Rolling politics thread...

by **Disco Stu** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 05:52:02

Warszawa wrote:Wondering about 2 things:

First, with Iraq being so far gone now that its only a matter of time before the US withdrawals troops in defeat, why doesn't anyone take the idea of partitioning the country into 3 zones seriously? It would appear that there would be at least a chance of that working as opposed to the definite chaos that will continue otherwise.

You could get a Palastinian type of response from certain groups. There will always be an area where people are forced to leave and other areas which are better to live in.

by **drsmooth** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:11:33

US withdrawal from Iraq will make our Vietnam skedaddle look positively clean & sober

Sealing Bushco's hold on title of worst.admin.ever

Arguably not his fault (hey, he just takes orders), but its prelude, if not its execution, is on his watch

by **Wizlah** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:18:56

Disco Stu wrote:
Warszawa wrote:Wondering about 2 things:

First, with Iraq being so far gone now that its only a matter of time before the US withdrawals troops in defeat, why doesn't anyone take the idea of partitioning the country into 3 zones seriously? It would appear that there would be at least a chance of that working as opposed to the definite chaos that will continue otherwise.

You could get a Palastinian type of response from certain groups. There will always be an area where people are forced to leave and other areas which are better to live in.

another good reference point for well-intentioned but ultimately horrendous consequences of this kind of solution would be the creation of pakistan and independence of India all done in one fell swoop.

by **dajafi** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:36:35

drsmooth wrote:US withdrawal from Iraq will make our Vietnam skedaddle look positively clean & sober

Sealing Bushco's hold on title of worst.admin.ever

Arguably not his fault (hey, he just takes orders), but its prelude, if not its execution, is on his watch

My big concern is that they make sure the Iraqis who did help us are relocated to the US. We did a fairly good job of that in the Vietnam endgame, but then there was planning and lead time.

The problem here is that the Bushistas see planning for worst-case scenarios as something for limp-wristed appeasers; since such a step would constitute recognition of the possibility of "failure" (never mind that I'm still not sure what would constitute "success" in Iraq), they haven't done it, and so the people who have risked the most and arguably suffered the most in our invasion/occupation/counterinsurgency are all too likely to literally get it in the neck when we split.

We are out of good options in Iraq. Slow but steady drawdown--a reverse surge that increases the pressure on what civil authority there is--strikes me as the best way to proceed. The Biden partition/federation idea probably makes sense as well.

by **kimbatiste** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 10:53:46

Wow, Lindsey Graham and Jim Webb really got into on Meet the Press.

I really like Jim Webb quite a bit and would love to see the Democrats put him out front and center as their spokesman on Iraq.

by **Stay_Disappointed** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:59:21

kimbatiste wrote:Wow, Lindsey Graham and Jim Webb really got into on Meet the Press.

I really like Jim Webb quite a bit and would love to see the Democrats put him out front and center as their spokesman on Iraq.

Lindsey Graham seems to be living in a fantasy world.

by **dajafi** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 12:05:55

Warszawa wrote:
kimbatiste wrote:Wow, Lindsey Graham and Jim Webb really got into on Meet the Press.

I really like Jim Webb quite a bit and would love to see the Democrats put him out front and center as their spokesman on Iraq.

Lindsey Graham seems to be living in a fantasy world.

It was interesting to watch Graham recite the talking points with the robotic discipline of an Ari Fleischer, while Webb tried to actually talk about what was happening.

Webb might be my favorite national politician right now, though I do worry he's just completely going to lose it in situations like that and rip his opponent's windpipe out of his neck.

by **kimbatiste** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 13:35:10

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/07/16/wear ... index.html

Came across this story today. I think it is a fantastic idea aside from the obvious reason of helping the troops do their job more productively.

I love it for 2 reasons.

1. It seems a much smarter way to use government money than no bid contracts and paying for systems that never work

2. It challenges and inspires U.S. ingenuity and research something that used to be our backbone.

by **dajafi** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 20:42:37

President George W. Dangerfield

by **dajafi** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 17:07:30

This joke all but writes itself:

CNN: "President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday, and will transfer power to Vice President Dick Cheney during the procedure, expected to take about two and a half hours."

by **pacino** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 17:40:29

dajafi wrote:This joke all but writes itself:

CNN: "President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday, and will transfer power retroactively for about 6 years to Vice President Dick Cheney during the procedure, expected to take about two and a half hours."

by **jemagee** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 17:42:04

Thanks for proving the 'all but' portion Pacino...kind of you

by **Phan In Phlorida** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 01:14:53

dajafi wrote:This joke all but writes itself:

CNN: "President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday, and will transfer power to Vice President Dick Cheney during the procedure, expected to take about two and a half hours."

So basically, Cheney will be prez... just like it's been since 2001, 'cept not clandestine.

by **dajafi** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 15:09:31

You knew Malkin was an idiot, but... wow

by **kimbatiste** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 16:13:41

Wow, the level of her stupidity is indeed staggering. Always a nice start to an interview where you first question is "how could you possibly disagree with such common sense?" Is no one at Foxnews intelligent enough to realize that it is probably not the praying Imams is probably not the best support for your argument. This idiot is sitting there indignant that you wouldn't want someone to hesitate in the future reporting on that kind of activity. Given that the Imams weren't doing anything wrong, I think it is something of a self-defeating argument. By the way, the argument is ridiculous because the amendment is barely different from the current law.

by **dajafi** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 16:23:51

kimbatiste wrote:Wow, the level of her stupidity is indeed staggering. Always a nice start to an interview where you first question is "how could you possibly disagree with such common sense?" Is no one at Foxnews intelligent enough to realize that it is probably not the praying Imams is probably not the best support for your argument. This idiot is sitting there indignant that you wouldn't want someone to hesitate in the future reporting on that kind of activity. Given that the Imams weren't doing anything wrong, I think it is something of a self-defeating argument. By the way, the argument is ridiculous because the amendment is barely different from the current law.

I was waiting for the other woman to ask whether an Arab passenger would have the right to complain about some loudly shouting Christianists on a plane, speaking in tongues and rolling around in the aisles.

by **Disco Stu** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 02:10:56

dajafi wrote:You knew Malkin was an idiot, but... wow

Wow, dajafi is a newhounds.org reader? And you say you think you are independent.

by **Goomeister** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 04:25:32

pacino wrote:
dajafi wrote:This joke all but writes itself:

CNN: "President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday, and will transfer power retroactively for about 6 years to Vice President Dick Cheney during the procedure, expected to take about two and a half hours."

Bush is lucky. My lousy HMO wouldn't pay for a full-blown colonoscopy. I had to settle for a painful "semicolonoscopy." In order to get images of my colon, they inserted a camera into my anus. That wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the tripod.

by **Wizlah** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 08:43:55

In the midst of gloom and misery about ill-judged occupations, botched withdrawal, ineffective peace-keeping in support of non-existent political reconciliation (etc etc) I'd like to post the following link.

The British Army are 17 days from completing the withdrawal of the vast majority of their troops from Northern Ireland. Coupled with the recent agreement on power-sharing between Sinn Fein and the Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party, that's pretty much the end of almost 40 years of military occupation and peacekeeping (we'll skip over the dodgier elements of the latter for now).

At least the populace of one small part of the world isn't shooting at each other anymore.

by **dajafi** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:31:42

Disco Stu wrote:
dajafi wrote:You knew Malkin was an idiot, but... wow

Wow, dajafi is a newhounds.org reader? And you say you think you are independent.

I saw it linked from The Rude Pundit. What is newshounds.org?

And I'm only an "independent" in that I think the Democrats are more than occasionally self-serving, venal, short-sighted, etc. I'm partisan, but hopefully not blindly so, and principles come far ahead of party.

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