Thursday, 5/16/13, Public Square

President XXXX

The thread title is a reference to another blog, where Democrats and progressives are not allowed to mention the name of the President that “served” from 2001 to 2009. Frequently, we are not even allowed to mention the years between 2001 and 2009, as if those pages have been wiped from history.

History, however, has a funny way of refusing to cleanse its self of unpleasantries. These days, in particular, the flow of information is so instantaneous and pervasive that there isn’t much that flies under the radar.

They say, “history is written by the victors” (Winston Churchill) but history is now written as it happens.

In my not so humble opinion, President XXXX, will go down in history as one of the most bumbling incompetents ever. The years between 2001 and 2009 will be viewed as a disaster for America, a disaster that President Barack Obama is valiantly trying to overcome.

How did we go from the relative peace and prosperity that was handed to President XXXX by President Clinton, to the full-blown train wreck that was handed to President Obama?

Unlike some, I do not blame 9/11 on XXXX, although he could obviously have paid more attention to the terrorism issue that he was warned about by President Clinton. The initial invasion of Afghanistan and subsequent defeat of the Taliban was necessary in light of the attacks by al Qaeda. After that, the train ran off the tracks.

The list of bad, horrible, disgusting and truly idiotic decisions that were made beginning in 2002 are well known, and there is no need for me to rehash them at this point. You know them all too well.

Despite all the evidence, there are still some that say that history will vindicate President XXXX and there are even some that say that he was a great President.

Hopefully, those folks are getting the mental health treatments that they obviously so desperately need.

My thought is that President XXXX is an American tragedy.

What are your thoughts?

(I am temporarily implementing a new rule for Pop Blog. Please limit profanity to a single curse word per sentence.)

William Stephenson Clark

Not Low-Level People Gone Wild . . .

This New York Times article suggests that the CIA retained tight control over the detainee interrogations.  A quote:

“The Central Intelligence Agency’s secret interrogation program operated under strict rules, and the rules were dictated from Washington with the painstaking, eye-glazing detail beloved by any bureaucracy.”

So these were not low level people gone wild, which was what was alleged with the Abu Ghraib scandal, but instead was orchestrated by the highest levels in Washington.

This just might get interesting…  Way past time, but, oh well…

Bush-era Intelligence Issues: Moving On?

President Obama has been clear that he wishes to look to the future and pursue an active domestic agenda, rather than dwelling on the mistakes of the prior administration.  Unfortunately, revelations like the recent report that Vice President Cheney ordered the CIA to not  reveal to Congress a program designed to assasinate Al Qaeda leaders, make this desire more difficult.  See this very good Question and Answer article on this subject.

Will we really be able to move on from the Bush-era controvesies if we don’t confront them? I am of the opinion we cannot.  What do you bloggers think?

Iggy Donnelly

Cheney’s Secret Al Qaeda Plans

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal the mysterious program Cheney kept hidden from Congress involved an executive order to capture or kill Al Qaeda leaders.  It appears that the CIA recognized that parts of the plan, which involved targeted assassinations, were not feasible.

So far, the controversy surrounding the ultra-secret plan is focused on the decision to not inform Congress, but as details unfold it seems more serious investigations will be warranted.

The Journal cites an unnamed source who described the plan’s ambition: “It was straight out of the movies. It was like: Let’s kill them all.”

fnord

Cheney spits out some more hate

Cheney has decided to go public with his opinion of U.S. forces withdrawing from Iraqi cities.

“There is still a continuing problem. One might speculate that insurgents are waiting as soon as they get an opportunity to launch more attacks. I hope the Iraqis can deal with it,” Mr. Cheney said. “At some point they have to stand on their own, but I would not want to see the U.S. waste all the tremendous sacrifice that has gotten us to this point.”

I wouldn’t mind one more “sacrifice,” if it could be Cheney!

fnord

Attack of the Zombie Republicans

The GOP’s living dead won’t stop haunting their party, says lifelong Republican John Batchelor. Now Rush, Newt, and Dick are doing what zombies do best: laying waste to everyone’s brains.

Woo Hoo, if you think Democrats are critical of these guys, think again. We could take lessons from this guy!  His op-ed piece is a must read.

fnord

Obama on LGBT Rights: “The Fierce Urgency of Whenever”

As Obama ally, Andrew Sullivan (responsible for the quote in the title) and this Politico article indicate gay groups are growing impatient with Obama’s inaction on LGBT rights.  Speculation is rampant as to the causes of Obama’s inaction – ranging from he’s changed his mind on LGBT rights to he’s afraid of alienating midwest conservative voters to “he has too much on his plate now.”

Dick Cheney, God bless his black little heart, has said – “I think that freedom means freedom for everyone” – voicing his support for gay marriage.

Dick Cheney to the left of Barack Obama (note:  photo positions above);  While very punny, it is pretty damn sad…

iggy donnelly

Limbaugh? His Truth is What, exactly???

In an incredibly weird thread, Rush compares his Oxycontin addiction to the dynamics of liberals.  Strange?  Without doubt…

Read more here:

In this photo, Rush says “I’m keeping my eyes on you, dems/libs …”

iggy donnelly

Who is Fibbing to Whom?

Is Nancy correct in asserting that the CIA were not honest with her?

More here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22550.html

iggy donnelly

The MoDo is Smokin’ Today…

  

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/opinion/13dowd.html:

Dowd says:

“The man who never talked is now the man who won’t shut up. The man who wouldn’t list his office in the federal jobs directory, who had the vice president’s residence blocked on Google Earth, who went to the Supreme Court to keep from revealing which energy executives helped him write the nation’s energy policy, is now endlessly yelping about how President Obama is holding back documents that should be made public.

“Cheney, who had five deferments himself to get out of going to Vietnam, would rather follow a blowhard entertainer who has had three divorces and a drug problem (who also avoided Vietnam) than a four-star general who spent his life serving his country.”

Yes, Mo, kick his butt.  He deserves much more…

iggy donnelly…