Friday, January 12, 2007
Expanding a bit, and maybe in a more fruitful direction, on my concerns about 'The Surge,' as its being called. I didn't mention that the one way Dems, liberals, pinkos, turban-lovers, et al, can avoid the fate of being known as the party who pulled the rug out from under our troops' feet in Iraq is by getting enough GOPers to abandon Bush and their own leadership on the Hill.
As the 'New Strategy' continues to be discussed, mulled over, and generally railed upon there are a number of GOPers who are coming out against the TeamBush proposal. How much of that is conscience and how much is thinking about '08 elections and 'The Surge's' unpopularity (70% disapprove of adding any more troops) remains to be seen. Still, we're talking some big names in the Senate (and this is still early), plus a few House members, too.
Now for the Bad News: One of the big reasons cited by W for past failures in our Iraq policy was allowing the government of Iraq to have a say in American operations. Like say, Maliki ordering US troops out of Sadr City when they were looking for an abducted GI. No more, supposedly. The shadow PM is now on-board with the idea that the 'Coalition's' gotta have complete say in conducting military affairs in Iraq.
Yeah, now lets head north from Baghdad to reasonably-safe (for US troops anyway), Kurdish-controlled Irbil. US forces seized an Iranian delegation in this city and what followed was: "(A) tense standoff later in the day between the American soldiers and about 100 Kurdish troops, who surrounded the American armored vehicles for about two hours in this northern Iraqi city.
The attack was denounced by senior Kurdish officials, who are normally America’s closest allies in Iraq but regarded the action as an affront to their sovereignty in this highly tribal swath of the country. Iran’s Foreign Ministry reacted in Tehran with a harsh denunciation that threatened to escalate tensions with the Bush administration."
These are our pals, the ones who did throw flowers when troops came in, but even they don't like having their sovereignty violated. Which is the big problem-- We tout an elected government in Iraq (establishment of which was championed as a former benchmark) but then expect it to stand back when we conduct operations and kill civilians or their friends. What happened in Irbil is only gonna be much much more magnified in places like Sadr City and Anbar Province (places where we're not liked so much ).
Now the worse news part: Maybe we're all just too paranoid. Too many years of Bush machinery has made lefties jittery. But. . . what if?! Back in the neo-con glory days they always did say "real men go to Teheran." Ah, hell, Damascus, too! This gets a bit too much for me, the whole Vietnam-Cambodia-Laos link eerily reminding me of the Iraq-Iran-Syria stuff.
I guess I've got to get back up to speed somewhere, so encased herein are some observations and things on my mind for the past few weeks:
See the new plan. . . new, plan, new: I must admit I'm somewhat torn about Bush's 'new plan for victory' in Iraq. I think its chances of working are very slim at best, and I'm sure that it'll happen at the expense of many US and Iraqi lives. But from a historical perspective, I worry. The whole notion of how the "troops were sold out in Vietnam" at home echoes in my mind. It helped in some ways usher in the Reagan era, the whole America's standing tall and proud and no longer emasculated thing. I also think back to the end of World War One (bear with me here).
The German High Command knew the jig was up in late 1918, but couldn't admit error, let alone defeat, as their enemies were rapidly starting to penetrate the fatherland's sacred borders. So they let the peacenik civillian types do all of the surrendering, allowing the Generals and others to maintain a "the left sold out the military" notion, which was picked up eventually by a young vet named Adolf Hitler, who made it one of his big selling points in the 1930s. Oh, and those folks who did sign the Armistice were later assasinated by right-wing groups with military associations. Just a Santayana moment that we should at least be aware of.
Jury Duty redux: Just a courthouse observation-- If you're walking around the courthouse and you're not a juror, cop, or lawyer (all easily identifiable) I assume you're a witness, a defendant, or someone there to give support and maybe vouch for a friend. If you fall into any of these categories, please help yourself or your friend by not wearing a Scarface T-Shirt or giant pot-leaf gold necklace. You can't believe how many of both of these accessories I saw during my visit, or given the circumstances, maybe you can.
Best Radio Gaffe of the New Year: I awoke early in 2007 to hear Morning Edition announcer Steve Inskeep saying: "The body of President Bush continues to lie in State in the Capitol Rotunda, um, President Ford, Ford! Sorry about that." Calling Doctor Freud. . . Keep making 'mistakes' like that, pal, and you'll be reporting from Guantanamo indefinitely.
They grow up so quickly: Speaking of Gitmo, birthday greetings as our nation's own gulag turned a precocious five-years old yesterday. We're spending $125 million (Halliburton contract, natch') to build a courthouse there, because TeamBush knows that if any of them were brought onto US soil some bleeding-heart, constitution-loving pinko judge would dismiss the cases and probably allow them to sue the US govt for abuses suffered under captivity. So instead we build this kangaroo-courthouse even though only 80 of the current 400 detainees will ever really be charged with some crime and actually tried. What about the others? Well, it turns out these folks, aka "among the most dangerous, best-trained, vicious killers on the face of the Earth," we send to other countries, knowing they'll be freed. Easier than saying "oops!" or "I'm sorry," I guess. Just like fishing; 'Catch-and-release'. . . only with bearded, brown people.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Thank You Coach Cowher
I remember being in a university office 15 years ago (alas, pre-internet or 24/7 news coverage) when my Dad called to tell me that Chuck Noll had resigned. So a decade and a half later I sit, still in a university officfe (though luckily not the same one) watching Bill Cowher resign. The Jaw helped define Pittsburgh sports for at least one generation, and he kept the spirit alive and added his own unique prespective to it. He was, and is, as they say in sports, "A Class Act all the way around."
A few things struck me about his news conference. The first was that even here in Philly, swept up in Eagles-playoff mania, when it appeared live on ESPN the place where I was watching and dining immediately turned off the jukebox and turned up the sound on all of the normally-muted TVs. I also liked when, in talking to the local media he said to a round of laughter "Yinz know what I mean." There was a lengthy pause as the teleprompter person (clearly not a native 'Burgher) tried to figure out what the hell he just said and ended up writing 'You know what I mean.' Made me smile.
As Coach Cowher said about his intended future visits, "You can take the person out of Pittsburgh, but you can't Pittsburgh out of the person." I certainly know what you mean, Bill. Thanks for years of passionate coaching. I'll always remember you jumping five-feet into the air after a great play, especially on special teams, where you earned your bread-and-butter as an NFL player, a few times almost beaning the ref with the red challenge flag, and stuffing the photos from an obvious blown call into the ref's pocket as he tried to ignore you while marching off the field (You were right, by the way--that call cost us the game and the NFL officiating body apologized later that week).
I knew the minute I heard your still-thick Pittsburgh accent that you were the guy to replace Chuck Noll. May we be half as lucky to find as high-caliber of a successor for you. Enjoy Carolina but watch out, they've got a lot of hurricanes down there. And please, when you do come back to the game (as we all know you will, since you're 49) please don't coach in the AFC North. Frankly, don't coach any team I routinely root against. I think I would have too hard a time rooting against you.
PS You were Katy's first TV crush ("Hey Bill, it's me Katy, your very best friend!") and you never did send her that autographed picture she wanted. Maybe now that you're retired you'll have the chance to catch up on your correspondence.
Via con Dios.
Labels: Steelers
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
So after a nail-biting recount last month the Democrats returned to the majority in the State House by a razor-thin 102-101 margin. First thing they do? Why, shoot themselves in the foot, of course! Pissy about how he had been treated as a minority caucus member, Rep Tom Caltagrione (D-Berks) announces he intends to vote for cloak-and-dagger master (statehouse category) GOPer John Perzel to continue as House Speaker.
It was clear after lots and lots o' backroom politicking that neither Perzel or putative Dem-leader Mike DeWeese could carry a vote. So in a moment of (enlightened?) desparation, Montco Dem Josh Shapiro reaches across the aisle to Northeast Philly GOP Rep Dennis O'Brien to ask if he would be interested in the Speaker's job. Local mahoff's were consulted, and Voila!, we've got a new Speaker. . . albeit a Republican one in a Democratic-led chamber.
It's being portrayed, at least right now, as a Democratic coup against a bitter and machiavellian Perzel, who steadfastly refused to give up the post even after his party lost control of the House. That remains to be seen, although according to the Inky (yes, they still have a Harrisburg bureau) O'Brien "promised not to interfere with the powers of the Democratic majority, including the naming of the chairs of the House committees."
Luckily, the back-stabbing, power-grabbing Perzel had made some enemies among his GOP colleagues as well, six of whom defied party orders and voted for O'Brien. Of course, Ol' John did have some pals across the aisle--the aforementioned Caltagrione voted for him, as did longtime Philly do-nothing hacks Angel Cruz and Rosita Youngblood.
If only things weren't that close, those two (or three) should be purged from the ranks. At the very least these vote should be remembered and the Dems should give her a tough primary fight (kudos to my neighbor Marc Stier for trying last time), or at the very least not jerryrig the election and flood it with money to prevent a real debate among liberal Northwest Philly democrats. Oh wait, I forgot. . . it's Philly!!!!
Labels: PA politics, Philly politics
