Although a federal judge has ordered the White House to backup their emails in compliance with the Federal Records Act, what assurances do we have that the job is getting done?  According to one source, the answer is very little.

Dublin, indeed Ireland as a whole, has a well-deserved reputation for misty, grey skies.  Although rain seldom adorns our streets, on any given day one can expect to trudge through a thick cloud that, having imbibed far too much Guiness the night before, was simply too hung over to deign rise above sea level.  However, if the past five years have taught me anything, it’s that summer brings a welcome reprieve from our soggy existence.  Sure, weather in the land of Eire is fickle and even the most splendiferous morn could find a shower or two lurking behind the next rolling green hill.  But for the most part, Irish sheep don’t have to worry so much about the smell of wet wool between the months of May and September.

As far as I can tell, the Hindenburg pilots masquerading as our executive branch have two goals for media management on Iraq. First and foremost, they must convince us that we are facing a viable and imminent existential threat. But of no less importance, they must also demonstrate that they and they alone can guarantee our collective salvation. Of course, one can’t but help notice that such aims are mutually exclusive – with the success of one, our naked emperor loses the other by default.

Yet balanced efficiently, Jonestown the American people have historically proven willing to cede virtually unlimited authority. Anyone caught paying attention will have noticed an administration quite adept at maintaining such an equilibrium. Sure, it was rocky there for a while with Iraq galloping toward civil war, but it seems our darling Machiavelli’s have found a way to accomplish both aims in one swoop – arrest some flaming idiots and call them terrorists (deepest apologies to Signore Machiavelli for comparing him to our president).

M.J. Rosenberg has an articleon TPM Café chastising certain (unnamed) Democrats for refusing to take war with Iran off the table.  As an individual, scholar, writer, and voter I am adamantly anti-war.  However, this in no way should imply that I am anti-conflict.  It remains to be seen whether this conflict with Iran must turn violent.  Yet I am willing to concede that inaction could prove far more costly – especially when such passivity stems not from measured and meritorious arguments, but in significant part from hatred and distrust of the executive branch.

I heard a rumor a while back that FOX was trying to roll out a right-wing doppelganger for The Daily Show.    Well, all the nail-biting and eager anticipation be quelled – The ½ Hour News Hour has finally reared its ugly mug (FNC leaked a clip to drudge).    And a virtual torrent of accolades have been flooding the internets all morning:

To be honest, I'm far too emotional today to post much of anything.  I mean, it's not like I have any piercing insight into the electoral process, nor do I have any prognostication worthy of any substantial consideration.  The day has arrived and all I can do is sit on my hands, ride it out, and hope that tomorrow will bring change.  I have no sagacious advice.  I am overseas and helpless.  I am tense and alone.  I am nobody.    But I am an American and I have hope.

I'm in the final months of my dissertation.  Damn, that feels good to say.  At this point, I've cemented all the actual "work" - in other words, my points of originality constituting my actual contribution to the field have already been written out.  Now I find myself going back and writing some of the nitty-gritty background information of the early chapters.  It's somewhat arduous in that I might spend an entire day researching minutia for the purpose of simply fact-checking a few paragraphs.

But it is vital work and I'm not complaining.  I mention all this only because I spent the entire day yesterday reviewing the history of the Cold War.  It's one of those quirky time periods for me because I grew up as a Reagan kid - I remember Carter, but only barely and would certainly have had no interest in politics outside of those funny yellow ribbons everyone had wrapped around their trees.  All this is to say that the Cold War was more background than impact for me as I developed my youthful political awareness.

Staying the course on the Bush doctrine is less about politics and more about a stubborn adherence to a flawed mathmatical equation.  The militaristic reliance upon mass and material preponderance creates a dangerous overconfidence in the realm of global hegemony that shows little sign of abating.

Looks like Left Behind won't be the only video game Georgie enjoys during his next extended vacation.

Nintendo of America sent President Bush an early baby boomer gift pack today. The bag of presidential goodies includes a DS Lite and a copy of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day.

Now the subtleties of a gift like this may evade our presidential intellect, so Nintendo was sure to include this cover letter:  

So much for doing this on the cheap. By the end of the year, we will have spent half a trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghanistan (mostly Iraq). That's a mighty big number and I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. So I put together this little comparison:

We join our heroine in a parallel universe on a small planet known as Earth in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.

This is the story of an intrepid author of children's books who is despondent over the barrage of liberals attempting to thrust their crazy Judeo-Christian values upon the unsuspecting youth.  Determined to counter their evil influence, our fearless heroine takes it upon herself to publish a series of counter-indoctrination manuals designed to help the innocent children learn the benefits of corruption, greed, and malice.

Her debut  titles include:

 

Comparing Bush to Hitler isn't about trying to sensationalize politics beyond the fray, it is about remember the lessons of history and ensuring they do not have an opportunity to repeat themselves.

This diary implies no offense whatsoever to the many, mnay progressive southerners out there.  I myself have lived in Texas for many years and it was a tremendously positive experience.  What I am referring to is the tribal identity of the opprressed southerner as a metaphor for how subjugation and deprivation through military means will inevitably return to bite us in the a*s.

Calling Rush out on his lies may be the duty of any left-leaning fact-checker. But without a proactive means of reaching his audience, we will only further alienate the open-minded among his flock.

Bill O'Reilly has finally plunged the depths of pure evil.  Moreover, I think his latest escapade may be a tacit admission that Iraq was better under Saddam than Bush.

The push to punish soldiers who committ atrocities overlooks the top-level complicity in creating these conditions.

Progressives should not be too quick to denounce amnesty.  Done with wisdom and prudence, as well as equal participation, amnesty may represent our best hope of staunching the damage in this disastrous war.

I posted the following right after Zarqawi's death and - lo and behold - it appears I was right: