Top 10 myths about Iraq 2007.
By on Dec 26th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Top 10 myths about Iraq 2007.
Juan Cole of Informed Comment outlines — and debunks — the top 10 Iraq myths of 2007, including that the “reduction in violence in Iraq is mostly because of the escalation in the number of US troops” and the “US public no longer sees Iraq as a central issue in the 2008 presidential campaign.” Read his full post HERE.
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Afghanistan
Bachmann
Beck
Boehner
Business
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
Dobbs
Economy
Education
Election
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Global Warming
Health Care
Hoffman
Immigration
International Relations
Iraq
Justice
LGBT
Lieberman
Limbaugh
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Politics
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Sports
Steele
Stimulus
Tea Parties
Tea Party
Terrorism
Veterans
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
Why are Republicans so scared of the truth?
For that matter, why are they all so scared of gays, brown people, free-thinkers, and everything else?
What ever happened to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?
December 26th, 2007 at 1:09 pmPacifying the country by dismembering and dealing with local tribes and militias is fine as long as we are there in force for ever. But the minute you have to allow the Shiite government to take over, you could have another outbreak of civil war.
Only this time, the US will have ensured, by arming and training the Sunnis, that the war will be more brutal, longer and protracted than it might otherwise have been.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:11 pmYes, those few democrats who have said “the surge has reduced violence, but there have been no moves toward political reconciliation” are indeed half-wrong. The surge has not worked on either front; but the Beltway conventional wisdom dare not say so.
You’ll find little disagreement here that Beltway dems are too easily swayed by beltway media, and too little swayed by real investigative journalism.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:11 pmdid Good Golly read the attached post?
December 26th, 2007 at 1:15 pm#2 “Why are Republicans so scared of the truth?“?
Because Screaming “BOOOOO!!!!!” worked so well in election time.
Is there a Terror Threat?
Absolutely.
Does that mean we should excuse every excess of this Admin. for that?
Absolutely Not.
The Radical right Wing tend to frame the question as “Your either with US or against US!!!”.
It’s BS but it worked for GW, right? Stolen Election or Not a large percentage of people voted based on the so called “TERROR” issue..
December 26th, 2007 at 1:18 pmThis tidbit comes for our heroes, CNN, “The Most Trusted Name in News”. It is such obvious PROPAGANDA I just had to share it! Give it read, and try not to vomit:
(Bill) Clinton closes gap with Bush as nation’s ‘Most Admired Man’ (Gore third place)
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Looks like all of Bill Clinton’s time on the campaign trail this year for his wife Hillary may be paying off in the polls for more than one member of the family.
Sitting presidents usually top Gallup’s list of the country’s most admired man, and this year is no exception: President Bush leads, as the choice of 10 percent of those polled. But in this survey, he’s in a statistical tie with former President Bill Clinton, at 8 percent. In the last survey, there was an 8-point margin of separation, with Bush leading 13 to 5 percent, and a 17-point difference in a 2004 poll.
Former Vice President Al Gore, who won several high-profile awards in 2007 for his work to raise awareness about climate change, also shot up in the poll — now in third place with 6 percent — 5 percentage points higher than last year.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:20 pmAnd the first thing to come out of good golly is a precieved slam on Democrats. Not the admittance of the surge not being “all that” or any acknowledgement of the piss poor execution of Bush’s folly.
Care to discuss the subject of the thread gg? or would that be asking too much?
December 26th, 2007 at 1:26 pmYes, hellin, he did.
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 1:16 pm
gg, you’re a guy?
(remember the thing i told you about quotes, ok? it will serve you.)
December 26th, 2007 at 1:30 pmWell, GG may have read, but obviously none of it stuck.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:35 pmAs Dr. Cole points out, that unless the factions agree to agree on anything, the surge is a pointless waste of time and human life.
The only reason Baghdad casualties are down is the completion of the ethnic cleansing, 75% Shiite up from the 65% when the surge began.
Before the war, Baghdad was 35% Shiite. Think about that, trolls.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:37 pmAny victory in Iraq would require constant U.S. babysitting of the 1,400-year old Sunni-Shiite hatred. America would be forced to bribe both groups for decades (or centuries) to stop killing each other. It would require trillions in extra defense spending with MY tax dollars. “Victory” in Iraq would resemble the Israeli-Palestine conflict, where America has spent TRILLIONS defending Israel since 1948. The minority Sunnis in Iraq would resemble the Palestinians in Israel. We’ve spent BILLIONS bribing Egypt since 1978 to stop attacking Israel. America cannot afford to bribe everyone to love each other. The trillions we’ve spent manufacturing a bogus “peace” for Israel has only benefited big defense contractors and foreign policy wonks who need an excuse for a job. It has NOTHING to do with the safety of average Americans who are paying for this farce.
Also, a victory in Iraq would inflame radical Muslims everywhere. They will NEVER sit quietly while America builds Wal-Marts and Burger Kings on the “land of the holy.” So, for America’s safety and security, everyone should be happy that Bush has been defeated in Iraq. I’m certainly happy!
December 26th, 2007 at 1:41 pmA funny thing about Pandora’s box.
Once opened, your fu(ked.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:44 pmOh, I see, so all of the DEMOCRAT leaders that are now
saying/ADMITTING that “THE SURGE IS WORKING†are all wrong.
The far left is even more invested in defeat than we could have ever imagined.
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
There’s a big difference between “the surge is working” and “the reduction of violence is ‘mostly’ because of the surge”. Even Murtha, who was widely quoted as being a pro-surge convert, basically said that the surge was successful in that we achieved our objective — we provided Iraq with the opportunity they needed to proceed with their agenda, but they didn’t take advantage of the opportunity our surge gave them. In other words — we did our part, Iraq hasn’t done theirs.
There are other factors besides the surge that have contributed to the reduction in violence.
As far as your claim about the far left being invested in defeat — that’s quite a stretch. You seem to think that the far left just sits around hoping for America to get trashed. Not so. In the case of Iraq, it’s just that some of us see the situation as having gone beyond such simplistic terms as “victory” and “defeat”. There really is no way of winning anymore — just varying degrees of losing.
I would truly do a happy dance if the Sunnis and Shiites would stop their civil war and live together in peace, if the Iraqi military and police that we’re trying to train would step up to the plate and get serious about functioning without our help, if the people would elect a leader who can truly unite the country, if all the foreign mercenary insurgents would just go home, and if democracy spreads like wildfire through the Middle East. Is this what your idea of “victory” looks like? Maybe I’m just too much of a realist to buy into this fantasy.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:45 pmComment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 1:16 pm
You could have fooled me, since you are bent on misrepresenting what the Democratic leadership says about the “surge” and what Juan Cole’s article says about it.
I also find it interesting that you should be surprised people in this blog have their own opinion about the “surge”, irrespective of what the Democrats in Congress say.
Your astonishment says a whole lot more about you and your attitude towards authority figures than about anyone here.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:47 pmgood golly,
Take your “Democrat” party locution and stick it where the sun don’t shine.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:48 pmCole approaches the Middle East and West Asia from the point of view of anti-colonialism.
That’s wierd, so do I!
December 26th, 2007 at 1:49 pmCole approaches the Middle East and West Asia from the point of view of being trained in the languages and history, which permits him to get the news from the region from local sources.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:51 pmGeorge W. Bush believes in giving insurgents American tax payer money as bribes.
That is how they are buying a cessation in hostilities.
By ‘rewarding bad behavior’.
Why do Bush supporters believe in the Terrorist Welfare Program(TWP)?
-GSD
December 26th, 2007 at 1:57 pmgood golly
Difference between a conservative and a liberal:
Conservatives claim to distrust government, but then treat the government as if it always tells the truth.
Liberals claim to distrust government, and then treat it with somewhat more skepticism.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:00 pmOff topic, but since there’s no thinkfast today, this’ll have to do.
From the UK Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/12/23/cccrisis123.xml
Crisis may make 1929 look a ‘walk in the park’
“…As the credit paralysis stretches through its fifth month, a chorus of economists has begun to warn that the world’s central banks are fighting the wrong war, and perhaps risk a policy error of epochal proportions…”
December 26th, 2007 at 2:01 pm24 – and, GG, it follows then that why on EARTH do you expect all of *us* to take the idiots in the Bush administration on faith…?
Oh wait, I know!!!
THAT’S DIFFERENT.
Puh-lease.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:06 pmCole approaches the Middle East and West Asia from the point of view of anti-colonialism.
That’s wierd, so do I!
Comment by RUCerious — December 26, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
Weird, huh? I mean, it’s almost as though colonialism had been a factor in the history of the region.
All that other stuff about internationalism, too, why that’s just sick. No wonder he’s “biased.”
December 26th, 2007 at 2:07 pmgood_golly
Have conservatives ever treat the Bush government as if it has done anything else?
Heck, you have conservatives standing up for torture, for more religious manipulation in government, for more secret wire taps, and heck even more human rights abuses.
The nearest the left has ever gotten to that is saying that maybe crazy people shouldn’t be allowed to own guns.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:07 pmGG – you’re obviously an idiot. Only the very richest have benefitted from Dear Leader’s economic fuc–er, policies.
The rest of us – and presumably you too – have not fared nearly as well. 20% of people are going to have to go into debt to pay their heating bills this winter.
By what standard are *they* better off…? Please *do* explain.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:08 pmHey, umm, good golly, your GOD, Rupert Murdoch has talked about doom and gloom and recession.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:08 pmAnd, good golly, Iraq is a freedom operation not a war, remember the propaganda.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:10 pmleft-wing Doom and Gloom,???
From the UK Telegraph?
December 26th, 2007 at 2:15 pmBad goshen by, how about you actually READ the article, then come back and point out the flaws in the economists prediction. Refute their statistics and educate us on how everything’s rosy, just like the chymp howls.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:17 pmI don’t know about you Xis, but I don’t follow propaganda -GG
Sure you did, from yellowcake to mushroom clouds you have been chasing the carrot hung in front of you.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:19 pmUmm, these economists are from Europe, so why would ‘election year’ anything be in play>??
December 26th, 2007 at 2:20 pmSay what you want about Hill’reh’s tactic of painting Obama as a muslim crack user / pusher, it seems to have worked, and she is pulling ahead in Iowa, just before the caucus:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/ia/iowa_democratic_caucus-208.html
December 26th, 2007 at 2:22 pmI find it hilarious good golly talks about gloom and doom when thats exactly what the current admin has fed him/her.
Terror! WMD! Anthrax! Yellowcake! Flying Camels! Osama!
December 26th, 2007 at 2:23 pmEverything is not rosy RUC. But that does not mean that we are headed into a Depression. Has a year ever gone by where some politically motivated economist has not predicted another Great Depression? And did you ever notice that those predictions are more frequent during election years? Wonder why? hmmmmmm
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
Well, I seem to recall most of the 90’s remarkably free of ‘depression’ predictions.
-GSD
December 26th, 2007 at 2:26 pmOne ARG poll that is so far out of line with the previous polls, does not, a caucus indicator, make.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:27 pmComment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
I see your good at parroting the economic talking points, but I see no factual posts.
Home prices post record decline
Associated Press
U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th consecutive month, posting their largest monthly drop since early 1991, a widely watched index showed on Wednesday.rnrnThe record 6.7 percent drop in the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index also marked the 23rd consecutive month prices either grew more slowly or declined.
Gee, who was in office in 1991?
December 26th, 2007 at 2:28 pmIf the DOW is the only measure you understand, no wonder you’re a neocon flunky.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:28 pmComment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
Bwah. The DOW is an indicator of the stock market not the country as a whole.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:29 pmThe federal deficit is 400% of the GDP good golly.
Know what that means?
Can you say insolvent?
December 26th, 2007 at 2:31 pmLiquidity doesn’t do anything in this situation,” says Anna Schwartz, the doyenne of US monetarism and life-time student (with Milton Friedman) of the Great Depression.
“It cannot deal with the underlying fear that lots of firms are going bankrupt. The banks and the hedge funds have not fully acknowledged who is in trouble. That is the critical issue,” she adds.
Lenders are hoarding the cash, shunning peers as if all were sub-prime lepers. Spreads on three-month Euribor and Libor – the interbank rates used to price contracts and Club Med mortgages – are stuck at 80 basis points even after the latest blitz. The monetary screw has tightened by default.
York professor Peter Spencer, chief economist for the ITEM Club, says the global authorities have just weeks to get this right, or trigger disaster.
advertisement”The central banks are rapidly losing control. By not cutting interest rates nearly far enough or fast enough, they are allowing the money markets to dictate policy. We are long past worrying about moral hazard,” he says.
“They still have another couple of months before this starts imploding. Things are very unstable and can move incredibly fast. I don’t think the central banks are going to make a major policy error, but if they do, this could make 1929 look like a walk in the park,” he adds.
Refute ONE of the above arguments, GG, or just leave it.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:31 pm#43, add to that that the average job creation rate for the last 7 years is something like 70k, less than half of what’s needed to keep up with population growth. Add slips in median household income and rising prices and consumer debt, and you’re brewing up something very ugly.
We can’t refi our houses to get out of the problem, like we did to pull out of the ‘01 and ‘03 recessions. The financial system is short on liquidity, the consumer on disposable income, and the right on common sense.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:32 pmGovernment accounting is not the same as private business accounting, Xis. You should know that.
Comment by good_golly
Actually, Government accounting is VERY much like Enron accounting.
HAHAHHAHAAA
December 26th, 2007 at 2:33 pmAh yes, those evil hedge funds — like the one that Edwards was working in so that he could learn more about the poor.
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 2:32 pm
Like the ones Jeb Bush was working in Florida?
December 26th, 2007 at 2:34 pmAh yes, those evil hedge funds — like the one that Edwards was working in so that he could learn more about the poor.
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 2:32 pm
Let’s see, is that a refutation? No, just a lame strawman.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:34 pmLooks like you should just leave it golly garsh.
Stock market booming! Blah Blah! Jeebus, talk about ostriches.
As long as the fat cats are making lots of money, who cares, right?
As for the rest of us, tough noogies.
Wall Street probably figures that when things bottom out, they will get bailed out by the federal government — which is to say, the rest of us.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:35 pmI’d bet you wouldn’t be making the same argument if the Dow was down, now would you Xis?
Comment by good_golly
The stock market is nothing more than a usury bubble
December 26th, 2007 at 2:35 pmOy, the troll is throwing out shiny objects left and right. Well, mostly Right. What’s blindingly obvious is that polly_wolly hasn’t a frickin’ clue about Economics 101 and is merely spouting redstate gibberish.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:37 pmI’ll ask gg again, is there any specific point regarding the subject matter of this thread that you care to discuss?
December 26th, 2007 at 2:37 pmWell I don’t know about the rest of the country but the economy of the Nanlichi house seems to be pretty healthy. We are spending a lot more than we make, but we took out a second on the house and are flush with cash. Life is good.
The kids keep whining about leaving them in debt, but what me worry?
I figure if the strategy works for the Repugnicunts, it should work for me.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:38 pm#56, indeed. I remembering hearing the stats on the fraction of major companies that actually pay dividends, and it’s tiny. Unless and until dividends become standard practice again, the stock market might as well be about tulip bulbs – trading in perceived value rather than in real wealth generation.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:38 pmXisithrus
The DOW is not an indicator of the stock market.
It is an indicator of the 30 most largest and most widely held companies on the stock market – or those companies which are least likely to go under in the case of a depression.
The high value of the Dow could well be a reaction to risk aversion – people feel the economy is going to blow, the banks are looking shaky so they put their money where they think it is safest.
When the economy is at its strongest you see people investing in a more high risk portfolio, when it is starting to look shaky, the big stable companies which don’t have much room to grow but don’t look like falling any time soon start to look attractive.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:40 pmHere’s another myth (back on topic)
The American people support this war/occupation:
CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Dec. 6-9, 2007. N=1,002 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.
“Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war in Iraq?”
Favor 31
Oppose 68
Unsure 1
****************************************************
December 26th, 2007 at 2:40 pmWhich comes closest to your view about what the U.S. should now do about the number of U.S. troops in Iraq? The U.S. should send more troops to Iraq. The U.S. should keep the number of troops as it is now. The U.S. should withdraw some troops from Iraq. OR, The U.S. should withdraw all of its troops from Iraq.”
Send More 10
Keep Same Number 19 (note combined total of 29%)
Withdraw Some 30
Withdraw All 39 (note combined total of 69%)
Unsure 2 (Note number of dumbfu(ks who don’t know/care/duh?)
#61, you still haven’t addressed the fact that the economy has, for the last seven years, created jobs at less than half the rate needed to keep up with a growing workforce.
Unemployment numbers don’t reflect people who’ve given up looking.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:41 pmgummitch
It isn’t booming. It is highly unstable and looking like going bang because your finance sector is destabilising banks across the world.
Right now, you have quiet holiday trade which is keeping a lid on things, but come the new year? Well the trend hasn’t been good news so far.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:42 pmNan, excellent post!!!
December 26th, 2007 at 2:42 pmLike I said its an indicator of the stock market, I didnt mean the WHOLE stock market Bruce. My bad. The point is it isnt an indicator of how people are doing.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:44 pmLet me rephrase Bruce Gorton’s comment.
Libertarians claim to distrust government and then treat it with skepticism. Their distrust of government allows big business to run roughshod over individual liberties.
Conservatives claim to distrust government. That claim is reality when Government is run by Liberals. It’s patently false when Government is run by Conservatives. Their love for big business allows those businesses to run roughshod over individual liberties.
Liberals claim to trust government. That claim is reality when Government is run by Liberals, and false when run by Conservatives. At least some Liberals have a stronger libertarian leaning when it comes to social issues.
Real People rarely fit entirely in any of the above three categories.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:44 pmComment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
8 cents? Bwah. The dollar has devalued some 40% since Bush took office.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:45 pmdid Good Golly read the attached post?
Comment by hellinabucket
No, I don’t she did! She must be like her ‘dear leader’, the WAR CRIMINAL WC. Bush when it comes to reading…
December 26th, 2007 at 2:47 pmAnd our pall GG hasn’t had a word to say about the ONE in FIVE Americans who is going to have to BORROW to pay his/her heating bill this winter.
Yeah. Booming, I say. BOOMING.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:47 pmI’ll ask gg again, is there any specific point regarding the subject matter of this thread that you care to discuss?
Comment by hellinabucket — December 26, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
The troll is having way too much fun spouting stupidities about the economy and getting plenty of bites on its shiny lures. Iraq? Hmm, not so much.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:50 pmThanks RUCerious, can I buy you a beer? Since I am in charge of the finances, I pass out goodies to all my buds. Just put it on my credit card.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:50 pmAmerica’s headline CPI screamed to 4.3 per cent in November good golly
And as for this thread I agree with Juan Cole.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:50 pm8 cents! Gee golly! What did Bush say about LOWERED EXPECTATIONS?
December 26th, 2007 at 2:51 pmLet’s look at more stuff from our friends at the BLS
Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)
Nearly 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached
December 26th, 2007 at 2:52 pmto the labor force in November, about the same as a year earlier. These indi-
viduals wanted and were available to work and had looked for a job sometime dur-
ing the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had
not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally
attached, there were 349,000 discouraged workers in November, unchanged from a
year earlier. Discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifi-
cally because they believed no jobs were available for them. The other 1.0 mil-
lion persons marginally attached to the labor force in November had not searched
for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance
and family responsibilities.
can I buy you a beer? Since I am in charge of the finances, I pass out goodies to all my buds. Just put it on my credit card.
Comment by nanlichi — December 26, 2007 @ 2:50 pm
A case of O’Douls my man, no make that a beer truck full of O’Doul’s since you’re putting on plastic!!
P.S. I used up my entire alcohol allotment in my first forty years, so am forced to swill NA…
December 26th, 2007 at 2:54 pmI don’t know about you Xis, but I don’t follow propaganda.
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
Said with the same confidence of all those that think the zillions paid on ad campaigns work on everyone else except them
December 26th, 2007 at 2:54 pmHey Groody Folly, the US Dollar is going down… going down… going down… the US debt (The War has been waged on borrowed money) is going up, and up, and up… The US International image is Not going down because it has sank to the bottom. It can’t go any lower… Although, woth the WAR CRIMINALS in the WH we can expect the impossible!
December 26th, 2007 at 2:56 pmdbadass
I would have said, “Said with the confidence of the guy who is on here arguing that the government is doing a great job on the economy based on the performance of the Dow, and the release of government statistics.”
Personally, I would take the fact that GDP growth hasn’t hit the same “Best” level it had 4 years ago as something to worry about – given the double digit growth of the economies of India and China, two of the most populous countries in the world and two major markets which have been steadily liberalising for years.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:58 pmThat is likely because 12% have bought into the Doom and Gloom and think that their oil and gas bills are going to go through the roof.
Comment by good_golly
The rise in fuel prices and the debasement of the dollar are directly related to Iraq quagmire. Always during times of war this happens.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:59 pmGG, you economic blunderbuss, you, please comment on the Nov 07 producer price index at 3.2, and the US import price index at 2.7.
What do these number mean, especially when compared with the previous six months
PPI
Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct
0.1 0.7 -1.5 1.1 0.1
IPI
Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct
1.2 1.3 -0.3 0.6 1.4
Please enlighten us as to what this portends.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:00 pmPersonally, I would take the fact that GDP growth hasn’t hit the same “Best†level it had 4 years ago as something to worry about – given the double digit growth of the economies of India and China, two of the most populous countries in the world and two major markets which have been steadily liberalising for years.
Comment by Bruce Gorton — December 26, 2007 @ 2:58 pm
I concur. Add to that in the last twenty five years we have gone from creditor nation to a debtor nation and borrow heavily from China.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:01 pmGood for you RUCerious. I am still in the denial phase, but how do you fish without beer?
My apologies gummitch, this is really OT.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:02 pmYeah, gummitch, my apologies for going OT, but there’s no thinkfast thread to clown around in.
Answer, lots. Just wait till shore to guzzle my O’Douls, I hate pissing over the gunnels in a six foot swell.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:05 pmStocks trade flat after holiday reports.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:06 pmGood for you RUCerious. I am still in the denial phase, but how do you fish without beer?
Or eat chicken wings or go bowling?
December 26th, 2007 at 3:07 pmgood golly. Three years ago, when we experienced our first Colorado winter, our heating and electric bill combined hit $150, which was the same amount my electric bill was during the summer in Louisiana. I muttered about how instead of May, June, July, August, September, and parts of April and October having high electric bills, I’d have high bills in December, January, Feburary, June, July, and August. Little did I know that three years later, $150 would be how much I paied in March, April, May, September, October, and November. December, January, and February will cost me $300/month or more.
Did my income raise appreciably? Only because I’m borrowing against future income with Student Loans while going back to college.
I’m hoping that I’ll be able to weather out the bad years by being in school…I hope that’s not a wasted hope.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:09 pmOr eat chicken wings or go bowling?
Comment by IgnoranceIsNotBliss — December 26, 2007 @ 3:07 pm
Last time I tried to eat chicken wings the damned thing nearly pecked my eyes out, and I donated my bowling ball (sniff**) after having not used it for 12 years…
December 26th, 2007 at 3:11 pmIt’s obvious what it means RU. Doom and Gloom. Doom and Gloom. Did I get it right?
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 3:07 pm
No, it just means you have no freakin grasp of macro or micro economics.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:12 pmComment by RUCerious — December 26, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
Oh man, I’m actually feeling your pain.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:18 pmDo you really think that Conservatives treated the Clinton administration as if it always told the truth?
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
Get ready to start questioning President Hill’reh, then. How about that “Gloom and Doom?” After eight years of W, the Rethugs have NO chance of winning the ‘08 election. Keep pumping up Huckabee, though – I’m sure he’s a viable candidate for mainstream America.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:24 pmIINB, thanks for the support. I have been known to down a Heineken on special occasions, but my problem was/is, I couldn’t have “a” beer… if you catch my drift.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:27 pmGreat article in the NYT, linked from daily Kos..
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/world/middleeast/23awakening.html?ei=5090&en=93b15c431c7f9bbe&ex=1356066000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
December 26th, 2007 at 3:55 pmIt’s obvious what it means RU. Doom and Gloom. Doom and Gloom. Did I get it right?
Comment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 3:07 pm
Right good_goofy. And you don’t follow the Fox News “Every Things Coming Up Roses” propaganda at all. You know the news that barely mentions the Iraq war because it’s too busy worrying about the war on Christmas. And don’t even bother telling us you don’t watch Fox News, we’ve heard it before.
December 26th, 2007 at 3:57 pm… if you catch my drift.
Comment by RUCerious — December 26, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
One day at a time, pardner. One day at a time.
As the Dutch say, “Sterker door strijd” – loosely translated, “Stronger through strife”
December 26th, 2007 at 3:57 pmU bet, Lil Freeper Gballs.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pmAnd as a lung cancer survivor, that takes on even more meaning…
The far left is even more invested in defeat than we could have ever imagined.
Comment by good_golly
About this defeat thing…you already lost when you broke international law by invading preemptively a helpless country.
Get that into your head.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pmOh, I see, so all of the DEMOCRAT leaders that are now
saying/ADMITTING that “THE SURGE IS WORKING†are all wrong.
The far left is even more invested in defeat than we could have ever imagined.
Comment by good_golly
So, loon golly, please link to any article where any of the Democratic leaders have said “the surge is working”. Some have said that the escalation of troops may be the reason for the level of violence falling, but they also point out that this may just be a lull and that there has been no success in the benchmarks we set for the iraqi government.
Also golly, tell me why, if the surge has worked, our troops are not coming home?
December 26th, 2007 at 4:17 pmComment by Manslagt
Yeah, we feel your pain.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:18 pmYeah, gummitch, my apologies for going OT, but there’s no thinkfast thread to clown around in.
Comment by RUCerious — December 26, 2007 @ 3:05 pm
Noted. And also noted is the fact that I’d already pecked at the lure a couple of times myself.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:28 pmI don’t know about you Xis, but I don’t follow propaganda.
Comment by good_golly
If you didn’t follow propaganda, you would not be a Bush boot licker. You, like all the other Republiscums, lap up the propaganda you are served by your lord and masters.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:29 pmJuan “communist” Cole has posted so many opinions masquerading as truths or half-truths that I cannot believe anybody would use his piece as substantiation for anything related to Iraq. His comment that Iraqi women are worse off now is so far from reality it makes you wonder if he is worried how long before his 15 minutes are debunked and we all move on.
His piece, in combination with every other post he has circulated, underscores that his opinions are just that, opinions and nothing more.
Move on folks. This post is dead in the water and TP shot itself in the foot credibility-wise with this link.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:46 pmJuan Cole’s academic awards:
Scholastic Awards and Grants ;James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, Hunter College, 2005. ; Hudson Research Professorship, Winter, 2003 ; Award for Research in Turkey, May, 1999, International Institute, U-M ; Research Excellence Award, College of LSA, U-M, August, 1997 ; OVPR and LSA Faculty Assistance Fund Grants, June, 1995 ; LSA Faculty Assistance Fund Grant, March 1994 ; Rackham Research Partnership, 1992-93 ; National Endowment for the Humanities, Jan.-June, 1991 ; Office of the Vice-President for Research, U-M (Pakistan), Summer 1990 ; Horace H. Rackham Faculty Grant, Egypt, Summer 1988 ; SSRC/ACLS Post-Doctoral Award, England, Summer 1986 ; Fulbright-Hays Islamic Civilization Postdoctoral Award, Egypt, 1985-86 ; SSRC/ACLS Doctoral Fellowship, Pakistan, India, UK, 1981-83 ; Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Fellowship, India, 1982
How many awards do you have JT?
December 26th, 2007 at 4:51 pmOh, he said communist!!! I won’t read him again, I guess…
December 26th, 2007 at 5:09 pmMove on folks. This post is dead in the water and TP shot itself in the foot credibility-wise with this link.
Comment by JT — December 26, 2007 @ 4:46 pm
Riiight. Thanks for your help. I can’t imagine what we’d have done without it.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:15 pmAbout this defeat thing…you already lost when you broke international law by invading preemptively a helpless country.
Get that into your head.
Comment by Juan C
This is exactly right. There IS NO VICTORY possible in illegal amoral invasion. It would be wonderful if republicans would GROW THE F**K UP. This isn’t Risk or a video game. This is the destruction of a country and deaths and maiming of hundreds of thousands of humans. NOTHING COULD BE MORE DESPICABLE! A crime against humanity of immense proportions.
And psycho idiot immature insecure posters such “good_golly” and others here should be held accountable for their inhumanity – they don’t deserve their cushy lives they live from which they pontificate on, plot the deaths of others.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:19 pm.
Sometimes you just have to wonder if these conservative trolls are even serious with their posts. Never mind the fact that Juan Cole has been correct about every single prediction he has made regarding Iraq. Strawman arguments???!! Please. Didn’t they hear Colin Powell say things were relatively quiet in the north? Didn’t they hear William Kristol say on television that the war in Iraq was not going to be a big issue. Haven’t they heard members of the Bush administration say that benchmarks have been met?
And complaining about “doom and gloom”??? Are they too young to remember that republicans screamed in 1993 that Bill Clinton’s tax proposals would cause a new great depression? Don’t they remember the repub reaction to Clinton’s sending the military to Bosnia?
They’re all just ridiculous.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:19 pm#109, at least he didn’t call Cole a filthy Whig. His baiting’s only 50 years out of date.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:19 pmAre they too young to remember that republicans screamed in 1993 that Bill Clinton’s tax proposals would cause a new great depression?
They’re certainly too young to remember that this nation’s longest extended period of economic growth occurred under top marginal tax rates of 71-91% (on incomes above $4mil in today’s dollars).
But even the pro-Reaganomics economists admitted, privately, that supply-side was about politics and not good economic theory.
December 26th, 2007 at 5:22 pmJT: “His comment that Iraqi women are worse off now is so far from reality it makes you wonder if he is worried how long before his 15 minutes are debunked and we all move on.”
Is this Bush cultist serious? Only the most moronic and absurd Bush cultists are not aware of what’s happening to Iraqi women. SHIITES ARE TAKING OVER, DUMBASS. DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS?
Here’s a good rundown of what’s been happening to Iraq women as a result of Bush’s illegal war:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1890260,00.html
December 26th, 2007 at 5:33 pmThe Nasdaq is up only about 90 points since Bush was installed in Jan., 2001. That’s crappy.
The Dow is up largely due to the fact that millions of jobs that used to be held by Americans (who were paid a decent wage and provided some degree of healthcare) are now being performed by slave labor in 3rd world countries.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:38 pmCHRISTMAS – A TIME TO ZAP SWEATSHOPS
Did you know …
If you purchase Barbie dolls produced at the Xin Yi Plastics Factory in China, you could be paying a 233-percent mark-up on toys made by workers toiling 14 ½ -hour days for roughly 53 cents an hour.
If you purchase Speedo swimwear and sporting goods from Toys-R-Us, you could be funding grueling production quotas, worker abuse, shifts longer than 23 hours, squalid living conditions, and wages below the legal minimum.
If you purchase Victoria’s Secret lingerie, you could be supporting guest-worker-staffed factories in Jordan where workers are “allowed just 3.3 minutes to sew each $14 Victoria’s Secret women’s bikini, for which they are paid four cents.â€
And even if you search out a religiously themed gift for the holidays, you could end up with crosses and other religious icons made in a Chinese factory by a 15-year-old making 26 ½ cents an hour, less than half China’s legal minimum wage of 55 cents.Â
http://www.minutemanmedia.org/KORHAGE%20121207.htm
*** Might this have something to do with the Dow being up this year?
December 26th, 2007 at 6:42 pmComment by good_golly — December 26, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
Does it make sense to you that the surge of 30,000 troops, which amounted to a less than 10% increase — we had 135,000 regular, and 175,000 mercenaries, is highly unlikely the reason for a decrease in violence?
Does it occur to you that Sadr has declared a 6-month truce.
Does it occur to you that the decrease has been in a province where we did not “surge” troops?
Does it occur to you that millions of Iraqis are displaced and effectively caused ethnic cleansing
Does it occur to you that hundreds of thousands have been killed?
I am glad to see the list of casualties growing more slowly than before, but let’s not give credit mistakenly — let’s keep the proper perspective.
December 27th, 2007 at 4:38 pmI wonder if Good Golly was singing the praises of Bill Clinton when the DOW consistently reached record levels?
December 27th, 2007 at 4:44 pmHEY TP… ARE YOU GOING TO POST THIS RETRACTION?
http://themedium.blogs.nytimes.com/ 2007/ 12/ 26/ editors-note-the-ron-paul-vid-lash/
Editors’ Note: The Ron Paul Vid-Lash
By The New York Times
A post in The Medium that appeared on Monday about the Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul and his purported adoption by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups contained several errors. Stormfront, which describes itself as a “white nationalist†Internet community, did not give money to Ron Paul’s presidential campaign; according to Jesse Benton, a spokesman for Paul’s campaign, it was Don Black, the founder of Stormfront, who donated $500 to Paul. The original post also repeated a string of assertions by Bill White, the commander of the American National Socialist Workers Party, including the allegation that Paul meets regularly “with members of the Stormfront set, American Renaissance, the Institute for Historic Review and others†at a restaurant in Arlington, Va. Paul never attended these dinners, according to Benton, who also says that Paul has never knowingly met Bill White. Norman Singleton, a congressional aide in Paul’s office, says that he met Bill White at a dinner gathering of conservatives several years ago, after which Singleton expressed his indignation at the views espoused by White to the organizer of the dinner. The original post should not have been published with these unverified assertions and without any response from Paul.
December 28th, 2007 at 12:42 am