Here we go again… and again and again and again

During their much heralded and often repetitive appearance on Capitol Hill earlier this week, General David Petraues and Ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of “funding, training, arming and directing” ‘special extremist groups’ in Iraq.

At one time during his appearance on the Hill, Petraeus, responding to a reporters question asking if he believed Iran was supporting Sunni militants inside Iraq or had any evidence establishing such a link, said; “I’m not aware of – it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened” which he then infused with the implication that some Sunni extremists could have had weapons that were made in Iran…

So let me get this straight… per Petraeus, Iran IS a material influence in Iraq, whilst at the same time is NOT a material influence in Iraq and therefore MAY WELL BE a material influence in Iraq BECAUSE there is no evidence to suggest otherwise…

God, I think my brain just cramped up…

And Petraues wasn’t the only one throwing blame towards Iran, Ambassador Crocker also got into the act when he said; “I think one might look for a reconsideration in Tehran as to just where they want to go in Iraq. […] This would be an excellent time for them to reassess.”

What the HELL does that mean?

Is it an honest attempt to ask them to alter their relationship now despite the fact that there will be a new president to deal with in less than a year?

Or is it a veiled threat that if they don’t mind their P’s and Q’s, the US will use military force?

Before the conservative trolls come out to torch me about making too much out of what he said, it should be noted that quite a few conservatives see the duo’s testimony as cause to reignite talk about striking Iran.

Per ThinkProgress;

On his radio show this morning, Bill Bennett told the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol — who had a personal meeting with President Bush yesterday — that a “conclusion” he drew was that the hearing was “less an argument for getting out of Iraq than going into Iran.” After suggesting that Iran may “have to pay some price at some point on their own soil,” Kristol said that President Bush authorizing an attack of some kind before he leaves office is not “out of the question.”

Uh-oh…

Then we have noted conservative tool and Democratic turncoat Joe Lieberman who, having previously said that the US has to be prepared to take military action against the Iranians, appearing on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Thursday night said that he hopes the administration tells the Iranians that “unless they stop it, we’re going to take action.”

And then we have this from Bush himself when (supposedly) speaking about Iraq; “The regime in Tehran also has a choice to make: They can live in peace with its neighbor, enjoy strong economic and cultural and religious ties, or it can continue to arm and train and fund illegal militant groups which are terrorizing the Iraqi people and turning them against Iran. […] If Iran makes the right choice, America will encourage a peaceful relationship between Iran and Iraq. If Iran makes the wrong choice, America will act to protect our interests and our troops and our Iraqi partners.”

Wow, that sounds familiar… I wonder wh— oh yes, the buildup to Iraq...

Here we go again…

Same thing, different name

It was reported this week that former Bush aide Karl Rove said in the past to avoid making attacks on Sen. Obama’s middle name. After a speech earlier this week in LA, Rove was asked if he knew how to get Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton elected. Said Rove; “Yes, and I ain’t telling ya. I only work for Republicans — and Joe Lieberman.”

Don’t know how to tell you this Karl, but Joe IS a republican… and anyone who says otherwise is either fooling themselves or is a fool…

You can be both.

McCain is scaring me now

Things are officially scary now…

After a better-than-originally-thought showing in Iowa, Sen. John McCain (r-AZ) decided to kiss Sen. Joe Lieberman (I r – CT) ass and said that he would like Lieberman to serve in his administration, saying; “I would definitely want Joe Lieberman to play a part — particularly in national security issues — in my administration.”

Ew.

It’s no surprise, considering that McCain and Lieberman have been in bed together for quite some time, whether it be their consistent push for more troops to Iraq or their ignoring of U.S. military commanders and rushing to declare victory in the Iraq war saying, respectively, “we’ve succeeded militarily” and “We are winning.”

Tossing Lieberman into the national security mix in a republican administration has been a right-wing wet-dream for quite some time, and could very well happen if we don’t make sure a Democrat wins the presidency next year.

It’s up to us.

Even more Lieberman silliness

Senator Joe Lieberman (Ir–CT) is at it again…

Once again he’s letting his conservative/republican tendencies show and is pushing for some sort of military action against Iraq Iran Syria…

He wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (who aren’t even waiting until the sale to Murdoch is complete before becoming conservative media-whores) that stated that the US “road to victory” in Iraq is through Damascus, so, naturally, he’s now urging Congress to “send a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime.”

Wrote Lieberman;

“The United States is at last making significant progress against al Qaeda in Iraq–but the road to victory now requires cutting off al Qaeda’s road to Iraq through Damascus. […] It is therefore time to demand that the Syrian regime stop playing travel agent for al Qaeda in Iraq. […] When Congress reconvenes next month, we should set aside whatever differences divide us on Iraq and send a clear and unambiguous message to the Syrian regime, as we did last month to the Iranian regime, that the transit of al Qaeda suicide bombers through Syria on their way to Iraq is completely unacceptable, and it must stop.”

This is nothing new. Not long after the Iraq invasion, Lieberman claimed the war in Iraq would bolster our ability to take on Syria, and now, with Iraq going oh-so-well (it’s hard to express sarcasm in the written form), he figures it’s time to act… the only problem is… no one else does.

Let’s face some facts, Lieberman’s approach to confronting terrorism in the Mid-East has only produced more violence and chaos. It isn’t diplomacy… it’s yet another step towards military confrontation… a miltary confrontation that we as a nation can NOT afford.

Even more Lieberman silliness

It seems the great minds at Daily Kos and ThinkProgress are on the same wavelength as I. No sooner did I read about this via Bloglines, than it was mentioned on Kos and ThinkProgress.

Every republican’s favorite Independent Joe Lieberman (I r-CT) is at it again. It’s no secret that Lieberman is a Bush-apologist… but now he’s going even further down that dark road from which there is no return.

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Lieberman kissed Bush’s ass extolled Bush and his Iraq policies and echoed sentiments earlier spoken by Rush “OxyContin” Limbaugh when he stated; “Long after we’re all dead and gone, when historians who are not yet born begin to write about this era, they’re going to place George Bush in the upper echelon of presidents who had a great vision for America, who looked beyond our shores, who didn’t just restrict himself to domestic policy niceties.”

When Hewitt asked Lieberman how he thought history would evaluate Bush, Lieberman’s response dissolved any possibility that Lieberman has any Democratic XX in his body.

“And so I think overall, over time, his ratings among the historians will be greater than his ratings in the polls today.”

I love this argument. I mean, how can you refute it? it’s not like you can travel into the future, pick up a couple of historians and see if he and Limbaugh were right.

Where is Joe pulling this from? Nixon has numbers this low, and he is still viewed historically as a crook and a liar… how will Bush be any different?His attempts to do something that doesn’t involve Iraq have, by and large, failed.

Immigration reform has stalled… his lame attempt to do something with social security went the way of the dodo, and is only “victory” (a term I use very loosely), No Child Left Behind, has suffered from being grossly ineffective…

And through all that, Lierberman still believes Bush will be praised and vindicated later.

Interesting… isn’t it? The war is more unpopular than ever and Lieberman picks this time to opine that Bush is a great president and will be judged as such in the future.

Now… I’ve been writing about Lieberman all week… and I can no longer hold this in. How is it possible that a Senator who was once sensible and of sound judgement, go so completely ‘round the bend? Was it winning yet losing in 2000? Was it “the kiss?” What did it? Surely there has to be one moment that caused him to roll over and beg for his belly to be scratched by Bush…

Think back to May 2003, when Lieberman was competing for the Democratic nomination for president. He criticized the Bush(whacked) Administration for being “unprepared for the quick victory it predicted.” Then in Sept. 2003, he said that he was “shocked at how unprepared the Bush administration was for what to do afterward. They’ve left a vacuum which the terrorists, the Saddam loyalists, our enemies, have jumped into.”

From that to Bush “will be greater than his ratings in the polls today.” WTF??

Joe Lieberman needs to be a primary target the next time he’s up for re-election. We need to do everything within our power to make sure he DOES NOT get re-elected.

On the plus side, one has to think that it’s the destiniy of this adminstration to serve as an amazing warning to future administrations; examine all of their decisions and then do the exact opposite… you can’t go wrong then.

More Lieberman silliness

I posted about every republicans favorite Independent the other day, and while perusing ThinkProgress this afternoon, I came across this.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (Ir-CT) recently came back from a visit to Iraq, and ever since then he’s been pushing his Bush-colored, sorry, I meant Rose-colored, views that “We are winning” and that US troops has successfully “chased out” Al Qaeda. Says Liebermanl;

“[W]e’ve got the enemy, Al Qaeda, on the run. We’ve chased them out of Anbar province, where they were going to create the capital for the Islamist Republic of Iraq. We’ve chased them now to Diyala. All of this is possible because of the surge.”

Uh Joe, I think someone forgot to tell the insurgents that we’re winning because they’re still attacking.

Last night on CNN, Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware, who it should be known has been in Iraq for four years, openly mocked Lieberman’s claims on “AC 360”and stressed that the U.S. now faces “a whole multitude” of threats, threats that are becoming stronger, not weaker.

During a portion of Ware’s piece, Anderson Cooper asked Ware if the US’ enemies in Iraq were on the run… said Ware;

“No, certainly not. And I think we need to be aware that it’s enemies. I mean, America doesn’t face just one opponent in this country, but a whole multitude, many of whom are becoming stronger the longer the U.S. occupation here, or presence here, in Iraq continues. So, unfortunately, I’m afraid that Senator Lieberman has taken an excursion into fantasy.”

And Ware isn’t the only one questioning Lieberman’s sanity… freshman Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) said “I don’t know where Lieberman gets his opinions” on Iraq.

Easy Senator Webb.. he gets them from the “Official Bush Administration Iraq War talking points - Rose-Colored Version” as opposed to Bush’s version which has small words and pop-up pictures…

This has to be the last straw with Lierberman. He doesn’t give the Democrats a majority in the Senate, he just screws us with our pants on and sides with the republicans. I think it’s time for Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to strip Lieberman of all his committeeships and give them to someone who doesn’t have his head so-far up the gop’s ass that he can’t see straight.

Of course, that’s just my opinion…

Clap America! Or the ‘surge’ will die…

Guess whose mouth is running like a baby's ass after eating chili??

That’s right, every republicans favorite Independent, Joe Lieberman (I r-CT).


This time he’s talking from the safety of Bill Bennett’s arms radio show and, besides launching a thoroughly unprovoked attack on Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), taking shots at every Democrat Senator who has dared to use their own mind and called for an end to this unjust war.

Said Lieberman;

“You know, Harry Reid said a while ago that the war in Iraq is lost. It's wrong. It's not lost. In fact, I would say we're beginning to win it. We've turned the tide with the new strategy. And in fact, I cannot conceive of a circumstance in which American forces would lose the war in Iraq, on the ground in Iraq. If we lose it, it's gonna be lost here at home, in a different kind of war for public opinion and political support.”

So Joe… what color is the sky in your world?

So essentially what he’s saying is that the surge is working, the tide turning, there’s no end to what we can do in Iraq and if we do lose the war it’s because 70% of Americans aren’t clapping hard enough to save Tinkerbell the war…

Tell you what Joe… hows about you say that to the families of the 520 troops that have been killed since the surge began.


What. A. Tool.