Please Let This Be True

I seriously want to see Katherine Harris run for her old House seat. Not because she is damaged goods, but just because of the endless hours of entertainment it will bring me.

Seriously Kathy, if you're going to run, call me. I've got to see that kind of crazy up close.

Anthony H. Cordesman Agrees

Last Monday I wrote this:

Every single television shot I've seen of the Iraqi forces, both police and army show a force that is in no way shape or form up to the task of making the populous under control. Their helmets look like they were found in some old army surplus store, if they have one. Their body armor has zero chance of stopping an AK-47 round, if they have any. They have virtually nothing in the way of armored troop carriers. In addition, they have no air power whatsoever. In other words, they are cannon fodder.

These are the guys that potential presidential candidate Duncan Hunter, heh, hold on, I still laugh when I hear that. Anyway, these are the guys Hunter wants to take up the fight in Baghdad.

In today's Washington Post, Walter Pincus writes up that Anthony Cordesman thinks pretty much the same thing that I do. Cordesman is the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. From the Washington Post:

One of Cordesman's central issues is that public statements by the Defense Department "severely distorted the true nature of Iraqi force development in ways that grossly exaggerate Iraqi readiness and capability to assume security tasks and replace U.S. forces." He also writes that "U.S. official reporting is so misleading that there is no way to determine just how serious the problem is and what resources will be required."

Cordesman says the Pentagon's Aug. 31 status report, which was sent to Congress, lists 312,400 men "trained and equipped" among the Iraqi army and national and regular police. But it adds that "no one knows how many . . . are actually still in service." At the same time, he writes, "all unclassified reporting on unit effectiveness has been cancelled."

Criticizing statements about how many Iraqi army units are "in the lead," Cordesman notes that the Iraqi army "lacks armor, heavy firepower, tactical mobility and an Iraqi Air Force capable of providing combat support" -- the same points McCaffrey made yesterday.

Can we now stop pretending that we have done anything to meaningfully equip the Iraqi security forces and admit that we've basically just have been dicking around? Giving guys an AK-47 and marching them around in formations does not an army make. Hell, we're probably not even giving them the good ones, they're probably some Eastern European knock-offs.

I can't begin to estimate the amount of money it would cost to equip them to the level Cordesman thinks is necessary, but I think a good guess would be somewhere in the neighborhood as the amount of money we have already spent on this fiasco, or roughly $350 billion. Maybe that Iraqi oil revenue is going to start paying for that sometime soon. Ha!

Iraq is never going to work out while we're there. It probably will not work out if we leave, but it really is truly our only option.

Kilroy Loses

The officially certified results from the Ohio-15 race have shown Deb Pryce to be the winner over Mary Jo Kilroy by a total of 1,054 votes. I'm don't know if there will be a recount.

I'm Back Today

Normal blogging will resume today and continue through December 6th when I leave for a short vacation to Florida.

Bullshit

The Bullshit Moose has taken a job with the Bullshit Senator, should make for a very "serious" team. Perhaps they can put together a "serious" unity ticket in 2008, you know, one that will unify the extremists in both parties by giving them someone to equally hate.

No Class

In response to a question posed by David Kurtz over at Talking Points Memo, I don't think anyone replaces John Bolton as ambassador to the UN. I think Bolton will receive another recess appointment, as will Robert Gates and that whole slate of radical judges recently nominated by President Bush.

In fact, I really don't believe a single nominee for any post will go through the confirmation process for the duration of this administration. I could be wrong, and I hope I am, but that is the way I see it.

The Amazing Efficiency Of State Government

I just got a letter from the Bureau Of Motor Vehicles stating that I have been granted a forty-five day extension on my car's registration due to a delay on the BMV's part in sending me a new sticker.

I have to carry this letter around with me so that when I get pulled over, almost a certainty since I will be driving with expired tags, I can show the police that I can legally drive the car. Of course, this also means I can't park my car on the street or in public lots since the city writes parking tickets for expired tags.

Radioactive Spy?

If there is one story in the news lately that has absolutely fascinated me, it's that of former KGB Col. Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned earlier this month by thallium, a component in rat poison. The latest on Litvinenko is that he is now believed to have been poisoned with radioactive thallium which would almost certainly indicate state level participation in his assassination attempt.

Did the Russian government do it? The Russian mob?

This Is Funny

Joe Lieberman's party of one is now officially a party of one. From the Stamford Advocate:

The political party formed by U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman after he lost the Democratic primary in August has a new chairman - and it's not Lieberman.

However, according to the bylaws adopted by its new chairman, Lieberman critic and Fairfield University professor John Orman, the senator is an eligible party candidate.

According to bylaws established by Orman, anyone whose last name is Lieberman may seek the party's nomination - or any critic of the senator.

Orman seized control of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party this week after registering as its sole member and electing himself as chairman.

[snip]

With Connecticut for Lieberman having achieved its victory earlier this month, Orman made his move. He contacted the secretary of the state, learned the new minor party had no registered members, then visited the registrar in Trumbull, where he lives, to switch from a Democrat to a Connecticut for Lieberman-ite.

"Then I went home and called a meeting of all registered Connecticut for Lieberman members to reflect on our party's victory in the U.S. Senate race (and) organize and submit rules to the secretary of the state," Orman said.

He nominated himself chairman, seconded the nomination, cast his vote for himself and proceeded to establish party rules.

Amusing if nothing else.

Found via AmericaBlog.

Shecky!!

If Shelley Sekula-Gibbs hadn't done enough damage to her political career in her short time in the House last week, now she is asking for a investigation into her staff which resigned en masse last week. From the Houston Chronicle:

But in less than a week, her star has been badly tarnished by an odd series of actions, and she's been lampooned on Web sites, talk radio and in gossip columns.

Though the punch lines will quickly fade, political insiders say Sekula-Gibbs has done serious — if not irreparable — damage to her hopes of reclaiming the 22nd Congressional District seat in two years.

"She has mortally damaged herself for '08," said Bill Miller, an Austin media consultant who works for clients in both parties. "She has embarrassed herself. She has embarrassed Republicans. She's done a first-class job of ruining any prospective chance she had of winning that race."

Said Fort Bend County GOP Chairman Gary Gillen: "When it comes time for 2008, the negative publicity won't be beneficial for her."

Sekula-Gibbs denies her political career will suffer lasting damage from what she describes as "personnel issues."

What exactly were those "personnel issues?" Former Delay Chief of Staff David James says, "Never has any member of Congress treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed during those five days."

Ouch, Tom Noe Gets 18 Years

Tom Noe was sentenced today and got a rather harsh prison term of eighteen years. Ten years was the minimum he could have got.

You Can't Keep A Good Fixer Down

There is one thing that is true in Washington DC, you can't keep a good fixer down. From TPM Muckraker:

"Kirk Fordham, who resigned as chief of staff to Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.) amid the damning page scandal, was seen around Capitol Hill last week.

"Fordham was spotted Thursday coming out of the National Republican Congressional Committee, chaired by Reynolds. On Friday, he was seen hanging around the Longworth House Office Building as House Republicans chose their new leaders.

"Aides were surprised by Fordham’s presence.

"'What the hell is he doing here?' asked one, who requested anonymity. 'He’s one of the reasons we’re in the minority.'" (Roll Call)

That must be one naive aide, this guy kept Foley's dalliances under wraps for years. There might be a bidding war for his services.

Iraq: Why We Can't Win While We Are There

While we have yet to see the Iraq Study Group's report on what we need to do to achieve some measure of success in Iraq, the Pentagon has released their own set of options entitled "Go Big", "Go Long", and "Go Home." Basically, one of the plans calls for more troops, one calls for the same amount for a longer period of time, and one calls for coming home. Thanks guys.

All three plans ignore one basic fact, and that fact is that we can't "win" while we are there insofar as we can't afford to spend the money the Iraqi Army needs to properly outfit itself while we are spending roughly a hundred billion a year to maintain our presence.

Every single television shot I've seen of the Iraqi forces, both police and army show a force that is in no way shape or form up to the task of making the populous under control. Their helmets look like they were found in some old army surplus store, if they have one. Their body armor has zero chance of stopping an AK-47 round, if they have any. They have virtually nothing in the way of armored troop carriers. In addition, they have no air power whatsoever. In other words, they are cannon fodder.

We could train a million of them and it just will not matter at this point because they are under armed in the conflict. The greatest military in the world has only managed to fight these guys to a draw, the current Iraqi military has no chance, and will continue to have no chance unless we give them the modern military tools to fight the fight.

Unfortunately, we are never going to do that while we maintain our current presence there, as we are afraid those tools will fall into the wrong hands and be used against us, so again we are stuck in a catch-22 even if we could come up with the additional funding to properly arm them.

Living Up To The Hype

Well, the Ohio State / Michigan game certainly lived up to the hype this year, and Michigan does retain the number two spot in the BCS poll, although it looks like they will need losses by both USC and Florida to make it to the Championship game.

Live Blogging The TomKat Wedding

As we speak Tom and Katie are levitating into the castle. Hmm, I didn't know that Tom Cruise had attained that level of Scientology. Oh wait, now I can see that he is orally tethered to John Travolta's cock.

The Seven Week Bitch

I may not have Katherine Harris to kick around any more, but I've got seven more weeks of Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, or as I call her Shecky, to entertain myself with. From Roll Call:

She showed up to take over DeLay's old office on Thursday and, according to sources familiar the office dynamics, was "mean" to the staff. On Tuesday, at her new Member's open-house reception in the office, sources charged that she was less than pleased that neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney showed up with the rest of the welcome wagon, despite the fact that others who stopped by included Texas GOP Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn and Texas GOP Reps. Kevin Brady and Michael Burgess. (Apparently, according to sources, she was under the impression that the president of the United States would be there to greet the seven-week Congresswoman.)

The staff she was mean to resigned en masse as a result of her rudeness, and these people had worked for Tom Delay.

That is funny enough in itself, but on Tuesday when Shecky had her open house the president wasn't even in the United States, he was flying to Asia to take part in the APEC conference. Perhaps Seven Week Shecky wanted to meet the president to work on her agenda. From WAPO:

"I'm working hard to accomplish the things I'm working for," she said yesterday. "For tax cuts. For immigration reform. To make sure we have a good solution for the war in Iraq."

All that? In a few weeks?

"If there's a way to do it, I'll do it," she said, smiling beneath her bright blond hair. "I'll deal with the leadership to get as much done as possible."

Yea, as a temporary freshman Rep she is going to deal with the leadership. She'll be lucky to get invited to the Christmas party. Oh, I'm sorry, Holiday party. I almost forgot to start my 2006 campaign in the War On Christmas.

House Leadership Decided

In voting today, the Democrats have elected their House leadership. In the money race (The K Street money man vs the ABSCAM, I almost took the money man) Steny Hoyer has defeated John Murtha for Majority Leader by a margin of 149-86.

Boo Hoo

I'm all for free speech. I think it is a must in a free society, but I also respect the fact that the majority of that free society can look at you and call you an idiot when your views are highly discredited. The right doesn't think that should apply to them, but wholeheartedly applies it to anyone who doesn't agree with them.

One of the most idiotic of the groups on the right are the climate confusers who vehemently deny that climate change is occurring at their worst, or just that deny mankind is causing it. These poor souls are now feeling disrespected. From Breitbart:

A spokesman for the U.S. senator who described global warming as a hoax showed up at a gathering of believers Tuesday, claiming scientific dissent on the issue was being suppressed and demonized.

One scholar shot back that the Senate aide must be living on another planet. The exchange took place at the UN conference on climate change, which has drawn more than 5,000 diplomats, activists and scientists to consider new steps in combating global warming.

"The skeptics who get vocal are vilified," said Marc Morano, director of communications for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The committee chairman, Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, has enraged environmentalists by calling global warming alarmist and a hoax.

Morano was invited to be part of a panel discussion on how best to convey the issue of climate change in the media. His fellow panelists, including Jules Boykoff of Pacific University in Oregon, argued that skeptics actually get too much attention in the press.

Efforts by journalists to create "balanced" stories on global warming allow "a handful of skeptics . . . to be treated as equals to thousands of scientists," said Boykoff, an assistant professor in the department of politics and government. Liisa Antilla, a geographer and scholar of global warming, said.

Look, if in this day and age with all the evidence available you do not believe in climate change you deserve to be lumped in with the Flat Earth Society, the Dinosaur deniers, and the Christian Scientists. Accept it.

Star Wars

Our "Star Wars" defense system is now complete. There is nothing anal-probing space aliens fear more than greasy-ass fried chicken. They much prefer a lubeless fuck, er, um, probe. Consider the planet now safe.

New Music

Just on the other side of the new year, Damon Albarn of Blur fame is back with a new band called The Good, The Bad, And The Queen, which will release an eponymous titled album on January 11th. I've heard a couple of pre-release tracks and they're very good.

Initially, it will only be offered as an import, so Amazon is selling it for $28.49, and American record companies wonder why their business model is failing. Anyway, get it here.