I can't help it.  When I see a headline quoting Gates, I immediately assume they're quoting Bill Gates.  It's a reasonable mistake.  Bill Gates is a successful entrepreneur with a grand vision to change the world and improve the lives of future generations.  He's worth quoting.  When Gates talks, people listen.

Of course, I lose interest once I get past the headlines and it turns out they are quoting Robert Gates, Rumsfeld's replacement.  He is just the latest in a long line of sock puppets on TV since Shari Lewis first stuck her hand up Lambchop's ass and made her dance.

Now that anyone with any brains has tuned out everything this administration says in defense of Mr. Bush's War, I'm sure the bozo's left on the bus are constantly looking for new ways to catapault the propaganda.  After his recent press conference, it's clear the only thing Gates has going for him is his name.  It buys them a brief window of confusion to get people's attention one more time.  Trading on confusion to borrow credibility when you have none left is an old parlor trick, but it works.  Don't take my word for it.  Ask Frank Luntz...

I'm going to admit it.  I'm  prejudiced.  They say you should never judge a book by its cover.  I say you don't have to eat the whole apple to know its bad.  And once you've had a bad apple, you know what to look for so you don't have to go through that again.   You know the old saying... "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me repeatedly for three and a half years and I'm just asking for it."

In the reality-based world, anticipating future events based on past experience is considered prudent risk management.  If you look at it from an evolutionary standpoint, it is a positive survival characteristic.  Here's why that's important...

 Ross McGinnis was 19 years old when he died.  Nineteen years old.  I've got ties that are older than that.   They are well made, but nothing outstanding.  That's the difference between Ross McGinnis and my ties.  He was outstanding.  The kid was one in a million.  Actually, more like one in 2 million.  You'll see where that number came from in a moment, but first I want you to really appreciate just how special he was.  If you meet sixty new people every day for the next hundred years, you will be lucky if you meet one like Ross McGinnis.    Think about that the next time you get on a bus, or a train, or a plane.  Every day.  For a 100 years...

Is Bush sending more troops to Iraq in order to buy 2 years of stalemate? Then he can blame the Democrats for not winning the war when Obama brings them home.

"John Ryan Dennison was a shining light..."

When a young man's story opens by celebrating his life in the past tense,  don't expect a happy ending.   Unfortunately, not all stories worth telling have happy endings.  That doesn't make them any less important.  

Look past Ryan's megawatt smile and you may notice a glint of metal on his chest.   It is subtle and easily missed.  It's a decoration that doesn't call attention to itself, yet speaks volumes.  

John Ryan Dennison was more than merely a graduate of West Point, as if that distinction could ever be characterized as "merely" an achievement...

The Foley pedo scandal ate up so much bandwidth most people don't even know Baghdad is under a daytime curfew.  Therefore, it's no surprise this shocking exchange on FOX News fell completely off the table.  It's so tasty, I just had to pick it up, transcribe it, and share it around.  This is a dog bites man kind of story.

Shep Smith is a popular FOX News anchorman, yet even this avid supporter of the war, Bush, and all things conservative finally got so enraged, he stomped Bill Kristol like a grape.  Talk about making Kristol whine.   Shep started off calling this administration's policies horrifying and repulsive and it went downhill from there.  By the end of the segment, Shep was holding Bush responsible for any deaths that occur in Iraq between now and the mid-term elections!  In so many words!  On FOX NEWS!  This is Must See TV.  Transcripts and links to this "come to Jesus" talk are below the fold.  

Emily Perez had a passion for books.  She loved to read.  In 2001, she graduated from a public high school outside of Washington DC in an area known mostly for gangs, drugs, death and despair.  Emily was straight-A student.   She could have attended any university she chose.  She chose West Point.

Getting admitted to West Point is no easy feat. First, you need to be nominated for consideration -- usually by your senator or congressional representative. Then you are evaluated in three areas: academic performance, demonstrated leadership potential, and physical aptitude.

Emily was a leader among leaders.  She was the first black woman to serve as corps commander sergeant major at West Point.  She graduated in the top 10% of her class.  In spite of all that promise, this story does not have a happy ending.  

Crossposted from Daily Kos.

The Bush/Cheney Whitehouse and the Rubber Stamp Republicans want to Stay and Pray in Iraq.

They are building permanent bases as we speak, using cunning and nefarious means to get there.