7 Days

[Nash]

1. Powell speaks his mind:

"I queried Powell at a reception following a talk he gave in Los Angeles on Monday. Pointing out that the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate showed that his State Department had gotten it right on the nonexistent Iraq nuclear threat, I asked why did the president ignore that wisdom in his stated case for the invasion?

"The CIA was pushing the aluminum tube argument heavily and Cheney went with that instead of what our guys wrote," Powell said. And the Niger reference in Bush's State of the Union speech? "That was a big mistake," he said. "It should never have been in the speech. I didn't need Wilson to tell me that there wasn't a Niger connection. He didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. I never believed it."

2. Generals revolt:

The retired commander of key forces in Iraq called yesterday for Donald H. Rumsfeld to step down, joining several other former top military commanders who have harshly criticized the defense secretary's authoritarian style for making the military's job more difficult.

Other retired generals said they think it is unlikely that the denunciations of Rumsfeld and his aides will cease.

3. Weapons of Mass Deception:

On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."

The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true.

4. The War on Easter:

"Last night, Bill O’Reilly invited on Newsweek’s John Meacham to discuss the brewing ‘war on Easter.’

O’REILLY: "Although some left-wingers in the media deny it, we have documented a number of cases where Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter have been attacked by secular interests. Lawsuits and corporate policies have proved this point over and over again.

5. Whoah, Mexico.

Immigrant Bill Fallout May Hurt House GOP
"Yesterday, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) issued a joint statement seeking to deflect blame for the harshest provisions of the House bill toward the Democrats, who they said showed a lack of compassion. "It remains our intent to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony," Hastert and Frist said.

"There was political calculation that they could make this the wedge issue of 2006 and 2008, but it's not playing out that way," said Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.). "This has galvanized and energized the Latino community like no other issue I have seen in two decades, and that's going to have electoral consequences."

6. Why does Newt Gingrich hate America?

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House, told students and faculty at the University of South Dakota Monday that the United States should pull out of Iraq and leave a small force there, just as it did post-war in Korea and Germany.

"It was an enormous mistake for us to try to occupy that country after June of 2003," Gingrich said during a question-and-answer session at the school. "We have to pull back, and we have to recognize it."

7. Protect Your Brand.

Conservative activist Grover Norquist is seeking a trademark on "K Street Project," saying Democrats and Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) have wrongfully acquired the term to describe unethical practices that have nothing to do with his organization.

"Some people say Kleenex when they mean tissue," Norquist said. "We will jealously guard the real phrasing the way Kleenex and Coca-Cola do. We will sue anyone who says it wrong and make lots of money."

8. Drip, drip drip...

A senior administration official confirmed for the first time on Sunday that President Bush had ordered the declassification of parts of a prewar intelligence report on Iraq in an effort to rebut critics who said the administration had exaggerated the nuclear threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

Confirmation that Mr. Bush ordered the declassification was published late Saturday by The Associated Press, which quoted "an attorney knowledgeable about the case." Once it appeared, the administration official was willing to confirm its details.

9. Mission Accomplished:

36 soldiers dead over the last 12 days.

10. Because I'm free.... free fallin'

Bush at 36%. "These numbers are scary. We've lost every advantage we've ever had," GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio said.

11. Fire me.

"I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action." - Bush

"Court papers filed late Wednesday night by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, in the perjury case of former White House official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, implicate Bush as knowing about efforts to disseminate sensitive information - and also as orchestrating them."

You want to know what gets me irked? It's the above. It's the last 7 days, and the 7 days before that, and the 7 days in front of us.... extending as far in both directions as the eye can see.

[DiabloTX]

This may seem selfish but so be it.  This is way I don't overly concern myself with politics anymore.  It was fun when I was much younger.  But looking at the big picture going back over 2,000 years it's not really that much different nor will it change in the foreseeable future.  The Internet sure has sped up information dissemination but when you get right down to it it's really status quo.

[Nash]

"I think that hope reflects the state of our soul rather than the circumstances that surround our lives. So hope is not the equivalent of optimism. Its opposite is not pessimism but despair. So I'm always hopeful. Hope is about keeping the faith despite the evidence so that the evidence has a chance of changing.

Hope criticizes what is, hopelessness rationalizes it. Hope resists, hopelessness adapts."

Rev. William Sloane Coffin, (June 1, 1924 - April 12, 2006)

[DiabloTX]

That's what I admire about you Nash, your sleeve has everything on it for all to see. <-----definitely not a non-sequitur.

[J_A_B]

You want bad approval ratings?  Check out my state's Governor, Bob Taft.  This guy positively makes Bush look good by comparison.   The moral of the story, Nash, is that no matter how bad you think it is--it could be worse.


J_A_B

[VOR]

Nash, go fishing or something. Find something to enjoy and be happy about.

[Debonair]

...12. Butterfingered Gun Shoots Self In Own Foot

"For how we played tonight -- the 19 turnovers -- to still be in the game for the last shot, we couldn't have asked for more, you know, a better opportunity to win the game" said Arenas, who finished with 25 points on 9-of-22 shooting but also had six turnovers. "I was just careless with the pump fake and T.J. Ford snatched the ball from me."

[Hangtime]

I'm with Nash on this...  the snowball situation has degraded into an avalanche. I can't recall when I've been so damn disgusted with politics, politicians, society, religion, nationalisim and government.

I was thinking I'm just nuts.

Now I'm thinking that Nash and I are both nuts. And since Nash and I often wind up at opposite ends of the ping pong table of ideas and meanings I'm again disconcerted. We'd no doubt disagree on cause and cure.. but I gotta agree that the 'crazy years' have indeed begun.

And I'm looking around at all the heads in the sand... all I see is bellybutton holes and elbows... and some of 'em are wondering why Nash is NOT burying his head in the sand.

I'm not sticking my head in the sand either, Nash. I have cats. I know what they do to sandboxes.

[lazs2]

There is one difference hang.... Nash thinks that more government by the "right" people like say.... oh... last time, it was kerrie...

that more and more government by lefties is allright.  That government is not bad... just government that doesn't lean left.

You and I may both agree with nash on the fact that the current government is not good but....

I think me and you agree that having a liberal democrat running things would be worse.   that is where the rift with nash starts and it only gets wider from there.

so yes... I agree that the government today could be less powerful and has a lot of corruption but...

I thank god that we don't still have the last president still running things or that we don't have any one that nash might pick for us.

I also agree with nash that mean dogs bite but...that's not enough to call him comrade.

lazs

[Sandman]

Newt Gingrich... there's a blast from the past.

Saw him in an interview a month or so ago. I can remember when he seemed like the radical right. Nowadays, he sounds like a moderate. I'm not certain it was Gingrich that changed or the party that moved.

It's a shame he won't run for president. I think I'd vote for him.

[Hangtime]

Originally posted by lazs2


I also agree with nash that mean dogs bite but...that's not enough to call him comrade.

lazs

"Non, Monsouir... thet is NOT my dog."

[BigGun]

No different than 5 years ago, 10 yrs ago & probably no different that 5 years in the future. Sure, the headlines will change, but you can always pull something bad from the news on any given day.

Not called burying head in sand, it is a matter of how individuals choose to preceive. Some people like to look around and constantly see how bad things are. Others might look at each day as opportunity to make it best day ever, each & every day.

[BluKitty]

I'm not a fan of Newt, but at least he's got some sense.


GOP in Danger of Losing Control of Congress, Gingrich Says

"They are seen by the country as being in charge of a government that can't function," he told Knight Ridder editors and reporters in a wide-ranging luncheon interview. "We could lose control this fall."

[EN4CER]

Nash - Trying to dig up some dirt for the 2006 elections? True, I wish there were some better choices. What I really wish for are some Republicans with some balls who still stomp the Democrats (Wishful Thinking – I know). No matter how you size it up the Democrats are simply WEAK!

Weak on Illegal Immigration.

Weak on the War on Terror.

Weak on Homeland Security.

Weak on Social Security Reform.

And the list goes on. I’m pissed at the Republicans too but I will never pull the lever for a Democrat because they are and will always be Weak. It’s in their nature, they can’t help it.

By the way you left out "Hurricane Katrina - It was all Bush's fault."

[john9001]

NASH AND HANG HATE BOOSH.


so  what else is new?