previous issue
September 15-16


expand/collapse Debating Iraq? Pop a Pill First
by Rosa Brooks
First we ousted Saddam Hussein and liberated our friends, the persecuted Shiites. Then we started fighting Sunni insurgents. Then we started fighting Shiiite militias. Then we started arming some of the same Sunni insurgents we used to fight. Now we're apparently cozying up to the Shiite militia leader Muqtada Sadr. If we could resurrect Hussein, at this point we'd probably reinstall him as dictator.

Yes, it really hurts to be an American.

Oh, sure, I know there are also hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who are suffering, victims of gunshots, IEDs and suicide bombings. I haven't forgotten them -- not at all. It's just that whenever I think about them, I get this awful pain in my chest.


expand/collapse Wow, We Suck
by Jonathan Schwarz
With the Bush administration clearly heading toward a catastrophic attack on Iran with little chance they'll be stopped, now is a good time to consider how much everyone involved in this process sucks.

By this I don't mean Bush blah Republicans blah suck. That's far too easy. Any honest evaluation would find significant blame lies elsewhere.


expand/collapse 25th Anniversary of the Sabra-Shatilla Massacre
by Franklin Lamb
Arial Sharon, found by the Israeli Kahan Commission Inquiry “to bear personal responsibility” for allowing the Sabra-Shatilla massacre resigned as Minister of Defense but retained his Cabinet position in Begin’s Government and over the next 16 years held four more ministerial posts, including that of Foreign Minister, before becoming Prime Minister in February, 2001. Following the Jenin rampage US President Bush anointed him “a man of peace.”

Today's Quote:

"Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run."
- Mark Twain
Editor's Notes & Rants:

This is the anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, which revealed to the world the unmistakable similarities between Zionism and Nazism. Ariel Sharon, who ordered that massacre of thousands of innocent refugees, today remains in a coma after two years.

Muslims not allowed to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem at start of Ramadan. Remember, Israel is a Jewish state, where Muslims are third class citizens.

What global warming? One third of Arctic ice has melted in just the last two years.

Larry Craig's own private Idaho. He's hiding out in Payette, and has already missed half as many Senate votes in the last two weeks, as he had in the last 16 years.

Blackner, Bean and Rice, a gossip recipe. Now, isn't that special.

The freedom we brought to Iraq. US State Dept. report slams Iraq for loss of religious freedom, which they had before we invaded. Along with electricity, water, living relatives... [IPS]

Hypocritically, they gave Saudi Arabia a pass, even though they have absolutely no religious freedom, whatsoever.

Meanwhile, here at home, not since W tricked the Christian Theocrats into thinking he was going to replace the Constitution with Leviticus had the Religious Reich been as excited about a candidate as they were about Messiah Fred Thompson, only to hear him announce that he doesn't even go to church. Their dreams of making it a capital crime to even say the word "Muhammad" dashed to the ground like an Iraqi infant during the US invasion, it looks like some semblance of religious freedom will remain in the US, at least for the time being.

Hoping gay bashing will bring them back, Thompson says he will push for Constitutional amendment to deny gays equal rights. Because, hate is even better than Jesus!

Wesley Clark endorsed Hillary Clinton this morning. There has been a lot of speculation lately that she wants him as VP on her ticket. In 2003, there was speculation the other way around. May Hillary be as successful in her bid for the nomination as he was.

Eric Alterman says Hillary already has the nomination in the bag, mainly because she already has the support of a third of Democrats. He neglects to mention that a third of Democrats wouldn't vote for her in the general election, even if she were running against Lucifer himself.

Right up there with Hitler. Poll reveals that approx. 1.2 million Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of Bush/Cheney's illegal invasion. Before you complain that Hitler killed more, remember that Iran is still on his "to do" list.

Former SecDef Rumsfeld says he doesn't even care what happens to Iraq. He's got money to make! But, in all fairness, he's going to need a butt load of money to pay for his legal defense against eventual charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Unless he decides to avoid that the way Hitler did.

Iraqi government collapses, as Moqtada al-Sadr pulls out, killing the Shi'ite majority. This makes PM al-Maliki just some guy who cooperated with the American invaders, who killed a million Iraqis and destroyed their entire infrastructure.

Newt Gingrich says the Republican Party needs a clean break from ... the Republican Party?

Retiring Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) says the Republican party has been hijacked by incompetence. Actually, I think it's the other way around. The GOP gathered up all the nation's incompetents and put them into government.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman (and life long Republican) Alan Greenspan says GOP deserves to lose, because of what they have done to the country the last 6 years. Which, of course, makes you wonder why the hell he didn't say something when he was still running the Fed, and could have made a difference. [NY Times] [Washington Post] [Reuters]

I'm thinking the reason he's speaking out now, is because he knows a global financial meltdown is right around the corner, and doesn't want to be blamed for it. [BBC] [Guardian]

American Home Mortgage collapse will cause thousands of people to lose their homes. Which, of course, was the plan, all along. Bwahaha! (Smithers, release the hounds.) [more]