The Blue State

Timeline of Idiocy

2003 - 'U.S.Military in Search of Arabic Translators' "Jennifer Ludden reports on the U.S. military's direneed for more translators who speak Arabic and other Middle Easternlanguages."

2005 - 'Army,Marines miss recruiting goals again, Morecash and appeals to parents, patriotism haven't reversed trend'"WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials say it's not a crisis, but it is a majorconcern — a battle here at home to win the hearts and minds of potential newrecruits."

2006 -' U.S.is recruiting misfits for army. Felons, racists, gang members fill in theranks' "After falling short ofits goals last year, military recruiting in 2006 has been marked by upbeatpronouncements from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claims of success bythe White House, and a spate of recent press reports touting the military'sachievement of its woman- and manpower goals."

2006 - DefenseSecretary Donald Rumsfeld: "As you know, you go to war withthe army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a latertime."

2006 - 'ArmyMeets Yearly Recruiting Goal'  "WASHINGTON - The Army isending its best recruiting year since 1997 and expecting similar success in2007, despite the weight of grim war news from Iraq, Army Secretary FrancisHarvey said."

2007 - 'ArmyMisses May Recruiting Goal' "With an array of special incentivesfor attracting recruits, the Army managed to recover from a 2005 recruitingslump, but the impact of the Iraq war and the strong domestic economy have madeit difficult to attract enlistees."

2007 - 'USArmy unable to afford translators, bomb-proof trucks' "GeneralPeter Schoomaker outlined an unfunded $10bn additional "wish list" ina memo to the congressional military committee" (included $13.3 MILLION forforeign languages translation.)

I think I found some clues where some of the problems lie, AND where GeneralShoomaker's money could have come from...

2007 - 'U.S. military continues todischarge gay Arab linguists, and Congress members seek hearing' "WASHINGTON:Lawmakers who say the military has kicked out 58 Arabic linguists because theywere gay want the Pentagon to explain how it can afford to let the valuablelanguage specialists go."

'Arabic Translator Firedfrom the Navy for Being Gay'

Since ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ became law, over 11,000 service membershave been discharged because of their sexuality.  The number of servicemembers who have left on their own volition, or have decided not tore-enlist because of this law is not documented. The government has spent over$363 million dollars in taxpayer money to implement this unfair legislation. Dozens of other countries, many of whom have fought side-by-side with oursoldiers, allow lesbians, gays and bisexuals to serve openly. Those are thefacts and they have nothing to do with a service members passion and skill toperform his duty.

So I pose this question to each and everyAmerican (civilian and military). Would you feel safer fighting side by sidewith an individual which is capable of telling you "they areyelling, watch out, the bad guys are over there...you should go theother way" OR would you rather be with someone that can tell you thestarting line-up of the NY Yankees?

I wonder how many hungry children (andadults) $363 million would feed? And as far as the argument "themilitary is no place for gays"...well we would probably have to go wayback to the very first army ever formed, then tell the first 10 soldiers"one of you is one of them and this is no place for you".

Ican't even believe that we are still having this conversation with the statethis world is in today.

I'd say this guy was qualified.

Katrina, FEMA & The Banks...oh, and the people

Living hundreds of miles away, and never seeing any stories on the news aboutit, it's almost as if all is ok in New Orleans. I mean this great government ofours wouldn't let it's citizens get screwed because of bureaucracy, greedy banksand do nothing politicians...would they? Yes, yes they would.

Reuters: "AidFlap is New Threat to New Orleans Rebuilding"

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - As homes in New Orleans' flood-stricken zones inchtoward habitability, a bureaucratic storm is brewing between state and federalrelief agencies that could derail the city's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Officials from the state of Louisiana contend that a new federal requirementthat aid checks be issued jointly to homeowners and their mortgage lenders couldmean that money bypasses the owners -- many of whom lost their jobs as a resultof Katrina -- and goes straight to paying their defaulted mortgage payments.

So the banks are getting theirs, now you get your's. But FEMA (Federal EmergencyManagement Agency) must be watching out for the people right?, that's their job right,well...that's a "NO"

Johnson has been waiting for funds from the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency and the state-run, federally funded and roundly criticized Road Homeprogram since being rescued from her attic days after Katrina hit the U.S. GulfCoast.

The Road Home program has received more than 121,000 applications and has60,000 still to process, and has closed on fewer than 6,100 of them. Of $7.5billion in funding, some $4.7 billion has been allocated, but not necessarilypaid out.

"It doesn't make sense. Everywhere we been, we build other people's(countries) but when it come to ourselves it's completely different,"said Vernon Lawrence, 75, pointing to the cost of the Iraq war andreconstruction. "Here we are in this country suffering like hell."

The Washington Post: also reported on the current situation: "KatrinaAftermath Still Undercuts Special-Needs Housing"

And for anyone that thinks it was a big task and the governmenthas been working on this situation all along, On August 28, 2006 Amanda of ThinkProgress kept us posted with this story OneYear Later: The Real State Of New Orleans. There are great links in thisstory which are important, because there was some talk about how "greatthings were going" with the rebuilding. The rebuilding was being focused on thetourist areas.

I've been through a few hurricanes in my life, and when I think of how muchof a "disaster" and "inconvenience" it was to be withoutelectric for 2-3 days, I feel ashamed now. After these current stories, maybewe'll see McCain walk around the French Quarter and say how wonderful everythingis going.

Kissinger doesn't Believe Victory in Iraq is Possible (Nov 2006)

This is older news, but I believe it is relevant considering thatthe  majority of the people feel the same way, along with the recent news reported thatthe RepublicansMay Pull Plug on the War by September . Who has to say whatfor this administration to understand the Iraq War has become a failure?

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in an interview in Nov 2006 toldthe British Broadcasting Corp. he doesn't believe victory in Iraq ispossible.

TheWashington Post Reported it.

"If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can beestablished and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civilwar under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that thepolitical processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that ispossible,"

Liberated, Right Into Refugee Camps

Until you hear the stories from the people living in a warzone, it's hard to imagine what that life would be like.  So far we havefailed in truly liberating the Iraqi people. PresidentBush read us a few lines of an Iraqi blog that has received some less thanfavorable reviews. Here are some excerpts from the Iraqi blog Treasureof Baghdad.

"TheDay of Your Liberation is Near" Bush Said Three Years Ago (click to read full story)

The day was Monday 17, time was 10 p.m., but the year was 2003. Sitting closeto the radio, I was listening to the news on the BBC. Silence filled the room.My mother and sister were like me, concentrating on every word. Most of the newswas about the coming war, later called “Operation Iraqi Freedom”.

For us, war means a lot. Destruction, killings, more suffering and sorrow.The war with Iran, Gulf war and its aftermath uprsing caused a lot of pain and anegative image of the west and east inside Iraqis’ hearts.

"Theykilled us. They displaced us." (click to read full story)

On the eve of the US-led invasion to Iraq, my aunt and I were standing in front of the metal, dark-blue kitchen doorfacing the garden. We stood there after the last drive I did in Baghdad with myfriend M. As we stood together, she sighed and said, “We’ll be likePalestinians one day and say ‘They killed us. They displaced us.’” Ikept wondering if what she said would happen. I knew that the situation in Iraq is completely different although Saddam kept saying “Iraq and Palestine are one case.”

Refugee camps? What a disgrace to the Iraqigovernment. Is that what people were waiting to get out of this democracy? Ishumiliation and displacement is the reward of those who sacrificed themselves tovote in the elections? Is that how you build the new Iraq? After living in their own houses, having jobs and businesses, and sendingtheir children to schools. After living in their country with their pride. Nowthey will be sent to refugee camps?!! And not only this? The Jarab Arabs don’twant these camps to be on their lands! Huh! Where are these officials? Won’tthey say something? Oh! They will. They will thank the International Communityfor their kindness.

After reading these two stories, it's evenharder to listen to the pro-war minority tell us how great this is for the Iraqipeople. Maybe it looked good on paper, but at this point our governmentshould start being honest with themselves and realize the war just isn'tworking. It's time for plan "E" (I think we're up to E by now)

DeLay blames media for '06 GOP losses

Yes, the 2006 election happened four months ago.  But it seems like just yesterday when millions of Americans kept pressing refresh to see the latest results from the Senate race in Virginia. 

Even though it is beyond time to move on, it is amusing to hear some of the excuses that Republicans are making for their election losses.  For example, in Tom DeLay's new book, the corrupt former lawmaker blamed -- you guessed it -- the media:

“I would suggest that Republicans lost because they did not communicate their message and their victorieswith enough strength to overcome short-term, media-fed issues thatarose right before the election,” Mr. DeLay writes in the book, “NoRetreat, No Surrender” (Sentinel), referring in part to theCongressional page scandal.

So the Mark Foley page scandal was a media fabrication?  Was the Iraq war a media fabrication as well?  How about Katrina?

Will these guys ever take responsibility for their own actions?

Specter ticked at Bush

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) is really taking his party's election loss personally.  Like many others, he questions why President Bush did not fire Donald Rumsfeld one day before the vote, as opposed to one day after?:

"If Rumsfeld had been out, you bet it would have made a difference," Sen. Arlen Specter  (R-Pa.) said on television. "I'd still be chairman of the Judiciary Committee."

It is still inconclusive as to whether firing Rumsfeld before the vote would have made any difference in the Virginia or Missouri Senate races.  But if you were in Specter's shoes, wouldn't you be mad too?  He lost his chairmanship position of one of the most powerful committees in all of Congress.

Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) now takes over as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

What Phil Giordano and Ned Lamont have in common

By the stroke of luck or something more than just that, Connecticut Senate challenger Ned Lamont finished with exactly the same number of votes as Lieberman's Republican challenger in 2000.  Both 2006 Democratic Senate candidate Ned Lamont and 2000 Republican Senate candidate Phil Giordano had a total of 448,077 votes.  Except this time Lieberman finished with more than 250,000 votes less than the amount he received in 2000.

Turnout in Connecticut was lower in 2006 than in 2000.  This year, 1,131,692 people voted in the Senate race.  In 2000, 1,311,261 contributed to the results in the Senate race.  Turnout in 2006 was still very high, especially considering that it was a non-presidential year.

Dead Democratic candidate in SD beats Republican

You think the anti-Republican sentiment is not felt in every pocket of the country?  Try this on for size:

Marie Steichen died two months ago but she won a battle to become acounty commissioner for a small South Dakota town in the US elections,an official said.

Jerauld county auditor Cindy Peterson said that the election listclosed on August 1, and while Steichen died from cancer in Septemberher name was kept on the list for Tuesday's election.

Steichen beat a Republican rival by 100 votes to 64 and Peterson saidshe believed that voters knew the woman was dead but wanted to maketheir political point.

This is analogous to what happened in November of 2000 when John Ashcroft lost to Mel Carnahan for Missouri's Senate seat.  Carnahan died about two weeks before the vote.  Ashcroft went on to become Bush's Attorney General.

WA-08: Burner doesn't give up hope

I know the election is old news to many of you.  But there is still one race left to be decided.  In Washington state's 8th District, only 63% of the ballots have been counted.  Democrat Darcy Burner trails incumbent Republican Dave Reichert by 3,120 votes.  This race is far from over.

According to Zach Silk, Burner's campaign manager, it is not their goal to stretch this out into a long court battle:

"In no way do we want to drag this out," he said. "If the numbers bear it out, we may make that decision."

Mike Britt, Reichert's campaign manager, said he had talked with GOPlawyers about the possibility of a recount, but the campaign had notbegun fundraising.

Burner still thinks she has a shot to win.  About 50,000 more absentee ballots that still have not been counted are from King County, an area that is more progressive than rural Pierce County.

WA-08 is just one of eight races nationwide that are still undecided.

The polls were right after all

As the web site Pollster.com shows, the pre-election polls turned out to be almost exactly right.  The web site took the average of the five last polls of each Senate race and compared them to the actual results:

The next time you hear someone say that the polls are always wrong, cite this example.