Republican Reality

Thursday is the 2,117th day since 9/11 and the man who ordered the massacre is still at large.

"It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."
— Mitt Romney, in an interview with the Associated Press, saying that the country's safety would not benefit significantly from catching Osama Bin Laden.

"I want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'"
— George W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI

"But bin Laden has been a top priority for us from the very beginning, he continues to be a top priority today. That hasn’t changed."
— Dick Cheney, 9/10/06, Meet the Press

“Nothing,”
— George W. Bush, responding to Cox News reporter Ken Herman's asking what Iraq had to do with 9/11, August 21, 2006

"we will not rest until we find him"

Today is the 2,111th day since 9/11 and the man who ordered the massacre is still at large.

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
- G.W. Bush, 9/13/01

Where's Osama?

Today is the 2,110th day since 9/11 and the man who ordered the massacre is still at large.

A New Slogan

Jonathon Alter has an interesting column in the June 25th issue of Newsweek. The premise is finding a slogan which will explain Democrats' plan for withdrawal from Iraq "without looking like surrender monkeys."
Alter notes that Congressional Democrats want to get out of Iraq and get tough on Al Qaeda at the same time, but that message isn't getting through. He has a suggestion:

Now, Democrats should embrace what I like to call "pull and strike"—pull forces from the streets of Baghdad, but strike hard at Qaeda positions in the Sunni areas and in Afghanistan, mostly from air bases outside Iraq. In other words, saying no to the folly of intervening in a civil war between Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites isn't enough. Critics must also say yes—loudly—to calling in airstrikes on foreign fighters, who are increasingly being identified by friendly local sheiks determined to chase them out of their country.

The idea behind pull and strike isn't new, but its predecessor catchphrase—"strategic redeployment"—lacked a certain muscular quality and never caught on. Whatever it's called, the logic is clear. Pinpointing the whereabouts of Qaeda strongholds requires beefed-up intelligence, which has little to do with the large-scale presence of American ground forces. In fact, when we leave, and remove a major source of irritation, intelligence on the true terrorists will likely get better.

I like Alter's idea. To me, there is no question that we must remove our military from Iraq. We cannot win the civil war taking place there. But we also must deal with the terrorist threat from al Qaeda. Certainly the Iraqis no more want al Qaeda in country than they want the U.S. military.

Alter also notes that Democrats must deal with their forgeting to bring up Al Qaeda and bin Laden when they talk to voters. Every time one of Bush's minions mentions 9/11 Democrats must respond by reminding voters the man behind 9/11 remains at large because Bush stopped looking for him. Every time a Republican says war critics are forgetting what happened on 9/11 we need to respond by pointing out it is Republicans who have forgotten who was responsible for 9/11 and ask why bin Laden is still at large. Reporters need to be reminded of this, as well.

Alter's last two grafs are also notable:

To get a sense of how inept Democrats are at framing the debate, imagine if 9/11 had occurred under a Democratic president. You can bet that Republicans would go on the floor of Congress (and on cable TV) and say, "This is day 2,110 since 9/11 and the man who ordered the massacre is still at large." The next day, they would say it again, and again the day after that.

Whether Democrats call it pull and strike or something else, they've got to better communicate the two-pronged nature of their approach. This isn't about sloganeering. It's about clearly and memorably conveying the complex truth that leaving Iraq is not enough.

Keith Olberman reminds us each evening how many days have passed since "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. It's time we all start reminding the American people how many days have passed "since 9/11 and the man who ordered the massacre is still at large."

Today is the 2,109th day since 9/11 and the man who ordered the massacre is still at large.

[cross posted at Watching Those We Chose]

What Blue Girl, Red State Said

Welcome to America, 2.0

This has been another edition of What Blue Girl, Red State Said.

"Please let thar be uh bottle uh Jack in muh room"

AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

"So is the little lady here ennuh good in bed?"

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

"Yo! Ennuhbuddy here habahlo englese?"

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

President Bush spoke Thursday at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast.

"Ima Fiscally Responsuhble Preznet"

REUTERS/Jim Young

"For months, I've warned the Democrats in Congress that I will not accept an irresponsible tax-and-spend budget." I pruhfur a no-tax-and-spend budget, along with billions in supplementals tuh fund muh war. Heheheheheh.

NASA Seeks Help with Space Station

Baffled by the failure of all six main control computers on the international space station's Russian segment, NASA enginners call the Elite Task Force for help.

The Assemblies of God Does Reefer?

Who knew?


This sign is in front of Praise Assembly of God, 3535 N. Glenstone Ave. in Springfield, Missouri.

But God Created Sex, Didn't She?

A "sex scandal" hits the Creation Museum in Kentucky:

The man who plays Adam in a video aired at a Bible-based creationist museum has led a different life outside the Garden of Eden, flaunting his sexual exploits online and modeling for a clothing line that promotes free love.

[snip]

The actor, Eric Linden, owns a graphic Web site called Bedroom Acrobat, where he has been pictured, smiling alongside a drag queen, in a T-shirt brandishing the site's sexually suggestive logo. The Web site, which has a network of members, allows users to post explicit stories and photos.

He also sells clothing for SFX International, whose initials appear on clothing to spell "SEX" from afar. It promotes "free love,""pleasure" and "thrillz."

Linden, a graphic designer, model and actor who grew up in Columbus, said he is no longer affiliated with the Bedroom Acrobat site, and had handed the domain name off to somebody. Ownership records available through the NetworkSolutions database show Linden registered the site 18 months ago.

He also said he no longer posts to the site.

Linden said he is very proud to play Adam. "But just because I'm Adam on the screen, that doesn't mean I'm Adam off the screen," he said. "What I do shouldn't have anything to do with who they think Adam is."

[snip]

The museum pulled the clip after learning about his online activities from The Associated Press.

Linden, who now lives in Los Angeles, said his modeling work for the clothing line is just one of the many jobs that make up his career. He said he has great respect for the founders of the Creation Museum and their vision.

"For the Creation Museum, I did what I did as an actor. It doesn't necessarily mean I believe in evolution or a believe in creation," Linden said. "I'm hired to get a point across. On the flip side, if I was hired to play a murderer, that doesn't mean I'd go out and kill somebody. It's make-believe."

I'd think all those creationists would be quite happy with this. Heck, it fits right in with the story line of Adam and Eve being driven from Eden. Why are religious fanatics so uptight about sex?

Another "AAAAAAAAGGGHHHH" Moment

The News-Leader does it again!

Professor awarded two grants for more than $40,000
Dr. Lynn Robbins, professor of biology, was awarded two grants for more than $40,000 from Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. to determine the presence or absence of Indiana bats in specific areas of northern Missouri.

The projects will determine the presence of the endangered bats and the species composition of other bat species on a site that is under consideration for the construction of wind generated electric turbines.

“The firm representing the power company is working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a pro-active manner to determine if there would be any adverse consequences to wildlife if the project is to move ahead,” Robbins said. “My part is to use nets and ultrasonic detectors (Bat Detectors) to look at the presence and abundance of all bat species in the area.”

Anyone notice anything missing? Anyone?

At which college or university is Dr. Lynn Robbins a professor of biology? It's not like there's only one in Springfield. I'm certain the news release from which this was copied included the name of that institution of higher learning.

Was there truly a need to post this to the Web under "Latest News Updates" without this highly relevant bit of information? Could it not have waited until Friday morning?

"And oh, what heights we'll hit!"

"On with the show, this is it!"
(with apologies to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck)

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts