Pardon my absence. We were visiting family out of town, and the cable modem was down where we were staying. I also got sick halfway through our visit. I was out of commission yesterday as well. But enough about my situation.

Well, once I found out about the cable modem, I kind of put fell into a self-imposed exile from the news. As I surfed the channels, I would occasionally catch a sound bite here or there. One of the funniest things I saw was a discussion on News Hour with Jim Lehrer where they had the typical left/right pundits getting questions from Jim. The guy on the left made a statement saying that they justified the war by saying Saddam had WMD. The guy on the right said something that made me laugh out loud. He said:

"The Iraqi... there was an Iraqi on this program a week ago who said that Saddam was a weapon of mass destruction. And that is the truth because he had these... we know he had them five years ago. And I would just counsel, we're jumping way ahead of ourselves to think that somehow those weapons were not there, are still not there."

Wow!! I couldn't believe he got that all out without laughing himself! To read the whole thing go to Shileds & Brooks. It is nice to know that time really doesn't change things too much. Politicians lie, and those who hitch their wagons to them get too vested in the outcome and start lying right along with them.

I am not sure what to make of polls anymore. I pretty much feel that they are fictional. I believe the numbers are manipulated to push people in a general direction so that the average American will look at them and say, "Well, if most people feel that way then I guess it must be true or right." I hope that is the case. When I look at numbers like this, I have to feel that way; otherwise, I could only conclude that we live in a very sick country.

Poll Suggests Unease on Iraq Casualties. You have to read through it to where it begins to talk about attacking Iran and the pResident's approval numbers.

I haven't even mentioned the sick amount of money Bush is raising, most of it on the graves of the September 11th victims.

The changes in the tax code: Goodbye, Death Tax. Hello, Birth Tax!

Krugman still going after the liars: Denial and Deception.

An interview with the author of a book on the Carlyle Group: What Did Eisenhower Mean When He Warned of a Military Industrial Complex? Take a Look at the Carlyle Group.

A soldier's tale of his time in Iraq: Leadership and Logistical Failures Hurt Troops.

This is a good one. Pay close attention to how the religious conservative resorts to calling the Catholic unpatriotic. ‘Operation: Hidden Agenda’ an ethics teacher’s answer to U.S. military deck of Iraq’s most wanted. Remember that's what facists do.
- posted by Mom/Dad @ 8:06 AM