Friday, August 04, 2006

Abu Ghraib: come for the air conditioning, stay for the naked human pyramids


Bush is going on vacation, Blair is going on vacation (update: no! he postponed it), so why not the mayor of Hit, Iraq, who finds conditions in his town such that he asked the US to send him to Abu Ghraib “just for the summer. ... You have air conditioning, three meals a day, soccer balls. Abu Ghraib is a nice place.” You know, I honestly can’t tell if that was the Iraqi version of sarcasm or what.

The Bush quiz.

Four days before his primary defeat, Joe Lieberman calls for Bush to fire Rumsfeld. As many bloggers have pointed out, in 2004, Joementum wrote in the Wall Street Journal that such a move would make the “foreign and domestic opponents of America’s presence in Iraq” squeal with delight. Today, he said “a new face at the head of the Pentagon might help to open some minds and rebuild some public support [for the war] here in America.” So he’s still not actually willing to criticize Secretary of War Rumsfeld’s performance: it’s all about public relations and selling the war. And speaking of public relations, note his dismissive, arrogant attitude towards the public: people who oppose the war have closed minds and are blinded by their dislike of Rocket Rummy.

One thing I didn’t know: 45% of Connecticut’s registered voters have no party affiliation. 1/3 are Democrats, 22% are Republican.

When I first read the address (transcript, video) which Condi read (badly) to the Cuban people over Radio/TV Marti, it seemed pretty bland and I missed the point. See if you can spot the two key words in this sentence: “We encourage the Cuban people to work at home for positive change, and we stand ready to provide you with humanitarian assistance, as you begin to chart a new course for your country.” The key words are “at home,” and the message is: don’t get in your damned boats and try to come to Miami.

Finally got the IKEA table put together, sort of. Some of that unevenness is just perspective, some of it not so much.




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