Now It’s Working

The post featured below is from my newest friend BJ from South Carolina. She is a former Newspaper Editor and her political opinion writing can be found at I See My Dreams. Not many people can write like she does and I was so glad that she allowed me to cross post “Now, it’s working…” here at Papamoka Straight Talk. Thank you BJ!

Now, it's working ...

There’s a joke in upstate South Carolina about two Clemson University students riding around campus. The driver pulls over and asks his buddy to get out and tell him if his right blinker is working. The buddy yells back to the driver, “Now, it’s working; now, it’s not; now, it’s working, now it’s not.”

So, is the so-called U.S. troop “surge” in Iraq working – or not?

Can the surge be working when armed U.S. troops celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in the heart of a Muslim country?

Can the surge be working when a single American soldier looks into the camera and wishes his family “Happy Holidays” with tears running down his cheeks?

Can the surge be working when there are those who would have the United States become a fundamentalist theocracy while our soldiers are dying to prevent one in a Muslim country?

Can the surge be working when U.S. troops are fighting to liberate Iraqis from years of tyranny while the Bush administration has systematically chipped away at our own freedoms here?

Can the surge be working when major Iraqi factions cannot exist in harmony, and there are, quite literally, "warring" factions right here in America?

Can the surge be working as long as the neoconservatives who have shaped this administration’s foreign policy are building the world’s largest foreign embassy – a virtual fortress – in Baghdad with plans for a U.S. presence and U.S. bases protecting Iraq’s oil reserves for the unforeseeable future?

And, finally, you are hearing that the surge is working militarily, if not in terms of a successful Iraqi government. Is this true?

Examine six periods of this almost five-year war in terms of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq, verified by the DoD:

20 March 2003 through 1 May 2003 (end of major combat operations): 140 in 43 days

2 May 2003 through 28 June 2004 (sovereignty turned over to Iraq): 718 in 424 days

29 June 2004 through 30 January 2005 (Iraq elections): 580 in 216 days

31 January 2005 through 14 December 2005 (Iraq general elections): 715 in 318 days

15 December 2005 through 31 January 2007: 933 in 412 days

Beginning of the surge – 1 February 2007 to date: 811 in 328 days

Total deaths: 3,897 U.S. troops (Total coalition: UK, 174; other, 133)

Check out I See My Dreams for other great posts by BJ…

Papamoka

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Bush and Cheney Burn the Constitution

Picture courtesy of the White House





Pardon me for being so pissed off at this story in the New York Times on President Bush and Vice President Cheney breaking the laws of our nation by secretly setting up torture in the good old USA. Burn the damn Constitution and the Bill of Rights and full speed ahead for the new born King (s)! Most folks have mortgage burning parties, Bush and Cheney are having a Constitution burning party but it’s all hush hush. Don’t tell anyone but they broke the law.

Somebody call the decorator for the White House and get rid of all those old farts that believed in a nation under law. George Washington has to go, he was to much of a moderate liberal and for God’s sake he only had one tooth in his head. Replace George with one of Bugsy Segal smiling at the poker table in Vegas. Jefferson, what a hack! If there was ever a liberal in America this clown topped the cake. Replace his picture with Jesse James of the old west, now that is an American spirit to admire. That pussy footing FDR is a joke and his picture has to go too. Replace him with a real able bodied person that could fend for himself like the Teflon Don John Gotti.

We are a nation of laws and our President took an oath to uphold the Constitution. CNN, or Fox News must have missed the shot where he blew his nose with the Constitution right after the oath. Television blunders happen.

So while the Congress outlawed torture by American military and government agencies, don’t tell anyone but the President, Vice President, and the Attorney General continued on with their version of the law. Like that is a surprise to this writer?

Over at the New York Times they have this to say…


Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations

By SCOTT SHANE, DAVID JOHNSTON and JAMES RISEN
Published: October 4, 2007
This article is by Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 — When the Justice Department publicly declared torture “abhorrent” in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations.

But soon after Alberto R. Gonzales’s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.

Mr. Gonzales approved the legal memorandum on “combined effects” over the objections of James B. Comey, the deputy attorney general, who was leaving his job after bruising clashes with the White House. Disagreeing with what he viewed as the opinion’s overreaching legal reasoning, Mr. Comey told colleagues at the department that they would all be “ashamed” when the world eventually learned of it.

Later that year, as Congress moved toward outlawing “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment, the Justice Department issued another secret opinion, one most lawmakers did not know existed, current and former officials said. The Justice Department document declared that none of the C.I.A. interrogation methods violated that standard.

The classified opinions, never previously disclosed, are a hidden legacy of President Bush’s second term and Mr. Gonzales’s tenure at the Justice Department, where he moved quickly to align it with the White House after a 2004 rebellion by staff lawyers that had thrown policies on surveillance and detention into turmoil. - New York Times

If the laws of our land are not followed by all of our citizens including those from the President down then our nation and our people have a serious problem. Our laws and the legality of them is to be decided by the Supreme Court ultimately and not by a staffer with a law degree at the White House. Congress banned torture but the President probably had one of those pesky signing statements (Making the law written and passed by the Congress void) attached to his signature.

Over at the Gun Toting Liberal they have this to say about this same article...

GTL Comment: Okay, let’s just THINK for a moment — in future conflicts, the way we treat OUR prisoners will set the precedence for how our own troops are treated by our enemies. If you think this brutal, illegal treatment of our enemies is acceptable, then you have ZERO legs to stand on when the enemy inflicts this level of BRUTALITY upon your son, daughter, husband, wife, or friends in uniform. Is this such a “good idea” now? - GTL

One word… IMPEACHMENT! How many ways does the President and the Vice President have to break the law before somebody in the Congress grows some gonads to start the process?

When the laws of our land only apply to the rest of us and not the President or anyone in his administration then our format of government will have no function and that leads to just one thing… Anarchy! Impeach the President and the Vice President for breaking the laws that Congress passed.

Papamoka

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Smoke and Mirrors to a bad Comb Over?

Picture courtesy of DebbieSchlussel.com

I’m not by any means a great fan of Rudy Giuliani (Me too Republican But…) in the upcoming elections and he continuously reaffirms my sentiment and personal dislike of him. While he is trying his best to scoop up the Republican base, or for that matter what Bush has left of it, he fails to come off even remotely sincere. Rather than offering guidance and hope to the American people he is offering four more years of George W. Bush. More shiny objects over here while he will continue the Bush policy of hiding what he too as President will be doing somewhere else.

In the former Mayor of the Big Apples case it will be a diversion in hair care and the comb over might be straight back, to the right, or to the left. It will not matter what kind of hair cut you want from the Mayor because he is going to do things…”My way”.

Over at the Washington Post they have a great piece on the Mayors comments recently about Democrats being losers for offering something, anything in regards to the Iraq, Afghanistan wars. The reply from Senator Joe Biden was to the point and right for the jugular of Giuliani’s remarks.

On Thursday, during a stop in Houston, Giuliani called Democrats "the party of losers" for demanding a scheduled pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq.

"Democrats have already declared we've lost," the former New York mayor said. "It's really strange. The Democrats want to give our enemies a timetable."

That drew a quick retort from Democratic candidate Sen. Joe Biden.

"It is absurd for Rudy Giuliani to call Democrats 'losers' after five years of failed Republican policies in Iraq," the Delaware senator said in a statement issued Friday.

Biden said cheap shots wouldn't make the United States or its troops any safer.

"Giuliani and the rest of the Republican candidates continue to cling to this administration's failed policy that a strong central government can be propped up in Iraq," Biden said. "If these are the positions he wants to defend, I invite him to debate me on these important topics."

Giuliani sidestepped a question on whether embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign, saying the case has been distorted by partisanship in Washington.

"I think in the last six months it is quite possible the Democrats in Congress have set a record for subpoenas," he said. - Washington Post

Just a general correction for the former Mayor to think about, subpoenas are issued only when there is enough evidence to suggest that the law has been broken. Who were the ones that allegedly broken the laws of our land? Why did they allegedly break the law? I’m pretty sure that you just can’t make stuff up and issue subpoenas like lottery tickets.

What Giuliani is selling the moderates will not or should not buy. He is selling the horror of 9/11 and what it did to the people of his city on that tragic day. Personally, I think he should be ashamed for selling himself off as America’s strongest Mayor in a time of crisis like we all as Americans had on that day. He was not the one to bring America together, President Bush gets some credit for that but the people of America deserve the credit for more so. Together as a nation we all felt the need for revenge at one level or another. That is something none of us can deny. Our nation was aggressively attacked on that day and if you honestly think about it, revenge was in your mind. Eye for an eye was there in the back of your mind eating away at you. Action and reaction to the attack was called for and delivered by somewhat devious ways.

There have been some major mistakes by OUR government in the lead up to this multi front war and the perpetuation of mistakes to cover it up have only divided our great nation further. We need leaders that will speak from the heart and not from any political party play book sent down from the RNC or the DNC. America needs a new leader with fresh ideas and a very much different perspective from our current President. This coming election for our nations President should not be about George W. Bush. It should be about where we as Americans want to go from the point in time when he leaves office.

We can all bitch and moan over what one political candidate says against the other over the past mistakes on both political sides of the isle till the cows come home, or we can look to the future nation we want to pass down to our children. What we need to focus on is our nations future. We can continue down the road of this President or we can choose a path that is better and wiser.

Diplomacy from America is not dead, it has just been put on the back burner for a couple of administrations. We can either send out ten thousand diplomats to talk to nations around the world or propagate the Bush Doctrine of sending more troops to die for a cause that will never end.

Pick one? Peace amongst men by talking or foreign nations living in fear of America? That is the guts of this upcoming Presidential election and “We the People” have the power to make that choice.

Papamoka

Staff Sergeant Daniel A. Newsome

My heart felt prayers are with this young mans family that is left behind. He served his nation and joined the ranks of many brave young men and woman that have paid the ultimate price in service to our nation. There are no greater words to say than a simple thank you to his family.

Just as an outside observer I appreciate the fact that our Governor, Deval Patrick is taking a personal stance on our sons and daughters lost to us in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some people might choose to call it politics but I tend to believe that the Governor is a man of honor and respect. Respect and tribute for the life lost is what the families that are burying their dead need most. They above all need to know that the loved one lost in service to America was not just another number on a tote board.

Over at the Boston Globe they had this to say about Daniel A. Newsome and his life…


Chicopee bids farewell to another hometown soldier
By Claire L. Cummings, Globe Correspondent
July 6, 2007

CHICOPEE -- The fallen soldier's little boy smiled as Governor Deval L. Patrick gave him a comforting rub on the back. The 1-year-old, dressed in a gray Army exercise shirt and miniature camouflage pants, is already the spitting image of his father, relatives said.

As family and friends gathered yesterday to remember Army Staff Sergeant Daniel A. Newsome, they recalled that his life's mission was to raise his son to be a great man. For those who love and miss Newsome, who died June 27 in Baghdad from injuries he sustained in an explosion, it is a mission they will now make their own.

"All of us are the mold that made Dan the man he was, and though we cannot make a new Dan . . . a new Staff Sergeant Daniel Allan Newsome, we can do our best to mold and shape a man very much like him," said Eric Ritter, the soldier's stepfather. "He already looks like his Daddy. His little hands and feet are Dan's. He has Dan's eyes. And when he frowns, his forehead wrinkles just like his Dad's did."

Others said the 27-year-old Newsome was a responsible leader who took his job seriously, but thrived on making people laugh. – Boston Globe

This war is taking its toll on the young people serving in our military and the toll it is taking on families is multiplied exponentially. Not one person in America will understand the loss that these families will go through over the next decades of what we all call life. Little boys, little girls, wives and husbands will go through life without the one person that was a very influential part of the small part of the world we call a family. There is only one way for any of us to understand the pain of the Newsome family and that is to bury one of our own. Something no parent, spouse or child would ever want to have to go through.

Their voice may have been silenced in death but the spirit of their life will live on. In service to our nation and with a respectful burial we as the American people need to be thankful for the sacrifice but be diligent in thought when placing our military in harms way.

Daniel will be in my prayers and thoughts along with a long list of other fallen heroes in service to America.

God Bless them all,

Papamoka

Proud Member of the Patriot Guard Riders

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Is Giuliani G. W. Bush Version 2.0?

Picture courtesy of the Boston Globe

What is the former Mayor of New York City thinking when he continually plays the 9/11 card? America gets it that you were the super hero of New York City and did all the right things post 9/11. You attended many of the funerals for the fallen Fire Fighters, the Police, and any media event you could tack onto your political resume. We get that!

When did he become George Bush version 2.0? What is more important to ask is if he comes with a Dick Cheney version 2.0?

We get that part but Ruddy, you are not the savior for America because you manipulated your way into many families grieving process and ceremonies. I fully apologize to all the families that lost a loved one on that tragic day but this man is abusing the memories of all Americans when he says that he can lead the people with the same message as our current President. Our current President is not leading anything other than his personal agenda of a shiney object over here while he and his friends do as they please over there.

Giuliani is playing the fear card and that is the same set of cards the current President is playing. Unlike the former Mayor of New York City the current President can select the audiences he wants to talk to and have them screened as always supportive to the message. Any dissenting thoughts are not allowed in his holiness presence at the King of the United States appearances.

Over at the Boston Globe they have this to say about the former Mayor and his message of fear…

Giuliani watchers wonder if he will overplay 9/11 card
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff
July 5, 2007

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Rudy Giuliani was just six seconds into his speech when he played his campaign trump card: the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I'll tell you the reason I wear this flag," the former New York City mayor told supporters at a recent rally here, pointing to the American flag pin on his lapel. "Before September 11, I only wore this flag rarely. But I started wearing it right after September 11. I wear it every day now. Each time I wear it, it reminds me of September 11."

For Giuliani, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and his response to them have become his strongest campaign pitch, as the GOP presidential candidate reminds voters again and again of the role he played when terrorists crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center towers, killing nearly 3,000 people.

It is a message that appears to be resonating among Republicans. They have put the blunt-speaking former mayor at the top of a crowded GOP field in most polls, and his campaign said Tuesday that he raised more money in the second quarter than any other Republican candidate.
Political analysts say Giuliani's pitch is a powerful message to an electorate worried about another assault on US soil, especially after the recent attacks in Britain.

At the same time, many of these analysts question whether Giuliani can ride the anti terror train all the way to the White House. They say Giuliani risks being tagged as a single-issue candidate for his Sept. 11 performance just when his handling of the attack and its aftermath is drawing increasing criticism from his home city of New York. – Boston Globe

If the former Mayor is privy to any information regarding any future attacks on America then why is he not just saying such? Selling fear is what Bush does best, Giuliani is not convincing me one bit. I’m gambling but the next President of the United States will not be a Republican. George Bush burned the office and the trust of the American people. He will continue to do so as long as he is the emperor without a conscience in the Congress.

We can live in fear or we can live free? You decide? There has not been any diplomacy from this nation since W took office and there will be no diplomacy if G takes the highest office in the land.

Fear sells headlines but diplomacy is difficult and takes deep thought. Long term thought for the betterment of many people. Not just on shores here at home but for people in lands most of us will never have to be in unless we are lied to into the situation.

I don’t think that America needs a George W. Bush version 2.0 so the former Mayor can sell his fear somewhere else. What do you think?

Papamoka

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Are all Fatwa Declarations Legitimate?

Picture courtesy of Guide Instanbul

Over the past few years we have herd of the term Fatwa from the Muslim people of the middle east and it intrigues me to learn what a Fatwa really is. Step in and correct me if I am wrong and please comment if I am wrong!

My former line of thought was that a Fatwa was similar to Jihad and yet now I find that they are two very different things. Seeing that we are at war with a nation and I presume an entire region I would think that it might be a good idea to educate ourselves as to what these terms that are thrown around by our so called enemies mean.

I don’t have anything against someone that chooses to be a Muslim or was born a Muslim. I don’t have a problem with someone born in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia or any other Muslim based theocracy and nation. Reading up on the faith that is Islam it is a very proud and non violent faith. Much like the Christian Bible, the Koran can probably be interpreted ten ways to Sunday and none of the interpretations is correct.

Take for instance the first Commandment of the Christian faith. Thou Shall Not Kill. If America is a religious Christian Faith society then according to this Commandment we should not have an army to defend us? No offense to all of my friends in service to our nation in the military intended. No pink slips will be issued to those in the military based on this post… Trust me on that one. My interpretation is very wrong but could the same mistake be made with the Koran?

Over at the Washington Post they explain what a Fatwa is from someone that should know…

Sheikh Ali Gomaa: When each person's unqualified opinion is considered a fatwa we lose a tool for reigning in extremism and preserving balance of Islamic law.
Almost two years ago the citizens of London were victims of a great atrocity. Those who perpetrated those crimes would like you to believe that they were inspired by the religion of Islam. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is nothing in Islam that could ever justify these blatant acts of aggression. Islam calls on Muslims to be productive members of whatever society they find themselves in. Islam embodies a flexibility that allows Muslims to do so without any internal or external conflict. This is why we see a vast variety of cultural, artistic and civilisational phenomena all of which can be described as Islamic, ranging from the Taj Mahal in India to the winding streets of Fez to the poetry composed by English converts that represents not only the rigor of English verse, but also encompasses the beauty of Islamic piety.

This flexibility is not just present in the cultural output of Muslims; it is an integral part of the Islamic legal tradition as well. In fact, you could say it is one of the defining characteristics of Islamic law. Islamic law is both a methodology and the collection of positions adopted by Muslim jurists over the last 1,400 years. Those centuries were witness to no less than 90 schools of legal thought, and the 21st century finds us in the providential position to look back on this tradition in order to find that which will benefit us today. This is one of the first steps in the issuing of a fatwa (religious opinion/ruling). - Washington Post

So I’m a little bit wiser today than yesterday. Fatwa is a religious opinion and or ruling on the religion of Islam. Islam is a religion that changes over the course of time and its history is relevant to the changes declared with a Fatwa.

So now I have to find out who is the equivalent of the Pope to find out how these Fatwa’s are issued and made part of the permanent Islamic law. Can anyone that is a Cleric issue a Fatwa? According to the article that is not the case. I’m wondering if the same rules apply as to all of those Jihad’s that everyone talks about in the Middle East?

My main point of this post is to think more about who we as a nation are as a target of Islamist misunderstanding of Americans as a people. If we can find the common links for change so two people can exist with understanding of one another then that is for the good of all people.

Papamoka

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THE GLOBAL WAR ON TRUTH

Contributed by Michael Linn Jones

Having become somewhat accustomed to a constant feeling of nausea, I was thrown off by the realiization that it was passing. So, in order to rectify this, I listened to Rush Limbaugh for a while today. It doesn't take much, but something he said stuck with me. It starts at one point but can race off in several directions.

The Great Bloviator made the statement that liberals were aiding and abetting terrorists by ciriticizing President Bush. It is wartime, and to question or criticize is tantamount to treachery. According to that logic, should I pose the question: "Is George W. Bush capable of pouring piss out of a boot with the instructions printed on the heel?"....I am encouraging terrorists to attack us. I am apparently giving carte blanche to Bin Laden and his lunatic band of murderers.

As the saying goes, I may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. So I will proceed with this 'aiding and abetting.' One of the great dangers of warfare is how it changes the nations involved in it. Never in history has a nation been the same at the end of a conflict as it was at the beginning. So, how is George's War changing us? To continue to refer to it as the Iraq War is a misnomer. It is George's War, pure and simple. He wanted it; he got it, despite any information or advice to the contrary. He steamrolled over any opposition inside or outside the goverment to get what he wanted.

In so doing, he declared this "global war on terror." If we don't fight them in Iraq we'll have to fight them here, blah, blah, blah. The six terrorists arrested for plotting an attack on Ft. Dix is a good case in point. It doesn't really matter when they entered this country, but three of them entered the U.S. VIA THE MEXICAN BORDER. That is so impolite to say, as it might imply that a porous border could be used by terrorists. There is no doubt about it and to pretend otherwise is spitting in the face of the oaths these oafs took to protect the people of the United States.

But I digress. I meant to talk about my own culpability in this. This is hard for me to do as I voted against Bush twice, and for very good reasons as it turned out. Unlike our current president, no one will attribute to me the statement that "the constitution is nothing but a goddamned piece of paper." Nor have I stood in a room full of the richest people in America and declared that the haves and have-mores are my "base." Nor have I rushed through legislation that flies in the face of the very reason our republic was founded and have the gall to refer to it as a "Patriot" act.

Gagging, I turned off the radio. Rush is great if you're bulemic. After the spin and hype and repetition of the Bush non-doctrine, I thought of a pie. A very small slice is quite rich and tasty. But 95% of it tastes like....well....

I thought of calling Rush and reminding him of the old adage: "Don't go stepping in the stuff you're trying to sell us."