Major General John Batiste who courageously retired so that he could speak out against the handling of the Iraq occupation penned an oped at ThinkProgress. The last paragraph of the piece sums up what we all feel regarding this hopeless mess in Iraq.
The only way to stabilize Iraq and allow our military to rearm and refit for the long fight ahead is to begin a responsible and deliberate redeployment from Iraq and replace the troops with far less expensive and much more effective resources–those of diplomacy and the critical work of political reconciliation and economic recovery. In other words, when it comes to Iraq, it’s time for conservatives to once again be conservative.
Ironically, soldiers in Iraq cannot access General Batiste’s editorial as the site has been banned for political activism! Imagine! Fighting and dying to ‘spread democracy’ while being denied access to information from learned military leaders because they differ from the Bush administration selling point. Note that Fox News and National Review, however, are still available.
Okay, I’ll chew on this. Twenty five years ago a friend laughed at me when I told him I voted. This was one of the brightest men I’ve ever met, he smiled and told me it didn’t really matter which party I voted for, as the same people backed both sides, meaning corporate and military interests, so they don’t CARE which party wins, they’ve greased all their palms. Sadly, all these years later, I now know he was right. Buck! Guess what? We DO NOT have a two party system, it’s one party, like it or not, ONE party. They have to keep a public separation between the two to satisfy the worker bees, but you must know, somewhere down inside, I’m right. It only took me 25 years to accept it. Why do you think last fall the Dems put the final nail in the coffin of anyone making a serious third party run? It was language included in one of the big funding bills last fall, I could find it if I wanted, but I don’t need to. Magix is right on, pitchforks and torches to the gates. The Dems will do nothing, they don’t have to, you see, they’ve been paid well, they don’t listen to the voters, they listen to the people who pay them. I will pay them not a dime of my money or my time. They’ve pissed in my face for the last time. I’m really sorry about it, too. I worked hard to get the Dem majority in office. No more. They have to do something before they get my support again, and that doesn’t include Harry Reid yesterday ASKING the Repubs what he can do to get along with them. That was IT.
Yes, exactly! We have to change the system and playing ball isn’t going to do it…. they, you know who ‘they’ are, those irascible curmudgeons have been playing the same ball game for 200+ years and it is still as polarizing today as it was when it started. You remember the definition of insanity don’t you?
Who you calling stubborn?!?!
Some of us are going to go and watch John play in Coos Bay tonight
In all our history, other parties other than the two main ones have been nothing more than spoilers, and that will continue until we change the system. Don’t be so G- damn stubborn.
No we do not have to live with it! Other parties exist but it is a stubborn adherence by stubborn curmudgeons to the ‘two party’ system that maintain its dominance. I prefer to filibuster the two party regime and advocate change from a healthy non-partisan position. Be the change you want. The game would have to change, buckaroo if people would stop playing it.
Hope all is well with you and yours.
You mentioned in your “Harry Reid caves” blog, that you are feed up with our two party system. That is what we have, and have had since Jefferson , Madison, and other set it up. We have to live with it… join the party that best suits you, and help mold it to your liking. It does not help to snipe at our system from the outside.