n a t b s

I’ve hated CNN for a while. Wolf Blitzer especially pisses me off. So last night I found another example of them being retarded. The violence in Iraq was a pretty big story yesterday. The type of thing that was the main headline in a lot of places. And this was CNN’s front page:

Obviously “Barista Donates kidney to ailing customer” is more important than “U.S. staff warned as Iraq violence spreads.” It seems like they had this barista story on retainer just waiting for a news day when the needed a distraction. It’s not exactly the type of story that “breaks.” It’s the type of story that’s meant for a slow news day, not a day with a really obvious piece of major news.

What’s with the mainstream media hardly reporting on Iraq? It’s total bullshit. They’re not doing their jobs. They weren’t doing their jobs five years ago either, and that’s how we got into this mess. And because they’re not doing their jobs now, 48% of Americans think this debacle is going well. That’s just about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.

The fucking media is seriously screwing us. I don’t get why people take these “news networks” seriously. They’re so childish and stupid and corrupt. Has anyone ever seen Network? It’s a movie made in the 70′s that was very prescient. You see, back then the news divisions of TV networks typically didn’t make money. The networks thought of it as a public service, and the reporters thought of themselves as journalists. And this movie was about a fictional future where the news media started trying to make a profit and thus descended in to a bunch of blowhards yelling at each other all day. So yeah, pretty good prediction.

In news from Iraq, the country was consumed with violence for the third day in a row. From AP:

Tens of thousands of Shiites took to Baghdad’s streets to protest the government crackdown on militias in Basra as heavy fighting between Iraqi security forces and gunmen erupted for a third day in the southern oil port and the capital.

And:

BAGHDAD – Shiite militants are hammering the U.S.-protected Green Zone with rockets and mortars for the fourth day this week.

Thick, black smoke is billowing from inside the heavily fortified home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government.

So yeah, not good. If the Mahdi army cease-fire falls apart, and it’s looking like it might, things are going to get real bad real fast. The cease-fire has been instrumental in the reduction of violence seen over the past six months. The Repubs credit the “surge” (technically, surges end), but a lot of it had to do with this cease-fire. Hopefully it won’t fall apart.

–UPDATE–

More bad news/details from the LA Times:

Scores of people have died since the fighting erupted early Tuesday, including at least 51 in the southern oil port city of Basra, where the Iraqi offensive began. At least 15 people, most of them civilians, were reported killed in attacks today in Baghdad and nearby Babil province to the south. Skirmishes also continued in Basra, where a pipeline carrying oil to the city’s port was hit by a major blast that sent flames soaring into the sky.

As much as McCain frightens me, I have to admit he would probably be an improvement over Bush. Not that that’s a huge compliment, I think it would be hard for someone to be worse than Bush even if they tried. He has a certain way of ruining things that you can’t learn, it’s all instinct. So back to McCain, he gave a speech yesterday before the Los Angeles World Affairs Council where he:

proposed a new organization, the League of Democracies, to “harness the vast influence of more than 100 democratic nations around the world to advance our values and defend our shared interests.”

The League of Democracies? Is that anything like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, because that movie sucked. Seriously, though, this sounds pretty good. He actually wants to work with other countries, unlike Bushy who likes to go it alone. More from the speech:

Our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed

Stop making me like you! Where’s all this reasonableness coming from? Can this be the same man who wants to bomb Iran? Who says things are going well in Iraq no matter what anybody tells him? I can’t tell if this guy is Bush v2 or some kind of relatively reasonable Republican (do those exist anymore?). Here’s another quote:

It would be an unconscionable act of betrayal, a stain on our character as a great nation, if we were to walk away from the Iraqi people and consign them to the horrendous violence, ethnic cleansing, and possibly genocide that would follow a reckless, irresponsible, and premature withdrawal

This is a half-truth in my opinion. On the one hand, horrendous violence and ethnic cleansing will probably occur when we withdrawal. And it’s our fault. And we have committed a horrible sin. On the other hand, I think the longer we stay the worse we make things. The deed has already been done, the sin already committed. We can’t fix what we’ve done with more violence, we can’t fix it with our army, and we can’t fix it by staying there and terrorizing Iraqi citizens. It’s time for us to leave. And we are going to have to make amends for what happens as best we can but not with our army. Ok, more speech:

We must fight the terrorists and at the same time defend the rights that are at the foundation of our society. We can’t torture or treat inhumanely suspected terrorists we have captured. I believe we should close Guantanamo and work with our allies to forge a new international understanding on the disposition of dangerous detainees under our control.

Again, this is reasonable and I agree with it. DAMN YOU MCCAIN! But wait a minute, didn’t you just vote against making the army field manual the standard for interrogations? And wasn’t that essentially a vote permitting the CIA to torture people? What kind of doublespeak is this? I think I can conclude that this guy is pretty scary, he’s just good at charming liberals. Which actually makes him more scary and dangerous. Any final thoughts Johnny?

Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war

Did he just call Bush a fool and a fraud? I think he did. Remember what Bush said earlier this week:

I must say, I’m a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.

It must be exciting for you … in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You’re really making history, and thanks.

Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war. Whomever our next president is I know they wont be a fool, but there’s a good chance they’ll be a fraud. I guess it’s a step in the right direction.

Yesterday, after returning from Iraq, John McCain had this to say:

We’re succeeding. I don’t care what anybody says. I’ve seen the facts on the ground[source]

He took the words right out of Bush’s mouth. This guy is very frightening to me. He’s basically Bush2, but a little smarter. But anyway, regarding those “facts on the ground,” today AP released this report:

BAGHDAD – Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite militiamen Tuesday in the southern oil port of Basra and rockets rained down on the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad as followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr expanded a nationwide backlash against government crackdowns.

The clashes also threaten to reverse the security gains achieved by U.S. and Iraqi forces. [source]

So much for the surge. So much for McCain’s judgment. He was there last week and he thinks everything’s fine. Not only that but he doesn’t care what anybody says. So I guess this report doesn’t bother him. Good to know. I want a president who doesn’t listen to anybody, and who knows that the perpetual occupation of Iraq is going well no matter what happens.

I thought McCain was riding the straight-talk express, not the doublespeak zeppelin.

So apparently the Wright comment that’s got everyone up in arms, the chickens coming home to roost one, was actually a quote. That’s right, Reverand Wright was quoting ambassador Edward Peck. Or if I were to be more detailed in my description I’d say white ambassador Edward Peck. And if I were to be even more descriptive I’d say white ambassador Edward Peck on the Fox “News” Channel. Yes, that’s the same channel that’s been criticizing Wright for his comments. His comments that he quoted from their broadcast. From now on we should spell hypocrisy f-o-x.

I actually watched some more of that sermon, to get context, and I’ve got to say this Rev. Wright talks some serious sense. He talks about how we took this country from the native Americans, how we enslaved Africans, how we nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And the point of all this? The reason he feels the need to remind us of such unpleasantness? “Violence begets violence, hatred begets hatred, and terrorism begets terrorism.” True, true, and true. And those are still not his words, he’s still quoting. Not that that should matter because he’s making sense anyway.

Why is it that white people are so scared by angry black people? It must go back to slavery and segregation. It must be because we know we’re guilty. No, what am I saying? This guy is a hate-filled racist. Obviously.

—update—

So I’ve been trying to find the transcript of Peck’s remarks, but Fox News doesn’t seem to put it’s transcripts online. Apparently they’re available on Lexis-Nexis but I don’t have access. If anyone does I’d really appreciate it if you tried to find the transcript. Thanks, Andrew.