She Turned Me into a Newt...I Got Better

Two points: Number one, there is very little anti-war sentiment in this country. Don't be as gullible (or hopeful) as the media is when they use polls indicating Americans aren't pleased with the Iraq war to conclude a strong anti-war sentiment. Many of the respondents simply mean they wish the war was being fought differently and most of the rest respond with a shrug. The reality is that with such little loss of American life a fairly unpopular war elicits almost no resistance. Well, except for...

Point two, the anti-war movement is till mostly peopled by the bizarre and the unstable. Which is not to say that there are no reasonable voices against the war...but certainly not enough to undo the damage done by the vocal majority. When reasonable people start to grumble against our current war stance they look to the barricades, size up their potential allies and then figure that they may need to think a little harder. Sure they may not be happy about the war...but are they really SO unhappy that they'd be willing to risk being caught in a photograph next to a member of Code Pink? Clearly not.

Leftist Biased Pentagon Report on Iraq/Al Qiada Released

A Pentagon report finds, and I'll paraphrase here, none, zero, zip, nada, el nolo, links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida.

So the question is, when the Admin was touting all this "evidence" about a link, what were they looking at? What were they seeing? What were they touting?

Assuming no duplicitiousnessity, I just don't see how this report can do anything other than show that this is the most inept administration...potentially ever. At least with some of the past harmful Presidents they were at least corrupt. So they were at least competent in their goals, dishonest, but competent. If you believe that this administration is honest, then you have to go with "honest, but unimaginably, stupendously harmfully, epically incompetently, historically...bad."

As always, I don't point this out with any glee. This is the President of my country. I expect some basic level of competency. I would have fired this guy as my mani/pedi guy years ago, and he's the leader of my country.

Before I Voted Against It...

I've always been fascinated by people that support Bill Clinton. Now, don't get me wrong, the world is full of misguided people who are not capable of seeing things as they really are. That they would rally around Bill is anything but surprising. However, at some point even the most obtuse reach a breaking point. A point when their cognitive dissonance gets so strong that their hands start to tremble.

Bill Clinton this week (Or last week. Hey, cut me some slack, I'm just a blogger) tried to convince a room full of conscious adults that he has been against the Iraq war from the beginning. I hope Sandy Berger has some really big pants because there is a lot of documentary evidence that he is going to have to steal and destroy to cover up this one. Finding contradictions to this fantasy is a trivial affair...here's a good one. And for those as lazy as me the juicy bits:

"That's why I supported the Iraq thing. There was a lot of stuff unaccounted for. So I thought the President had an absolute responsibility to go to the U.N. and say, "Look, guys, after 9/11, you have got to demand that Saddam Hussein lets us finish the inspection process." You couldn't responsibly ignore [the possibility that] a tyrant had these stocks. I never really thought he'd [use them]. What I was far more worried about was that he'd sell this stuff or give it away."

Oh, I know what the qualifier to all this is. Bill said at one point in the past that he would have timed an invasion somewhat differently. He would have waited for Hans Blix to come back with his report even though Hans was being stone walled and no report was coming. Well let me tell you, even Ray Charles can see through that...and he's dead.

Someone please tell me when is enough enough? Do we really want more of this Clintonian clap-trappery? Does anyone think Hillary is really different? Or even her own person? I understand that some people would literally vote for Satan if he supported their policy agenda but I believe at some point even supporters get fatigued when their boy (or gal) insists on embarrassing them over and over. Seriously, how much more embarrassing can Bill Clinton get? I guess we'll find out if he becomes the first male first lady.

Throw It On the Pile

Just throw this story on the pile of all the others that utterly and completely disprove the notion that anyone lied us into the war in Iraq. As I've said in the past, there are actually good reasons to oppose the war in Iraq and even to dislike George Bush. But "he lied us into war" is simply stupid. Saddam not only did all he could to make us believe he had WMD, he did all he could to make the Iranians think that as well. Logic is never welcome in a fanatics world so these truths are not for the impeach-Bush-he's-a-war-criminal crowd. Its for more thoughtful people. People like you. People who read Hydrablog and never miss our biannual posts.

Kill the Messengers or The Mouse That Didn't Roar

Let me tell you why this country, despite lilting significantly in their direction, will not get behind the Democrat's plan to cut and run from Iraq...their spokesmen. War fatigue is a fact of democracy. It is inevitable. America has it. Therefore, there is no easier position than the one staked out by the Democrats. And still they can't muster enough support to accomplish anything on that issue. And all you need to do is listen to the somnolent droning of Jack Reed or the shrill whining of Nancy Pelosi or the prissy preaching of John Kerry to understand why. It is so pathetic that the Democrat leadership thinks just because Jack Reed has some kind of military background (bugle player?) his wimpish delivery of liberal tough talk will resonate with people who want to be kept safe from terror. It won't. The only reason Hillary has a chance to be Pres is because she IS the ice queen...and she seems tough. When nothing is going on you can sell us a non-threatening dough boy like Billy Clinton, but when there's murder afoot it's going to take more than jittery Jack Reed to win over this country. Tonight the Democrat rebuttle didn't and now you know why.

Put Up or Shut Up

The anti-war crowd is thrilled to see more Republicans joining the Bring 'Em Home chorus. Apparently, ending the war is more important than protecting Americans. I make this inflammatory statement because I don't know what the anti-war crowd's solution is to our terrorism problem. I've said it before and I'll say it again - there are good reasons to be opposed to the Iraq war. However, if you don't prop up those reasons with a plan to keep Americans safe after we withdraw from the battlefield, those reasons are irrelevant.

If you claim to be a leader and you can't offer up a solid plan for keeping Americans safe in their homes, on their planes or in their offices then please step aside and let your betters lead. Empty criticism can serve a purpose as it forces all the weaknesses of a choice to be considered. However, that choice should never be abandoned until a clearly superior choice has been identified. This is not a partisan issue, this is life and death. Those abandoning their positions for no reason other than the lack of public support should be ashamed of themselves. Those abandoning because they have found a better solution had best speak up.

Are You a Kook?

So the war was illegal, but the occupation is legal? The UN security council extended the mandate for the US forces in Iraq as deranged anti-war types (including a healthy portion of the Democrat base) continue to chant slogans about illegal wars. I certainly understand that there are very good reasons to be opposed to Bush's decision to take out Saddam and liberate Iraq. However, as soon as you find yourself bemoaning the illegality of the invasion you have just crossed the line from well reasoned critic to indoctrinated fanatic. Let this serve as H-Blogs first self-test for the age old question, "Am I a kook?"