Fuzzy memory

Why do Mitt Romney's handlers believe that having Mitt deny that he remembers incidents of bullying  (in particular, we are talking about an incident at Cranbrook School in 1965 in which Romney led a gang of his asshole friends in an assault on a classmate in which Romney held the boy down and cut his hair) make the situation better for Romney or somehow absolve Mittens of guilt or responsibility? (Well, guilt. Cranbrook School absolved Romney of responsibility in 1965.)

I suppose claiming not to remember allows for a tiny possibility that the event never happened, even though Romney didn't deny that it did and has, finally, apologized for it. But anyone who follows politics, reads the news or has a brain realizes there's a difference between claiming not to remember  an event and denying that it took place.

Don't you find it strange that Romney would apologize for an incident that he claims not to remember? If someone accused you of assaulting another person and you didn't remember doing so, wouldn't you first deny the accusation and apologize only after it had been confirmed that you actually did commit the assault? (And then address whatever is wrong with you that you have no memory of such an incident?)

That seems to be the normal course of action that a normal person would normally take. Unless the person was drunk at the time of the incident. Then there's at least some explanation for why the person cannot recall the incident. But the last thing candidate Romney needs is another thing in common with George W. Bush.

Speaking of explanations, why doesn't Romney remember assaulting a classmate? As BooMan points out, none of the other people who witnessed and/or participated in the bullying have any trouble remembering the incident. Is it that such callous, chickenshit acts of bullying were so routine for Romney that this particular one doesn't stand out in his memory? Or is it that Romney was so unmoved by the incident that it failed to make a lasting impression on him? Or is it that Romney has done so many dickish things in the past that, even though he claims to have no recollection of this event whatsoever, it's entirely possible that this happened exactly as five witnesses recall? BooMan's right: whatever the answer, it points to a serious character flaw in Mittens.

All of this is pretty much academic, however, because everyone knows Mittens probably does remember leading a group of his douchebag prep-school friends to attack a weaker, outnumbered and basically defenseless classmate because the boy's haircut was an affront to Romney, and that Romney's claim of a convenient memory lapse is just bullshit political damage control. But as I see it, saying you don't remember a bullying incident just makes things worse. Imagine how refreshing the truth -- an honest admission of guilt and a sincere apology -- would have been, especially from a candidate struggling to appear human.

Surprise!

What's a few more fruitless trips by a lame duck on the taxpayers' nickel? Heck, they can afford it.

President Bush arrived in Baghdad Sunday in an unannounced visit to Iraq, where he will meet with Iraqi leaders and address U.S. troops.

The AP has more:

Bush's visit came after Defense Secretary Robert Gates' unannounced stop in Iraq on Saturday, at a sprawling military base in the central part of the country. Gates will be the lone Republican holdover from the Bush Cabinet in the Obama administration.

For those of you keeping track, that makes exactly zero pre-announced visits to Iraq by a Bush administration official since Bush started the war. These are the same people who for years have told us how much the security situation in Iraq has improved.

It's just not improved to the point that officials can announce their plans to enter the country. And it appears that, under Bush, it never will be.

Of course, that's no surprise.

Burden

Bet this came as news to all those who have lost loved ones in BushCo’s disaster in Iraq.

Noting the burden placed on military families, the vice president said the biggest burden is carried by President George W. Bush, who made the decision to commit US troops to war, and reminded the public that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty.

So that means, what, that they deserve to be sent to fight in a country that had nothing to do with 9/11? That they deserve to be stop-lossed so they can be sent back into the shitstorm over and over? That they deserve to have asshole chickenhawks with no military knowledge or experience playing Russian Roulette with their lives?

"The president carries the biggest burden, obviously," Cheney said. "He's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm's way for the rest of us."

Obviously. See, I would’ve thought the biggest burden is being borne by parents who have buried their sons, children who will grow up without a parent, wives who have nothing left of their husbands but a flag folded into a triangle and the thanks of a grateful nation. I would’ve thought that those people were carrying the heaviest load. But I would be wrong. Obviously.

But I guess that burden Bush is carrying is Pretty. Heavy. Too.

Five years

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of BushCo’s folly in Iraq. Five years later, at least 3,990 American service members are dead, tens of thousands critically wounded and untold hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. And, five years later, there’s still no end in sight. Chaos and violence are rampant, the invasion has given rise to al Qaida in Iraq, a previously nonexistent terror group, while political progress in Iraq is, at best, insufficient.

Five years later, longer than American involvement in every war except Vietnam and the Revolutionary War, George Bush and Dick Cheney still look at the steaming shitpile they’ve cooked up and see caviar.

Bush will give a rah rah speech at the Pentagon today that’s fitting for a former cheerleader. But his prepared comments include one interesting sentence:

"We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast — the terrorists and extremists step in, fill the vacuum, establish safe havens and use them to spread chaos and carnage."

If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was talking about Afghanistan (which is about as fucked up as Iraq and approaching its seventh anniversary of our military involvement). That’s where Bush had Osama bin Laden (remember him?) on the run but let him get away by focusing on plans to disarm a dictator who, as it turns out, didn’t have weapons of mass destruction, just as UN weapons inspectors said.

But Bush couldn’t possibly be talking about that, because that would be admitting a mistake and Bush doesn’t make mistakes. Which explains why he has laid the groundwork for keeping his proud legacy secret.

The wall

Bill Frist. Embracing the America he helped create.

Progress

Yeah, things are going great in Iraq. So great that this trip, like every other trip a member of the Bush regime has made to Iraq in the last five years, was a secret.

Vice President Dick Cheney landed in Baghdad today on an unannounced trip for meetings with U.S. military commanders and Iraqi officials before a progress report on the war set for delivery to Congress next month.

Cheney, arriving just before the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion, scheduled meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as well as Army General David Petraeus, Ambassador Ryan Crocker and other leaders. Petraeus and Crocker are scheduled to brief Congress on progress in Iraq since President George W. Bush ordered the deployment of 30,000 extra U.S. soldiers a year ago.

Cheney flew by helicopter from Baghdad International Airport to the fortified Green Zone for talks. He told reporters it was “especially significant” that he was in Iraq five years after the March 20, 2003, invasion that toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and ended “Saddam’s tyranny.”

Bullshit. What is really significant is that, five years later, he still can't announce his visits to Iraq in advance. I wonder if that fact will be included in the “progress” report.

It takes a lot of balls to sneak into a country unannounced and then declare from a heavily guarded “green zone” how much progress is being made there. But ignore Cheney’s empty words. Judge the situation in Iraq by his actions. Members of the Bush administration have a well-documented ability to ignore facts when it suits their ends. But when it comes to their personal safety, suddenly they’re not so dismissive of the truth. Bushies may have an enormous capacity to deny reality, but it ain’t that big.

By the way, John McCain’s visit to Iraq was unannounced, too. Kind of makes you wonder if he believes his own rhetoric about the success of the surge.

UPDATE: More signs of progress.

A female suicide bomber attacked a group of Shiite worshippers near a mosque in Karbala on Monday, killing at least 39 people and wounding 54, officials said.

Fallon resigns

The biggest roadblock between BushCo and war with Iran has just been removed. And just days after White House mouthpiece Dana Perino said she “never heard anything of that sort, except for in rumor mills that don’t turn out to be true.”

And it happened one day before this article hits newsstands.

Just another one of those coincidences, I’m sure.

I have no crystal ball, but wait until you see the yes man who takes over Fallon’s post. I have no idea who it will be, but I have no doubt about his ideological leanings.

And if you think $4 a gallon is expensive, and if you think we’re hated around the world now, wait until the bombs start hitting Tehran.

This is bad bad bad bad bad.

This would be a great time for the Democrats in Congress to develop some spine and do whatever it takes to prevent the atrocity these incompetent fucks are planning.

UPDATE: The AP reports that “Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it would be "ridiculous" to suggest that Fallon's resignation signals that the United States is planning to go to war with Iran.”

Is there anyone who is relieved to hear Gates say that?

Surging

Is this what chickenhawks are talking about when they say the surge is "working"?

A suicide car bomb detonated Sunday evening near a market in Balad, killing at least 25 people and wounding 40 others, an Interior Ministry official said.

The bomb exploded near an Iraqi army checkpoint outside the market in Balad, north of the capital.

The bombing came as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit.

So the security situation in Iraq continues to improve, but nearly five fucking years after the invasion, Bush administration officials still can't even announce their visits to the country in advance.

Talk to me about improved security when one of these tools puts his -- or her (I'm looking at you, Condi ) -- money where their mouth is.

Mittens quittin’

Due to the recent credit crunch, Mitt Romney is unwilling to loan his campaign any more money.

McCain is the GOP nominee, unless Huckabee ...

Nah. McCain is the GOP nominee.

Ya think Mittens is angling for a VP or cabinet nod by getting out now?

Quote of the day

“Nobody is happy about losing lives but remember these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers.” —Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Draw your own conclusions.