Surprise! The Surge is Working?

Is anyone surprised that Bush is claiming that the surge is working? Did anyone think he might say it wasn't working? Having checked his story with Petraeus they are going to insist that progress is being made and we have to continue as we are, but holding out the possibility there might be some troop removal at some unspecified date if some unspecified conditions are met and they really have no choice having devastated our military. Bush has made it clear he wants the "war" to continue in such a way as to make it necessary for the next President to continue it. What the hell, it's only a few thousand more lives that will be lost while we continue chasing our tail in Iraq for Bush/Cheney's amusement.

Now Craig is hinting that he may not resign after all. He only pled guilty to a misdemeanor, not a serious enough offense for the ethics committee to bounce him (maybe). He has apparently hired some hot-shot lawyers to help him and he might try to beat the rap. I think it is unlikely that he will succeed in this attempt. But I must say it is an interesting situation. Craig insists he is not gay. I suspect he believes he is not as he has not apparently ever lived a gay life style, no long term lover, married (with three adopted children), no outward signs for the most part, and so on. I suppose there is some question about having casual sex in men's rooms. Does that mean you are really a homosexual or just a guy that likes a casual fling in the men's room once in a while. Then there is the question of why he pled guilty in the first place. He says it was merely to get it over with. That may be true, but it is probably true in the sense that he gambled that by pleading guilty, paying his fine, and getting unsupervised probation, no one would ever find out about it. If he had refused to plead guilty he would have had to stand trial or at least would have been involved with some bad publicity. Why not take a chance that no one would ever know? He lost.

Given my suspicious mind there is another possibility that occurs to me. This may be another of Rove's brilliant ideas. Why not encourage Craig to keep this story running? How much have you heard about Gonzales of late? And this is just the moment they are trying to hoodwink us into extending the surge and also possibly attacking Iran. From their point of view Craig's misery is a good thing, and you can bet they wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice a Senator from Idaho for the cause (especially when they know he will be replaced by another Republican).

If this is not true, Craig's decision to challenge his conviction must be raising all kinds of troubles for the Republicans. Otter is all set, for example, to name a replacement for him, and there are several potential candidates that will be affected. The Republican sex scandals have been multiplying of late and there are claims that at least four others are about to be "outed." This is certainly not the kind of publicity Republicans look forward to and it will certainly not help them with their evangelical base. People in show business sometimes claim that no publicity is bad publicity. I don't think that holds true for politics.

Remember the other day I was pleased to report that my mother-in-law had finally figured out that Bush was, shall we say, less than desirable as a President. Alas, she came right back with another zinger that placed her right back with the rest of her Republican friends. Al Gore, she announced, is a buffoon. Now I have known my mother-in-law for quite a long time, long enough to know that buffoon is not a word in her working vocabulary. This means she is merely repeating something one of her right-wing friends has told her. This gives one a lot of insight into the way Republicans think (or don't think would be more like it). Here is Al Gore, ex Senator, ex Vice-President, winner of an academy award, quite likely a winner of the Nobel Prize, a man who has been right about everything while the Republicans have been wrong about everything, and they want to label him a buffoon. I think it should be obvious where the true buffoonery lies. I suggest that if Gore doesn't enter the race, or be drafted by a split convention, Hillary will be the candidate. I believe this was decided by the powers that be a long time ago. We'll see soon enough.

LKBIQ: (Blue: yes, some of them come from a couple of books of quotations, some from a book on Churchill, some from other books, some from family or friends. Does it make a difference?)

"I am gross and perverted, I'm obsessed and deranged,
I have existed for years, but very little has changed.
I'm the tool of the government and industry too,
For I am destined to rule and regulate you.
I may be vile and pernicious, but you can't look away,
I make you think I'm delicious with the stuff that I say.
I'm the best you can get.
Have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozing out from your TV set.

(Frank Zappa)