Yea, verily we find ourselves at another Sunday, so what shall we talk about? I'm enjoying a rare bit of solitude this weekend since Mrs. Marius and the COTA have gone down to WPB. I'll be following tomorrow for some much, much needed R&R, with special emphasis on the first R. I need to recharge my batteries, so I won't be doing my usual running around trying to see everyone I know and not getting any rest, but you dear readers will, of course, be the exceptions. Deb, Mayi, Elf, Puddy let me know when would be a good time to get together. I'll be there til Friday. And should there be anyone out there lurking in the wings that I did not mention, pray drop me a line. I want to see everyone, but this job of mine is so draining that I am forcing myself to relax...not something I do easily. And since I'll be staying in Wellington, if anyone can meet me a little farther West that would be greatly appreciated too. :-)
There really isn't much going on in the world that has me outraged right now. I'm enjoying the continued implosion of the Bush administration. It seems that the next person who will soon be getting a 'fall on your sword' memo will be our lovely Field Marshall...um, sorry, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. I kinda liked the guy when he was confirmed. But then again, compared to John Ashcroft Freddy Kruger would have been a good choice. But Gonzales' constant boot-licking and disregard for the most basic of civil rights has proven that he is more interested in being a Bush toady than in being the ultimate law enforcement officer. I have been trying to capsulize this US Attorney scandal for you, but I must confess the intricacies of it have eluded me. The best I can tell is that, while what was done was not illegal, it was certainly unethical. The President has the right to replace US Attorneys at will, but the mass firing of 8 of them is highly unusual, and smacks of political reprisal rather than performance based removal. Gonzales claims that there was no political angle, but all but two of the attorneys had just received good performance reviews, and there has been growing evidence that they were let go because they were pursuing investigations that the Bush administration did not want to have concluded. And finally, finally people are making Bush's cronies take responsibility for what they say on the record. For the last 7 years the talking heads in Washington have looked at a blue sky, and told us it's red, and expected us to just say 'yes, of course it's red.' You're doing a heck of a job, Gonzie.
As for the Democratic proposal to set hard dates for troop withdrawal, when I hear the conservative pundits and politicos calling it 'defeat' I just want to puke. We have accomplished our objectives over there. We deposed Hussein, and 'liberated' Iraq. The Iraqis are the ones destroying it now, and that should no longer be our concern. From a strategic point of view it is bad policy to advertise the withdrawal date, but there is nothing wrong with setting secret deadlines. I know that there are people who will yell about transparency if that were to occur, but this is war, and wars require some secrets. While things like the goings on in Guantanamo and Abu Graib should be transparent, battle plans need to be kept as secret as possible. As for considering a withdrawal a defeat, if it saves American lives then I can handle defeat. And if conservatives are so ego-deflated that the idea of retreat rankles them so, let's let them go fight. Give every soldier, airman, seaman, and marine a free pass home if they don't mind admitting defeat, and let the 'true warriors' stay. I'm willing to bet that only those who don't have to fight will remain.
I wonder if there is a flak jacket big enough to fit Rush Limbaugh.
Ok, that's enough thinking for now. I'm going to spend the rest of the day killing digital monsters, and defeating super-villains.
Excelsior!!
Marius
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