841 dead in Baghdad stampede–CNN
more articles:
Iraq’s Achievement — another perspective on the constitution.
from the economist:
An Iraqi tragedy raises sectarian tension— up to 1,000 possible deaths in Iraq due to a suicide bomb scare.
i honestly don’t know how long i can keep my current view of the situation in iraq. but war isn’t supposed to be war without casualties, right? at some point, i suppose that all of us have doubts. but i’m not ready to change my mind yet.
Technorati : iraq
before i get into this post, i would just like to comment on the worthless drivel that is the VMAs. good to know diddy doesn’t need to work out issues with self-esteem. was it just me, or was the whole thing a 3+ hour commercial for the former sean combs? it seemed like r. kelly was lip-syncing…think anyone’s gonna call him on it? what was the deal with that whole skit, anyway? i don’t even want to get into whatever shakira thought she was doing up there.
i’ve noticed a bad trend among male rock stars –green day, my chemical romance, etc — the black eyeliner. just don’t do it. it’s not a good look. that’s time in my life i will never get back. 🙁
ok. back to baseball…
the mets are still hanging around the playoff chase. they have very important games coming up against division opponents. there has been some suggestions about trading steve trachsel for some bullpen help. yes, we do need some. i’m just not sure this is the way to accomplish that goal. of course, we really don’t have many good pieces to trade right now.
i’m not comfortable with our current rotation without trachsel. we have pedro, zambrano (ick), benson, glavine (who has pitched better recently), and seo. this is not a rotation that inspires much fear. i would take my chances with trachsel over zambrano.
as far as the bullpen is concerned, at this point i don’t think there’s anyone out there worth trading trachsel for. even if his value is diminished somewhat, he’s still worth more than a couple relief pitchers.
mr. omar minaya – don’t be a fool. don’t do it. (trade trachsel for scrubs)
Technorati : MTV, green day, new york mets, steve trachsel
one muslim blogger rips george galloway and those with similar ideas in the iraqi expat blog. to his post, i agree 100%. it goes without saying that george galloway is not helping the cause. it is also very cool that there are in fact muslims that are against terrorism and who encourage others to join the cause and speak up. we need more of them to do so.
in case you were wondering about good things happening in iraq, here’s a report of some. it’s up to us to get the message out, because the MSM has been incredibly negligent here.
for good, (mostly) clean, conservative humor, check out the clever folks at IMAO. i resisted an endorsement as long as possible, but after checking out a couple podcasts, i was hooked. it’s not for the easily offended. there’s your warning.
read. learn. enjoy.
Technorati : george galloway, iraq, iraqi constitution
it’s obvious that the media has already decided for us which republicans are going to oppose hillary in ’08. how nice of them to do this. we certainly wouldn’t want the responsibility of picking someone ourselves. however, they are assuming hillary won’t face any serious challenges. that’s a big if, especially if the far-left is still running the party 3 years from now. if they are, i can think of several far-left candidates the democrats should consider for maximum ideological fanaticism and entertainment value. on an “unrelated note”, i really do miss ross perot.
here’s my first ticket and reasons for/against them.
rachel maddow/kent jones
(slogan — we’ll save air america!)
why rachel?
why not?
see above. ms. maddow belongs on the radio as an intelligent liberal counterpoint to the rest of the country.
why kent jones?
why not?
also receiving votes — the jerry springer/ al franken ticket. think that springer wouldn’t come up with a few reasons to tune in to his media blitz? the testimonials alone would be priceless. i mean, look how many people he’s lifted out of the gutter. you could get a few ads out of that for sure.
Technorati : air america, kent jones, rachel maddow
here’s a link to the bbc’s article that references the current version of iraq’s draft constitution, if you’re interested. there is a link there to a pdf of that draft.
michael barone has a similar perspective to mine on the comparison between our constitution and theirs in his blog. i think i’ve said all i’m going to on this.
Technorati : iraqi constitution
don’t allow yourself to surrender to those who wish to be right about failure in iraq. don’t let yourself be lied to by the press about iraq and its constitution. read the current draft for yourself. think for yourself. that’s something america allows us to do. have faith in the process. it’s imperfect but president bush is committed to its completion.
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books, You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self.
–Walt Whitman- “Song of Myself”
make your own decisions. don’t let the media spin you around. don’t allow yourself to give in to defeat. i believe the doom-and-gloom prophets will end up being wrong about iraq’s constitution. but there would be nothing surprising about that.
finally, here’s a different view of iraq’s constitution from the new york times. if i find more articles like this, i will post them.
Technorati : iraq, iraqi constitution
republicans are sometimes devoid of imagination and occasionally democrats are too — so i have decided to help them think outside the box for once. forget giuliani, frist, santorum, or all those other pretenders. this ticket is guaranteed to generate a buzz around the country. i’m talking about those great americans and genuinely good guys…ben stein and tucker carlson. think about it.
why ben stein?
why not?
why tucker carlson?
why not?
let’s not restrict ourselves to the party anointed ones and do something different for once — stein/carlson ’08!
Technorati : ben stein, republicans, tucker carlson, willie geist
the u.s. army is exceeding its re-enlistment and first time enlistment goals, according to the new york post. bet that’s new information for some of us. the truth is out there. it will all be revealed in time. just keep believing and fighting for it. if you’re worried about the direction of the new iraqi constitution, there’s hope for you in the current draft text.
Update: according to cnn , the iraqi prime minister is hopeful about the new consitution.
Technorati : army, iraq, iraqi constitution
i was watching the situation last night and i have to say that the opening comments by tucker carlson and monica crowley totally mirrored my feelings on iraq at this point. it’s easy to be frustrated and confused about iraq when good news is not readily available. i believe the american people understand the importance of supporting our military men and women and their families. i think that we also want to support our commander-in-chief as well. many of us voted for him. after 9/11, we appreciated his strong message toward the terrorists, leaving no doubt that he was willing and able to hunt them down and destroy them.
progress has been made in iraq and in the war on terror. the president needs to show us this. this is not something karl rove can do. this is not a job for conservative talk radio, the mainstream media, or even conservative blogs. it’s the president’s job to give us a good reason to keep trusting him. i hope he can…because public support is necessary to win any war.
success in iraq in my view doesn’t mean making their government and laws exactly like ours. if we say that the iraqis should decide their own future (and we actually mean it), then unfortunately we have little control over what they do with that future. there are countries with a large muslim population, like the UK for example, that don’t allow Islam to dictate their foreign policy. we could argue, i suppose, about the internal effects of radical islam to the UK, but that’s a debate for another day.
the new iraq should value the rights of everybody, including women. that would be the best scenario, but i don’t know how much the US can insist on while still allowing for the autonomy of the iraqi leadership. should the US push for those rights? YES, and the UN could make itself useful for once and facilitate the negotiation process between the opposing parties on the iraqi constitution. if we don’t want the iraqi government to be considered a puppet of the united states, then we should allow them to make their own choices. after all, that is what makes them an independent, self-determining country.
Technorati : iraq, monica crowley, tucker carlson
the president needs to sell his iraq policy — not to the anti-war crowd, because they can’t be convinced (no matter how much new evidence is brought into the mix). he needs to sell his policy to his supporters who are finding that the “loony lefties” are starting to make more and more sense. that’s scary. if mr. bush has a vision, and concrete plans to back up that vision, it’s not unreasonable to share part of that plan with the american people who supported him and voted for him. this article in the american spectator makes a similar argument.
do i know for sure that iraq will end up stablized, pro-democracy, and a peaceful neighbor to other countries? no, i don’t. i’ll tell you what i do know. i trust our military. i trust president bush and his military advisors. i don’t trust the UN, who has totally screwed up the handling of saddam hussein’s iraq from the very beginning. in the immortal words from IMAO’s UN slogans: “if this is an emergency, please hang up and dial america”. the UN has dropped the ball on international affairs so often that they should no longer be carrying it. if this was pro football, the UN would be the equivalent of freddie mitchell — all hype and limited production.
cindy sheehan has a voice. air america has a voice (at least for now). the president needs to find his voice. it’s his responsibility to sell his iraq policy to us. i hope he can.
on a lighter note, here’s a great dilbert cartoon which is unfortunately very accurate, and one interesting way to fight high gas prices. for the record, i do not agree with everything on the IMAO site, but it’s all quite funny.
Technorati : UN, cindy sheehan, iraq, president bush