It reminded me of the last (?) Fest we had in that same building. That Friday, about 15 of us went to the big RAIN Club where MTV broadcast the main Music Awards event and on Tuesday's replay, they showed the private parties the bands had and somebody got the same Celebrity Suite we got for the big poker game/Tequilafest. That was a fun weekend - I wonder if we'll ever have another 'Fest...  Update: Towards the end, P Diddy told the whole crowd, "Party in my suite on the 32 Floor." Isn't that the floor we were on? Wasn't MTV just following in our 'Fest footsteps?'

I think the GOP was saying the Pentagon has a long history of honesty, so we're all out of line to see these serve-at-the-pleasure-of-Der-Monkey cronies tell us Iraq is working. Besides, moveon.org asked, basically, "Will we get the truth today?" That's a damn important question when thousands of lives are habing in the balance. Don't forget, we still haven't had our "bad day in Iraq." I predict when the signal is given, all the embedded Wahabists will turn open fire on their comrades and we'll lose 200 soliders in a day.  I forget - why are we in Iraq?

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has finally resigned his position as chief Bush protector. After months and months of criticisms from both Republicans and Democrats regarding his handling of the Department of Justice, including approving torture and questionable actions related to the firing of Federal Prosecutors, Gonzales finally has given in. Nice job Berto! If there is one thing this administration has shown us its that eventually all the useless, lying, unqualified people resign. So what do you suppose George and Dick are waiting for? Now that Gonzales is gone Bush will need to scramble to find a replacement be for the end of the Congressional recess. Bush needs a complete loyalist that will make sure he is not brought down by his lies and corruption. If Bush appoints someone now, he can slide in anyone without needing Congressional approval. Harriet Meyers where are you when Bushie needs you? Congress cannot stop a recess appointment so they will have to take different action. If Bush does make a recess appointment then the Judiciary Committee must be up his or her ass from day one. The Gonzales appointment was a disaster from day one and the DOJ needs solid leadership to keep it from completely melting down. Also, there is too much at stake leading in the 2008 election for Bush and this corrupt administration to continue to get away with its governmental madness. Now its time to see if the Democratic leadership really has the stones to take on this adminstration.

It seems that the people with money (rich, white men) are once again taking advantage of African-Americans. The right-wing hate preachers like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC) are finding a welcoming audience in black ministers and their churches. Why would that be? Is it because, like the GOP, those ministers find it easer to blame others and use redirection to cover up their own failures than own up to them? Is it easier to say the Gays are co-opting the equal rights movement to the detriment of blacks than it is to explain why the movement has stagnated? What exactly have the churches done lately to progress civil rights and the quality of life of African-Americans? Not much I'd have to say. Where have they been when it comes to fighting for their members? Not since Martin Luther King Jr., has there been a real unifying voice for blacks. Jesse Jackson has tried but the right-wing smear machine has made him a caricature. What has happened is manipulation by whites. The Bush administration is all too happy to use money to recruit black ministers. Once again buying their slaves but just not so openly. It seems so odd to me that a people can be used over and over again by the same evil class of whites. Torn from their homeland and enslaved in the US they were forced to convert to Christianity as one of many tools to control them. Symbolic acts of congress and the courts have done little to really change the attitudes of the racists.

One of my friends recently returned from Iraq. All of us here who know and love him were very pleased he came back, pretty much, in one piece. He was deployed for only a few weeks to the "Green Zone" in Baghdad. His mission was very limited and specialized. Unfortunately the repercussions were not so limited. We'll call my friend "Joe" to keep him anonymous. Joe is a gay man who served his country in the regular army and was honorably discharged at the end of his term of service. The people in his unit knew he was gay and it wasn't really an issue. But that's not the point of this blog entry. Joe was called back to service after having been discharged some time ago. By the way, the military also decided that Joe owed them money so he's been working hard as a civillian to pay them off. I don't really understand that or the details. What I do believe though, is that no person who is honorably discharged from service should be encumbered by debt from serving our country. So Joe got a letter in the mail informing him he was on active duty and would have to serve when called upon. I, and other friends, were appalled at the back-door draft to which he was a victim. But, Joe, in his dedication, was not phased. He's an honorable man and so he declared he was going if ordered.

Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, testified today before Congress and described the Iraqi government as being “dysfunctional.” However, he indicated that the fact that Iraqi leaders recognized that their government is dysfunctional is a sign of progress. So as long as you know you're fucked up it doesn't matter if you fix things or not. If you take what Crocker said literally and that is apparently how he meant it, there is no possible way that a dysfunctional Iraqi government could have reached any of the benchmarks set by the Bush administration. The benchmarks were supposed to determine whether US troops would stay in Iraq. So far Iraq has only marginally met a few benchmarks according to non-government agencies that have been evaluating the situation on the ground. Yesterday, during his testimony, General Petraeus indicated that the Iraqi government and military had met significant benchmarks, but had little or no proof to substantiate his claim. What is truyly interesting about the tesimonies is that Crocker's testimony of a dysfunctional Iraq is completely the opposite of what Petraeus has been saying during his testimony. Today with all this contradictory testimony, President Bush (R-Liar) apparently is set to announce that the surge of troops, some 30,000 soldiers, would be pulled out by next summer. Bush suddenly wanting to bring troops home is very interesting. There certainly hasn't been enough progress in Iraq to warrant a withdrawal according to Bush's own guidelines. Also, Bush has repeatedly said that announcing withdrawals would only help our enemies on the ground in Iraq. So why now? Why suddenly contradict everything you have said about troop strength including comments the president made yesterday? Your guess is as good as mine, but what is very clear is that the executive branch of the Untied States government is just as dysfunctional as its Iraqi counterparts.