Well, Canada's still friendly, but their big grins might be due to the Looney being worth more than the Greenback now.

So, with the complete catsatrophe that is Bush's foreign-policy legacy, and the complete catastrophe that is his domestic-policy legacy, how can he NOT be considered the worst U.S. president in history?

I think I'm going to read on this blog about how this is all the Republican Party's fault, and then I am going to go on a conservative blog and read about how it is all the Democratic Party's fault, and then I will decide which Party I should blindly follow. Do I feel like feeling morally or intellectually superior today?

You forgot Poland.

That's easy, Derelict: No oval office blowjobs.

Oh, and Condi's don't count.

"Well, Canada's still friendly, but their big grins might be due to the Looney being worth more than the Greenback now."

In this, economic theory is working. I live outside of Toronto, and most people I know are going to make the drive to the States to purchase gifts and such, or any other large purchases, because the savings are so huge.

This is what happens when you elect people who are willfully and proudly ignorant of history and express nothing but contempt for the past.

So why now on the Armenian issue anyway?

Thank God for the French.

Other than that, though, how are things going for us?

Other than that things are excellent:

1. During Bush's Presidency there has been a reduction in virtualy every water and air borne pollutant, except CO2.

2. Both US military deaths in Iraq and Iraqi civilian deaths have dropped drastically, indicating that the surge is working. Observers say that AQI is essentially defeated.

3. The economy continues to expand. We're enjoying one of the longest economic expansions in history.

4. Unemployment is low. The number of employed workers continues to rise and is at an all-time high.

5. Average wages are rising, after adjustment for inflation.

6. The Federal budget deficit has fallen even faster than Bush's optimistic projections.

7. There has not been a successful terrorist attack in the US for 6 years.

8. Afghanistan's democratic government continues to govern successfully, as numerous Taliban and al Qaeda are killed in battles.

During a time of such broad good news, the media deserve a spin award for managing to focus on negatives.

A lot of this is nothing but lameduckedness, pure and simple. The White House's expiration date is becoming more and more obvious to foreign governments. They are all rethinking any agreements/alliances they have made. A good deal of the structure was probably based on very opaque business arrangements/payola/bribery. The proper palms will quit receiving the grease after Jan 2009, and more grease might not be forthcoming. Not to mention that these foreign governments will not have much to fear in reprisal by obstructing and blocking any more stupid foreign policy moves by the Bush administration that is not in their interest.

Kevin asked: "Other than that, though, how are things going for us?"

Well, aside from fighting with and killing each other, and spending trillions of dollars on ever more powerful weapons so as to do so more viciously and destructively, not to mention casually slaughtering billions of non-human sentient beings with whom we share the planet, we humans continue to rapidly destroy and degrade the capacity of the Earth to support life, to the point where global ecological collapse and mass extinctions (perhaps including our own) are imminent and probably inevitable.

So, things are pretty much going along normally for us.

Turkey should pass legislation officially recognizing the genocide of Native Americans as genocide by Christian Europeans. That should sever ties with the Evangelical Air Force and Turkey.

Observers say that AQI is essentially defeated.

Whew! Now on to the other 96% of fighters in Iraq

It is helpful when the right-wing extremist who calls himself "ex-liberal" numbers the scripted lies that he slavishly regurgitates. That way, other commenters can simply refer to them by number, rather than having to quote them, when they expose his shameless dishonesty and willful ignorance.

It is better to be feared than to be loved. When Clinton was in office, he tried to get everyone in the world to love him and look what happened. Terrorists attacked American soldiers in Somalia and the USS Cole. Terrorists attacked us in the first World Trade Center bombing. The Kohbar towers bombings. But we never responded. This act of weakness is what led the terrorists to believe America was weak and why President Bush had to respond fiercely.
It is unfortunate other countries do not appreciate our efforts at making the world safer, but it is certainly better that it be like this than the Clinton years when terrorists attacked us without fear of retribution.

The international situation was desperate, as usual.

Sounds like The Eve of Destruction.

Et a par cela, tout va si bien...

Other than that, though, how are things going for us?

Two words: Mission Accomplished!

ChickenLittle wrote:
we humans continue to rapidly destroy and degrade the capacity of the Earth to support life, to the point where global ecological collapse and mass extinctions (perhaps including our own) are imminent and probably inevitable.

Earth has been experiencing mass extinctions since there were species. And the climate has been changing regularly. Life will go on in different forms.

But now life will expand throughout the universe. We'll carry it to other bodies in the solar system and then onward from there. And a thousand years from now they'll look at this era as the end of the beginning of life in the universe.

Just thought you'd want to know.

Apparently, the public is noticing the disaster that is Bush/Cheney.
The latest Harris poll

After a small rise in September, President George W. Bush’s job performance numbers have dropped to right above his lowest ever. Currently, just over one-quarter (27%) of U.S. adults view his job performance positively. The lowest recorded in The Harris Poll® was 26 percent in July of this year. Almost three-quarter of adults (72%) view the president’s job performance in a negative light. ...Vice President Dick Cheney also continues to see near record low job approval – just less than one quarter (23%) of adults view him in a positive light. Like the president, almost three-quarters (72%) view his job performance negatively.
Two-thirds of adults (67%) currently view the country as having seriously gotten off on the wrong track while just 22 percent say it is going in the right direction. ...

Ex-lax has now joined the meatheadrepublican and rightist dim wit delusional pest category.

But now life will expand throughout the universe.
Assuming it's not already there.
We'll carry it to other bodies in the solar system and then onward from there.
Assuming that what's already out there will welcome us (with the galactic equivalent of flowers and candy, no doubt.)

Assuming that what's already out there will welcome us (with the galactic equivalent of flowers and candy, no doubt.)
Posted by: thersites

Welcome us? CAPT Kirk will mate with their females (or nearest thing to it).

We'll carry it to other bodies in the solar system

It being genocide and environmental degradation.

It being genocide and environmental degradation.
Posted by: Brojo

Good news, you'll still have something to complain about.

Apparently, the public is noticing the disaster that is Bush/Cheney.

The public has known this for a while now it seems.

The problem is getting it through the heads of the leaders in DC and the media that they listen to to find out what the 'people' think.

Leaders lead.
They don't base their positions on who likes them. That is the difference between a nation that can be a world leader for good and one that will merely takes feel good positions.

One of the reasons I will never vote for a Democrat is they seem to base their foreign policy on trying to get the world to like us. This includes trying to get thugs, dictators, tyrants and others to be pleased with us. Thugs, dictators, tyrants and such will never like someone who has the guts to take a stand against them. Only appeasers get their admiration.

After the Supreme Court appointed the loser of the 2000 election, a man who hasn't had a real job in his life and knew virtually nothing about foreign countries, what did you expect - a lot of foreign policy triumphs? Utter failure is all that Bush and Condi Rice have to show for themselves.

Don't even bother refuting ex-liberal's myths. This really gets to be tiresome, since so many of these talkng points are just spewed out by the right-wing noise machine (Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter, et al) and repeated ad nauseaum by the wing-nuts, with no supporting evidence.

Brojo. Dumb. As. A. Fucking. Stump.

NOW can we consider Al Gore? If not for the sake of the world, at least to piss off OUR Al.

Don't forget about Poland!

John Hansen:

That's why the Reagan administration took such a strong stand against the apartheid regime in South Africa. That's why Nixon and Kissinger refused to talk to Red China. That's why we stood up for the lawuflly elected Allende government in Chile. More recently, that's why Bush is constantly badgering the Saudi regime to stop treating women like fucking cattle.

North Korea seems to be going better, but that may be due more to the Chinese than to us.

What exactly is the point here?

That if a Democrat were president, Turkey would be happy with the resolution, Russia wouldn't be cozying up to Iran's oil fields and defending their nuclear program, the Dalai Lama would be snubbed to please China, Afghanistan wouldn't have a poppy problem, and western Pakistan wouldn't be full of Taliban?

Dunno, Pat. I don't always agree with Brojo, but can you honestly look at human history and say he's wrong this time?

1. During Bush's Presidency there has been a reduction in virtualy every water and air borne pollutant, except CO2.

Not because of Bush.

2. Both US military deaths in Iraq and Iraqi civilian deaths have dropped drastically, indicating that the surge is working. Observers say that AQI is essentially defeated.

AQI never was a factor. Deaths are down because the Shiites have almost completed their ethnic cleansing campaign. Three million refugees. On our watch.

3. The economy continues to expand. We're enjoying one of the longest economic expansions in history.

GDP has grown at a rate of about 2.6% a year, the slowest for a seven year period since the late 70s/early 80s.

4. Unemployment is low. The number of employed workers continues to rise and is at an all-time high.

Not as a percentage of total workers. Still lower than in 2000.

5. Average wages are rising, after adjustment for inflation.

After six years of dropping and the gains are minimal.

6. The Federal budget deficit has fallen even faster than Bush's optimistic projections.

Only because you count the SS surplus. Without the SS suplus, deficits at a record high.

7. There has not been a successful terrorist attack in the US for 6 years.

Because they can kill Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan anytime they want.

8. Afghanistan's democratic government continues to govern successfully, as numerous Taliban and al Qaeda are killed in battles.

You gotta be kidding. Place is run by a bunch of warlords and druglords and Karzai is the mayor of Kabul.

the most substantive comment Pat hs ever made.

1. During Bush's Presidency there has been a reduction in virtualy every water and air borne pollutant, except CO2.

You mean the CO2 that causes global warming? That CO2.

2. Both US military deaths in Iraq and Iraqi civilian deaths have dropped drastically, indicating that the surge is working. Observers say that AQI is essentially defeated.

Tell the friends and family of the 3832 dead soldiers what a success this has been. By the way, wasn’t the surge supposed to give room for the Iraqi government to accomplish things? What the hell have they accomplished.

3. The economy continues to expand. We're enjoying one of the longest economic expansions in history.

You really need to bone up on your economic history if you think this is a record expansion.

4. Unemployment is low. The number of employed workers continues to rise and is at an all-time high.

Yeah lots of minimum wage jobs. You remember the minimum wage, that thing republicans are always against raising.

5. Average wages are rising, after adjustment for inflation.

LOL. Yeah, a Democratic change in the minimum wage will do that.By the way if you look at yearly income, the reason that is rising is because people are working more hours.

6. The Federal budget deficit has fallen even faster than Bush's optimistic projections.

LOL. The deficit hasn’t fallen, he’s just marginally slowed its record progression.

7. There has not been a successful terrorist attack in the US for 6 years.

Almost as long as Clinton

8. Afghanistan's democratic government continues to govern successfully, as numerous Taliban and al Qaeda are killed in battles.

And yet NATO keeps crying out they need more and more troops to battle the defeated Taliban. Oh and don’t forget Karzai says he want to meet with Taliban members and make a deal.

John Hansen on October 16, 2007 at 2:06 PM:

One of the reasons I will never vote for a Democrat is they seem to base their foreign policy on trying to get the world to like us.

While Repubs seem to base their foreign policy on blowing people up and taking their stuff...I guess genocide makes sense to the ultraconservative mind, in that it's easier and less work than other alternatives.

This includes trying to get thugs, dictators, tyrants and others to be pleased with us...Only appeasers get their admiration.

Eeesh; You must have a real problem with Bush sending fuel oil to North Korea, then...

Ya got a real simplistic way of looking at things, John Hansen.

'One of the reasons I will never vote for a Democrat is they seem to base their foreign policy on trying to get the world to like us. This includes trying to get thugs, dictators, tyrants and others to be pleased with us. Thugs, dictators, tyrants and such will never like someone who has the guts to take a stand against them. Only appeasers get their admiration.'
--John Hansen

And Mr. Hansen, the reason I will never vote for a Republican is that they are the ones who secretly befriend the thugs and dictators and Democrats get stuck cleaning up the messes created by these traitors. It wasn't a Democrat who shook Saddam Hussein's hand in 1983 and pledged our support for him in the war against Iran. It was Donald Rumsfeld. It wasn't a Democratic president that funneled $4 billion to the mujahedden in Afghanistan, during the Soviet occupation, some of which went to a guy named Osama bin Laden. It was Ronald Reagan. It wasn't a Democratic president that overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh of Iran in 1953 that led directly to the Islamic revolution in 1979, due to the U.S. support of the tyrant named Shah Reza Palevi. It was President Eisenhower. Finally, it wasn't a Democratic president's grandfather who was Adolf Hitler's financier and had his investment banking firm seized under the Trading with the Enemy Act in 1942. It was George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush. So, it is the criminals and traitors on the Republican side who created the problems that Democrats have to solve.

2. Both US military deaths in Iraq and Iraqi civilian deaths have dropped drastically.

9-2007 65
8-2007 84
7-2007 78

9-2006 72
8-2006 65
7-2006 43

Thugs, dictators, tyrants and such will never like someone who has the guts to take a stand against them. Only appeasers get their admiration.'

yes, the free people of Saudi Arabia proudly stand with the royal family and our brother president bush. he and we have the same love of democracy and freedom!

The Conservative Deflator: Don't even bother refuting ex-liberal's myths. This really gets to be tiresome, since so many of these talkng points are just spewed out by the right-wing noise machine (Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter, et al) and repeated ad nauseaum by the wing-nuts,

Mike: Ex-lax has now joined the meatheadrepublican and rightist dim wit

Guilt by association and name-calling are all that TCD and Mike can muster in response to the facts I listed.

Actually, the items on Kevin's list don't look like the most important negatives. Six months from now, I think they'll be forgotten. A list of Bush failures that aren't going away so soon would include
-- allowing Iran to continue developing nukes and
-- allowing Hezbollah to re-extablish themselves in Lebanon.
-- I also wouldn't be surprised if NK retains and continues to develop nukes despite their agreement.

ex-liberal: "1. During Bush's Presidency there has been a reduction in virtualy every water and air borne pollutant, except CO2."

What, no links to bogus right-wing sites? Your work is slipping from shoddy to pathetic. Lest you get terribly excited, here are just a few examples to remind us all what a shameless hack you are.

Ya got a real simplistic way of looking at things, John Hansen.

John, like our current Prez, doesn't do nuance, or diplomacy, planning, thinking, strategerizing...

Let me get this straight - it is bad for a leader to take a popular position so therefore it is automatically good for a leader to take an unpopular position?

Now that's logic!

Dunno, Pat. I don't always agree with Brojo, but can you honestly look at human history and say he's wrong this time?

Posted by: thersites on October 16, 2007 at 2:14 PM | PERMALINK

Yes. I absolutely can.

the most substantive comment Pat hs ever made.

Posted by: peanut gallery on October 16, 2007 at 2:20 PM | PERMALINK

I'm blushing. I actually think my pointing out on repeated prior occassions how Brojo's continued unapologetic support for Ralph Nader makes him the single stupidest person on earth, were more substantitive. But I appreciate the sentiment all the same.

Well, Luxembourg doesn't hate us. I think.

Wow, this thread has certainly brought out the militant wingnut trolls.

Shorter Henry Paulson today, commenting on the housing/credit/mortgage/foreclosure mess:

"FIRE, FIRE!!"

ex-liberal: "1. During Bush's Presidency there has been a reduction in virtualy every water and air borne pollutant, except CO2."

What, no links to bogus right-wing sites? Your work is slipping from shoddy to pathetic. Lest you get terribly excited, here are just a few examples to remind us all what a shameless hack you are.

A pretty thorough repudiation of Bush and the people who support him.

"facts are stupid things, and so is john hansen" left out a few months, in order to strengthen his case.

The full report of US Troop deaths in Iraq for the months of 2007, according to the Brookings Institution, is 84, 79, 82, 104, 127, 100, 80, 84, 63. http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf

There were an unusually large number of accidental deaths in Sept. The number of deaths due to hostile causes was only 41. That's less than half of the level in March - June.

This drop is particularly impressive, because the surge involves American troops going out an fighting the enemy. So deaths are down substantially despite increased exposure to our soldiers.

You'd think that after realizing the hundreds of tons of WMD weren't there, that the atomic bomb program had been buried in a rose garden for 10 years, and that Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11, the wingnuts would be angry at Bush and his crew.

But they can't repudiate Bush despite all that's gone on, because that would mean THEY were wrong. And that would require a real reassessment of their beliefs and positions.

Worse, they'd have to admit that liberals were correct. The traitorous liberals, that is.

While a conventional diplomatic strategy might plan to unify one's allies behind you and sow division and dischord among one's enemies, Bush has taken the opposite approach. Why? Because it makes a bully feel more powerful. If you allies are unified behind you, it means that they share in the credit. By dividing our allies and then doing what we want anyway, the US shows itself to be able to act with impunity. By unifying our enemies against us, we place ourselves in a position where we face a larger, more intractable enemy than we would otherwise, which seems a lot more impressive than playing off a bunch of pissants against each other.

It's all about feeding the egos of the administration and feeding into their fantasy ideology.

*

ex-liberal, a conventional approach would be to use the year-over-year numbers when comparing casualties. But you go and use whatever methodology pops into your ignorant head. "Experts" do stuff like compare year-over-year differences. And who wants to listen to those pointy-headed intellectuals, anyway?

....Guilt by association and name-calling are all that TCD and Mike can muster in response to the facts I listed…ex-lax at 2:29 PM

….We'll carry it to other bodies in the solar system and then onward from there….SJRSM at 1:53 PM

Democrat[s] …. seem to base their foreign policy on trying to get the world to like us…..John Hansen at 2:06 PM

I'm detecting symptoms of Brojo Derangement Syndrome...

But show me a hundred-year segment of recorded history where there's been no genocide, and no environmental destruction. It doesn't make me wish I'd voted for Nader, but that's a separate topic.

If Turkey ends up hating us now because of the house of rep's vote, they'll continue to hate us when President Hillary takes over since the democrats own this own. So the dem-controlled house is doing the dem party no favors right now by pursuing the Armenian genocide issue.

If Turkey ends up hating us now because of the house of rep's vote, they'll continue to hate us when President Hillary takes over since the democrats own this own. So the dem-controlled house is doing the dem party no favors right now by pursuing the Armenian genocide issue.

Posted by: SJRSM on October 16, 2007 at 2:57 PM
--------------------------

Yes, why is Tom Lantos (D-Tel Aviv) pursuing the genocide issue:

"But the Israel lobby is now split between pro-Kurdish factions and pro-Turkish factions, and the pro-Kurdish ones appear to be winning out. Richard Perle & Michael Rubin of AEI are examples of the pro-Turkish Neoconservative strain in the Israel lobby. They are losing.)"

http://www.juancole.com/2007/10/who-lost-turkey.html

Through what country will the %50 of military shipments that used to go through Turkey, on the way to Iraq, now go? Dubai?

Al is channeling Dick C.

Congress finally getting the world to love us again.

"If Turkey ends up hating us now because of the house of rep's vote, they'll continue to hate us when President Hillary takes over since the democrats own this own."

"The Democrats" don't own this; the people who voted for it own it. If she isn't among that number and if she has an even halfway sane foreign policy, she'll have no trouble.

tyro: a conventional approach would be to use the year-over-year numbers when comparing casualties.

Year-over-year Army deaths isn't conventional at all. Brookings has never shown their statistics that way. Nor has anyone else, to my knowledge.

This year-over-year concept wasn't mentioned by analysts until some time in 2007, when anti-Bush folks latched onto it to try to prove that the surge wasn't working. In fact, at the beginning of 2007 conditions were worse than at the beginning of 2006. The surge had to contend with conditions as of 2007.

thersites, yes Bush's economic expansion isn't yet as long as Clinton's. That's why I said it was "one of the longest." Still, much of the media have not given appropriate coverage to the very good Bush economy.

"Congress finally getting the world to love us again."

Dear heart, do let us know when they catch up to Bush, won't you? By my count, they have dozens of countries to go.

By the way, dear, you do know that one of the reasons that China is upset is that Bush is meeting with the Dalai Lama, don't you? Strange how your dear little blog friend left out that inconvenient fact.

I'm loving how the wingnuts on here want to be Turkey's bitches.

Nor has anyone else, to my knowledge.

With your knowledge and $5 you can get a latte at Starbucks.

"Still, much of the media have not given appropriate coverage to the very good Bush economy."

That's because few reputable economists believe that Bush's policies have had anything to do with "the very good 'Bush' economy," not to mention the inconvenient fact that the "very good Bush economy" was achieved by a near doubling of the national debt. And, of course, there's that other inconvenient fact that for the majority of voters, the "very good Bush economy" just hasn't been very good.

And Kevin, you forgot oil futures hitting $88/barrel.

The retard-in-chief may very well get us to $100/barrel without bombing Iran.

"Year-over-year Army deaths isn't conventional at all."

Actually, it is, which is why it's been used so often in Iraq, particularly since the death rate and violence in Iraq have been seasonal for at least the past three years or so.

In any case, since there has been no reconciliation and no political movement, "the surge," so far has been pretty much the failure we predicted it would be.

Dear heart, do let us know when they catch up to Bush.

If we're talking about unpopularity in the polls, poochie biscuits, they've already done it.

And I'd stay away from the economy as an issue. The Democrats are.

"7. There has not been a successful terrorist attack in the US for 6 years."

"Our American Cousin was brilliantly staged and superbly acted, I enjoyed it thoroughly. If only there wasn't that disruption at the end," gushed Mary Todd Lincoln.

PaulB - I challenge you to find analysts who used year-over-year deaths as a measure before 2007.

"If we're talking about unpopularity in the polls, poochie biscuits, they've already done it."

No, dear, we're talking about foreign opinion.

"And I'd stay away from the economy as an issue."

I wouldn't. Bush has done a miserable job and it will be easy to show this.

"PaulB - I challenge you to find analysts who used year-over-year deaths as a measure before 2007."

ROFL... Dear heart, it's been used since at least 2005. You do remember that Iraq is hot in the summer, don't you?

ex-liberal, the seasonal/cyclicial nature of the insurgency is such that a year-over-year analysis would be the most appropriate one. You really shouldn't whine when someone calls you on your crap.

The retard-in-chief may very well get us to $100/barrel without bombing Iran.

Make sure you're talking about the correct retards.

The price of oil, adjusted for inflation, is still less than it was when Carter was retard-in-chief.

ex-liberal, don't strain yourself. The Left, after calling Petraeus a liar, got sandbagged by the September numbers, never mind the lack of major violence during Ramadan. Good luck getting them to admit it. The "seasonality" bit is starting to look a bit weak, too.

The price of oil, adjusted for inflation, is still less than it was when Carter was retard-in-chief.

Posted by: harry

But it won't be when it hits $100 per barrel.

ex-lib: 2. Both US military deaths in Iraq and Iraqi civilian deaths have dropped drastically, indicating that the surge is working.

usa deaths in Iraq - 2006: 822

usa deaths in Iraq - 2007: 812 (10/15)

(source: icasualties.org)

.....2007 will see the most usa deaths in iraq since the war began..

The price of oil, adjusted for inflation, is still less than it was when Carter was retard-in-chief.

So your point is that GWB hasn't quite yet replicated the economically disastrous effects wrought by the 70s OPEC oil embargo.

High praise indeed.

Barrel of Oil - 1/20/2001: $22.50

Barrel of Oil - 10/16/2007: $87.61

PaulB: Dear heart, it's [seasonalityi has] been used since at least 2005. You do remember that Iraq is hot in the summer, don't you?

PaulB, I guess your argument is that there are fewer deaths in the summer because the intense heat makes it difficult to operate. The average number of US army deaths for May through August of this year was 98. Your seasonality argument would make the drop to 63 in September all the more impressive.

OK, with these extra people you kept past their shift and the ones you hired at six times the normal pay rate, we've gotten a tighter grip on the tiger's tail. He's not able to kill and maul as many people. So, how's the work going on the cage?

Hmm. You say you haven't been able to agree on the design or size yet, or who will be the manufacturer? You don't even have a secure basement available?

Ya' know, I think I'll just leave at my normal time tonight. No, no. Keep your money. I don't think this project is going to work out the way you think it's going to work out.

12 former Army captains

I apologize. The post above was mine, not PaulB's

"7. There has not been a successful terrorist attack in the US for 6 years."

Say, they caught those terrorist mailing the anthrax around, right? Right?

Heckuva job, Bushie.

Even the wingnuts know they are full of shit when they start stealing handles.

ex-lib: "During a time of such broad good news..."

...magical pink fairies can turn your shit into golden nuggets! Do they also give you cake at your "special" facility?

"7. There has not been a successful terrorist attack in the US for 6 years."

name one terror attack in the US between the first and second wtc attacks..(time lapse: 8.5-years)

f.y.i....the #1 killer of americans by terror between 1993 and 9-11:

timothy mcveigh

harry: If we're talking about unpopularity in the polls, poochie biscuits, they've already done it.

DEMS in Congress - approval: 38%

GOP in Congress - approval: 29%

- Wash. Post/ABC News 10/1/07

I apologize. The post above was mine, not PaulB's Posted by: ex-liberal

Interesting ...

So you're either: a.) admitting to namejacking; b.) admitting you post here under two identities, on both sides, in order to stir up shit.

So which is it?

Mark D, I'm a little sleepy and I made a mistake, which pointed out as soon as I noticed it.

ex-liberal, don't strain yourself. The Left, after calling Petraeus a liar, got sandbagged by the September numbers, never mind the lack of major violence during Ramadan. Good luck getting them to admit it. The "seasonality" bit is starting to look a bit weak, too.

You & your resident genius, ex-liberal, are exactly right. Petraeus has those crafty insurgents/militias/Al-Kayderz on the run now. The whole misunderstanding should be resolved by Christmas time, when he'll have them all caroling door to door.

Jayzus, but you guys are the perfect pair of boobs. We've never been down this road before, have we? There were "only" 19 US military deaths in February, 2005, before they shot up to 135 just two months later. Then the number was down to 63 in October of 2005, before it went back up to 137 military deaths the following month. Things were going great in March of last year, when there were "only" 30 military deaths. Problem is, it more than doubled -- to 74 -- in the following month. By November, military deaths were down to 63 (which is, it's worth pointing out, awfully close to the number you're bragging about today). Problem is, that relatively peaceful month was sandwiched by 100 deaths in October & 105 in December.

Whatever the military is or isn't doing right in Iraq, the wild fluctuations in casualties from month to month -- both civilian & military -- spell out very clearly that, by going down this rabbit hole in the first place, Bush has created a situation that's almost completely beyond their (and, therefore, his) control. The entire country is an absolute train wreck. The government isn't functioning, the ministries aren't functioning, and the police force isn't functioning, and no military solution is going to make any of those things magically turn around. You & your girlfriend, ex-liberal, are whistling past the graveyard when you flap your gums about the success of the Surge. By your reckoning, we've been successful dozens of times already.

Honest disclosure effort: The Turkey fiasco was not Bush's fault. Sadly, Nancy P. and other Democrats pushed it due to Armenian influence. The resolution was not a good thing at this time. Really, why don't we put out a resolution saying we're sorry for what the US settlers did to the Indians, the delay isn't all that much more than for the Armenians.

Barrel of Oil - 1/20/2001: $22.50
Barrel of Oil - 10/16/2007: $87.61

What's it to ya?
XOM rose 0.3% to a new 52 week high of $95.21. During the last 52 weeks, XOM's price has ranged from $68.72 on October 23, 2006 to today's high of $95.21.

More good news. I read an article by Pepe Escobar in the Asia Times today that says Sunnis and Shiites are making truces all over the place with the express purpose of throwing the US out of Iraq. Other mutual concerns are not allowing US 'superbases' in Iraq and not allowing Iraq's oil wealth to be confiscated by foreign interests. Iraqis are starting to get smart.

Mark D, I'm a little sleepy and I made a mistake, which pointed out as soon as I noticed it. Posted by: ex-liberal

Oh yes ... I'm sure lots of people accidentally post under a different user name. Especially on sites that make you type in the user name every single time you post.

Yep, happens tons, I'm sure.

I'm not sure why you admitted it since only the admins would've known had they looked at IP addys. But you never were the coldest beer in the six pack ...

The price of oil, adjusted for inflation, is still less than it was when Carter was retard-in-chief.

Only barely, and only because inflation was at historic highs that were a complete outlier -- so your argument is basically a red herring. Oil is still reaching stratospheric prices in real dollars, as pointed out above it has almost quintupled in price under Bush's policies, and the price of gas did reach its historic high even adjusted for inflation this year.

Meanwhile oil and gas companies have prevented new refinery capacity in order to keep prices high and have made unbelievably enormous profits while at the same time receiving tax kickbacks from this administration.

Gotta any meaningful rejoinder to that? Thought not. You're no better at this than you were when you slunk away with your tail between your legs. And by "this" I mean both trolling and logic.

Kevin, you left out Egypt.

Marc Lynch mentions that Egypt will host Secretary Rice while journalists languish in prisons for spreading "rumors". He takes note of the Egyptian sense of the US at present Egyptians are divided over what is more relevant: American hypocrisy (talking democracy but doing nothing about it) or American impotence (failing to move Mubarak even when it does "try").

Oh, and as for the Canadians, we still haven't paid up the billions owed in the soft timber case. I can see the case for delay, though, with the $US dropping, what the Canadians get will be worth less.

Rule the world we will.---Yoda, Jedi Master

….at the beginning of 2007 conditions were worse than at the beginning of 2006….ex-lax at 3:28 PM

is still less than it was when Carter was retard-in-chief harry at 3:49 PM

…why don't we put out a resolution saying we're sorry for what the US settlers did to the Indians… Neil B. at 5:02 PM

Disputo at 3:31 PM
I'm loving how the wingnuts on here want to be Turkey's bitches…
They are taking a strange lesson from captivity scene in Lawrence of Arabia. Bush treats them that way all the time.

junebug, a nice aspect of the debate over the significance of the fall in number of American and Iraqi deaths is that it is falsifiable, in the sense of Karl Popper. If the number of deaths goes back up over the next few months, I will admit that I was wrong and apologize to other posters here. If the number stays down, I hope you and your colleagues will do the same.

Shiites are making truces all over the place with the express purpose of throwing the US out of Iraq.

See, he's a uniter not a divider.

nepeta, Escobar says:Ammar al-Hakim even went to Ramadi on Sunday to talk to Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha, and Lynch rejoins that in a major reconciliatory gesture, a leader from Iraq's largest Shiite party paid a rare visit Sunday to the Sunni Anbar province, delivering a message of unity to tribal sheiks who have staged a U.S.-backed revolt against al-Qaida militants.

What these reports for some odd reason neglect to add is that the mission was an utter failure.

junebug, a nice aspect of the debate over the significance of the fall in number of American and Iraqi deaths is that it is falsifiable, in the sense of Karl Popper. If the number of deaths goes back up over the next few months, I will admit that I was wrong and apologize to other posters here.

In the first place, I don't need you to admit anything to know that you've been wrong since your first post here, and you've been wrong on every single worthless post thereafter.

In the second place, you're lying yet again. You'll never admit you were wrong -- about this, or anything else. You'll say that any increase in military & some early deaths is yet another reason to keep solving the problem that is Iraq with more military & civilian deaths. You'll say that it might be bad now, but it'll be even worse if we leave. You'll continue cherry picking statistics, all the while ignoring the mountains of evidence against your position. You'll do anything & everything to never have to say that you were wrong because you're nothing but a repetitious & profoundly unimaginative shill whose sole purpose is to show up & offer bogus claims with absolutely no evidence.

Ok, republicans, I can admit that it is an unworthy goal to make everyone in the world like you. But why is it a point of honor to make everyone hate you? What's so smart about that?

And by the way, in case you hadn't noticed: the common thread seems to be they don't *respect* us, for any reason, either love or fear. Now that's bad, isn't it? Aren't they supposed to at least do what we want out of fear, according to your big stick theory? I mean, it's s really bad if they all hate us and don't fear us either, isn't it?

Again, republicans confronted by their errors attempt to make it a point of pride, like they're taking the tough road and everyone else is just an unprincipled wimp bending with the wind. Yup, that cliff is a tough road, all right. I kind of resent you taking me over it with you, though.

Bush seems to have a neurotic need to offend everyone. I can't see why Turkey would have any big problem with something that happened 90 years ago. NATO is a relic anyway.

I must admit that there's some unemployment which Bush really is responsible for:

As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch

Yeah, "ex-lib" it's a veritable paradise over there! I think you should relocate!

Seriously, might it have something to do with the fact that the ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods has been, for the large part, successful?

ex-lib cuts and pastes the cemetery story but not the joke:

Child: "Mother, mother! Daddy was electrocuted!" Mother: "We have power?" — Popular Iraqi joke

Wow, the shills here are perfect examples of the phrase "picking raisins out of a turd."

I betcha them raisins are sweet, eh boys? You don't mind if I decline to indulge, do you?

ex-lib: "During a time of such broad good news..."

Afghanistan is currently suffering its most violent year since the 2001 U.S.-led intervention. - McClatchy News 10/2/07

theresites, you are a pal. But I think its better to ignore my number one fan, unless it should ever say anything substantive.