The Weekly Rewind

No witty or snarky opeing line, just getting right to the business at hand….The Weekly Rewind.

Heckle: to not seeing the forest for all the trees. Fallout from the U.S. attorney scandal is starting to hit the department in federal courtrooms around the country. In a “Who couldn’t see this one coming a mile away” move, defense lawyers are raising questions about the motives of government lawyers who have brought charges against their clients, and are citing the furor over the U.S. attorney dismissals as evidence that their cases may have been infected by politics. And who couldn’t see this one coming? Thats right, the dog and pony show that calls itself the Bush administration.

Heckle: to nothing good can come of this. In Iraq’s Diyala province, U.S. soldiers are willing to risk teaming up with Sunni militias to fight insurgent groups. Ali al-Adeeb, a prominent Shiite lawmaker, said the U.S. is “trusting people who have previously attacked American forces and innocent people. They are trusting people who are loyal to the regime of Saddam Hussein.” Come on what is with the 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' crap? I think George and Dick have been watching to much TV.

Just a damn shame and inexcusable: “The Army has no PTSD center at Walter Reed,” the Washington Post reports in a new expose, and its psychiatric treatment is weak compared with the best PTSD programs the government offers. Instead of receiving focused attention, soldiers with combat-stress disorders are mixed in with psych patients who have issues ranging from schizophrenia to marital strife. As I said, this is inexcusable. Our men and women deserve better than this.

Heckle: to bringing peace and democracy to the new Iraq. Sunni families remaining in Shia neighbourhoods of Baghdad are being forced to flee their homes: A 72-hour deadline announced by militants for them to leave these areas or face death expired yesterday. One aid official said, “Dozens of Sunnis have been assassinated in their homes” since last week’s bombing of the Samara mosque. I wonder if the administration has already hired the architects to design all the hip new Iraq resorts for all the tourists who are just chomping at the bit to visit the new and improved Republic of Iraq?

Heckle: to opening mouth and inserting foot. Several conservative House members who last week “vociferously” (and falsely) attacked Rep. David Obey (D-WI) for weakening earmark disclosure rules have chosen to keep their lists of personal earmarks secret. They include House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Dan Burton (R-IN), Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC). Methinks they dost protest too much!

I am not going to applaud or heckle this one. Eight months after President Bush signed a bill authorizing the CIA to resume using ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ on terrorism suspects, the administration has been unable to agree on what constitutes ‘humiliating and degrading treatment‘ of detainees.” Call me old fashioned but if they are terrorists or suspected terrorists I am all for humiliating and degrading treatment in order to obtain information that may prevent innocent death and destruction, that is just a no-brainer for a liberal or conservative.

Heckle: to the never ending legacy of being know as the dumbest administration in history. President Bush issued the third veto of his presidency this past week, killing a bill that would have eased restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research — work that supporters say holds promise for fighting disease. The mantra of this administration continues to be “lie, lie and ignore the will of the people”. How about a 'Disabled Million March' on Washington to get someones attention....more than a million will work even better...

Heckle: to 1 in 8. Which is the number of U.S. veterans under the age of 65 who lack even basic health insurance or access to care at Veterans Affairs hospitals. … The ranks of uninsured veterans have increased by 290,000 since 2000. What happened to the battle cry and chest beating of the conservatives being the party that supports our troops? All rhetoric and no backbone….

Heckle: to just plain crap. The recent rise in U.S. troop deaths in Iraq is the ‘wrong metric’ to use” in assessing the effectiveness of escalation, outgoing Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Peter Pace said yesterday. “[I]t’s not about levels of violence. It’s about progress being made, in fact, in the minds of the Iraqi people, so that they have confidence in their government in the way forward.”. Excuse me Mr and Mrs American Citizen, don’t think of it 3,000 + of our sons and daughters dying, think of it as bringing our system of free elections and policital discontent to an area that may or may not want it. Give me a f**king break…

Ok folks, I think I need a shower to cleanse myself of the crap that was thrown around this week.

Be good, stay informed….later.