Wednesday, August 03, 2005

TEN DAYS WORTH OF THOUGHTS

Karl Rove -- This is old news about him outing Valerie Plame, the wife of Joe Wilson, as a CIA agent, but let me put some perspective on it. Now, one of the biggest problems this administrtation has had is intelligence, in more than one context. But we have had manipulated, wrong, misinformed or whatever adjective you want to use, intelligence on most levels. This administration sold the war on weapons of mass destruction. Valerie Plame was a covert agent comcerning intelligence on nuclear weapons. So Rove, like some pissed off little kid, decides to seek vengeance against Joe Wilson for not going along with the existence of 'yellowcake' being sought by Saadam in Niger. By outing an CIA agent he put potentially her life, but likely other people that she has dealt with over the years. Once her cover was blown it changed the dynamic of any undercover work she was doing.

War on Terror -- Cheney remarks that it's in its last throes, Rumsfelt, a couple of days later, says that it could last 3, 6 even 12 years. Things are going better in Iraq, so they say. And yet between yesterday and today 20 soldiers have been killed. The total is now over 1,800 and counting.

War on Drugs -- The cover story in Newsweek this week is about the epidemic problem of methamphetamine, affecting everyone from gay communities, teenagers and even soccer moms. So where does George and the boys focus their war on drugs . . . POT. According to a story in Rolling Stone (August 11 issue) pot now accounts for nearly half of drug arrests nationwide. By almost any measure the war on drugs has been as monumental a failure as the war in Iraq.

According to Bill Piper, national affairs director for the Drug Policy Alliance, a drug reform organization in Washington, D.C. "Drug prices are at an all-time low, drug purity is at an all-time high, and polls show that drugs are more available than ever." This administration can start a war, they just don't pick the kind that you can win. Next war will probably be a war on hatred. Why not another open-ended war.

Priorities -- With a war in Iraq going about as bad as it possibly can, a war in Afghanistan that is going a little better, terrorist attacks in London that pose the possible threat here in the U.S., not to mention the job of just being President, what does this president do? Today he leaves for a five week vacation in Crawford, Texas. From the day he took over as President until now he has taken a total of 319 days of vacation. He almost never works weekends, takes about two hours a day to work out and figures this is the way to perform as a war-time President.

He claims he still gets his PDB(Presidential Daily Briefing) even in Crawford. But remember August 6, 2001 when he got the PDB that was titled something to the effect -- Osama bin Laden determined to strike within the United States. He didn't get off the ranch. But do you remember when he jumped off the ranch in the middle of the night to meet with Congress to keep Terry Shiavo on her feeding tube.

On second thought, though, I'm sure Karl will mind the store while Bush is in Crawford. What Us Worry? Have a nice day!!!!!!!

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