Someone should have told Gump

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - George W. Bush, 3/13/02

"It would not defeat Al-Qaeda to have him captured or killed, but I don't think that we can finally defeat Al-Qaeda until he's captured or killed." - Gen. McChrystal, 12/07/09

Warmest decade on record

But, but...it's cold in my neighborhood

This decade is on track to become the warmest since records began in 1850, and 2009 could rank among the top-five warmest years, the U.N. weather agency reported Tuesday on the second day of a pivotal 192-nation climate conference.

...Only the United States and Canada experienced cooler conditions than average, it said, although Alaska had the second-warmest July on record.

The ignorant are those who think the world doesn't exist more than 100 miles from where they're standing.

It's good that we cleaned that place up

A series of coordinated attacks struck Baghdad Tuesday, including three car bombs that blew up near government sites. At least 94 were killed and 120 wounded in the worst wave of violence in the capital in more than a month, authorities said.

'We won!'

Attack at Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941 - The surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan.

Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships. In one stroke the Japanese action silenced the debate that had divided Americans ever since the German defeat of France left England alone in the fight against the Nazi terror.

Your Weekend Dose

The American TalibanWingnuts, specifically Sarah Palin followers, are America haters who hate what our country stands for.

What is it good for?
The Privatized War in Afghanistan
Additional number of American troops President Obama plans to deploy to Afghanistan: 30,000
Total number of U.S. troops that will be there after the deployment: 98,000
Number of private contractors working for the U.S. in Afghanistan as of September 2009: 104,101
Percent by which that number grew between June and September: 40
More...

It makes a lot well-connected men very rich.

Busted - 'Climategate'
A hundred or so pictures, from nine photographers, that document the 'hoax'.

Is 60% a majority?
The survey of 2,999 households by Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO)(TRI.N) shows a public skeptical about the cost, quality and accessibility of medical care. Just under 60 percent of those surveyed said they would like a public option as part of any final healthcare reform legislation, which Republicans and a few Democrats oppose.

It was when I went to school.

Hey, that's my seat!

Why listen to idiots?
As I do every Sunday morning I watched Meet the Press and after listening to two thoughtful and extremely bright Americans, Secretary Hillary Clinton and Secretary Robert Gates this morning, they were followed by John McCain and Thomas Freidman who happen to be two of the most ignorant Americans in the country. McCain and Freidman haven't been right on foreign policy once in their miserable lifetimes. Get those assholes off my TV!

Below 50% already?
Obama is not the first president to drop below 50 percent in his first year in the White House. President Reagan's approval rating dipped to 49 percent in November 1981 and stayed below that mark for two years. President Clinton also dropped well below the 50 percent mark by May 1993, the fastest fall on record.

Bill Clinton ended up with the highest approval rating in recorded history. Reagan is second. Two years into office, Reagan had a 35% approval rating.

The End of an Era
Pontiac hits end of the road after 82 yrs
“We Built Excitement.” That should have been the banner hanging over the assembly line in the Detroit suburb of Orion Township last week when workers built their last Pontiac G6 sedan. In the months ahead, following a brief shutdown, the plant will be retooled to produce an all-new small car that could be critical to General Motors’ long-term prospects. But the rollout of that white sedan, with almost no fanfare, literally marked the end of the line for Pontiac, the GM brand that once boasted "We Build Excitement.”

My first car was a seven year old 1962 Pontiac Bonneville the same color as the one above but it wasn't a convertible. My older brother 'handed it down' to me. As I have done with most cars I ran it into the ground and a couple of years later I had a 1963 Pontiac Catalina convertible. We were a Pontiac family. It's sad to see them go.

Checking facts on Afghanistan
PolitiFact Fact Checks the Spin
'President Obama announced an increase in troops for Afghanistan this week, renewing debate on a complicated area of American foreign policy. We looked into a few different facts we heard during the discussion.'
Rep. John Murtha criticized the buildup, saying the United States would have more troops in Afghanistan than Russia did during the 1980s. We found his claim Barely True.
Rep. Alan Grayson said that, "In the past year, more than 20 percent of Americans have changed their mind about the war in Afghanistan. They conclude we shouldn't be there." We rated that Barely True.
Obama said, "In the last few months alone, we have apprehended extremists within our borders who were sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit new acts of terror." We rated that Mostly True.

'America's Worst Pundit'
You better hurry and vote; your three biggest heroes, Beck, Limbaugh and Hannity are running away with it.

"Obama's choice" pure politics
Lawrence Wilkerson, former Colin Powell's Chief of Staff
'Well, [inaudible] as I said, I don't think he had any choice. I do not think he had any choice. He deliberated over it, and I'm glad he did. He didn't pull out his .45 and shoot it like George Bush did all the time, with Dick Cheney putting ammunition in the gun. He deliberated over this decision. And as he deliberated, I think he had arrayed for him all the bad choices—there were no good choices—all the bad choices. I think last night we heard him pick the least worst choice. That's the political reality. That's the strategic reality. The barrel is empty on land forces. The generals are in the field. That's the reality of it.'

Wilkerson is well worth listening to.

Rooting Against America

Rightwing Upset By Good Jobs News

It's both amazing and disgusting how Republicans and their supporters root against their own best interests and our country. Today's news that unemployment dipped to 10% should be a sign of hope but to the rightwing it's bad news and that's how they're reacting.

In George Bush's last month in office we lost 741,000 jobs. Last month we lost 11,000 - by far the best month since the George W. Bush Great Recession of 2007-2009 began two years ago.

Get over it wingnuts.

The Lying Revisionist

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday lashed out at President Obama for claiming the Bush administration rebuffed commanders' repeated requests for more troops in Afghanistan. "Such a bald misstatement, at least as it pertains to the period I served as secretary of defense, deserves a response," Rumsfeld said in a written statement. "I am not aware of a single request of that nature between 2001 and 2006."

The Facts

On Wednesday, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reaffirmed the longtime White House claim that McKiernan’s requests for more U.S. troops were not met by the Bush administration. “General McKiernan specifically had a fairly substantial request for upwards of 20,000 forces, which we couldn't meet because they just weren't there,” Mullen testified before the Senate Wednesday. “They were in Iraq.” ...Robert P. Finn, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003, told the New York Times in August 2007 that “I said from the get-go that we didn’t have enough money and we didn’t have enough soldiers. I’m saying the same thing six years later.”

Donald Rumsfeld, the country's worst Defense Secretary in history, is a Dick Cheney clone who just like Cheney thinks everyone is stupid and not aware of the truth. I guess that can happen when you work for George W. Bush for all those years.

We who know the facts, know better. And you know what? The phony-patriot wingnuts said absolutely nothing when it was happening.

The whiny wingnuts should listen to our Generals

"By this time next year, one year from now, I believe I'll be able to tell you that the strategy is clearly working," said McChrystal.

"I believe six months after that, by summer 2011, we will be able to convince the Taliban, Afghans who live in threatened areas, and our own selves together that the strategy is working and... we are going to be successful."

"I'm very, very confident about the future... I think we now have clarity on our mission that we have never had before," he said.

Did you comprehend what the General said? I even bolded and italicized it for you. 'We now have clarity on our mission that we have never had before'.

You can bet our Generals are very happy Bush and Cheney are gone. McChrystal just confirmed that.