Dent to Prez: How About That Political Settlement in Iraq?

It's Tuesday! So let me tell you about The Tuesday Group. It's a collection of centrist Republican members of Congress whose purpose is "to maintain the moderate wing of the party." They usually meet weekly in the Capitol basement. Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent is a co-chair.

In May, they delivered this stern message personally to President Bush. “The word about the war and its progress cannot come from the White House or even you, Mr. President. There is no longer any credibility. It has to come from Gen. Petraeus.”

They have not stopped there. Pennsyltucky Politics tells us that, frustrated by a dysfunctional Iraqi parliament, they "want President Bush to convene a summit this month to reach a political solution with Iraqi factions or risk losing their support." Eleven ministers have either withdrawn or suspended participation in al-Maliki's cabinet within the last week.

Any solution, if it can be achieved at all, will have to be political.

Bush's Penny-wise, Pound-foolish Presidency Impacts Lehigh Valley

On Wednesday, I told you the prez has threatened to veto Charlie Dent's public safety initiatives in the Lehigh Valley. Thanks to Bill Cahir, I've learned Bush also intends to nix some other improvements Dent is hoping to deliver to Allentown and Bethlehem. These include the following:

$500,000 to Bethlehem for the construction of a garage and bus terminal along East Third Street in South Side Bethlehem

$250,000 for the SteelStax Performing Arts Center.

$500,000 for the upgrade of Allentown traffic signals.

$250,000 for the expansion of the Allentown Art Museum.

According to Cahir, Bush is trying to "reclaim the mantle of fiscal responsibility." He might have thought a little more about that before he invaded Iraq.

Bush Threatens to Veto Dent's Public Safety Initiatives

Would you like to see 300 digital video camera systems for police in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton? These protect officers while providing oversight.

How about better radio gateways for Allentown cops, so they can at least talk to police in surrounding departments?

For those of us living near the unpredictable Delaware river, wouldn't it be nice if the Delaware River Basin Commission improved its flood warning system?

And for our greatest asset, our children, I'm sure we'd all like to see improvements in Northampton County's Child Advocacy Center, so it can respond quickly to child abuse reports.

These four public safety initiatives have been proposed by Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent. Now kids can't vote, and cops don't make up a big voting block. His proposals have received scant attention and won't get him many votes. But these are all good ideas, the right thing to do.

Total cost? $1.75 million, according to a report filed by The Express Times' Bill Cahir. That's a lot of money, but pales in comparison to the $446 billion this country has spent on the Iraq war effort.

Yet President Bush now threatens to veto a spending bill designed to protect our safety here. According to Cahir, this bill spends 5% more than Bush thinks is acceptable. Iraq war costs will exceed $1 trillion dollars, so Bush wants to reduce spending here where it is needed. Children’s health, education, reducing the deficit and public infrastructure repairs will just have to wait.

And so will public safety right here in the Lehigh Valley if Bush has his way.

Update: Keystone Politics has also posted this topic, and claims the White House Budget Office has tagged this modest spending plan as irresponsible. I see.

President Bush Violates Flag Code, Too

LehighValleyHousewife is a frequent commenter here and on other local blogs. She held her own rather nicely when Boscola aide Bernie Kieklak slammed her with sexist remarks. She's easily one of the best writers in the Lehigh Valley.

Thursday, I told you about charges filed against a Washington Township man who "insulted" the American flag by flying it upside down. Both The Express Times and Morning Call, which take the First Amendment seriously, jumped on this incident with front page stories. A lot of folks at The Morning Call forum, a truly scary place, are ready to lynch both the flag protestor and DA John Morganelli, who dared drop the charges in accordance with Supreme Court precedent.

These folks should take a gander at the pictures LehighValleyHousewife found. The one I feature shows the Great Decider signing flags while campaigning in 2003. Another actually features the war prez atop an American flag.

We've Invaded the Wrong Frickin' Country!

When GW was finally legitimately elected president, second time around, some credited the win on Republican emphasis of family values. But I think Bush played a better card. He appealed to our fears.

Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Dissident Noam Chomsky put it nicely at the time. "It is a frightened country and it is easy to conjure up an imminent threat."

Well, it now appears Bush was right all along. We should have been afraid. Al-Qaeda is more powerful now than when it attacked us in 2001. And this begs one very important question - why the hell has Bush been so focused on Iraq when all the evidence shows bin Laden and his minions are based in northwestern Pakistan?

Philly Inquirer columnist Dick Polman tells us that if we Democrats were not such wimps, we could play that fear card ourselves. He proposes running ads like this:

Grainy slow-motion footage of Osama bin Laden and activity at his training camps. Cue ominous music.

"Six years after Sept. 11, this man still roams free - thanks to George W. Bush and his Republican allies. They promised they would be tough. They promised to protect us here at home. But instead they took their eye off the ball, spending $2 billion a week in a futile war half a world away from our real enemy, imperiling our brave servicemen and women, and emboldening those who would come here to kill us. America can no longer afford the party of weakness. Vote Democratic, as if your life depended on it."

Pretty scary, huh?

Know what's even more scary? This is no spin. It's all too true.

Independence From King George?

In 1776, there were a lot of complaints about another George. Let's look at some of them.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
(The current George gets around this with "signing statements.")

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
(Can you say Department of Homeland Security?)

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation.
(That would be the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court).

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
(Substitute "terrorists" for "Indian Savages" and you've got the current George's foreign policy).

A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Pennysylania signers of The Declaration of Independence: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Please, Al, Run!

The Assault on Reason. Al Gore's chief complaint about the Bush administration is summed up by those four words.

Mr. Gore’s central argument is that “reason, logic and truth seem to play a sharply diminished role in the way America now makes important decisions” and that the country’s public discourse has become “less focused and clear, less reasoned.” This “assault on reason,” he suggests, is personified by the way the Bush White House operates. Echoing many reporters and former administration insiders, Mr. Gore says that the administration tends to ignore expert advice (be it on troop levels, global warming or the deficit), to circumvent the usual policy-making machinery of analysis and debate, and frequently to suppress or disdain the best evidence available on a given subject so it can promote predetermined, ideologically driven policies.

The Bush admin never lets facts get in the way of its opinions. Maybe it should try blogging! But Gore, as noted by Time's Eric Pooley, is the "perfect stealth candidate for 2008."

Congressman Charlie Dent Stands Up to W

Flip flopper. Spineless. These are just some of the nice words many local Dems use when they speak of Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent.

No more!

House Republican moderates, in a remarkably blunt White House meeting, warned President Bush this week that his pursuit of the war in Iraq is risking the future of the Republican Party and that he cannot count on GOP support for many more months...The meeting, organized by Rep. Charlie Dent (Pa.), one of the co-chairs of the moderate "Tuesday Group," included Reps. Thomas M. Davis III (Va.), Michael N. Castle (Del.), Todd R. Platts (Pa.), Jim Ramstad (Minn.) and Jo Ann Emerson (Mo.).

What Bush Really Said Last Night

1.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

2.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Onward Christian Soldiers!

Right around the same time that GW was telling us about the New Way Forward in Iraq, American warplanes were doing the nasty in Somalia. We murdered about seventy nomadic herdsmen who had no connection to any terrorist network.

Maybe it was their livestock.

Not to worry. Twenty American soldiers were killed in Iraq yesterday.

He did say forward, didn't he?

Republican Dent Opposes Bush's Latest War Plan

During the last election cycle, Esquire summed up Congressman Charlie Dent like this: "[T]he majority of Republicans - both voters and politicians - are social and fiscal moderates. Freshman Charlie Dent is one of their best."

Dent's latest positions just may prove Esquire had it right.

Thanks to a Morning Call report, we know Dent wants to reduce interest rates on federal student loans and repeal some tax incentives for oil companies. He voted to raise the federal minimum wage, increase funding for embryonic stem cell research and adopt most of the 9/11 Commission recommendations.

Most importantly, he opposes Bush's plan to increase troop strength in and around Baghdad. LVDem last week called on Dent to take a stand, and I'm glad he's done so. If Bush can listen to anyone, it will most likely be people from his own party. Keystone Politics predicts "less radical types," like Dent, will "give Bush fits for the next two years."

The War President Could Learn From Sun Tzu

GW gave an uninspired, twenty minute, address to the nation tonight. He's pumping in 20,000 more troops into Iraq, as well as a job-creation plan expected to cost $10 billion. He refuses to involve two countries that border Iraq - Syria and Iran. He also failed to state how long these additional troops would be needed. So he's discarded the most important recommendations made by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

He's also ignored the advice of Sun Tzu.

When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

Bush Activates Storm Troopers in Rose Parade

PASADENA, CA: After seeing Darth Vader lead two hundred storm troopers along Colorado Boulevard in yesterday's Rose Parade, President Bush decided to send them to Iraq. "I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign-policy matters with war on my mind." Bush is convinced that white storm trooper uniforms are cooler in desert heat and have a powerful psychological impact. Vice President Cheney agreed. "Let's face it. Do we really want American soldiers running around in berets? That's French, damn it. No wonder everyone is talking about giving up. We need something that truly reflects our Force as we spread democracy to oil-rich nations."

Bush is reputedly also considering an executive order replacing "Hail to the Chief" with the "Star Wars Imperial March."

Bush Spares Turkeys But Humans Aren't so Lucky

GW participated yesterday in the usual ritual of sparing the Thanksgiving Day turkey. As we all know by now, he loves turkeys. Too bad his love does not extend to fellow human beings. As of today, 2869 Americans have died in Iraq, and another 21,778 have been wounded.

And he was very reluctant to use his pardoning power when he was governor of Texas. Born-again Bush mocked murderess Karla Faye Tucker. "Please ... please don't kill me," he mimicked as he ignored the condemned woman's petition for clemency. And when he argued against hate crimes for people who murdered their victims, the "compassionate conservative" proclaimed (with a sneer),"It will be hard to punish them any worse after they get put to death."

Happy Thanksgiving! See you Monday.

What About that 800 Pound Gorilla?

When I spout off about local issues, I'm always sure I'm right, i.e., mistaken at the top of my voice. And I'm still utterly brilliant when I speak about peak oil or global warming. But my certainty fades when I think about us, the 800-pound Gorilla, and our military misadventures in Iraq.

That's how the world views us, you know. We're as bad as King Kong traipsing through the jungle, knocking down everything in our way. In fact, we're worse. At least you could feel sorry for King Kong.

And the Baghdad blunder has done far worse than simply alienate us from the rest of the world. It has also divided Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds within Iraq. They are obviously in a civil war no matter how the senseless slaughter is spun by the suits in D.C. One third of Iraq's parliament has stopped showing up. The Middle East is far less stable than before we brought freedom to Iraq, killing around 45,000 defenseless civilians in the process.

Oopsie! "We don't do body counts."

Perhaps worst of all, the continuing conflagration has also divided many in this country, more so than at any time since the Civil War. I'm conflicted myself. I'd like to explain how I feel, but am interested in your comments because I really don't have an answer.

I opposed the war long before it started, participated in several useless candlelight vigils, and vainly attempted to get my local government, Northampton County Council, to adopt a resolution opposing military intervention. I was part of the "Cities for Peace" movement Nobody in Lehigh Valley government wanted to take a stand. Calls to many local leaders were not returned. But those yellow magnet ribbons sold like hotcakes. It was a shameful abdication of moral responsibility, especially by local Dems.

Once the "shock and awe" started, most of us were thrilled. Better than a video game! Around this time, I did my first gig on WGPA 1100 AM as a radio talk show host, filling in for my friend, the conservative Ron Angle. At this time everyone was saluting each other and flying flags, and AM radio listeners were in no mood to hear Rush or GW contradicted. It was two weeks of torture for me and my listeners. In two short weeks, I nearly ruined Angle's show. My co-host and I were practically tarred and feathered because everyone was bloodthirsty back then.

President Bush taunted Iraqis, saying "Bring them on." In true John Wayne style, he snarled "You're either with us or against us." Rummy disparaged France and Germany as "old" Europe. Team Bush even launched personal attacks against those who challenged the war's flimsy justifications. Chickenhawks chuckled as real war heroes like Kerry and Max Cleland were swiftboated.

Given this unAmerican behavior, I knew Bush would never be re-elected. Later, when Bush signed an executive order suspending parts of the Geneva Convention, essentially authorizing torture, I questioned whether this war criminal could last a single term.

After all, Clinton was impeached for getting a lousy BJ, but Bush screwed the entire country. He would eventually be impeached or lose a reelection bid.

But that 'taint what happened. The politics of fear and hate won the day for Team Bush. Family values. And GW's not going to be impeached, no matter what happens in Congress. We're stuck with the dude.

Over time, I've begun to realize people of good will can look at the same facts and reach completely different conclusions. I believed military intervention in Iraq was a big mistake, but it was wrong to vilify those who disagreed with me. Neocons who slandered dissenting voices were also mistaken. We're all Americans.

Most of us now agree Iraq was a mistake. We're no longer saluting each other. We get plenty of shocks but are no longer awed. The thrill is gone. And it has even become quite fashionable to mock President Bush. He said "nucular." Ha. Ha. Stephen Colbert put Bush on notice. Hee. Hee. Snide remarks about Bush show just how clever we are, right?

But Bush has supposedly recognized the inflammatory nature of some of his earlier remarks, and now acknowledges it was a mistake for the leader of the free world to say things like, "Wanted, Dead or Alive." Maybe he's not an evil monster, just a harmless frat boy.

He may be a frat boy, but I don't consider him harmless. At times, Bush plays a very earthy guy for a rich aristocrat. He tells fart jokes, and will even drop a few here and there for the benefit of junior staffers. But GW has an undeniable dark side.

Bush may be on a first name basis with Jesus, and holy roller Pat Robertson is his pal. But Bush is also a killer who actually enjoys it.

When he was governor of Texas, born-again Bush mocked murderess Karla Faye Tucker. "Please ... please don't kill me," he mimicked as he ignored the condemned woman's petition for clemency. And when he argued against hate crimes for people who murdered their victims, the "compassionate conservative" proclaimed (with a sneer),"It will be hard to punish them any worse after they get put to death."

I don't think the Almighty would approve of Bush's shallow regard for human life. Maybe he's not in the same league as Stalin, Hitler or even Pol Pot, but he definitely could give Nixon a run for his money. He's no harmless frat boy. And we elected this bastard. Twice.

Hallelujah! Praise be to Jesus!

We're stuck with a bible-thumpin', tea-totalin', frat boy who loves fart jokes. He got us into a war that has crippled our military. And given his low regard for human life, it's understandable that he would regard the Geneva conventions as an "quaint" annoyance. And GW farts and then commands us to "stay the course."

Thanks to former Congressman Foley, Katrina and about a gazillion other Republican mis-steps, Bush will finally lose his stranglehold on government this November. We might actually be able to control what happens in Iraq.

But I don't envy our new Congress. What do we do? Do we stay the course with a mean-spirited frat boy? Do we really cut and run, just like that?

Leaving might be as big a mistake as it was to get involved in the first place. The only thing that keeps that area from blowing up is our presence. Six hundred thousand soldiers, American and Iraqi, may be the only reason why other countries have not attacked. A sudden withdrawal would certainly invite more violence and death. People who supported us would be left holding the bag, again. Syria, Turkey and Iran would certainly try to step in. The Middle East would become even more of a tinder box than it is now.

We broke it. Shouldn't we fix it? I don't like the idea of permanent military bases and don't want us there one second longer than necessary. But when we leave, shouldn't the region be at least as stable as it was before we stuck our nose where it doesn't belong?

Senator Biden has this suggestion: "We must ensure Iraq does not become what it wasn’t before the war: a haven for terrorists. And we must do what we can to prevent a full-blown civil war that turns into a regional war." This sounds a lot like the Bush approach with an important difference - honesty. No more lies. That's one of Team Bush's specialties. One day, Rummy will tell us there are 200,000 trained Iraqi soldiers. A few months after that, he'll tell us there are less than half that number. A few months after that, he'll double it again. And that's just one example of many lies by many Bushies.

I can't fault politicians who seem confused when they talk about this matter. I'm pretty confused myself. It's a bad situation. Do you have an answer?

War, Patriotism & Religious Fervor

"My concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God's side."
Abraham Lincoln

I live in Nazareth, Pa. You can call me Bernie of Nazareth. It's a quiet little town, mostly white, and was originally settled by Moravians, our nation's first communists. They had "love feasts" and promoted tolerance by requiring gender segregation, although that didn't last long. Over the years, Nazareth has morphed into a town very much like any other Northeastern town, where neighbors don't know or speak to each other, and we awake each morning to a fresh layer of cement dust. There could be more black people than I think, but it's hard to tell with all that cement dust.

On my way home from work on election night, I saw something you never see in sleepy Nazareth - a spontaneous demonstration. A group of people at Broad & Belvidere proudly displayed Bush signs that read, "Vote God's way, not man's way." On the opposite side of the street, a lone couple countered with one Kerry sign. An active Kerry supporter, I stopped my Jeep and joined in the fun. Numbers on both sides grew as the evening progressed until demonstrators occupied all 4 corners of the intersection.

The original Kerry supporters, it develops, were carpetbaggers who had come down from Manhattan for the day to tell us how to vote, but they soon left for Starbucks and were replaced by lots of local residents, mostly high school kids and young and slightly inebriated adults. (We were outside of a bar). The Bush group manning one of the corners with the God signs were part of some youth prayer group. They condescendingly told us we needed to read Scripture when we told them Jesus was a liberal. They also called Kerry a murderer although he hasn't killed 100,000 Iraqi woman and children. One of the anointed, a big burly guy, crossed the street, called me a "faggot," and then hopped in his car to speed off without leaving his phone number. And a male member of God's club told a female Kerry supporter to suck his dick. Haven't seen that expression in Scripture, although I've read a phrase or two about faggots. Yikes! I have to stop wearing those flashy socks.

My conclusion was that this group of nuts is marginal, borderline insane, and could actually damage Bush's candidacy. What sane person is going to listen seriously to homophobic rants about gay marriage, or as Margartet Cho says, al Gayda? Turns out that 51% of us listened. Bush even won in love feast Nazareth by 9 votes. His appeal to "family values" and that kind of stuff are supposed to be what did the trick. The only groups who roundly rejected him were al Gayda, young white males, who could get their heads blown off by an IED in Iraq, and blacks of any age or sex, who could get their heads blown off by an IED in Iraq or anywhere in the deep south.

Some of these religious wingnuts have gone public, telling us "the liberal Democrats oppose God's will" and that "Jesus speaks through the Republicans. The Democrats will not be able to win elections until they renounce their sinful ways and stop encouraging abortions, gayness, and trying to take away our guns." Gayness? What the hell is gayness?

In Alabama, the "Christian" coalition and Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore successfully killed amendments to the state constitution that would ban segregation and poll taxes. So in addition to homophobia, bigotry is another of the family values being promoted in the name of God.

What the hell could God be thinking?

Guys like O'Reilly, the phone sex addict, and Newt Gingrich, who dumped his second wife for a much younger model, say liberals have no family values and mainstream American is fed up with our bullshit. I'm pretty liberal. I respect a woman's right to choose and don't mind if two gay gals or guys want to call themselves "married." Knock yourselves out, I say! I don't like it when we start a war to grab what's left of our fossil fuels, and I don't go to church. The last time I went was Palm Sunday so that I could give my 4 yr. old grandson some exposure to religion. I had forgotten Palm Sunday is the longest mass for the entire year and almost died of old age. On my way out, I noticed all kinds of brochures in the back. They were checklists telling people how God wants them to vote in the primaries.

People who go to church all the time claim to know God pretty well. I do go to a diner every Sunday in Nazareth where churchgoers eat after worshiping. I bask in their auras and hope some of their goodness rubs off on me. I was there with my grandson on the Sunday after the election, and we were treating ourselves to pancakes. The very next table was occupied by four of the Chosen Ones. (They didn't have an aura, but wore their finest clothing). I could overhear bits and pieces of their conversation as my grandson and I gave each other goofy looks. Didn't hear God mentioned too much, but I heard a hell of a lot about Falluja. A nicely dressed old lady opened her mouth, and as toast crumbs fell to the floor and all over her, she angrily insisted Bush had waited long enough and we need to go in and level that city now. Her three breakfast companions gave a few "Amens" and pieces of bacon and scrambled eggs fell from their mouths. "Turn it into a parking lot!" I don't hear anything about the innocents who would be killed, but these folks didn't seem too concerned about "collateral" damage. I wanted to say, "Wake up!" "Don't you know you're promoting the loss of innocent life?" Something pompous like that. But heh, it's Sunday, and I guess these folks are entitled to be left in peace.

Later that day, I checked the news on the "Internets." Holy shit! Those religious people at the diner had it right! First, I read an account from AP that US troops had gone into Falluja and "secured" the main hospital, but would not allow doctors inside because they will tell reporters about the civilian casualties. Better to let them die. Then I read another account from BBC reporting that US forces had completely razed another hospital, run by an Islamic charity, with "precision" weapons like WWII era howitzers. And before they started Operation Whatever, a bunch of evangelical Marines actually dressed up like Gladiators, anointed themselves with oil (there goes some more fossil fuel), and actually compared themselves to David facing Goliath. I'm not seeing that analogy. To make matters worse, I heard Pat Robertson on Fox telling everyone that it's so wonderful we've finally attacked Falluja, and he didn't express any concerns about the loss of innocent life or the Geneva conventions that prohibit attacks on hospitals. No one seems to care that soldiers refused to allow males to leave the city in advance. How is this different from what the Wehrmact did to Warsaw or what Romans did regularly to Jews?

I think they have the wrong God.

The born-again Pharisees who reelected Bush are not so different from another group that promotes murder and intolerance in the name of their God. No good God would ever sanction suicide bombing, blatant discrimination against race, or wholesale murder of innocents, whether it is the Twin Towers or 100,000 civilians in Iraq. I am not a religious person but seem to remember that.

Once, a man lived on this strange orb who told us to love one another, even our enemies. He was not a rich man, had no education, and had a soft spot for children and the weak. He resented those who perverted religion to promote intolerance or nonsensical adherence to religious principle. Some say he was crucified for his troubles, but some people listened to him. Where are they now?

Not too long ago, another man inhabited this country. He was not a rich man, had no education, and also had a soft spot for children and the weak. When the US unilaterally attacked Mexico in a blatant land grab, he spoke out against it. Of our enemies, he warned we must have malice toward none and charity for all. He was also murdered for his efforts. Some people listened to him, even Republicans. Where are they now? Those are the people with values.