I’m Not Going to Do This Every Day

An Aussie politician admits to sniffing the chair of a female colleague.

George W. Bush gave a long speech at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base yesterday making his case, for, well, for following whatever his lead is in Iraq. On bit keeps bugging me:

As this debate unfolds, I ask people on both sides to keep an open mind, and to take a close look at the situation on the ground. Here is what one scholar and critic of the war recently wrote: “No one can spend some 10 days visiting the battlefields in Iraq without seeing major progress in every area. If the United States provides sustained support to the Iraqi government — in security, governance, and development — there is now a very real chance that Iraq will emerge as a secure and stable state.”

And….that’s it. No mention of who this “scholar and critic of the war” is. Who is this person? Fred Kaplan? I kinda doubt it’s him. Dick Cheney? Some 5th Grader in Houston? A product of the fertile mind of a Bush speechwriter? Also, no mention of whether the “critic of the war” quoted had actually been to Iraq recently, or had just been reading Bush Administration press releases.

Please, W. At least give us a little effort here…

The Pentagon is suddenly less interested in publicizing an internal study that found no evidence of a direct link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. Hmm.

In keeping with my longstanding tradition of providing the best in global insight by, um, recommending people who actually know what they’re talking about, I present the latest from Rootless Cosmopolitan: A guest column by Mark Perry of Conflicts Forum on the ouster of William “Fox” Fallon. Enjoy.
UPDATE: Fred Kaplan at Slate has a similar take.

I hate to chide Senator Arlen Specter, hailing as he does from Russell, Kansas, but really. As the top Republican on the Senate Judicial Committee, maybe these aren’t the destroyed videotapes you should be asking about.

cranes. minato-mirai, originally uploaded by deus-ex-machina.

My God, what they can do with digital cameras these days. From a very cool flickr stream.

We all know how restless fans, players, coaches, etc. can get at sporting events. Once, while umpiring Little League, a friend of mine was threated by a parent who was also licensed to carry a firearm. If only my friend had had the foresight work the game strapped, like this Malaysian referee…

This, from Soldier’s Home, Newsweek’s blog about life after Iraq, cracks me up. The blogger, David Botti, empties out his notebooks from interviews he did with marines in his unit in Iraq in 2003. It’s all interesting, and in some cases moving, but the part that made me laugh out loud is this:

If you could speak to the Iraqi people on television, what would you say?

• -“I have a ten inch c*ck – just kidding. I’d say Saddam is gone, but the job is not done. Make sure you help us get you a new government, so we can get out. Never become as cowardly as suicide bombers.”
• -“You owe us.”
• -“That’s all you had?”
• -“Look forward to a brighter future.”
• -“If you’re happy we’re here, good. If not, we’ve won, f*ck you, we did it fast. Your country sucks d*ck and I don’t know why you stay here.”
• -“Bring me meat and bread.”

Two interesting bits in today’s papers to give one pause:

From the Washington Post:

Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs

Which is of course creepy–what, are you going to have to carry around a bug zapper now every time you want to have a little privacy outdoors–but also a little reassuring, because, after all, our government doesn’t spy on its citizens.

Oh.

Fred Kaplan has his usual good thoughts on Iraq, this time asking the obvious question: If we’re spending $500 billion a year on our military budget NOT COUNTING the billions we’re wasting in Iraq and Afghanistan, what are we getting for our money?

Mike Hirsh has a very nice piece about Blackwater, Bush, and the no-accountability presidency.

And Tony Karon continues his brilliant thoughts about the U.S. and Iran