Is he insane or what?

No blog last night. Local politics. Not as absurd as national politics but pretty absurd. One thing we learned is that the local Peace Group has a greater turnout than the local Democratic party and also has more money. What does that tell you about Democratic politics here in Idaho? We are hoping to change things. Actually we are thinking of asking Bill Gates to simply buy the state of Idaho and turn it over to a manager of his choice. It would be a great favor and things could surely not be much worse.

Is he absolutely insane or what? When Bush was asked whether the “war” in Iraq was worth it even though no WMP’s were found he replied “absolutely.” Think of that. With 1500 or so American troops killed, thousands wounded and many maimed for life, probably more than 100,000 innocent Iraq civilians killed, and somewhere in the vicinity of 200 billion dollars wasted, Bush thinks it was worth it – and he would do it again! All of this for a “war” against a small country that was no threat to anyone and had not attacked, or even threatened to attack, the United States. A nation that has made it completely clear they do not want us there, will not accept democracy at the point of a gun, and are never going to give in to permanent U.S. bases on their territory if they can possibly resist. And not only that, we haven’t managed to even steal their oil, which is what the whole disastrous, illegal, and unconstitutional business was actually all about. So what is it that was worth it? Bush is either totally insane, unbelievably stupid, or just plain evil. There is no way anyone in their right mind could possibly conclude that this tragic adventure in empire building was worth it. Obviously he has to claim it was because otherwise he would have to admit the truth – he and his Administration are war criminals, and this was the worst foreign policy disaster in American history. We know by now the truth is not in him, never was, and never will be. Will Bush/Cheney and the rest of the neocons ever have to pay the price?

Will Alberto Gonzales be confirmed? It looks like he will. But does anyone realize the full implications of his confirmation? Not only does he sanction torture, he also believes that the President of the United States has absolutely dictatorial powers. This is far more alarming that his position on torture. He believes the President can ignore the Constitution, ignore international treaties, lock people away for life just on his desire, and otherwise exercise absolute dictatorial power. If the Senate confirms Gonzales they will in effect have neutered themselves as they will no longer have the power to curb Executive priviledge. They will have surrendered. I don’t know about you¸ but I find this terrifying.

Then there is still Iraq. Remember Iraq? Where we were going to be greeting with flowers and cheers for getting rid of Sadam Hussein? Now they are admitting that maybe the election is not going to go as well or be as useful as they thought. And Powell, in his last week in office, is suggesting that perhaps some troops will be allowed to withdraw within the year. What does this suggest? It suggests to me that we are going to hold this totally mock election and then beat it out of there with our tail between our legs, but claiming victory at the same time. Bush may believe it was all worth it. I believe it was/is a total shameful disaster, the negative effects of which will be with us for probably decades.