Open Thread and Diary Rescue

(This evening's selections are brought to you courtesy of the untiring Rescue Rangers. SusanG)

Tonight's Rangers provide dedicated and new readers excellent selections that discuss a variety of issues from Bush's Troop Surge plans, corruption, deregulation, energy, and marriage equality. We hope you enjoy them!

This evening's Rescue Rangers are tlh lib, joshalot, melvin, srkp23, Patriot Daily, and pico, with Elise as editor.

• Welshman argues that liberal bloggers are misreading the Army's new Counterinsurgency Field Manual in The Pentagon Carefully Explains Why It Won't Work. (melvin)
• greatwhitebuffalo does some digging around and finds the Administration's true Last Stand in Baghdad: dumping a billion dollars into its own Iraq Xanadu. (pico)
• LithiumCola writes an amusing, factual mystery about an Iraqi government official's imprisonment and subsequent escape from the Green Zone in The Curious Case of Ayham Sameraei's Jailbreak while gjohnsit -- also hot on the trail -- explains that the Iraqi justice system for corrupt officials is fine except when America says He's our bastard, dammit! (Patriot Daily)
• therealcervantes writes about how Bush's surge may just add more fuel to spread the flames of violence in Iraq in People Unclear on the Concept while Jeff Huber notes that this surge may yield other unfavorable impacts in Middle East Miasma. Finally, Jay Elias provides a humorous perspective on the number of Americans who support Bush's surge plan in Eleven Percent. (Patriot Daily)
• Minerva analyzes the latest administration marketing campaign and the Democratic response - or lack of response - in The Troop Surge and Product Positioning. (melvin)
• eve explains the GOP's deregulation hypocrisy in Why do Republicans Hate Rules for Business but Accept 'em for Sports? (Patriot Daily)
• In Holistic Thinking re Energy...and the future ..., A Siegel urges us to rethink the way we conceptualize our energy problem, so that we can find the best way forward. (srkp23)
• Xpatriated explores the benefits and risks of the "two-steps back, one step forward" path to marriage equality in Progress is Cyclical. (srkp23)

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