A blog for the politically curious, angry American.
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can,
begin it. Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it."
- Goethe
"It's never too late to become the
person you might have been."
- George Elliot
The US government built him up and then tore him down. What now? We can only hope the violence doesn't spike as a result of this hasty decision to execute Saddam today. Saddam Hussein was a despicable, criminal, sadist. But to kill him now could be another tragic mistake by the blood-thirsty BushCo and almost certainly threatens the future of Iraq and its current security. This may fuel Sunni/Shiite tensions to the breaking point. Saddam was always afraid of his enemies so he "neutralized" them, a lesson learned well by his Baath Party followers and Sunnis who now see Saddam as just another Sunni "eliminated" by Americans. Its always a bad idea to corner someone, as you never know how they will react. The fat's on the fire now.
Al Jazeera reports:
UPDATED ON: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2006 6:27 MECCA TIME, 3:27 GMT NEWS MIDDLE EAST
Saddam reported hanged Saddam maintained during his trial that he was still Iraq’s rightful president [EPA]
Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi president, has been hanged, according to a television station in the region.
Reports on Al Hurra, a US-backed station, said that Saddam was executed shortly before 6am (03:00 GMT) on Saturday.
The former Iraqi president, who was ousted in April 2003 by a US-led invasion, was convicted last month of crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shia villagers from Dujail after a failed assassination attempt in 1982.
An appeals court upheld the death penalty on Tuesday and the Iraqi government rushed through the procedures to hang him by the end of the year and before the Eid al-Adha holiday that starts on Saturday.
The government had kept details of its plans shrouded in secrecy amid concerns that it may provoke a violent backlash from his former supporters with Iraq on the brink of civil war. (more)
I'm adding to this a reprise of last night's post from Riverbend, the Iraqi woman who writes with such passion and depth. Riverbend Post, December 29. 2006 Read this. The perspective is invaluable.
Media Matters in their year-end edition give us a review of the best of over 2,700 errors or misrepresentations they caught in the past year. Also presented are "Most Outrageous Comments of 2006", they find the American Broadcast System to be the "Misinformer of the Year" and much, much more. Media Matters are tireless watchdogs that deserve our support and a look at their hard work.
Extra added bonus:Riverbend has a new post up. She hasn't posted since before the election, living in Bagdad makes it difficult one would guess. Every post she writes is a jewel full of clarity and painful truth. If you've never read her, do it before the year is out.
Gerald Ford and Alexander Haig took a walk in the Rosegarden of the White House in the summer of 1974. Haig told Ford that Nixon would be "willing to resign" if there was a full pardon for him on the other side. All this nonsense about "sparing the country" from the turmoil of an American President on trial for "high crimes and misdemeanors" and "ending the long national nightmare" is bullshit. This was yet another deal forged by the GOP to continue to decieve the American people and continue the Nixonian imperial power-grab for the executive branch.
After his 'installation' as president, Gerald Ford went on to not only pardon Nixon and keep the People from knowing the depth and breadth of crimes committed by the Administration, but he also covertly okayed the invasion of East Timor by the Suharto regime who then murdered up to a million Timorese. Ninety percent of the weapons and armaments used were provided by the US government. This information was supressed by the Ford administration and ignored by the mainstream media. This arming of the overtly authoritarian Suharto regime was also expressly against US law at the time. Weapons sold to others could not be used for aggressive purposes, which the hostile invasion of East Timor was and could be considered an "impeachable offense". It's also no accident that the warmongers of today's administration are the same smarmy bastards of Ford's day--Cheney and Rumsfeld.
If I have to listen to anothor white-wash of how "decent and full of integrity" Gerald Ford was, I'm gonna puke. He was just another tool in the long line of power-mad dictators-in-waiting and idiots who are undermining our Democracy. Jon Swift says this of Ford,"...what some see as Ford's decency may actually have been evidence of moral laxity."
How much of this did you know? I guessing not much because until 2002 the information was supressed under "national security" which has just become another way to say "cover your ass". I guess the people want to 'stay out of politics' because it is too painful to know the truth that our government is not a force for good but a tool for destruction and evil when in the hands of what is in most cases, the GOP. Nobody wants to know that the USA is not any different from the rest of the world and its history of tyrants. The truth hurts.
Possibily nope. The Polar Bear has just been put on the endangered species list. Someone inform Dubya that global warming is real. NPR did a story on this today as did the NYT. I'm too heartbroken to post the links. Please God, let us wake up before we destroy everything beautiful.
It hasn't been a "Merry Christmas" for everyone. I was just in contact with a friend who is TDY (temporary duty) deployed to Landstuhl, Germany. He is a ICU doc doing the same painful duty my husband was doing this past July/August, working to save the blown-up soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. Every rotation there has a sameness; the horrific carnage of young men with debilitating injuries trying to hold on to life with only the individual difference being ultimate outcome.
Our friend, Doc D., has been at the largest military hospital in Europe for 12 days. Landstuhl is the first stop for critical care patients. Doctor D's first days were somewhat "quiet", he had few patients and none on the way from the battle zone. A few days ago the action began to pick-up. The previous lull in patient traffic on its face seems a good thing but when viewed in the context of what have been called "ingenious tactics", "changing conditions on the ground which foment sectarian violence" by the military talking heads and the administration, then add to that the increase of ferocity and frequency of attacks on virtually everybody in Iraq, and the paucity of injured coming to Landstuhl really means one thing--they didn't make it to Germany, they died in Iraq. Every day that goes by fewer are making it out alive.
The incoming our friend sees bare all the same injuries that this illegal war has been churning out from day one: multiple amputations, severe internal injuries, massive head trauma, paralysis, and a multitude of other injuries no young person should ever have inflicted upon them. What changed for Doc D. on Christmas day was his next three patients. He lost a young soldier with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, a double leg amputee and a young man with most of his internal organs turned into hash. Suicide rates among active duty military are up 200%* and are not included as part of the 'official' casualty count. How many more have to die before people stand up and say "Enough!"?
So while we enjoyed our big dinners, present-opening, wine and song, Our friend was unsuccessfully battling to save wasted young lives, while 140,000 other American soldiers and virtually all Iraqis continue to be at risk. A risk that according to reports, increases daily. Meanwhile, according to the commander-in-chief, we should all go shopping. It makes me wonder what the fuck has to happen in order for the American people to demand action and end the war in Iraq.
Even more heartbreaking, our soldiers no longer want to be in Iraq 'defending' who know which side in a civil war for their 3rd, 4th and 5th deployments under increasingly dangerous conditions. And that doesn't include the proposed "surge" for which there are no new troops , only re-re-re-deployments. To read the perspective of a soldier-on-the-ground, check out former CIA agent Larry Johnson's blog "No Quarter". He has a post up from a someone constantly in harm's way.
A young soldier prepares for his third tour in Iraq
* According to the Department of Defense MSMR (Medical Surviellence Monthly Report) October, 2006
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." -Luke 2:14
"Keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and whatever good you send before for yourselves, you shall find it with Allah; surely Allah sees what you do. -The Holy Qur'an, Al-Baqara 2.110
"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." -Nelson Mandela
"Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin." -Dwight David Eisenhower
Amy Goodman is on fire this week. I don't generally (ever?) link to any single site 3 times in one week but the level of discussion, discernment and insightful truth being spoken through Democracy Now! has been exemplary. This is the best synopsis of the dynamics-created-for-war discussion I have heard.
Today Amy Goodman hosts the discussion between Scott Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector, and Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist for The New Yorker magazine. They spoke before an audience at the New York Society for Ethical Culture on the topic of "White House Plans for Regime Change in the Middle East". Compelling. If you have wanted a consise, easy to understand, spin-free lesson on neo-con political ideology but were afraid to ask, this is your chance. A+
In addition for context, Marc Lord's "Adored by Hordes" has a brilliantly consise history of Iran.
Image "To Be A Light" Courtesy of Sabin Corneliu Baraga
Late at night, most nights, I listen to podcasts of the news that mainstream media does not cover. We in the western world have come to expect to hear news of bad behavior like Mel Gibson's anti-semetic outburst or Michael Richards racial slurring instead of the real news about what is really going on in the world. Several months ago, before I started to blog, I got my news and information from what I thought was the most unbiased sources available: NPR, CBC, NYT. In fact, these media outlets are only ever-so slightly less full of bullshit than NBC,CNN and the rest of the mainstream media, print, television and radio alike. There is a pervassive sickness in the western world. A contagion so powerful it has put the whole of our population into a malaise that threatens to put us in a permanent coma. How possibly can anything that happens to Britany Spears be more important than 650,000 Iraqis dead, nearly 3000 Americans dead and the entire Middle East about to launch us into an never-ending world war? When we aren't being scared to death by our own government and the tools of deception and obfuscation of the media, we are being ginned up to fight the "global war on terror" and to hate. Hate everyone brown, hate other Americans, especially if they are brown, and never, never, get true information. Just "spin" and "fluff", oh and don't forget to shop.
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! is one of the few journalists that tries against the odds to bring the truth. Unfiltered through white house 'talking points'. Today's show features Chief correspondent for the Middle East at London's The Independent, Robert Fisk addresses the Iraq Study Report and it's "experts". Please listen to his brilliant talk and notice how it affects you to hear the truth instead of the bullshit that inundates us each and everyday from the mainstream media.
The new Democrats have told us that increasing the minimum wage has become their formost item to deal with in the upcoming 110th congress. I support this move with the caveat that since there is supposed to be a new "5 day work week", more than the minimum wage can be addressed. My personal druthers are that the debate needs to happen in regards to cutting the funding for the upcoming 130 billion dollar supplemental to fund this illegal, immoral "war on terror". I urge you all to make the commitment to contact your Congressperson (Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121) and Senators once a week to get this issue back on the table.
Back to the issue of minimum wage and in the spirit of cooperation, I give you a 30 second video produced by the United Way of Central Maryland. It so clearly illustrates why we need to increase the minimum wage and how truly dire the situation is for the people that continue to struggle on the measly $5.15 an hour as it now stands. Please watch the video entitled "Basic Needs".
Legendary historian and peace activist Howard Zinn gives an address at University of Wisconsin, Madison detailing the need for war to be viewed through the lens of history in order to understand it's horrors contextually. Moving commentary, Amy Goodman has it.
Broadway Carl has a link to the young Marine's letter that was read on Mike Malloy's show a few nights back, posted at his place. So very worth your time.
I have posted this before but tonight it seemed like time to do it again.
On Commitment
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectivness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. The whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: ‘Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.’”
-from W.H. Murray, “The Scottish Himalayan Expedition”
One of the reasons I spend a fair portion of my time blogging, gathering news, writing letters to politicians and doing what I can to voice my protest to this illegal, immoral occupation/war in Iraq is because I'm married to an active duty serviceperson. My husband has a job that absolutley puts him in harm's way. In about 6 months he is nearly certain to be deployed-again. Lt. John Kerry said it succintly: "How can you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
I like most Americans, am sick to death of the death. Minstrel Boy is the member of one of the most affected groups of Americans that want this war to end, a Gold Star Family member. He has a poignant post up about a 19 year old soldier that threw himself onto a live grenade in order to save his fellow soldiers. Read it and then email or call you Senator and Congressperson. Demand that they cut the funding for this horrific action that simply puts more and more Americans in danger. Make a commitment to send an email and call once a week. For every letter or call recieved statistics say that each one represents 10,000 people that feel the same way but didn't write or call. You can be the power of one multipied by 10,000. do it and quit making excuses like "My voice won't matter". It can and it will. Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121 If you are not adequately motivated to commit to a letter writing/calling campaign in order to stop this illegal war, think about this: A post from Joseph A. Palermo at the Huffington Post. He quotes from the book by William Goodman, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, entitled: “Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush,” (Hoboken, New Jersey: Melville House Publishing, 2006). This post, Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush is compelling, please read it. Joseph Palermo’s bio from HuffPo: Assistant Professor, History, CSUS. Bachelor’s degrees in sociology and anthropology from UC Santa Cruz, master’s degree in history from San Jose State University, master’s degree and doctorate in American history from Cornell University. Expertise includes political history, presidential politics, presidential war powers, social movements of the 20th century, movements of the 1960s, civil rights, and foreign policy history.
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) says the Democrats have only one way to end the war: vote against the $130 billion Iraq war supplemental spending bill that will be on the House floor in the spring. I couldn't agree more. There is reserve that will fund the troops for the next six months and that is enough time to get them out.
Know how much a 130 billion is? Just for some perspective, here's a bit of trivia:
“What is a billion??? The next time you hear a politician use the word “billion” in a casual manner, think about whether you want the “politicians” spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959. B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
Now mutipy that by 130 and tell me how you feel. The comments are open.
The "Bloggies" are here and I'm voting. You can vote early and often, well once daily, in each catagory until December 15th. There are 45 catagories this year I have recommedations for 7 of them. The Weblog Awards page is easy to navigate and if nothing else this is a great opportunity to check out blogs you've never read before. Here is my list:
Best Blog: Huffington Post Best New Blog: Konagod Best Humor Blog: Jon Swift Best of the Top 250: Feministe Best Liberal Blog: Pandagon Best Media Blog: Raw Story Best Video Blog: Crooks and Liars
I think Uncle Jim Baker must have played football in college. The ISG (Iraqi Study Group) report is a good example of the 1 fake 15 weak double reverse football play. Not wanting to bore my readers with football strategy, this play is exactly what it sounds like, fake left and then double back to make the pass. Not to mention all the irony of the double entendre.
Not many in the MSM or blogosphere seems all that up in arms about the "recommendations" for Iraq oil policy as contained in the ISGR, but I am. I wrote on this topic Thursday., While upset but somewhat gratifyed that buried in the report(page 83), are the recommendations, that in a nutshell, Iraqi oil should be privatized and that an Americans should be the facilitators of the policy. The study was supposed to be about how to get us out of Iraq. The suggested exit timeline is first quarter of 2008, basically just enough time to ensure the "oil policy" is enacted. Talk Left has a good conversation about it in an open thread, give it a peek.
The Iraq Study Group report has finally said something useful--the truth.
Not the 79 recommodations for how deal with the situation on the ground, most of which are what Democrats have been saying for the past year and more ( Barbara Lee (D-CA) has made some of these suggestions from day one). And not what common sense dictates. Buried in the this head-fake CYA, with almost no media reportage or scrutiny is the real reason we went to Iraq--The Oil.
I hadn’t heard this part of the head fake recommendations: Iraq’s national oil supply should be privatized as a commercial enterprise, turning it over to private, foreign, oil companies, all revenues should be centralized through the national government with an American advisor “to ensure a new oil policy is written and passed into Iraqi law”.
The bottom line is EXTENDING THE WAR SO THE BushCo GETS WHAT IT REALLY CAME FOR-THE MONEY.
I’ve been wondering when the truth would come out. WE WENT THERE FOR THE OIL.
With the "head fake study group" report now out, I look to another entry by guest poster Anne. I love her voice.
So, what we have here is a president who does not have a clue - not one fucking clue - about what to do, because “stay the course” isn’t working. He can’t just let things ride and wait for the victory, because victory isn’t going to happen. He thought all he needed was a goal - a democratic Iraq - and a military force, and we could all just sit back, stroll the malls spending money, and wait for the magic (we’ll forget for the moment that democracy had little to do with why we went to Iraq, but gosh, people just hate being reminded that there were no WMD).
He’s got this Head Fake Group, a bunch of oldies but moldies from his dad’s tenure in the White House, but they’re not being much help - they aren’t actually going to tell him what to do, they are just going to present him with ideas. Ideas are useless because they require him to make a move in one direction or another, and he’s paralyzed with fear.
He can’t bring himself to do anything that anyone with (D) after his or her name has suggested, because after years of likening us Democrats to terrorists, or terrorist-lovers, or people who only know how to cut and run, or who only know how to lose, how can he actually espouse a Democratic idea? Well, he could just take the idea and claim it was his own - they’ve done it before, but too many people know that all Bush has is a sack full of bumper stickers and they will know this time that he’s full of carp.
My guess is that he doesn’t really want to do anything, he’s tired of Iraq, it’s no fun anymore and someone is going to play on his boredom and we may end up sending missiles into Iran if we aren’t careful. Hey, look - over there - missiles in Iran!
Honestly, if the man had any balls, he and Dr. Evil and the rest of the cabal would resign en masse, and turn this over to people who might actually set themselves to the task of moving forward to get us the hell out of this quagmire. They could take all the rubber-stampers with them.
No balls, no guts, no glory.
-Anne
A little extra added audio here from the Randi Rhodes Show. This is her interview with Dr. Justin Frank who wrote the book, "Bush on the Couch". He analyzes Chimpy's dysfunction and discusses why Poppy Bush broke down on the floor of the Florida House on Wednesday. A whole show is a good listen but the interview starts at 55:45.
I love the "person-on-the-street" interviews. They have a spontaeneous quality that allows comparison of ideas with others outside your personal sphere of influence. These interviews are from the SF Gate. They asked people if they had any new ideas about what to do in Iraq. If nothing else their answers are creative and thoughtful. Read it here. And please toss your .02 cents into the comment section. [Hat Tip to Meta for the link]
The president has been "off the deep end" for quite a while. When calling him by his diminutives like "Jr." and "little shrub" or my personal favorite "Chimpy", they are merely euphemisms for what I'd really like to call him: that bat-shit crazy- bastard-that-thinks-he-is-king and 2nd most dangerous person in the world. Truth is whether you like George Bush or not he has a serious problem with reality.
NYT's Frank Rich has great article up about 'how very' this madman is:
"When news organizations, politicians and bloggers had their own civil war about the proper usage of that designation last week, it was highly instructive — but about America, not Iraq. The intensity of the squabble showed the corrosive effect the president’s subversion of language has had on our larger culture. Iraq arguably passed beyond civil war months ago into what might more accurately be termed ethnic cleansing or chaos. That we were fighting over “civil war” at this late date was a reminder that wittingly or not, we have all taken to following Mr. Bush’s lead in retreating from English as we once knew it.
It’s been a familiar pattern for the news media, politicians and the public alike in the Bush era. It took us far too long to acknowledge that the “abuses” at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere might be more accurately called torture. And that the “manipulation” of prewar intelligence might be more accurately called lying. Next up is “pullback,” the Iraq Study Group’s reported euphemism to stave off the word “retreat” (if not retreat itself)."
Think things are going well for us in the good 'ole US of A? The Fund for Peace has a new study out. The United States is now considered by a number of measurable standards to be a "failed state". Interesting. Helluva a job Chimpy. Editor and Publisher writes about this pressing issue. And of course you have papa bear sticking up for his boy-tyrant.
More on Failed States, so to speak: There was quite a brouhaha over at firedoglake the last couple of days. In many ways it was hugely disappointing to see the 'management' over there get so defensive in so many ways. The good thing is I have found a number of good, new (to me) sites at which to read. I've put them on my blogroll and I recommend giving them a looky-see. If you're interested in the dust-up at fdl (which I no longer link to), I'm linking to some sites to start your reading. Disclaimer:There are in excess of 900 comments between the various sites, it was a 'discussion' I found valuable, but I did have a headache by the time I was finished. Here is a good place to start, "Feministe". Now appearing on my blogroll. Also a trip to Tom Watson's place where the debate began is a must-read. For the "former commenters" of FDL, Eli over at Multi-Medium has a downright Homecoming for all fdl neer-do-wells. Donna from The Silence of Our Friends has done a killer round-up of all the dirt and links-to-dirt blogosphere-wide regarding the swamped lake. Brevity being the soul of lingerie and all, commenter King of Pants over at Tom's summed up the brouhaha best: "The lameness of the joke is directly proportional to the amount of effort one needs to defend it."And I cannot close without including Neddie's Proclamation:
You wanna know how to be a fucking revolutionary, Pachacutec? How about this: The most revolutionary act you can perform in this fell, death-infected year 2006 is to act like a goddamned adult.
The American Prospect has a great piece on the missing-in-action vice-king of the USA. Cheney's most recent appearance (see photo) makes you wonder if he was perhaps getting a look at his 'new office'[h/t to Watertiger]. Cheney's absence is really worrisome since it makes one wonder, "Who's running the country?". And Shooter being in Saudi Arabia, well that's just plain suspicious. Remember, Shooter has a bad heart, and he could really put the 'hurry-up' on the Rapture crowds phrase, "end of days". Especially since Chimpy seems to be checked out as well. He has begun to look like one of those Alzheimer patients that sits in a corner repeating phrases from another era, "Stay the course...Stay the course...Stay the course." Are you paying attention Iran? Read Dan Froomkin's article "Bush the Bystander". Funny thing about the Froomkin article is, it was written this past July, before the election and the big win for Democrats. Guess even the moron-in-chief could see the writing on the wall for his doomed presidency.
Following up on my post last week about how the mainstream media consistently repackages the information we recieve using Bush administration 'talking points',even as they seem to cop to the the truth about the discontent within the GOP, eventually they try to convince us otherwise and explain any discontent away. This is the kind of lying that used to be relegated to the likes of used car salesmen and ambulance-chasing personal injury attorneys, not the 'free and fair' watchdogs of American integrity. Another Washington Post reader agrees with me. The media are supposed to be our eyes, our ears in washington and the world. That they have become lapdog, ass-kissers to corporate interests who have only money, power and world domination as their ultimate goal, is beyond the pale.
A tiny blurb that disgusts me to post. A video of American soldiers teasing, taunting and ultimately acting in a disgraceful way toward Iraqi children. We leave our troops in harm's way and treat them as fodder and they begin to act as if common decency and rules of behavior don't matter. These soldiers should be ashamed of themselves and I hope they are disciplined. Seeing children treated like this shames our country. This administration's despicable conduct in the prosecution of this ugly occupation is the shocking reason these soldiers are even in Iraq. Think about it.
This video was made "unavailable by user". [note:FOUND A NEW VIDEO H/T TO RF]I guess the controversy of the behaviors by American soldiers was too much light on a very dark problem. I am adding an equally disturbing video which in a different way, highlights the disfunction created by a military in Iraq for "no good reason". I am also posting a counterpoint to the above soldiers behavior. A CMSgt in the 332nd Expeditionary Squadron comforts an Iraqi child, read his story. [H/T to Imm for the catch on the 332nd]
“Slaughter is just laughter with a ’s’ in front,” Bush said at an informal White House meeting earlier today, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The President went on to say, “some in the media think we’re going to lose, but we know the only way we lose is if we quit, so we’re just gonna keep on laughin’.”
Good to know your president is keeping his good humor about it all.
Happy Thanksgiving all! We are celebrating tomorrow actually because of schedules and such. I did want to post something that makes me feel thankful, and that would be music. I give you "Little Fluffy Clouds" by The Orb featuring Rickie Lee Jones. May your day be blessed and your heart open.
Not being right about whatever it is, just contextualizing and changing the focus in such a way that one is left with a fuzzy-brained logic, shrugged shoulders, and a "who-gives-a-fuck-attitude".
In today's NYT, a story by Frank Rich "It's Not The Democrats Who Are Divided", happens to be behind the Times Select wall and cannot be accessed without a membership, so I have taken the liberty of posting it in its entirety. Read it. Think critically. Then tell me how the mainstream media isn't influenced by the corporate masters they serve who find the 'power in politics' is behind the 'red curtain'. The Red Curtain that separates, albeit to a lesser degree now, the ideologies of Republican and Democrats. Frank Rich tells of the "entrancement by a fictional storyline about the Democrats...". The storyline being all the Dems are in a power struggle that ultimately will paralyze them from making real change.
First things first. There is certainly some tussling going on in the new majority in Washington. It would be impossible for people who have been silenced for more than 6 long years, pushed nearly to the brink of being incidental, inconsequential and irrelevant to not want to 'parry' a little about priorities. Think about it. If you read at the "cooler medium" at all you understand that right now the GOP is in bigger disarray than Democrats have ever been. BushCo policies, strong-arm tactics, lies, deceit, incompetence, corruption and nearly total rejection of "true conservative ideals" i.e, smaller gov't, lower taxes, etc., are not a part of Dubya's plan. This has forced the GOPers to 'take stock' and 'pick sides' regarding what they truly believe. It will make me far too angry to go into all that I think is wrong with current rethuglican ideology, but suffice to say there is a selfishness inherent within their ranks that shocks me to my very core.
Then remember the GOP sweep in 1994, Newt Gingrich's "Contract on America". Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich were at each other's throats over the power structure of the House. Eventually, DeLay would force Gingrich out so he could "Hammer" the house into utter submission. After whatever internal struggles in the Republican party were 'worked out', the 104th Congress went on to write some devastating legislation.
The point is, We are at a turning point in America. We The People must not rest on our laurels, intellectually or emotionally. We still have much work to do. We need to hold our newly-elected Democrats' feet to the fire to encourage, no, demand, that they have the investigations into the corruption, raise the minimum wage, renegotiate the Medicare drug bill, reverse the Military Commissions Act, and a long list of other vastly important legislation. But we must not let the propagandists of the mainstream media frame our thoughts for us by telling us over and over that the new power structure in Washington is really just like the battling between Britany Spears and her soon to be ex-husband KFed, and as unimportant.
It’s Not the Democrats Who Are Divided By FRANK RICH ELECTIONS may come and go, but Washington remains incorrigible. Not even voters delivering a clear message can topple the town’s conventional wisdom once it has been set in the stone of punditry.
Right now the capital is entranced by a fictional story line about the Democrats. As this narrative goes, the party’s sweep of Congress was more or less an accident. The victory had little to do with the Democrats’ actual beliefs and was instead solely the result of President Bush’s unpopularity and a cunning backroom stunt by the campaign Machiavellis, Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel, to enlist a smattering of “conservative” candidates to run in red states. In this retelling of the 2006 election, the signature race took place in Montana, where the victor was a gun-toting farmer with a flattop haircut: i.e., a Democrat in Republican drag. And now the party is deeply divided as its old liberals and new conservatives converge on Capitol Hill to slug it out.
The only problem with this version of events is that it’s not true. The overwhelming majority of the Democratic winners, including Jon Tester of Montana, are to the left of most Republicans, whether on economic policy or abortion. For all of the hyperventilation devoted to the Steny Hoyer-John Murtha bout for the House leadership, the final count was lopsided next to the one-vote margin in the G.O.P. Senate intramural that yielded that paragon of “unity,” Trent Lott. But the most telling barometer is the election’s defining issue: there is far more unanimity among Democrats about Iraq than there is among Republicans. Disengaging America from that war is what the country voted for overwhelmingly on Nov. 7, and that’s what the Democrats almost uniformly promised to speed up, whatever their vague, often inchoate notions about how to do it.
Even before they officially take over, the Democrats are trying to deliver on this pledge. Carl Levin and Joe Biden, among the party’s leaders in thinking through a new Iraq policy, are gravitating toward a long-gestating centrist exit strategy: a phased withdrawal starting in four to six months; a loosely federal Iraqi government that would ratify the de facto separation of the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds and fairly allocate the oil spoils; and diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy to engage Iraq’s neighbors, including Iran and Syria, in securing some kind of peace.
None of these ideas are radical, novel or much removed from what James Baker’s Iraq Study Group is expected to come up with. All are debatable and all could fail. At this late date, only triage is an option, not “victory.” There’s no panacea to end the civil war that four years of American bumbling have wrought. But the one truly serious story to come out of the election — far more significant than the Washington chatter about “divided Democrats” — is that the president has no intention of changing his policy on Iraq or anything else one iota.
Already we are seeing conclusive evidence that the White House’s post-thumpin’ blather about bipartisanship is worth as little as the “uniter, not a divider” bunk of the past. The tip-off came last week when Mr. Bush renominated a roster of choices for the federal appeals court that he knew faced certain rejection by Democrats. Why? To deliver a message to the entire Senate consonant with the unprintable greeting Dick Cheney once bestowed on Patrick Leahy, the senator from Vermont. That message was seconded by Tony Snow on Monday when David Gregory of NBC News asked him for a response to the Democrats’ Iraq proposals. The press secretary belittled them as “nonspecific” and then tried to deflect the matter entirely by snickering at Mr. Gregory’s follow-up questions.
Don Imus has been rerunning the video ever since, and with good reason. The laughing-while-Baghdad-burns intransigence of the White House makes your blood run cold. The day after Mr. Snow ridiculed alternative policies for Iraq, six American soldiers were killed. It was on that day as well that militia assailants stormed the education ministry in Baghdad in broad daylight, effortlessly carrying out a mass abduction of as many as 150 government officials in some 15 minutes. Given that those kidnappers were probably in cahoots with a faction of the very government they were terrorizing, it would be hard to come up with a more alarming snapshot of those “conditions on the ground” the president keeps talking about: utter chaos, with American troops in the middle, risking their lives to defend which faction, exactly?
Yet here was what Mr. Snow had to say about the war in this same press briefing: “We are winning, but on the other hand, we have not won” and “Our commitment is to get to the point where we achieve victory.” If that’s the specificity the White House offers to counter the Democrats’ “nonspecific” ideas about Iraq, bring back Donald Rumsfeld.
An even more telling admission was to follow. “General Abizaid,” Jack Reed of Rhode Island asked, “how much time do you think we have to bring down the level of violence in Baghdad before we reach some type of tipping point where it accelerates beyond the control of even the Iraqi government?” After some hemming and hawing came a specific answer: “Four to six months.” Thus did our commander in Iraq provide the perfect exit ramp into the Democrats’ exit strategy, whether intentionally or not: the Iraqis must stand up by exactly the same deadline that Mr. Levin proposed for the start of a phased withdrawal.
Everyone outside of the Bush bunker knows that’s where we’re heading. As the retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey told Keith Olbermann last week, “The American people have walked away from the war.” The general predicted, as many in Washington have, that the Baker commission, serving as a surrogate Papa Bush, would give the White House the “intellectual orchestration” to label the withdrawal “getting out with honor.” But might this Beltway story line, too, be wrong? Everything in the president’s behavior since the election, including his remarkably naïve pronouncements in Vietnam, suggests that he will refuse to catch the political lifeline that Mr. Baker might toss him. Mr. Bush seems more likely instead to use American blood and money to double down on his quixotic notion of “victory” to the end. Not for nothing has he been communing with Henry Kissinger.
So what then? A Democratic Congress can kill judicial appointments but cannot mandate foreign policy. The only veto it can exercise is to cut off the war’s funding, political suicide that the Congressional leadership has rightly ruled out. The plain reality is that the victorious Democrats, united in opposition to the war and uniting around a program for quitting it, have done pretty much all they can do. Republican leaders must join in to seal the deal.
Don’t count Mr. McCain among them. His call for more troops even when there are no more troops is about presidential politics, a dodge that allows him to argue in perpetuity that we never would have lost Iraq if only he had been heeded from the start. True or not, that gets America nowhere now. Look instead to two other Republican military veterans in the Senate, one who is not running for president and one who yet might. The first is John Warner, who said a month before the election that he would seek an overhaul of Iraq policy in 60 to 90 days if there was no progress. The second is Chuck Hagel, who has been prescient about the war’s potential pitfalls since 2002 and started floating exit strategies parallel to the Levin-Biden track last summer.
There’s an incentive for other Republicans to join them in advancing the endgame. Even if the Democrats self-destructively descend into their own Abramoff-style scandals — Mr. Murtha referred to House ethics reforms as “total crap” — that may not be enough to save the Republicans if they’re still staring down the bloody barrel of their Iraq fiasco in 2008.
But most of all, disengagement from Iraq is the patriotic thing to do. Diverting as “divided Democrats” has been, it’s escapist entertainment. The Washington story that will matter most going forward is the fate of the divided Republicans. Only if they heroically come together can the country be saved from a president who, for all his professed pipe dreams about democracy in the Middle East, refuses to surrender to democracy’s verdict at home.
[Thanks to Barbara B. for the link to the NYT story]
Photo courtesy of Daniel SolisYes, good news indeed. The vitrolic, passionate, Madman of the Airwaves had landed at NovaM Radio Network. If you've never listened to Mike Malloy before, give him a try. He is a good man who doesn't take any shit from anyone. He's unabashedly outspoken, on-point and makes great talk on pertinent political and social issues in America and the world-at-large. His show is available on a live feed Monday through Friday 10PM-12AM and in a podcast all the time. Check it out, and don't let his shouting scare you--he's a pussycat with a big heart, sharp mind and a big mouth. I missed him and I'm glad he's back.
“We see evidence of pervasive fraud, but apparently calibrated to political conditions existing before recent developments shifted the political landscape,” said attorney Jonathan Simon, co-founder of Election Defense Alliance, “so ‘the fix’ turned out not to be sufficient for the actual circumstances.” Explained Simon, “When you set out to rig an election, you want to do just enough to win. The greater the shift from expectations, (from exit polling, pre-election polling, demographics) the greater the risk of exposure–of provoking investigation. What was plenty to win on October 1 fell short on November 7.” … Read the rest of the OpEd story here. [H/T to Lotus for the heads-up]
Why are we really in Iraq? The election has shown that We The People want a change of course. The bush administration has and continues to show disregard for what the American people say they want. Why? Democracy? Terrorism? Our security? If you believe any of those reasons I have some swampy desert acreage and a couple of bridges to sell you.
Oil. The war profiteering for bushco cronies and the 3rd largest oil reserve in the world are the reason we went into Iraq. That is the reason there was no exit strategy, and the reason Bush won't leave. Don't believe me? Do your homework. Read. I googled "oil" and got 425 million hits. There are many, many sources of information at your disposal. I have posted here today a 50 minute video about why this administration has made this war its priority over ALL else. Give this documentary "Oil, Smoke and Mirrors" 50 minutes of your time today and see if you feel differently about the so-called, "War On Terror".
Now that the election is over, and the Democrats are left to clean up another series of republican messes, I thought it would be good to be reminded of what there is to 'fix'. My friend and a reader here, Anne, gives us another great essay: by Anne — November 3, 2006
A few thoughts before I have to cede the computer to husband…
When the president of the United States tells us to go shopping and go about our business so the terrorists don’t win, he also gives us permission to be selfish, to think of ourselves and not the people in NY and DC and PA.
When the POTUS refuses to allow coverage of caskets coming back to the US, he allows us to ignore the death and the grief and to downplay the magnitude of the war.
When the POTUS doesn’t bother to interrupt his vacation time to even speak to the nation about Katrina, he gives us all permission not to care too much.
When the POTUS gives Medals of Freedom to people who were directly involved in getting us into a war we had no business waging, he tells us what his values and his priorities really are.
This president may say that he cares and that he grieves, but his actions tell a different story. He has conducted himself much like a lot of these evangelicals who think God has set them on a course to be rich, and so whatever it takes to get there is just swell. They can preach about fidelity and cheat on their spouses. They can preach against drugs and alcohol and be seriously addicted. They can preach morals and ethics and be cheating and stealing and lying. They can preach against homosexual sex and be soliciting for it.
For six years we have watched one Republican after another go hip deep into corruption and crime, and waited for them to pay some price. We watched the Enron boys fleece billions from their stockholders and their employees. We watched lobbyists corrupt the system and corrupt the Congress. And like sports figures and Hollywood stars, they became role models for a lot of people. It was all about getting what people felt was due them, and if Jack Abramoff could do it, why not us ordinary folk?
We have also watched as one administration official after another screwed up and got rewarded for it. Almost no one has suffered any consequence for their actions - apparently, it was okay for us to suffer the consequences of their poor decisions, their lies and their distortions.
They don’t call it a culture of corruption for nothing, and that culture has bred indifference and intolerance and selfishness.
A blog I was directed to by a soldier/nurse/friend serving in a war zone. He has an audio essay up from the NPR series, "This I Believe". Give it a listen. http://candle_in_the_dark.blogspot.com/
Photo courtesy of Village Photos Will Bunch at Attytood has a must-read article especially for the tin-foiliest among us (to which I must profess to being). Try to get through the comments as well, it's an interesting piece. Then weigh in here about what you think. After the blow-out last Tuesday, it's tempting to rest (needed) on our laurels and wait for the newly-elected to "do their jobs". Rarely though, are politicians motivated to make changes, unless moved to by the public. They also want to sit back and relax. We must not let them. Reader meta has just the stuff to get us re-invigorated:
This really is the strangest time. When the shock wears off, I think you’re going to see even more anger. It’s so late in the game to be acting like we’ve been involved in anything remotely resembling normal.
Ain't it the truth? I think the voter turnout so overwhelmingly for Democrats scared the GOP cheating machine right out of its socks and they chose to let the elections be more or less "fair". Of course there were still big election day problems with all the usual suspects, Ohio, Florida and the hotly contested Senate races in Montana and Virginia, both had exit polls which did not match the vote count(both states going overwhelmingly to the now-elected Democrats in exit polls, rather than the very close races we witnessed). So what does it all mean?
I believe because of the weight of evidence over the last 6 years that the GOP has and maintains a certain disregard for "The American Way" or to say they desire a country free of any disonance or 'interference' from the left is an understatement. As Americans we may not agree about all things but most of us have a certain "live and let live" philosophy that is crucial to maintaining all of our freedoms. The GOP facist-right-wing agenda wants ALL Americans to be in their image. No freedom to be who you are, just conform to their idea of what is correct according to them. Period. I have never particularly agreed with the conservative right but I have always placed in the same regard their freedoms to live and believe as they please as mine, so long as it doesn't infringe on my freedom to do the same. These people won't tolerate anyone's "freedom" but their own. In the word's of Stephen Sondheim, "It's intolerable being tolerated".
Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean say "Impeachment is off the table". I agree that in order to impeach the president and his minions we must have all our ducks in a row and the American people behind the the effort for justice. Until that time comes, and I believe it will come, we have many GOP messes to clean up. First things, first.
“Bush is the most impeachable president in American history. However, the incoming speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has declared impeachment to be “off the table.” Obviously, this means that Bush will not be held accountable and that the Bill of Rights is a casualty of the vague, undefined, and propagandistic “war on terror.” “If Democrats cannot bring themselves to rectify the inhumane and barbaric practices that now pass for U.S. justice, then they, too, (ed. will) have failed the American people.”
Freedom requires vigilance and commitment. This seems to be a thought lost on some of the newer generations of Americans. We have fought the good fight to reinstall some balance into the government and we are a bit tired. So take a vaction, rest up from the fight of trying to take our country back from the unyielding who would have us shut up and be 'good', and then remember we have a responsibility to show up and do our jobs as citizens and protectors of freedom for all.
Graphic courtesy UC Berkeley Alumni Services I've heard and read a number of different analyses on the 2006 election results. A wide range of opinions are available with a varied of spectrum to choose from depending on who's spinning who. It shapes up something like this: The House Republicans blame the President for not firing Rumsfeld sooner; the Evangelicals say the incumbent Republicans didn't support "values voters" who as a result they say, didn't show up in sufficient numbers to retain the GOP majority; Republican pundits blame the miscalculations of Karl Rove; Donald Rumsfeld says,"...the situation in Iraq is too complex for Americans to understand"; the President blames the American electorate for not comprehending what he calls, "the importance of taxes and security". So, according to the powers that were, We The People are too stupid, immoral, and obsessed with a single member of the Bush administration that believes his incompetently prosecuted war is too much for the average person to grasp and for all these reasons, we the voters, were unable to come to the right decision in the midterm elections.
When republicans talk about or rather, avoid the "culture of corruption " issue, they frame it as a "few bad apples" without acknowledging the huge deficit-producing, GOP-fueled pork bills that went unvetoed and the overwhelming preponderance of corporate interests in the senate chamber and K Street, the protection of GOP members over safe-guarding our children, the absolute unwillingness to exercise any oversight, the unfathomable shredding of the Constitution and Habeas Corpus, the stunning permission to torture and 'round-up' American citizens without charge plus a laundry list too long to repeat item for item.
The GOP also keeps telling us to "put the election behind us" their favorite party line anytime they screw things up, or get caught with their pants down. GOP pundits are also trying to push the notion that this election is "average" historically in terms of the 6th year of presidency, or "nothing special" in terms of turnout and turnover of seats. Simply said, poppycock.
A NYT's reader, Robert Passman of Silver Spring, Md., says it well in his Letter to the Editor: "A return to the arrogance and ignorance that has characterized this administration for six years may very well be more disastrous two years from now. Characterizing millions of Americans who have served their country and who recognize the administration’s failures, as cowards and idiots isn’t very bright. I don’t care which party has control of the executive or legislative branches of government if it acts intelligently and in the interests of all Americans. Mr. Bush can’t make that transition."
Anyone recall the crowing from the Republicans about how they would maintain dominance far into the future, comments as recently as this year? Republicans were certain that their sophisticated gerrymandering was so clever that dominance in the future was a slam dunk — just like those W.M.D.’s in Iraq.
The GOP was at the top of its game, Chris Bowers says: "Republicans broke all of their fundraising and voter contact records this year. They had better maps than ever before. They had a better opportunity to pass whatever legislation they liked than every before. And they were still crushed."
The Democrats haven't been much better in their analysis of the election.
The DCCC's Rahm Emmanuel takes the credit for the sweep in the house. His choice to back "conservative Democrats" with the DCCC machine politics and money say to him, "I made the correct choice." And the calls from 'prominent' Democrats for the ousting of Howard Dean as DNC chairman, and for Nancy Pelosi to "tread lightly" are not only incorrect but are certainly not what the American electorate says it showed up for. It's the war/occupation in Iraq and the GOP corruption, stupid. [Link to CNN's "Broken Government"]
After much reading and critical thinking on a number of articles the conclusion to be drawn from the higher-than average turnout, the highest seat turnover since 1974, the most senate seats won in a single cycle, the youth vote its highest in 20 years with 10 million turning out to "rock the vote", women voting 55% to men's 45% and voting 63% for Democrats, The GOP not gaining a single Governership, House, or Senate seat, 'the geographic shift' which is for the first time in 54 years the ruling majority won without a southern majority, the evangelical turnout being slightly higher than it was in 2004 but was 34% lower for Republicans and Independents voted for Democrats at a greater rate than ever before, the conclusion can only be that Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike turned out at this record event election because finally, finally it would appear we've Had Enough.
A pleasure to see the country significantly less stratisfied. Click here to compare to the 2004 election map. Because densely populated areas of the country tend to vote Democratic, the "blue" districts occupy smaller area on average, but they are nonetheless large in terms of numbers of people, which is what matters in an election. We can correct for this by making use of a cartogram, a map in which the sizes of districts are rescaled according to their population. That is, districts are drawn with a size proportional not to their sheer topographic acreage – which has little to do with politics – but to the number of their inhabitants, districts with more people appearing larger than districts with fewer, regardless of their actual area on the ground. For more in- depth maps and info click here. [H/T to ld for maps link. Map courtesy of Mark Newman, Department of Physics and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan]
Keeping it simple today: Jon Swift, "The Reasonable Conservative" gets it right in his post about Rumsfeld's resignation; "...Rumsfeld's greatness may not be recogized by historians for many years to come. Unfortunately, you sometimes have to go with the legacy you have, not the legacy you want." Read the rest of Jon's post here.
War Crimes Case Prepared Against Rumsfeld Amy Goodman's Democracy now has an interview here.
Noteable Rumsfeldisms “Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know” February 2003
“I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started.” 2003
“We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan or in some other country or dead” 2001
“Freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and do bad things . . . Stuff happens” On looting in Iraq after the 2003 invasion
“Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war” 2003
“You get a lot more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone” Quoting Al Capone to express views on international diplomacy in 1998
“As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time” 2004
“We do have a saying: if you’re in a hole, stop digging . . . um, I’m not sure I should have said that” 2002
“Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance” 1974
Exhausted from my 15 hours at the polls in South Texas working as an "Election Official', today I am pleased with the results of the election but know the fight has just begun. We must hold our newly-elected officials feet to the fire. I will post more later, but now I will have a richly deserved cup of coffee. Thank you all for your support and for getting out the vote that has brought us to the brink of real change in our country and its future.
I plan to add links all day, so please check back. Here is the first of many from d r i f t g l a s s. And Dependable Renegade here. For my local Texas compatriots I link a Texas blogger with great insights into Texas' inability to "move forward" with the rest of the nation. Please visit McBlogger. Here are the election results for California via the SF Gate. A site I found while phone-banking for Jerry McNerney (CA-11 Winner), check out this blog on progressive CA-11 politics. From My DD Chris Bowers updates us on the HISTORIC Democratic victory nationwide. NTM the serious note of the Unruly Mob.
I have a final message, via my good friend RF, for the re-thugs in this country who have used the truly UNAMERICAN tact of trashing the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, setting Freedom back 900 years and trying to inflict their view of the world on everyone:"Time for you to sit back, relax and enjoy a big, steaming cup of Shut The Fuck Up."
Those Texans sure know how to turn a phrase.
Seems Katherine Harris has already recieved the memo from RF.
I just received an election ballot slate card in the mail called “Information Guide for Democrats.” I’ll bet you have too. Look for it. Then throw it away. It’s pure deception. And then get mad. Pretending to be a Democratic slate, this mailer recommends against Propositions 87 and 89, the Clean Energy and Clean Money Initiatives. Above there is a picture of this mailer, so you can identify it.
Corporate interests are spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat these two initiatives. And they don’t mind lying and cheating to get what they want. We have to fight this with the simple truth. And with word of mouth. Please pass this email on to all your friends and relatives in California. We’ve got to get out to vote and defeat these guys.
Don’t Be Fooled. Big Oil paid for this bogus voting guide.
Found this over at Making Light. A great site recommended by Nefarious Leslie that I am now adding to my 'Blogroll'. They have the perfect piece up in Mr. Fawkes honor which I post here. [links and graphic added in this post are mine -Swim]
Happy Guy Fawkes Day, everyone.Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot
Just to recall: al Qaeda isn’t the only source of terrorism in the world, nor would establishing a pro-Western government in Iraq stop terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic: it has been with us from the beginning of recorded history; I suspect it will be with us to the end of time. Who signs the truce in the war on terror? What treaty will bind the likes of Timothy McVeigh, William Krar, Eric Rudolph, or Carl Drega? How many divisions should we send to what country to eradicate the KKK? Who should be imprisoned without charges to defeat the Sword and Arm of the Lord? How many must be tortured to end the Christian Identity Movement?
Remember, remember, the Fifth of November The Gunpowder Treason and plot; I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ‘Twas his intent. To blow up the King and the Parliament. Three score barrels of powder below. Poor old England to overthrow. By God’s providence he was catch’d, With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip Hoorah! Hip hip Hoorah!
A penny loaf to feed the Pope, A farthing cheese to choke him. A pint of beer to rinse it down, A faggot of sticks to burn him. Burn him in a tub of tar, Burn him like a blazing star. Burn his body from his head, Then we’ll say the Pope is dead.
Former DJ, contractor, and USAF officer who grew up in a San Francisco bar, loves music, girls and beer (not necessarily in that order) and looks forward to all that life has to offer.
