Volume 3 Issue 30
April 7, 2004
Bad Moon Rising
Ralph doesn't have enough friends, more Mad Cow details, and states and their booze
Bad couple of days for the US in Iraq, as a major revolt has broken out. It will likely be many months until this thing is quelled, and while we obviously have to stick it out for now, it once again calls into question the level of post-invasion preparation in the Bush administration. For a group of people who wanted to go after Iraq from the beginning (and if you still don't believe that...well, there's no hope for you), it seems strange that they hadn't at least privately thought through a plan. Wolfowitz and the others killed official planning of course, because they worried that when people realized how messy an occupation would be, they wouldn't back the war. But the lack of planning at any level is now really becoming a problem.
This latest revolt however, brings up another issue...June 30. That is the day the US is supposed to turn over civil control to the Iraqis, though American troops will stay behind. This currently doesn't really look like such a hot idea. First, who are we going to turn things over to? The Iraqi Governing Council? They can't even put their pants on without asking the various factions what to do. And Chalbi and his minions (when they're not embezzling from their banks), don't really seem to enjoy any popular support. Elections before July are obviously a fantasy, and it would be impossible to find a Karzi-like individual to take over as in Afghanistan.
The reason this is an issue is that as dangerous a place Iraq is for American forces now, if the US has to give over civil control to the Iraqis on June 30, it will become much more dangerous. The Iraqi police have been unable to stop any of the recent attacks...and what happens if the new civil authority does something the US doesn't like? What if they demand we leave? For our own safety over there, we need to keep civil control until things are calmer, and real elections can be held. After all, our last attempt at this, in Afghanistan, has gone real well, with Karzi practically a prisoner in his own house, and government control limited to perhaps a 25 mile radius of Kabul.
It's a tough situation, and while there are a lot of options as to what to do next, the American people should understand how we got here, and shudder to think of what 4 more years of George Bush will bring.
Condi Time: The main event is tomorrow. And if Rice continues to be as combative as she has been...it probably won't be a good day for the Bushies -
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/politics/07PANE.html?hp
Ralph! Poor Ralph Nader failed to get enough people to come to an Oregon Nominating Convention yesterday, meaning he still isn't on the ballot there -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55872-2004Apr6.html
Veepstakes: John Kerry surely is saying some nice things about John McCain in his speeches -
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_politics10apr07,0,2800023.story?coll=sns-ap-toppolitics
Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day:
Do not look, I repeat do not look at Kerry's finger. The damn blast from that thing will blind you for a week!
Homeland Insecurity: The ever vigilant homeland security forces this week kept a famous British writer from entering the US. After all, I'm sure that book tour involved some seditious activities -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55988-2004Apr6.html
One of the little discussed parts of Richard Clarke's new book is that a cold-war era plan to protect the government if DC was destroyed was put into effect on 9/11. Nightline will do a program on this tonight -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55877-2004Apr6.html
Something's in the Beef: 2 New Jersey Senators have asked the CDC to investigate the Garden State Park CJD cluster. Health officials have been lax to do such an investigation, even though almost 20 people who ate at the track have now died from the Mad Cow cousin -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55873-2004Apr6.html
Fuck off, Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart lost it's special election in a LA Suburb to form it's own town to build a supercenter. An interesting fact here...Wal-Mart paid the people who got petition signatures for the ballot measure more than it pays it's average worker -
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Opposing-Wal-Mart.html
They Still Exist? Apparently the American and Venezuelan ambassadors to the OAS, a group I thought no longer existed, got into a shouting match at last week's session -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56309-2004Apr6.html
I'm not here right now...please leave a message: The inventor of the answering machine has died at 92 -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56406-2004Apr6.html
Happy Travels: You'd be amazed how many graveyards have been dug up for roads or buildings over the years. I can personally attest to this, as doing some family research lately has uncovered some former cemeteries that aren't there any more -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56283-2004Apr6.html
I'm amazed it's Professionally Made: Alabama has designated an official state whiskey, though the bill had to be approved over the Governor's veto -
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/04/07/whiskey.ap/index.html
Speaking of booze...isn't it strange that the Conservative establishment that runs Virginia uses a Socialist scheme to sell booze?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56401-2004Apr6.html
