Nobody at the helm

Ship of state tossed on a stormy sea, eh? The Washington Post headline reads: Senators Say Bush Needs to Take Control . That's a little scary, isn't it?

"The president has to be president," Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "That means the president over the vice president, and over these secretaries" of state and defense. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice "cannot carry that burden alone."

Geez, that's all a little scary. Bring me more sand.

Now we get a(nother) new plan for Mid-East peace: the Geneva Accord. Sharon doesn't like it - so why are they wasting their time? I wonder if, in their hearts, these people really believe they're ever going to find a solution. Does anybody really want one?

And how much more like the Israel/Palestine situation can the US/Iraq one get?

The use of suicide bombing in Iraq - the first announced target was the UN in August - signals a clear change of tactics by the growing resistance movement. The US-led coalition forces, frustrated by their inability to control the situation, blame foreign infiltrators for these attacks, emphasising the similarity between these new tactics and those of al-Qaida and other militant groups in the Middle East. Few seem to grasp the fact that Iraqis, who are well-trained militarily, have simply learned from others' experiences, and carried out the attacks themselves.   Inside the Resistance

Speaking of Iraq...

"We don't have the $87 billion that the president needs now. We're probably going to have to borrow it, and we'll probably end up giving it to him, but the American people are going to be very resentful about that," Rockefeller told "Fox News Sunday."

You think? What the smeg is going on? Congress no longer represents the will of the people. (Yeah, I know - where have I been?) 'The People' are simply 'fodder units'. (Here in Missouri, 'the people' voted against carrying concealed weapons. But the legislators, in their superior wisdom, enacted the law anyway. And by the way - la belle soeur informs me that, although I may not carry a concealed weapon into a public meeting, elected officials may. WTF?) Nope. Afraid 'The People' are out of the loop now. And it should comfort us greatly that the 'elected officials' admit that they don't even read important legislation that comes to them for a vote.

I think that when the American people learn, as they did on CNN the other night in the debate, that Howard Dean is for the occupation of Iraq, that he's for spending $87 billion in the next installment, that he's for keeping at least 70,000 American troops there, and that I'm not only in favor of ending the occupation, but stopping the waste of our tax dollars and bringing our troops home, the American people will be aware that they do have a choice. --Dennis Kucinich

Well, if we could get him past Diebold, perhaps.


And, don't forget Bolivia.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.