The Weekly Rewind

Friday… time for The Weekly Rewind, in five, four, three, two, one…

Applaud: to Elizabeth Edwards as she once again faces a battle with breast cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with her, John and their family.

Heckle: to the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War this past Monday. I don’t think anything more needs to be said…

Applaud: to Al Gore. He was on Capitol Hill this past week speaking about global warming and laid a smackdown on Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) when Mr. Barton tried to de-rail Gore’s speaking points. (Lesson learned, you don’t fuc* with Al…)

Heckle: to something I posted about earlier this week. The percentage of Iraqis that have confidence in U.S.-led coalition troops is 18%. Six in 10 Iraqis say their lives are going badly, and nearly 90% say that they “live in fear that the violence ravaging their country will strike themselves and the people with whom they live.” (When I posted this earlier this week, a meandering, yet well intentioned, comment was left. While I applaud their commitment to the troops, their pathetic attempt to tie the Iraq war into terrorism was inconceivable at best…)

Applaud: to the House Armed Services Committee, for passing The Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007 by a 59-0 vote earlier this week. The bill aims at “making immediate improvements in the treatment…of wounded combat veterans.” (About. Effin. Time. Rather sad though that an Act even had to be created for something that you would have thought was common sense… best treatment for the brave men and women risking their lives for our freedom… go figure)

Heckle: to Bush, Cheney, Gonzalez, et al. The New York Times reported that in his first weeks on the job, defense secretary Robert Gates repeatedly argued that the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay had become so “tainted abroad” that any legal proceedings there would be viewed as illegitimate and that it should be shut down ASAP. The idea was quickly shot down by AG Alberto “Whadya mean George isn’t taking my calls anymore” Gonzales first. This initial rejection came despite the fact that Mr. Gates gained an ally in Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who joined Gates in urging the closing of the detention facility… those discussions were then thrown-out after Bush rejected the suggestions outright… (Wow… Mr. Bush went against Condi… things must have been frosty in the bedroom Oval Office that week…)

Applaud: to Chris Matthews (mark the day & time – it probably won’t happen again). He interviewed ex-Senator Tom DeLay (R-TX) and talked about passages in DeLay’s new book where he ripped into fellow (corrupt) Texan Dick Armey by describing Armey as “drunk with ambition.” When Matthews brought it up, DeLay denied writing that and said; “I wrote that he was ‘blinded by his ambition.’” Matthews then started to flip through the book and found the “drunk with ambition” quote and read it to DeLay… with DeLay STILL denying it. Finally, Chris handed the book to Tom and told him to read it himself. DeLay looked down, paused, and said; “I don't have my glasses.” (Once a tool, always a tool. Here’s a personal note to Mr. DeLay; Go away… no one cares…)

Heckle: to just not getting it. Tom DeLay still refuses to admit any impropriety in his dealings with Jack Abramoff. “So yes, I took a trip to Scotland. Yes, I played golf. Yes, it was privately funded… If I had the opportunity, I would do it again.” (What is it I said about DeLay above? Oh right; the man is a tool… always has been, always will be…)

Applaud: to biting the hand that feeds you because you know they’re wrong. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen has stated in a pronouncement that at best can be described as “a stinging, wide-ranging assessment,” found that the U.S. was “unprepared for the extensive nation-building required” after it invaded Iraq, and every time there was a chance to alter their efforts, they still “failed even to understand the problems it faced.” (Once again, the ego of this administration has hindered its ability to do something properly and has screwed the country with its collective pants on…color me surprised…)

Heckle: to censorship. The censorship issue returned to Congress this week as the House oversight committee resumed its inquiry into reported “Bush administration interference in federal climate science.” The inquiry is expected to see testimony by one-time Bush crony turned Exxon lobbyist Philip Cooney. Heckle within a heckle to Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) who stated at the hearing that “free speech is not a simple thing and is subject to and directed by policy.” (I>Uh… no, it’s not; it’s the constitution you putz… and it’s not subject to and directed by policy. Can’t we have a law passed where candidates, before they get elected, have to take a Constitutional exam???)

Applaud: to the Fark.com political headline(s) of the week: “A new study finds that one-third of D.C. residents are functionally illiterate. Bush would like to address this, but he's in that one-third.” Runner-up: “When historians sort out what happened to the U.S. in the 21st century, one of the mysteries will be why the press ganged up on Al Gore while giving his dimwitted Republican opponent a free pass”

Heckle: to “President” Bush (I know, I know; you’re shocked aren’t you?). This one is for his promise of a veto on the narrowly passed $124 billion supplemental war spending bill… all because it does something revolutionary… it sets a timeline that calls for the removal of troops from Iraq by August 31, 2008. (Tool.). An extra ‘heckle’ thrown-in for this quote from Bush; “Democrats in the House, in an act of political theater…” (Hello kettle, this is the pot… you’re black.)

Applaud: to sweet, sweet irony. The Department of Homeland Security's new HQ is going to be located in a former insane asylum… sometimes the jokes just write themselves…

Heckle: to stupidity as there is really no other way to describe Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ assertion that the U.S. “could fight a third war.” (Glad that bomb shelter of mine is almost done…)

Applaud: to those in the know that say the EXACT opposite of what Gates said above. Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker told Congress last week that, essentially, the military is ill-prepared to fight a major ground conflict elsewhere, saying “We have a strategy right now that is outstripping the means to execute it.” (Well said Mr. Schoomaker, very well said. Let’s hope it doesn’t fall on deaf ears…)

Heckle: to incompetency. According to a GAO report released earlier this week, the U.S. military’s “faulty war plans and insufficient troops in Iraq” after the 2003 invasion left thousands, possibly millions, of tons of conventional munitions unsecured, allowing them to fall into the the hands of insurgent groups, thus allowing widespread looting of weapons and explosives that have then been used to make the IED’s that cause “the bulk of U.S. casualties.” (That’s just sad… it’s almost as if they were thrown into a hastily-arranged war and weren’t given the proper amount of time to stratgize and plan… but then that would mean the White House was to blame… oh, wait…)

Applaud: to the fact that we got rid of John Bolton before he caused even more damage. This past week he admitted to deliberately blocking peace efforts in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict… if he was still our UN Ambassador and did that to North Korea or Iran, we’d all be glowing within 2 years…

Heckle: to the Pentagon for “quietly seeking congressional approval for significant new military sales to US allies in the Persian Gulf region” in order to offset Iranian influence. The sale of arms could make some people concerned that it brings “Washington closer to a confrontation with Iran.” (Yeah… selling arms… this should end well…)

Applaud: to Defense Secretary Robert Gates (he certainly is getting a lot of our attention this week, good and bad, isn’t he?). Every evening Mr. Gates writes letters of condolence to families of soldiers killed in Iraq, saying; “I feel a personal responsibility for each one of these men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.” (Beautifully put Mr. Gates… and one thousand times more than your predecessor EVER did… please keep it up)

Heckle: to breaking the law and ignoring the Constitution, The Justice Department’s Inspector General told the House earlier this week that “the FBI may have violated the law or government policies as many as 3,000 times since 2003” as agents ‘covertly’ collected telephone, bank and credit card records of “U.S. citizens and foreign nationals residing here.”

Heckle: to Rep. Jean “Shrill as a Banshee” Schmidt, who said earlier this week that the Walter Reed Hospital scandal was “overblown” by, naturally, the media. An applaud within a heckle to Schmidt's congressional district colleague, and fellow republican, Rep. Steve Chabot. When told of Schmidt’s comments, he said that it is wrong to suggest that the media or anyone else has “overblown” the problems at Walter Reed. (Maybe she’s trying to replace Katherine Harris as the certifiable loon on the republican side of the aisle… that can be the only explanation, right?)

New feature in The Weekly Rewind: the Conservative Wing-nut Tool of the Week. This week’s inaugural winner is conservative columnist Ruben Navarrette. He wrote this week that the only people who want Gonzales gone are racists on both sides of the aisle and that Gonzales was being “whacked like a piñata.” (Speaking as a Hispanic, that’s bullshit… speaking as a Liberal, that’s an inane argument. The people who want Gonzales gone are the ones who have seen through the smoke and mirrors of AttorneyGate. I’ll ignore the hypocrisy of using the piñata metaphor for now. All together now; What. A. Tool.)

And finally…

The week that was in the 2008 presidential race. On the Left, Gore was on Capitol Hill this week (I know he’s not running, but I like playing with the minds of those who think he will)… Clinton picked-up an endorsement from former candidate Tom Vilsack… Edwards is still running, despite some incredibly bad news received this past week (see top)… Obama made-up some ground without him actually doing anything, thanks to YouTube… and Kucinich and Gravel haven’t done a damn thing.

On the right, McCain apparently ditches pandering for flip-flopping as he backs-up his thoughts on immigration… Tancredo's presidential campaign (who? what?) has enlisted Republican strategist Bay Buchanan… Romney is talking immigration in Iowa… Giuliani, like McCain, is now working on his flip-flopping as he dramatically changes his gun views as he works to be more like ‘log-cabin republicans.’

That’s all I have, take ‘em as you will…