Alex, I've been trying to catch up on overlooked posts.

I just looked at the 'Dear Mr President' youtube clip. Eloquent!

A lonely boy, indeed. And getting lonelier by the day. I heard that he
was in a deep depression coming back on the plane from Europe and that
word went out to his White Staff to do things to cheer him up.

American struggles to find itself, and the world struggles hoping that
the US will.



Oceans

Sorry, missed your question, Invisible.

I think if we elect a good president that he can do quite well. The
American people realize how bad things have become, and know how bad
things will be when the new president comes in. They will want the worst
of the problems addressed, and if the new president is seen as doing
this they will support him.

It does not matter which party the new president is from, just that he
have integrity, intelligence, vision, explains the situation clearly and
honestly to the people, is pragmatic (no ideological models of the
world), reaches out to people that Bush has called evil and enemies and
reestablishes good relations with them (not very hard to do, in my
opinion, as it is what everyone wants).

It is an agenda that is quite feasible. Of course, the neocons and
fundies will howl, and the new president will have to rebut their
howlings publicly and unequivocally.

Hmmmmm....it's a job I wouldn't mind having!



Oceans

Bl8tant and Invisible, you right on target, in my position.

Bush is now so weakened that the anger that has been accumulating is
spilling over. As with the US forces in Iraq, the game is lost. They are
still there, but we all know that their game is up. So this makes it
easy for critics to come out into the open, and emboldens those who were
already critical.

It is a hard things to effectively oppose a president (and in this case
the vice president), especially one who views all dissent as unpatriotic
or even treacherous.

But the critical mass of criticism is now in place, and people are
losing their fear to retribution by the neocons (who are quick with
accusations of anti-Semitism) or the Christian fundamentalists (who are
quick with their accusations of Satanism).

It is not a pretty picture...people piling on, but in my opinion Bush
and his diehard supporters deserve it. They have bullied others so
easily, aggressively and for so long. The pent-up anger that it has
caused is now emerging, and will become stronger.



Oceans

Catching up -- nice posts Alada, Fanta, adj.

Thanks.



Oceans

The draft to the extent it is discussed is seen as something that might
be useful if the US military commitment grows.

But this is highly unlikely.

1. We are losing in Iraq, so the issue of keeping troops there
indefinitely is a moot one. We will be driven out. The only way we can
avoid this is by pulling our troops out before we are defeated. Bush
does not have the cognitive ability to make this decision.

2. It is likely that the American people, disillusioned, will turn
inwards, where we have massive problems to address. As with the
aftermath of the Viet Nam war, we will for a decade at least view
foreign adventures with a great deal of suspicion. So we will not soon
be ramping up the military.

3. Instead, those who are involved in the military/strategic/industrial
world will focus on weapons development, and the notions of a cyber war.
There is a lot being done on this already, and it has gained momentum
since it became clear that we are in a no-win situation in Iraq and that
the Powell Doctrine was ignored by Bush and the senior neocons in his
government. A cyber-war strategy is a way of 'cheating' on the
requirements of the Powell Doctrine.

4. The real issue that will emerge is whether the US can learn to stop
being the world's policeman/bully. The US failed to learn that when it
became the world's sole superpower after the implosion of the USSR;
maybe it will learn to do so in the light of the emerging defeat in
Iraq, which will, with our growing economic weaknesses, have severely
diminished our superpower status. I hope so, but I am not holding my
breath.

5. Even when Bush is gone, the neocons will still be here, distorting
our foreign policy and seeking to embroil us in the next of their
objectives, Iran and Syria.

In the light of all this, in my opinion, the issue of taking immigrants
into the military is trivial. The issue of hiring contractors is less
trivial because contractor behavior is often a major problem, and
because of the many security issues involved.



Oceans

Thanks for posting the Philippines time-line, adj. Very interesting.

Fanta, discussion of the draft here in Washington is not active. A few
people bring it up, it causes a flurry of headlines, but the discussions
that precede a legislative initiative are not happening.

I wouldn't put it past Bush to do anything that 'shows leadership' at
this point, and so one can conceive that he might propose that, but it
won't come close to passing.

In an earlier post somehwre I've discussed why...



Oceans

Good morning/afternoon/evening, everyone!

To Elsa!

Outside my window the sun is shining, and I hear the sounds upstais of
an old friend rousing himself in the guest bedroom.

No action in the bird house. The last brood has departed.

Come on, everyone, let's shake off the blues. There is much work in the
world to be done.



Oceans

Yes, the world is imploding on president Bush. Years of disdain and
ignorance and bad policy are catching up with him, and that includes
here in Washington.

He has become the butt of behind-the-scenes jokes pretty much across the
political spectrum, and some of the most vicious ones are coming from
Republicans. I think in part they are trying to distance themselves from
Bush, and to be seen by their colleagues and friends as people who saw
through him all along.

The magnitude of the grass roots opposition to the immigration bill has
caught the Bush people by surprise.

I am trying to get a read on Karl Rove, who is, after all, still Bush's
domestic affairs advisor.

Elliott Abrams is still his Middle East advisor and the man now most
responsble for US policy in the Middle East. I guess David Wurmser in
Cheney's office would be number two.

These are significant shifts, for those who follow the 'office politics'
of the Bush administration.

It really is too late for Bush to do much about his slide. He has done
too much harm for anyone to forgive him, and Washington now grits its
teeth and is prepared to gut out the remaining 18 months, with the main
goal being simply to stymie any further Bush insanity.

I do not use the term insanity as an insult: I use the term technically.
And I use it accurately.

So much now depends on who the next president will be.



Oceans

About the possibility of a draft?

Just what are we talking about?

We'll see....

Anybody have a room or cottage I can rent far away from Washington?

Oceans

Fanta, what is a "moral exemption"?

Oceans

Katie ....

This is by far a better site, Damnits -- bring 'em over with you!

Huh?

Cool! I've got a stack next to me, too....

Draft the White House Twins!

Well, everyone, don't forget that we have been hiring mercenaries to man
the occupation of Iraq since day one. We call them contractors, but they
are mercenaries with the gloves taken off, and are responsible for some
of the worst atrocities committed against the Iraqi people.

Of course, for the companies that hire and farm out the mercenaries it
is amazingly lucrative.

There is a very large procurement that is going forward for companies to
supply intelligence services to the US military in Iraq. We will hear
horror stories leak out of Iraq about abuse of Iraqis resulting from
this procurement.





Oceans

I think it is pretty much dead, daVinci. Bush couldn't deliver his own
party, so the Dems are going to move on.

Did you get any substantive response from your contacts?

Hey adj -- great to see your post.

The family unit....now this is a BIG topic. I think you are right in
pointing to this, for the breakdown of the family unit (and especially
the extended family unit) leaves our citizenry so occupied with just
making it through the day that we have little time for thinking about
larger issues.

And of course the poor quality of news on TV only isolates people
further from what is going on in the country.



Oceans

Hey, bro!

Yeah, a hoot from the past. All that is missing is her telling us that
her IQ is higher than anyone else's at JSH. I wonder what she is going
to put up in her 'profile.'



Oceans

You may be right, daVinci. And if they are not, they are part of the
government....

Certainly here in the US the corporations suck up to the military -- all
kinds of full-page ads, 'saluting' our troops and pledging them all the
equipment they can use. Of course, these ads appear around the time a
new military spending bill is being considered, or a new large DoD
procurement is in the works.

Boeing, Lockheed are among the main companies that do this. I'll look at
the ads more carefully and post more names as they pop up.



Oceans