Republican Party Goes to the Dogs

My Republican party sympathy began to diminish with Gerald Ford. Not because Richard Nixon was evil or that Ford was a lost soul, but on my working level at the Department of Defense it was obvious that Hopeless Henry Kissinger was cynically driving the US into the arms of Israel at a major cost to US national interests. To my vexation, Kissinger is back now holding GW Bush's hand with disastrous consequences; Kissinger has got to be a Republican curse. The Democrats have enough sense to ignore him.

Jimmy Carter, bless his soul, defused and reversed the Middle East situation with his Camp David accords; he jerked the US back to the role as an honest broker. Since then, with the help of Clinton, Reagan, and the Bushes, the US again is an Israeli lap dog. And for this, it pays a high price.

Carter with his recent book, PALESTINE PEACE NOT APARTHEID, still carries his torch for even handedness by the US in the Middle East negotiations. As a result, the pro-Likud Israeli and American Jews fly into a rage even over the mention of his name. Carter's cohorts in the accord, Rabin and Sadat, were killed by their own people. Arafat mysteriously died with toothache in his heel – one day we hope the French will release their autopsy findings.

Reagan's recruitment by the Israelis was particularly egregious. His first big mistake was to acquiesce in Begin's incorporation of the Golan Heights into the Greater Israel – that was a big difference from just occupation. As a result, Sunni Syria became an implacable Israeli enemy and was driven into cooperation with Shiite Iran. Since then, Iranian Hetzbollah has become a security threat to Israel from their Lebanese bases. To support Israel, the Gipper stationed Marines in Beirut to protect Lebanese Christian militias allied with Israel – even Bomb Bomb McCain at his more lucid time argued against it. Marines were slaughtered by a terrorist bomb and the US withdrew. Reagan squandered his good will with Iran after the American hostage release and the Iran Contra affair. But it was the Bush father and son team who were the midwives to the modern terrorists.

Papa Bush politically was on the ropes with raising taxes after he promised solemnly he would not. He invaded Kuwait that boosted his poll numbers to over 80% approval. This was short lived. Whether the world bought oil from the tyrant Kuwait Sheiks or Saddam made no sense ideologically. Daddy wanted to control the price of oil. To be saved, Kuwait Sheiks promised him oil priced under OPEC prices – it worked for a while as the US came to rescue. At no time did Saddam threaten the Saudis until after the war began.

As a result of the Gulf War, the US stationed troops in Saudi Arabia and the times of troubles for the US begins with terrorists. Two US embassies were attacked in Africa and USS Cole and Khobar towers were struck. Bin Laden's 9/11 attack like his others were based on his fury over infidels stationed on Saudi soil. All these attacks were bloody, inflicting death and destruction.

Clinton inherited the Iraq no-fly-zone and the Bush's guilt for not supporting the Iraqi Shiites after calling them to insurrection after the Gulf War. Clinton responded to terror attacks with cruise missile strikes in the Sudan that hit the wrong targets and on Bin Laden camps in Afghanistan that hit the target, but caused minor damage. In the case of Afghanistan, unexploded cruise missiles were sold to the Chinese by the terrorists to further fund their operations.

GW Bush's term has fed terrorism with his invasion of Iraq that is still intrain at over 12 billion a month. He used 9/11 as pretext to invade Iraq that had no culpability in the attack on US soil. This tragic destructive war will continue until Bush is out of office. His latest ploy was to extend it by advertising the success of the Surge – a surge that failed to bring political settlement and freezes US troops; traps them in country at around 140,000.

Saveus Petraeus cautiously will admit to only a fragile military success. He has been promoted to command CENTCOM. Perhaps in this new billet he can catch Bin Laden and stop the growth of the Taliban, missions that GW Bush so badly bungled. US still has not achieved anything near an endstate in Iraq as Iraq and US goals fail to mesh.

US invasion and continued occupation of Iraq, the focus on Iraq at the cost of resounding failures in Afghanistan, and the stationing of US forces in Saudi Arabia are all linked to an effort to provide security to Israel by keeping US troops in the middle east – my issue is not with Israel, but with foolish US policy makers who willingly sacrifice US interests for little in return. And Bush, with his pro-Israeli neocons, has taken the US into the abyss. Even bin Laden has now morphed into the defender of Arabs against Israel – that has happened since 9/11. This complicates the battle against terrorism even more. There are more terrorists who hate Israel than the US. But give this proposition more time to intensify, and if it happens under Bomb Bomb McCain's neocon rule, the US will enjoy the same hatred.

If you think the Republicans botched foreign affairs, take a look at their economics.

There is no question that the deficit caused by the Iraqi war is a part of the current US economic woes. The same people who brought you the pointless, disastrous Iraq war are bringing you the bail out. There is a déjà vu, bums rush involved here as there was in the march to war in Iraq.

This last weekend I watched every talking head on TV possible. Not one appeared fully to understand the problem, let alone a solution. It is ironic that the US government ownership of private enterprise, one means of production, a Socialist move, comes riding in on the back of the free enterprise Republican Party. What a bunch of hypocrites. Call them dogs; its okay with me. Their wall street buddies will put the lipstick on them and call them heros.

About the only talking head who seemed to have any integrity was Ron Paul and he was about to cut his own wrists over the problem. I agreed; I would sooner risk riding out the situation, take the hits, than believe these Administration and congressional incompetents will help the average American. Expect just a variation of the tax cut for the rich that never trickles down.

By the time the bail out gets finished by spiking more inflation of the dollar, you will not be able to buy a bus ticket with your social security check. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA ret.

Snow Maiden Begins to Melt – Sarah Palin

About the only way to judge Sarah Palin as Bomb Bomb McCain's VEEP is whether the lady is ready to take over the presidency. You do that by considering her intellect, experience, health, temperament and ability to function rationally under stress. Her first test, a foray into an unscripted world of national-level question and answer was her recent televised interview with ABC journalist Charles Gibson. The fact that she stumbled badly was driven home by the sisterhood who pathetically claimed that Charlie talked down to her. At this point it is clear sister Sarah is not a budding Margaret Thatcher, Golda Mier or even a simpering Peggy Noonan.

Look, after GW Bush’s father picked Dan Quayle and GW Bush selected Cheney, you come to understand the wide range of factors that go into the VEEP selection process. These two models demonstrate that contrast in the selection requirements. GHWBush, who was not the swiftest on his feet, wanted no competition, so he selected a golfer who could not spell. GW Bush who also was not so swift on his feet, desperately needed someone to think for him, selected a dynamic pistolero Cheney. In both cases the Bush presidencies were doomed. The fault lies in the Bushes, not in their VEEPs. Their legacies are READ MY LIPS, NO NEW TAXES and MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

At this early stage, it can be concluded that Bomb Bomb's selection of the lady from the Tundra has galvanized the evangelical base of the Republican party. Religious fervor will fuel contributions to the Republican campaign and stimulate votes by those who now regard the campaign as a religious crusade. By the same token it should scare the hell out of those voters who detest the GW Bush's GOD IS MY COPILOT rational for an elective preemptive war.

It is apparent Pentecostal Sarah will sharpen the division between urban and rural, secular and non-secular, Church and State and Sunday Church and Sunday Brunch. All this will be enhanced by speaking in tongues and faith healing. There has to be a point when religion becomes a mental illness.

Ms. Palin's abysmal, recent prime time interview should test the judgment of any intelligent voter; that is especially if you consider her in a possible presidential role. Problem is that those voters who qualified as intelligent are more difficult to find than an honest man. M. Dowd, NYTimes columnist coined the phrase positive power of unthinking. Otherwise, how could the two Bushes ever been elected as president? The next national interview of the governor from Alaska will be by Shawn Hannity from FOX NEWs. Let us see if she scores higher, for she is certain to have the questions as well as the answers well in advance. Expect a commercial rather than an interview.

White Fang Palin's vicious practice of shooting wolves from an aircraft has become a metaphor for the whole slash and burn Republican campaign. This disgusting , barbaric slaughter was declared illegal in the lower 48 in 1975, but hangs on in McCain/Palin's Alaska. Bomb Bomb, when asked about his mud-slinging campaign practices, said campaigns are a rough business.

Obama has finally learned playing Mahatma Gandhi in the campaign results in getting his ass kicked. Turning the other cheek is to hear in Sunday sermons, but is not a guide to action in a national election. By now he may have even learned to use logic only as a last resort.

Obama cut his political teeth in Chicago where the gritty Daly machine holds sway – if Obama decides to let those Irishmen loose on Bomb Bomb, all hell will break loose and not even McCain's honor will be spared – the machine will make the rules and rip Bomb Bomb's thin skin to the bone.

By now Palin's apologists should have a sinking feeling as the snow maiden melts down. Her national performance with Gibson was amateur hour. She has problems with her bridge to nowhere; her falsification of issues on her cook, selling airplanes on E-bay, pipe line funding, rape kits and her per diem all stink; all are sleazy and undermine her pistol-packing image. The fact that her husband and several of her staffers have been subpoenaed by state investigators hints at putting her in legal jeopardy for abuse of power. As with the Clintons, with her and her husband, you get two for one.

Further, the lady, same as GW Bush, has serious problems keeping religious and state affairs separate. But what the hell, 61% of the US believes in Noah's Ark, talking snakes and burning bushes, so you understand why it believes in the greatest miracle of all: the Republican working and middle-class will be not exploited by big business. Check your job, health care, mortgage, price of gas and milk before you vote next time.

If Obama's attacks on Bomb Bomb fail, the Chicago gang will suddenly discover some ancient stone tablets in the Sinai desert chiseled in Aramaic; when translated they will read JESUS CHRIST IS BLACK. And, the religious right will go berserk. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA ret

Putting his Country 2nd – John McCain

The Republican Convention settled one issue: Bomb Bomb McCain puts his country second. His dubious military record as a POW and his addiction to lobbyists in his current campaign with his tarnished record in the Keating Five scandal were enough for me to dismiss him as an opportunist long before this recent convention. His cynical selection of Sarah Palin as his VEEP candidate was ultimate proof that he put mindless right-wing support over the interests of the country – he put his country second to please those Christian soldiers, many of whom have a penchant for war as they believe they are guided by their god.

His VEEP selection was so bad that he refuses to have her face questions by the media. According to his campaign management, Ms. Palin, who is unprepared for office, has to be trained by Jerusalem Joe Lieberman before she meets the press. Her world view to date has been formed in the bucolic state of Alaska. Her higher educational background is such that she attended five schools in six years. We wonder if there is enough time for Lieberman to turn her into a neocon tool and Zionist – he certainly is working with a blank slate. Her position on the Israeli Palestine situation is unknown. Her pastor advocates JEWS FOR JESUS, i.e. convert Jews to Christianity. Good luck Joe.

Her administrative experience as a small town mayor and governor of Alaska is tarnished by controversy – she appeals to the Holy Roller, Jesus Freak base of the Republican Party – she interprets the bible literally with a God is with us fanaticism which underpins her philosophical outlook. She enjoys an 80% approval rate in Alaska which underscores the provinciality of the state. The local permafrost must extend to the citizens' brains who were chanting robotically at the convention DRILL DRILL DRILL – the petrochemical industry's lobbyists must have fed them double cocktails or potent moonshine made from Arctic berries.

Robert Service who wrote THE CREMATION OF SAM McGEE poetically observed that there are strange things done in the midnight sun... Ms. Palin’s life and times appear to prove that the Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. Her husband was involved with a secessionist political party. Her family situation, having problems with her five children, by most standards is dysfunctional. Apparently there is a national-level shotgun wedding event in the family coming soon. Even the radio wacko, ultraconservatist psychological advisor to the maladjusted, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, has advised her to stay home and take care of her brood.

As governor of Alaska, Ms. Palin faces problems not normally found in the Zone of the Interior: lawlessness in the Eskimo rural settlements, great tension over federal control of large masses on Alaskan land areas to include hunting and fishing rights, and major issues over public or private development of natural resources – she probably is qualified for a job at the US Department of Interior, but president of the US – not even close.

One wag has observed that Ms. Palin was chosen, because she was the only person Bomb Bomb could find who was shorter than he... runt complexes die hard. Another observation, more to the issue, observed that Bomb Bomb had to find a religious freak to pacify the holy roller delegates who populated the Republican convention floor. Secular-leaning McCain was afraid he might be chased from the convention platform. Sarah's views on abortion are so fervid that even rape and incest victims are precluded from ending pregnancies. Some believe that his selection of a woman was done to court Hillary's distressed minions. Only the main-stream media is dumb enough to believe such nonsense; HRC's castrating ladies, who burn their bras, will not vote for an anti-Malthusian baby factory like fecund Sarah.

Palin is a Republican Clarence Thomas for the feminist movement.

Time will tell whether Bomb Bomb will have to dump Sarah as the media brings more damaging facts out on her. It is obvious that Bomb Bomb did not vet her and her selection was an impulsive decision. That impulsiveness has followed Bomb Bomb most of his life. And as such, he is not a person who should control a nuclear trigger. Trusting Bomb Bomb with the presidency is like permitting him to pilot an airplane; odds favor he will crash.

Every time I see Bomb Bomb on TV, he seems more fragile, spastic and pasty. Whether he fills out his four-year term of office is an open question; the appalling fact that an unqualified Eskimo Queen like Palin would ice skate into the presidency upon his death or incapacitation, is a thought more frightening than four more disastrous years of incompetent GW Bush. Colonel Robert Bartos Colonel USA ret

GW Bush Picking Peaches in Georgia

Let us define the two most important Georgias in the world. There is the one in the USA where peaches, pecans and sweet Vidalia onions grow – the other one is in the Caucasus where the red wine Mukuzani and the the white wine Tsinandali are produced; these wines were used by Russians as chasers for over 200 years to wash down water glasses filled with vodka. To avoid confusing these two political entities, I will use the Russian word Gruziya for the former Soviet Republic and for this posting, avoid the mention of Newt Gingrich's home state.

Bomb Bomb McCain told all Americans to be Gruziyans in sympathy with the invasion of GRUZIYA by Russians. He wanted the Americans desperately to support the Gruziyan people in a knee jerk, follow the flag catharsis. Folks, before you jump on his bandwagon, you might want to know some facts that the main stream media has failed to pass on to you.

GW Bush, who has oil on the brain, has yearned to involve the US in post Soviet Gruziya, mainly because of an oil pipe line and rail tank car transport from Central Asia to the Black Sea; he succeeded and built a complex pipe line called the CEHYAN pipe line. Israel owns a portion of this pipe line. Further there was a large Jewish ex-Gruziyan émigré population in Israel. The Gruziyan prime mister Gugenidze was a Jew who even spoke Hebrew. There were also other Jews in the high level of the Gruziyan government who worked the Tel Aviv/Tibilisi axis with alacrity.

Israel sent nearly 1000 military experts to train the Gruziyan troops. These were non-governmental, somewhat like Blackwater pistoleros in US occupied Iraq. Using US grant money, they provided small arms, ammo, commo equipment, automatic tank turrets, drone aircraft, AAA equipment and training for the Gruziyan army – much of which was commando-type training. An ex-Israeli Defense Force brigadier general named Gel Hirsch was put in charge of the Israeli effort. Hirsch's claim to shame is that he screwed up the Israeli operation against Hetzbollah in the latest war in Lebanon.

On July 4, 2006 GWBush signed an agreement with Israel that the Israelis could use the two airfields in southern Gruziya to launch attacks against Iran; air attack would have come from the north where Iranian air defenses are thin. Russians have now provided modern SA 300 air defense systems to Iran; during their recent operations in Gruziya the Russians bombed the hell out of these two airfields.

In addition the Russians captured massive amounts of Israeli/US stocks of war booty. Most important were the Hermes 450 spy drones with its radio control equipment. (Inadvertent technology transfer, you might call it.) Doubt these systems will continue to fly over southern Russia now. Some experts believe that the Russian attack set back US/Israeli operations 10 years; US defense officials at the Pentagon are reportedly sick over the debacle.

There is some question regarding who is charge in Gruziya. Its inept leader Saakashivili was at a fat farm in Italy when the Gruziyans launched their misguided attack on South Ossetia. The whole thing is foolish enough to be an Israeli over-the-top inspired operation, much like their recent bombing and incursion into Lebanon. The Israelis, in this case, certainly had an opportunity with a US "amen" cohort at its side. The Gruziyan attack on South Ossetia had the opposite of its intent. South Ossetia and Abakazia are now officially autonomous regions under Russian protection. And Russia has not finished in the region.

By now Condoleezza, Bomb Bomb McCain, his wife Cindy, VEEP Cheney, Blowhard Senator Biden, EU, and UN representatives have visited the stricken nation; scores of US officials arrived sending humanitarian aid to compensate for their blunders. While these folks gnashed their teeth, rended their clothing and pulled out their hair, begging the world for pity, the Russians inexorably moved the political goal posts deeper into Gruziya. No Russian remorse – only glee. The Russians have requested the EU set up a police contingent to monitor a new buffer zone. The 130 US military advisors have not returned to Gruziya; the 2000 Gruziyans have not returned to Iraq. For what happened to 1000 Israeli military technicians, ask Bomb Bomb's stooge Joe Lieberman.

Bomb Bomb McCain's foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann is a fanatical pro-Israeli neocon and also a paid lobbyist for Gruziya – has been paid $700,000 by the Gruziyian government over the years to deliver the US to Gruziyia. With Bomb Bomb's help, he did his job well. That was underscored by Bomb Bomb's and GW Bush's hysterical reaction to the Russian counter invasion. About time US voters realize that Bomb Bomb is a perpetual magnet for turmoil.

So, Mr. and Mrs. America, knowing these facts, if you want to jump on Bomb Bomb's bandwagon, be my guest. By now you should have concluded that under the Iraqi, Iranian and Gruziyian wood piles, you always find a pro-Israeli neocon and an Israeli. Providing military aid to Israel is like providing money to a drug addict. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret