnapped Turk had … Continue reading “Monday: 4 GIs, 109 Iraqis Killed; 4 GIs, 47 Iraqis Injured”

In a recent op-ed piece for the Los Angeles Times, Andrew J. Bacevich, West Point graduate and professor of international relations at Boston University, takes up the question that will haunt us for some time to come: Who lost Iraq? As he goes through the likely suspects, his implicit answer is clear enough, but it’s … Continue reading “Who Lost Iraq?”

Here we are just days beyond the strange event that passes for an election in our country. Election Day now turns out to be just the almost-last step in a grueling season of serial elections called “opinion polls,” whose fluctuations are meant to tell us ahead of time how we are likely to vote. That … Continue reading “Apple Pie, Mom, and
a Story for a Lost War”

The midterm elections have produced a conundrum. Virtually everybody agrees that the Democratic sweep of Congress was largely attributable to anger about the war. Americans may be uncertain as to what should be done in Iraq, but they are unhappy with the current situation and want change. This sets up a nasty dilemma. Roll the … Continue reading “The Politics of Withdrawal”

The Antiwar Wave Dear Mr. Editor: I have been a Republican for most of my life, and have generally though not always made it to vote on election day. But this Tuesday I stayed home until it was time to go to work. As a conservative (fiscally and socially) I could not vote Democrat, but … Continue reading “Backtalk November 13, 2006”

Updated at 11:58 a.m. EST, Nov. 13, 2006 Sunday’s casualty tally quickly rose to 217 Iraqis either killed or found dead and another 149 Iraqis injured after a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad and the discovery of 75 corpses in Baqouba. Foreign servicemembers were also subject to violence. Today, four British servicemen were killed, three … Continue reading “Sunday: 3 GIs, 4 UK Troops, 217 Iraqis Killed; 3 UK Troops, 146 Iraqis Wounded”