These posters/cards are high quality photos, but they are of genuine old paper graphics so the colors and noise issues are to be expected. To me it makes them more authentic looking then ones that are overly doctored in Photoshop.

Santa and Chimney

Santa Claus checking his list circa 1950s. This would have been more a template for a mass produced greeting card then a poster. The sender could write a short message on the list, i.e. something like “Hope you get everything you wish for.”

Children setting a trap for Santa 1950s. As I understand the rules about being naughty or nice, if they has succeeded they would have been sorely disappointed at the consequences.

Yule Tree and small town circa 1950s.

Veteran Jon Soltz asks, What Color Is The Sky In Palin’s World?

I never thought Sarah Palin could say something that would leave me totally speechless, but this time, she’s done it. Reports Politico:

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday accused President Barack Obama of not acknowledging the sacrifices made by the men and women in the U.S. military.

“There’s been a lack of acknowledgment by our president in understanding what it is that the American military provides in terms of, obviously, the safety, the security of our country,” Palin said during an interview with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren. “I want him to acknowledge the sacrifices that these individual men and women — our sons, our daughters, our moms, our dads, our brothers and sisters — are providing this country to keep us safe.”

Hasn’t acknowledged their sacrifices? Seriously? What’s this look like?

[   ]….The president ended the Stop Loss policy, which involuntarily extended troops in theater past their commitment — one of the most offensive policies to troops who made incredible sacrifice(s).

[   ]….This president also ordered his Pentagon to re-prioritize their funding requests, to move away from high-end, unneeded weapons systems, and towards on-the-ground equipment that our troops in the field right now desperately need. One of those big ticket items, funding for more F-22s, was finally ended under the Obama administration, while funding for more desperately needed on the ground Mine Resistant Ambush Vehicles (MRAPs) was increased. Who opposed ending F-22 funding? Palin’s party.

President Obama at Dover Air Force Base

Both as a Senator and in less then a full year as president, Obama has been very supportive of actve duty military and veterans. President Barack Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 22, 2009 - a blog post written by Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth.

President Obama also  introduced, S. 713, the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act( passed into law) Obama Steps Up To The Plate

Obama introduced, S. 713, the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act, legislation written to “ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries,” which has been referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee for review.
[..]
Obama’s legislation would fix conditions at outpatient VA residence facilities by setting higher standards — such as stipulations that recovering soldiers’ rooms will be as good or better as the best standard rooms for active-duty troops — and increasing administration accountability. The bill also provides for expedited repair of maintenance problems in the facilities and, as Obama put it last week, “zero tolerance for pest infestations.”

President Barack Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act

At this link - Bush Threatens Veto Over Troop Pay Raise, Military Widow Benefits – there is a photo of Bush is one of his many plastic photo ops with the troops in which he smiles to their face as he and his administraion stabbed the military and vets in the back. And let’s never forget that Palin’s conservative “common sense” party did to returning wounded at Walter-Reed, Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army’s Top Medical Facility

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Its not that heads are rolling in Great Britain, but at least some careers have been ruined and the British post Iraq invasion investigations continue. Leaked British Report: No Preparation for Iraq Invasion So Blair Could Keep Lying

Military commanders are expected to tell the inquiry into the Iraq war, which opens on Tuesday, that the invasion was ill-conceived and that preparations were sabotaged by Tony Blair’s government’s attempts to mislead the public.

They were so shocked by the lack of preparation for the aftermath of the invasion that they believe members of the British and US governments at the time could be prosecuted for war crimes by breaching the duty outlined in the Geneva convention to safeguard civilians in a conflict, the Guardian has been told. (note: Not to mention the total lack of respect for the lives of British and U.S. military forces)

The lengths the Blair government took to conceal the invasion plan and the extent of military commanders’ anger at what they call the government’s “appalling” failures emerged as Sir John Chilcot, the inquiry’s chairman, promised to produce a “full and insightful” account of how Britain was drawn into the conflict.

Fresh evidence has emerged about how Blair misled MPs by claiming in 2002 that the goal was “disarmament, not regime change”. Documents show the government wanted to hide its true intentions by informing only “very small numbers” of officials.

The documents, leaked to the Sunday Telegraph, are “post-operational reports” and “lessons learned” papers compiled by the army and its field commanders. They refer to a “rushed” operation that caused “significant risk” to troops and “critical failure” in the postwar period.

One commander said the government “missed a golden opportunity” to win support from Iraqis. Another commented: “It was not unlike 1750s colonialism where the military had to do everything ourselves”. One, describing the supply chain, added: “I know for a fact that there was one container full of skis in the desert”.

[...] Significantly, the documents support what officials have earlier admitted – that the army was not allowed to prepare properly for the Iraq invasion in 2002 so as not to alert parliament and the UN that Blair was already determined to go to war.

The documents add: “In Whitehall, the internal operational security regime, in which only very small numbers of officers and officials were allowed to become involved [in Iraq invasion preparations] constrained broader planning for combat operations and subsequent phases effectively until Dec 23 2002.”

Blair had in effect promised George Bush that he would join the US-led invasion when, as late as July 2002, he was denying to MPs that preparations were being made for military action. The leaked documents reveal that “from March 2002 or May at the latest there was a significant possibility of a large-scale British operation”.

The closet thing we have this this report is one from Rep. Henry A. Waxman(D) report: Iraq on The Record in which is was determined that Bush and administration officials made at least  237 public statements that ranged from misleading to out right obfuscation.

Jonathan Cohn on the current state of the health-care reform bill, Should We Laugh? Cry? Both?

But the public option fight–however it turns out–could also help progressives in other ways. Whether out of pique, politics, or principle, Lieberman, Lincoln, and Nelson (and maybe one or two others) want to scream about something–and to have a concession they can claim as their own. If they end up demanding the public option as the price of their support–and I’m not saying I want that to happen–perhaps the rest of the bill can go through relatively unscathed. Or, to put it more starkly, if they didn’t have the public option to attack then it’d be the subsidies, or the price tag, or the insurance regulations. Merely by including the public option in his bill, Reid has increased the chances that the final bill is a good one–even if the public option is gone by the time deliberations are done.

And don’t forget that the debate doesn’t end with the Senate. There’s always conference committee. Jay Rockefeller, among the Senate’s most reliably liberal voices on coverage issues, has said he’ll be one of the negotiators.

Cohn notes “But to get a bit of perspective, glance over to the other ideological corner–where the right, and many of its kindred special interests, are going absolutely crazy.” Sure we can all justifiably get mad at Nelson, Lieberman and Blanche Lincoln, but think of current proceedings in historical perspective. Out of forty Senate Republicans the American people cannot find ten that will stand up for genuine “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and the “common good”. Its conservatives first and country last. This has been the conservative movement nihilistic philosophy for fifty years. On every policy issue they ask first and foremost, not for the best solution, but what will make their opponents look bad. Children on the average playground seem more thoughtful by comparison.

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Conservative Bruce Bartlett writing at Forbes get the Bush/Republican Medicare part D story mostly right, Republican Deficit Hypocrisy

The human capacity for self-delusion never ceases to amaze me, so it shouldn’t surprise me that so many Republicans seem to genuinely believe that they are the party of fiscal responsibility. Perhaps at one time they were, but those days are long gone.

This fact became blindingly obvious to me six years ago this month when a Republican president and a Republican Congress enacted the Medicare drug benefit, which former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker has called “the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s.”

[   ]…Recall the situation in 2003. The Bush administration was already projecting the largest deficit in American history–$475 billion in fiscal year 2004, according to the July 2003 mid-session budget review. But a big election was coming up that Bush and his party were desperately fearful of losing. So they decided to win it by buying the votes of America’s seniors by giving them an expensive new program to pay for their prescription drugs.

Contribution to fiscal deterioration 2009-2010 by American Progress

Some may remember the Bushies threatened to fire Medicare’s chief actuary Richard Foster for publishing the real projected costs (pdf). I’m not sure that Bartlet is telling the whole story when he describes Part D as somehow buying the senior vote – though that figured into to the Bushies thinking. Conservatives generally hate Medicare ( even the one’s that collect it), but also know that dismantling such a popular and successful program would be political suicide. What’s a con like Bush to do. The second best thing. Turn a government program aimed at helping working class Americans into a gravy train for the pharmaceutical industry.

GIGANTIC BREAKING NEWS from Michelle Malkin aptly named Hot Air, “Surprise: Many San Francisco booksellers refusing to carry Palin’s book; Update: Palin apologizes to those whose books weren’t signed”. This is news because 1. Everyone knows that you cannot walk into a Barnes and Noble or Books-A-Million in S.F. and order any book still in print. 2. There is some divine secret truth in Palin’s book and unless all the book stores stock up to the rafters everyone in S.F. will miss out. 3. No one is S.F. has a computer or internet connection so they cannot buy it on-line.

Two conservatives agree with this post and Attorney General Holder that its a good thing to prosecute terrorists, thus Lindsay Graham(R-SC) is a grand standing twit.

By contrast, there is no question about the legitimacy of U.S. federal courts to incapacitate terrorists. Many of Holder’s critics appear to have forgotten that the Bush administration used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists, including “shoe bomber” Richard Reid; al-Qaeda agent Jose Padilla; “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh; the Lackawanna Six; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was prosecuted for the same conspiracy for which Mohammed is likely to be charged. Many of these terrorists are locked in a supermax prison in Colorado, never to be seen again.

In terrorist trials over the past 15 years, federal prosecutors and judges have gained extensive experience protecting intelligence sources and methods, limiting a defendant’s ability to raise irrelevant issues and tightly controlling the courtroom.

A phrase that made its official debut this week “common sense” conservatism. I tend to agree with Albert Einstein “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” But since it is Sarah Palin and the far Right’s new catch phrase we’ll be hearing it repeated ad nauseum. IS THERE AN ECHO IN HERE, OR IS IT PALIN?

…it’s all about jobs, it’s all about Americans who are hurting right now and what those solutions are that are so obvious, so commonsense that need to be plugged in. And those are Republican, they’re commonsense conservative principles that we just need to apply.

****

… it’s a clearer and clearer picture that what Americans are seeking, even in a district there in New York, they are seeking commonsense, conservative solutions to all the challenges that we’re facing. I’m glad to see this.

As No More Mister Nice Blog notes this is Palin’s substitute for actual solutions and policies. Her cult-like followers pick it up and fill it with the content of their imaginations. Kind of like sharing a communal bong of ideology. It saves having to actually know things and confusing people with hard facts and difficult decisions. More here, Sarah Palin Tells Rush Limbaugh the Magic Word

Unemployment?

But those commonsense solutions there, especially with the cutting taxes on the job creators? That’s not even being discussed.

Healthcare reform?

Not when there are commonsense solutions to meeting health care challenges in our country… So lots of commonsense solutions that need to be plugged in before ever considering federal government taking it over.

The 2010 elections?

It’s all about Americans who are hurting right now and what those solutions are that are so obvious, so commonsense that need to be plugged in.

So the benefits Americans are now reaping from the eight years conservatives ran the White House and the six years conservatives ran all three branches of government was simply a failure of conservative common sense ( thanks for the confession M’s Palin). But if you give them back that control, this time they really promise to be “plugged in” to the common sense that they have not managed to get right for the last fifty years. Sarah Palin and Her Lies (And Her Fans Who Attack Her Critics

From my post as an outside observer, it seems to me that Sarah Palin doesn’t care much about the truth. In that way, she is a very special liar. Instead, Palin seems to love the effect her disingenuous pronouncements have on her audiences and so she just runs with them. Her fans adore her claims about “death panels” and about Obama supposedly “palling around with terrorists” and all the rest. Look at how they roar with approval and fervor when she tosses that red, bloody moose meat to them – how can the mere (non) truth-value of what she is saying ever compete with that? Plus, the fact that her taunts drive her detractors over the edge – well, that just adds to the fun!

Sarah Palin seems to relish the reaction she gets to her claims and complaints. Among her core fan base, the theme that the mean media and the full-of-themselves campaign staffers were unfair to noble, authentic, small-town Sarah seems to be a winner. Whether it is really true is almost irrelevant.

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For a funny and genuinely insightful look into Sarah Palin and the world she inhabits. It is a little different from the real world, Return After Reading

From NewsBusters, those ever vigilant Conservative media police, NPR Shocker: Attorney General Holder Stumped By Lindsey Graham

Now, the real focus of this NPR piece was Graham’s subsequent question concerning whether or not U.S. officials would have to Mirandize Osama bin Laden if he was captured:

GRAHAM: If bin Laden were caught tomorrow, would it be the position of this administration that he would be brought to justice?

HOLDER: He would certainly be brought to justice, absolutely.

GRAHAM: Where would you try him?

HOLDER: Well, we’d go through our protocol. And we’d make the determination about where he should appropriately be tried. [...]

GRAHAM: If we captured bin Laden tomorrow, would he be entitled to Miranda warnings at the moment of capture?

HOLDER: Again I’m not — that all depends. I mean, the notion that we –

GRAHAM: Well, it does not depend. If you’re going to prosecute anybody in civilian court, our law is clear that the moment custodial interrogation occurs the defendant, the criminal defendant, is entitled to a lawyer and to be informed of their right to remain silent.

Graham used to be a military lawyer(JAG) so his views of the law are understandability skewed toward military rather then civil or criminal law. Given Holder’s background serving as a lawyer and as a judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia its possible that Graham’s question struck Holder as being so asinine that he was shocked a U.S. Senator with some law experience would imply reading someone their Miranda rights would some how keep them from being found guilty. Has the Conservative Senator from South Carolina  or NewsBusters for that matter ever heard of a prison. Does he know that in spite of those pesky Miranda rights the U.S. has one of the highest percentages of its population in prison. Is there a big gotcha here for Graham and the Right. Sure if you know as much about the law as a dung beetle knows about relativity theory. The U.S. has read rights to and convicted 145 terrorist in our courts – its not an oh my gosh we’re all gonna die for prosecuting bad guys game changing moment to continue to do so. Some of the current terror suspects being held may get military tribunals. Either way the U.S. judicial systems tries and convicts some very nefarious characters that range from child killers to arsonists with great regularity. There is no reason, other then blind fear and ignorance to think we cannot handle most of those currently at Gitmo, Neoconservative contempt for the Constitution is not only un-American; it is al-Qaida’s greatest ally

In a related post at American Prospect Adam Serwer dismantles what could only be called the semi-insane ramblings of partisan hack Andrew McCarthy of The National Review, Andy McCarthy vs. Thomas Paine

The federal courts have convicted hundreds of terrorists; during the entire Bush administration the military commissions tried three cases. That one of these people tried to escape and hurt someone has zero to do with whether or not the legal system of the United States can handle trying terrorist suspects. What McCarthy is describing above is a security issue, not a legal issue, but since he can’t distinguish between fact and opinion I suppose the above distinction is also too much to ask. Yesterday, former Bush adviser John Bellinger said that military lawyers were so unused to trying terrorism cases that they tried to get them help from the civilian attorneys in the Justice Department. That’s not a qualitative judgment on military lawyers — it’s indicative of the fact that terrorism has traditionally been tried in civilian court and so federal prosecutors have more experience with those kinds of cases.

A civilian trial is no more a platform for KSM than a military commission would have been. That’s ridiculous. KSM was ready to plead guilty and be executed eleven months ago. Whatever soapbox he was going to have, he’d largely already had, and while we’d have had to let him speak before sentence was imposed, that would have been the end of it. Now, he’s going to get a full-blown trial — after combing through the discovery for a couple of years and after putting the Bush administration under the spotlight.

So this is an unforced self-owning. McCarthy wants a military commission for KSM because he’s afraid of “putting the Bush administration under the spotlight.” In other words, a civilian trial of KSM would expose the Bush administration’s illegal behavior, behavior McCarthy supports but doesn’t want exposed for what it is. There’s nothing more telling about the shaky moral case for torture than torture apologists’ fear of their methods being scrutinized before a court of law..

We can all agree, as A.M. asserts, that KSM and those like him are cowards. Though let’s add wussy right-wingers like McCarthy that display a lack of character and courage that is become the adopted mind set of the very same folks that let Osama Bin laden get away and spent a trillion dollars destroying Iraq so we could all pay to rebuild it as America’s economy went in the crapper.

Old School House Holiday wallpaper

I’m not a big fan of A.N.S.W.E.R. While the Right makes no real distinction designating everyone to the left of Alfred Haighton a communist or socialist, I’m a moderate to liberal Democrat, thus ANSWER is a little too far out their for me. Even though we have some opinions in common just as I share some opinions of a Republican on occasion. So when John ” Assrocket” at Powerline writes in condemning some street violence by ANSWER I’m not going to be so blinded by partisanship that I’ll defend ANSWER. Only its not the simple dynamic that Assrocket would like to portray it as. I’ve watched the video at the rabid Right Gateway Pundit ( a kindred spirit of Alfred Haighton) and what I see is two sides – anti-immigration reform tea smokers versus ANSWER – both sides angry and violent. Like Gateway, Powerline suffers from typical conservative tunnel vision and an addiction to spin. Assrocket in fact goes on to do his Michelle Bachmann impression with calls for more violence – More Liberal Violence ( again ANSWER is not a objectively liberal organization)

We conservatives have long talked about our willingness to fight for freedom. In a sense, that’s generally been metaphorical, especially when talking about domestic rather than foreign enemies. With the far left now on the march, however, it isn’t metaphorical any more. It’s just one more sign of the Age of Obama–fighting in the streets, as the extreme Left has been empowered as never before. ( emphasis mine)

Do weenies like Assrocket, Limbaugh and Glenn Beck ever look at themselves in the mirror. They keep their dainty little hands clean, fighting the good fight from the comfort of their cushy offices and fully loaded keyboard. Those Mighty Righties have started a cycle of rhetorical and physical violence. Any opposition to teabaggery has been met with violence – teabaggers opponents are supposed to stand there and be a punching bag, any deviance from this rule will be spun by spinmeisters like Assrocket ( “Gateway Pundit: Che-Supporting Commie Goons Beat Tea Party Protesters In Florida (AMAZING Video)” as a call for an escalation of even more violence. There is a glaring omission from these fascist-lite pundits – a call to ratchet down the violence, rhetorical or otherwise. The teabbagers are/were planning to burn effigies of Rep. Tom Perriello(D) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Apparently even some teabaggers think things might be veering off into Reichstagish territory, yet the chairman ( the grassroots tea baggers have chairmen now) does not understand what all the fuss is about, Can’t These Teabaggers Burn Their Nancy Pelosi Effigy in Peace?

“We’ve been getting a lot of flack about this,” [TPP Chairman Nigel] Coleman said, “about burning those two in effigy and a lot of people in the public are unhappy about it. The story has gotten so large, it’s kinda strange.”

[   ]…Coleman sent a news release to local media Friday about the event, which opened with: “In a move sure to spark controversy, the Danville TEA Party will close their ‘Fired Up for Freedom’ rally by burning Rep. Tom Perriello and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in effigy in response to the passage of landmark health care legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

The unhinged elements of the conservative movement seem to be suffering a bout of Goldilocks fever – too much violence one minute, not enough the next.

The Right has more outbreaks of faux outrage over President Obama and his bowing or appearing to bow or possibly thinking about bowing then the average teen has of acne. Lawyers, Guns and Money has some historical photos of presidents bowing to various dignitaries and heads of state, The Dwight D. Eisenhower Bowing Hour!. Sadly, No! also has some photos of Bush bowing – Their Memories Are Even Shorter Than Their Johnsons. A pundit from the L.A. Times, apparently in a cranky mood that mom forgot to bring his hot coco writes,

Obama’s breach of protocol is of a piece with the substance of his foreign policy. He means to teach Americans to bow before monarchs and tyrants. He embodies the ideological multiculturalism that sets the United States on the same plane as other regimes based on tribal privilege and royal bloodlines. He gives expressive form to the idea that the United States now willingly prostrates itself before the rest of the world. He declares that the United States is a country like any other, only worse, because we have so much for which to apologize.

Wrong on both counts. President Obama did not apologize for anything and did not breach any protocol. On the contrary bowing in Japan is a custom. One generally respected by visitors, Guide to Bowing

If you plan to live in Japan, bowing will become part of your daily routine–but these will be mostly casual, shallow bows that are more like exaggerated head nods. And the type of bowing most foreigners do is casual, polite bowing to someone who has provided a service or gift.

Bowing shouldn’t be looked upon as a sign of deference or submissiveness. It’s simply a way of showing respect–to customs, traditions, and people.

Bush and Abdullah holding hands

Holding hands  apparently is not the least bit muticultural.

Bush bows to Pope Benedict

The Pope is a religious figure but he is also head of state of a few square miles of land called the Vatican. Bush is not Catholic, why didn’t the Right, suddenly experts on foreign protocol manufacture some outrage over Bush, ” He gives expressive form to the idea that the United States now willingly prostrates itself before the rest of the world. He declares that the United States is a country like any other, only worse, because we have so much for which to apologize.” – Powerline Blog writing about Obama’s bow in Japan. So Powerline would agree that Bush’s bow to the Pope was a way for conservatives to “prostrate” the U.S. to the world.

Bush in China showing deference to a communist

Military salute for Arrival of Pope Benedict at Andrews Air Force Base 2008

Why Did Bush, who was commander-in-chief “prostrate” the U.S. military to the Pope on his arrival by having them salute a foreign head of state.

Bush groping German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Never listen to a political movement’s lectures on  appropriate behavior that thinks its perfectly fine to grope foreign heads of state.

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Glenn Greenwald reminds us that conservatives wake up every morning shaking in a cold sweat at the mere though of terrorists or they’re happy to exploit that fear, cultivate obsessive fears or a combination of those things, The Right’s textbook “surrender to terrorists” – “We’re too scared to have real trials in our country” is a level of cowardice unmatched in the world.

Understanding and Combatting Terrorism, USMC Major S.M. Grass, 1989:

Terrorism is a psychological weapon and is directed to create a general climate of fear. As one definition cogently notes, “terror is a natural phenomenon, terrorism is the conscious exploitation of it.”  Terrorism utilizes violence to coerce governments and their people by inducing fear.

[   ]…GOP House Leader John Boehner, condemning Obama’s decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to New York for trial, yesterday:

The Obama Administration’s irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people.

Boehner has a tendency to break down in tears over projections of of his insecure ego so in his case its reasonable to assume the guy is a genuine basket case. If terrorists have little gold stars next to the names of the people they have managed to “exploit”, John and just about every well known conservative politician and pundit is on the list – mission accomplished they scared the BGs outta these folks. Abolish the Military Commissions and Prosecute Terrorist Suspects in Federal Court

Although some have defended the commissions as an efficient form of military justice, their track record in prosecuting terrorism cases has been abysmal. Since their establishment, the commissions have concluded only three cases, two after trials and one based on a guilty plea. During the same time period, the federal courts have tried more than 107 terrorism cases, obtaining 145 convictions. Several defendants have been sentenced to life in prison.

The only legitimate fear that conservatives could have is that our justice system actually works sometimes. Former New York  Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani(R) in a rare moment of mental clarity said of the convictions of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers,

“[M]any who were bruised by the traumatic event were certain that no verdict by a jury or punishment by a judge will exorcise the pain and terror that remain. … Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani declared that the verdict ‘demonstrates that New Yorkers won’t meet violence with violence, but with a far greater weapon — the law.’” [The New York Times, 3/5/94]

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George Bush showed something resembling empathy at his attendence at Ft. Hood memorial services and the far Right swoons, Missing George W. Bush

A couple of days ago I heard the news that George and Laura Bush paid a private visit to the wounded soldiers at Fort Hood. They specifically requested that the base commander not inform the media of their visit. They came. They comforted the wounded soldiers and the Fort Hood community for a couple of hours. And then they left. And they never had their pictures taken saluting the troops or holding their hands.

[   ]…It hurts to hear about an American President who cares deeply and sincerely about wounded soldiers and soldiers murdered in a terrorist attack and know that he is not the American President.

[   ]…But at least you always knew that Bush loved America and that he loved Americans. You knew that he valued America’s allies even if he didn’t always do right by them. You knew that his values were American values. – (Some more conservative tripe in the same price range here – Thank you former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush)

Just as Bush and Cheney suffered from cognitive dissonance about their behavior and policies, their genuflecting devotees continue to suffer from the same allergy to reality. Bush was the only modern era few presidents that did not attend the memorial services of any fallen soldier or Marine. Its understandable that neither Bush or Cheney could feel any empathy for those that actually saw combat since both of them went out of their way to avoid active military service in another war they supported, Vietnam.  Maybe the Right loved and misses the trashy story Bush told about giving up golf in remembrance of those that died in Iraq( another lame lie). Or maybe Bush’s conservative apologists miss the way Bush and Cheney treated the military – as always with conservatives pay attention to what they do not what they say,

Soldiers in the field, say veterans who have been there, have a lot more on their mind than whether or not the President has been photographed with a flag-draped coffin. But for those vets’ rights activists who have not only noticed but begun to demand answers from the Bush Administration, the President lost the benefit of their doubt by his actions over the past six months. “I was really shocked that the president wouldn’t attend a funeral for a soldier he sent to die,” said Pollack, who is board president of Veterans for Common Sense. “But at the same time I’m not surprised in the least. This Administration has consistently shown a great deal of hypocrisy between their talk about supporting the troops and what they’ve actually done,” he added.

“From the cuts in the VA budget, reductions in various pays for soldiers deployed . . . to the most recent things like those we’ve seen at Fort Stewart, where soldiers who are wounded are not being treated well, the Administration has shown a blatant disregard for the needs of the soldiers.” Pollack was referring to 600 wounded, ill and injured soldiers at a base in Georgia who were recently reported to be suffering from terrible living conditions, poor medical treatment and bureaucratic indifference. During a recent stop at Fort Stewart, President Bush visited returning soldiers but bypassed the wounded next door.

“Bush’s inaction is a national disgrace,” said one Gulf War I vet, speaking off the record. “I’m distressed at the lack of coverage — amounting to government censorship — of the funerals of returning U.S. service members.

“Bush loves to go to military bases near fundraisers,” he continued. “The taxpayers pay for his trip, then he rakes in the cash. Soldiers are ordered to behave and be quiet at Bush events. What a way to get a friendly crowd! The bottom line is that if Bush attended a funeral now, it would highlight a few things: 1) There’s a war going on, stupid; 2) There are bodies flying home in coffins censored by the Pentagon; and 3) Bush is insensitive to families and veterans.”

It was not just Bush and Cheney, but the Republican leadership which controlled Congress that treated the military like old dogs with mange. The Missing Bush writer does not miss the reality, but the fantasy fetishist version of the Bush White House. Bush and the conservative movement sent off American troops to die, be wounded and maimed for a lie about WMD and fairy tale connections between Iraq and al-Qaeda. Its impossible to love one’s country and send your countrymen to die for one’s delusions. Bush and the neocons were the abusive parents of love of country. They beat it till it literally bleed and still cannot understand why they’ll held in such contempt.

My solemn meeting on Veterans Day with President Obama at my friend’s resting place in Arlington

President Obama simply stuck out his hand and asked for my name as he stepped toward me amid a bone-chilling drizzle in the Gardens of Stone.

This was Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. I wasn’t there as a reporter, but to visit some friends and family buried there when Obama made an unscheduled stop – a rare presidential walk among what Lincoln called America’s “honored dead” – after laying a Veterans Day wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

What I got was an unexpected look into the eyes of a man who intertwined his roles as commander in chief and consoler in chief on a solemn day filled with remembrance and respect for sacrifices made – and sacrifices yet to be made.

I’m sure the cynics will assume this wasjust anotherObama photoop.

If they’d been standing in my boots looking him in the eye, they would have surely choked on their bile.

His presence in Section 60 convinced me that he now carries the heavy burden of command.

I had stopped at Arlington to see the resting place of Ken Taylor, Ed Lenard and Dave Sharrett. Ken and Ed survived their service, in World War II and Korea, and died as old men. Dave did not leave Iraq alive. He was 27.

Obama arrived just before noon at the serene Section 60, where many of the dead from Iraq and Afghanistan are buried together – and where many more heroes will undoubtedly be laid to rest before this President leaves office.

It’s a section typically bustling with those visiting loved ones. Every time I go there, more and more graves have been dug into the earth.

The President and First Lady Michelle Obama emerged from their armored limousine hatless in the frigid downpour and took a slow stroll into the soggy rows of white marble headstones.

They stopped first at the grave of Medal of Honor recipient Ross McGinnis, an Army private who threw himself on a grenade in Iraq three years ago to save four buddies.

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On Veterans Day, Conservative Mike Savage claims “a lot of girls” join Navy “just to get pregnant because it’s a guaranteed passport to an easy life”

New York Times Blames Workers for Unemployment?

Rick ‘Coocoo” Perry Caters To The Far Right: Obama Is ‘Interested In Punishing Texas’ And ‘Hellbent’ On Socialism

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There was super secret contest this weekend among conservative pundits to see who could spin the lie about Speaker Pelosi not posting the House’s version of the health care reform bill 72 hours in advance. Among the contestants were The Weakly Standard, The Gateway Xenophobe, Matt Sludge, Big Gov’Mint and of course the big daddy of right-wing misinformation Fox News. Right-wing media falsely claim Pelosi broke pledge to post health care bill online 72 hours in advance

Right-wing media are claiming Speaker Nancy Pelosi broke a pledge to post the “final” House health care bill online 72 hours before it comes to a vote, echoing a Weekly Standard blog post that claimed amendments allowed by the House Rules Committee the day prior to the vote will change the bill. However, Pelosi’s office posted both the text of the bill and the “manager’s amendment” — which The Sunlight Foundation called an “extra final version of legislation” — 72 hours in advance; those actions meet guidelines set by a House transparency measure that Pelosi told the Weekly Standard she “absolutely” supported.( A pdf of the bill HR 3962 is here, but since the bill will now go into reconciliation with the Senate the link may go dead eventually)

Of course if the House waited 72 hours after every dot on every i was changed we’d never have any legislation pass. Stephen Moore of Rupert Murdock’s Wall Street Journal said, “I’m shocked. You know what, Greta, I am surprised because of the brazenness of this and the arrogance of Speaker Pelosi to say we’re not going to let the American people see the bill. I’m just–I am shocked by it.” [On the Record, 11/05/09]. Stephen is shocked by something that only happened in his fetid imagination.

Conservative columnists for the New York Times are hatched apparently. Hybrids of sorts who are too lazy to do basic research. Someone tell Ross Douthat that President Obama visited the Berlin wall in 2008.

That Lindsay Graham (R-SC) is now considered a moderate by the media and a secret liberal by the Beck-Palin wing of conservatives is a mystery based on substance. Though if he and Joe Lieberman manage to kill the public option or force it out of the main health care reform bill to get a separate vote might not be a bad thing. That all may sound like heresy, but its the reality of politics. Lieberman will be gone in two years – before any major amendments to health care reform. Graham will have a tougher fight being elected because he comes off as an obstructionist reactionary disliked by the few remaining moderate Republicans and not far Right enough for the direction the conservative movement is headed – off a cliff.

Frank Rich on the far Right versus the even further far Right. The Night They Drove the Tea Partiers Down. Sure the internal slap fights of the Right are fun to watch in a train wreck kind of way – its actually not good for the country to not have an honorable loyal opposition, but Democrats should not be over confident. The persistence of high unemployemtn and the continuation of Wall Street decadence has the potential to produce a lot of unfocused backlash at whoever is in office, regardless of party.