Sunday Roundup

The GOP's Runnin' Off the Rails tour continued this week with Sarah Palin announcing she will resign, Mark Sanford admitting he "crossed lines" with multiple women (while providing an instant new slang term for sex: "crossing the ultimate line"), James Inhofe welcoming Al Franken to the Senate by saying, "We are going to get the clown from Minnesota," and John Boehner spending an hour on the House floor reading aloud portions of the landmark climate-change bill he labeled "a piece of shit." Also this week, U.S. troops in Iraq were finally cause for celebration, fireworks, and dancing in the streets of Baghdad. It turns out it was not our arrival in Iraq that was greeted with flowers and sweets but our departure. It's an agonizing lesson learned six years, $1 trillion, and 4,321 U.S. deaths too late.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[dzent1]

The hidden cost of the Iraq illegal invasion are around 3 trillion dollars or greater. These have been soft-pedaled by both parties because both are benefiting from the corporate money they get for supporting empire-building.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Kucinich and Ron Paul were absolutely right about all of it. Who marginalized those two?

If you guessed the media establishment owned by these same corporations, you get a Saddam Hussein bobble-head doll!

[awibod]

When do I get my doll? Your comment is right on the money. We should not look at our political parties as democrats and republicans we should start to look at them as the gottis and gambinos.
Ron Paul and Kucinich will never get their due respect due to the Manufacturing of Consent in the Mainstream Media (and yes Fox News you are also a part of the MSM)

[proudmilitarywife]

What a week... I guess it's a "typical day" in politic world.....

And.... what frustrates me so much is the amount of debt and deficit we accumulated within the last 8 years and how the hell do we think we will get out of it? We have to spend lots of money...WE can't just sit back and stay fiscally conservative right now. We can't do this until the economy turns around....and why aren't we willing to pay a little higher taxes to help curb climate change when this could severely affect us later in life or our children's lives, grandchildrens lives. Aren't they worth it...???

I guess I just don't know what it will take to turn this economy around. I believe Pres Obama was and still is the best choice and def the best chance for us to get out of this rut....I truly believe things would be much worse if Republicans were elected!!! Now where were all these "fiscally conservative" republicans when W was spending and spending and spending... and now that we are in this big mess they want to complain? We are doomed....

[rabrophy]

Has anyone made a stab at how much Bush/Cheney has cost us?
I know the damage isn't over and we may be looking a a long depression, but has anyone taken a look at what it's cost so far? Not just the wars, but the whole disaster.

[ztck5356]

The shame is we learned the lesson in Vietnam and Iraq should have never happened again, except we got this punk rich kid who never had to serve in Vietnam thanks to rich daddy and his rich friends, then he made president and war was just a game to him.
Punks like this should never get to be president. To them, war is for someone else's kids, not them.

[turkeywrld]

ztck5356:- If there was ANY lesson to be learned from Vietnam its that the people of this country are easy to dupe and nothing changes..like most wars it began WELL BEFORE we were informed about it..the federation of American scientists has logged some 200acts of military aggresssion by the USA since '47..every generation of Americans has seen a war...all VERY profitable for banks and industrialists and formidably costly to everyone else,particularly our troops who pay with their own blood.."Ememies" are always inhuman and dont count...dont even begin to think about damage done to the envioronment... those who foment wars rarely have ANY actual involvement that puts them at risk...follow the money..

[patrickgarret]

It's an agonizing lesson learned six years, $1 trillion, and 4,321 U.S. deaths too late, BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. HOW PATRIOTIC! THANKS!

[Chopin]

A ONE trillion dollar folly and a painful sobering lesson not yet completely learned by the militaristic American culture and the decision makers and their followers, called the Iraq war? Arianna, you're being charitably conservative in your quoted costs of this misadventure !

Gary Kamiya's review article in Salon.com "The cold price of hot blood" of Dr. Stiglitz's book "The Three Trillion Dollar War: True Cost of the Iraq Conflict" writes:
"Every nation that goes to war makes that war its religion. Wars are always holy, necessary and sacrosanct. That's why asking how much a war costs is blasphemous. It's like asking how much God is worth. ... Stiglitz and Bilmes book is first to break taboo against counting up costs of an ongoing war. Not only does it reveal the staggering actual cost of Bush's war of choice -- at least $3 trillion -- it details what we could have done with that money if we had spent it more wisely."

http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/03/04/trillion_dollar_war/index.html

Mark Benjamin in Salon article "Iraq sticker shock" discusses the true costs of caring for severely wounded and permanently disabled veterans returning from Iraq.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/01/11/iraq_cost/index.html

That's only the beginning ... Just as the wave of inflation followed the huge Vietnam War debts, a debilitating wave of (hyper)inflation is waiting to hit this nation following on the staggering war debts of the Iraq misadventure.

[AngieMom57]

Ever feel like you are preaching to the choir ?

I've been all "caught up" in old Pete Seegar, Woody Guthrey songs and wondering what it will take to have a peaceful, productive, sane and mass organized shift?

[susiesorority]

Ugh. How did our country become such a tawdry mess...

[Kat119]

Great summary Arianna,

How did our country become such a' tawdry mess' these last Constitution shredding 8 years??

The Clintons actually left America w/ peace and prosperity and even a surplus no less for the coup d'etat wielding Bush -Cheney blood thirsty, rethug evil empire!!

Bush -Cheney swindled us and the unsuspecting oil rich Iraqis Blind w/ off the charts greed and arrogance.

The innocent, peaceful Iraqi people have been either killed (over 1 million!! ) or in horrifying refugee camps...sick and maimed or imprisoned and tortured by the guilty USA!!

Where are the charges, trials, imprisonme­nts...Star­t them NOW or Justice is LOST....Pre. Obama!!

[LeftCoastProgressive]

Good summary, Arianna.
But let's fix one thing: 4,321 Americans did not die in a pointless war of anticipatory retaliation. In fact, over 5,100 Americans died in that war.
Contractors -- whether you like their motives and tactics or not -- died at a rate of over 800 through the course of the conflict.
We hope no more will give their lives as Iraq goes through the necessary convulsions of birthing their own version of democracy. But let's get the true cost right.

[Donnat]

don't forget Iraqi civilian deaths

[AngieMom57]

Over a million according to the Lancet Report.

[mergina]

One need not take to hard a look at Washington to know that it is a cesspool of bought and paid for frightened politicians resposible for everything in your roundup.

[JISantiago]

Unlike the dilusional Republicans, who are still shamelessly engaged in deceiving the American public into crediting the fireworks and dances in the streets as celebration of American accomplishment of "successful democratisation" of Iraq, Arianna has presented to us in a nutshell, not only what the Iraqi celebration is really all about, but on the overall state of affairs in the Republican Party.

On Iraq war, Arianna you are spot on when you conclude "It's an agonizing lesson learned six years, $1 trillion, and 4,321 U.S. deaths too late."

But sadly, the Republicans with their blinkers are still refusing to acknowledge what the right-minded Americans and rest of the world has long been warning about the folly of this war.

As for Mark Sanford, I would like to be magnanimous towards him by declaring that to err is human! However, when you consider the hypocrisy of this man who so vehemently condemned similar indiscretion of President Clinton vis-a-vis Lewinsky, you are forced to becoming less forgiving. On a different perspective, it also highlights the diabolical character of the Republicans' "holier than thou" moral standings!

As for Sarah Palin, I don't think anyone is shedding tears for this Hockey Mom other than that small shrinking extreme rightwing conservative base. No one is buying into her blame on the media for her misery. Perhaps, it's best to forget Sarah Palin as "yesterday's news in yesterday's paper".

[Wiseronenow]

Ok, we've had Palin's resignation, the Sunday "funnies" (news shows) but where is Sanford???!!!

[researcher]

"Excellent round up Arianna, but can we add Iran asks "Who would Allah vote for"?"

not for american imperialism.

[researcher]

an amazing lesson indeed.

how many wars for proftis will americans endure before they learn the real cost of these wars for profits.

oh ike how smart you were in 1961 to warn us about our industrial military complex

how smart indeed.

if you want americans to open their checkbooks just mention freedom and military and they open their wallets.

[noneIn2008]

Let's highlight GE as one of the key military industrial giants, with Imelt as an Obama adviser.

[Yermammy]

Another fine post, but when are we going to address the stark reality that President Obama still insists on secrecy and holding on to Bush's illegal powers? When is Bush, Cheney (et alia) going to be put in docks and tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity instead of six standing ovations in Oklahoma? Why is Karl Rove's fat face still being aired on TV when it should be on a mugshot for a prison somewhere?
And why are we told to leave the "moderates" alone concerning healthcare? Why weren't the progressive economists listened to in the first place? Why are lobbyists still writing the Bills?

Change? LOL.

[Ergon]

See?

[AngieMom57]

The Truth Alone Will Not Set You Free

by Chris Hedges

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/29-2

[noneIn2008]

Change is in the thesaurus. Troops are now advisers. Lobbyists are now special exceptions. Taxes are now pass through costs. We can not make excuses for Obama, we need to hold him accountable. Speeches and promises are cheap, let's see results.

[Queenhuh]

A great little article Arianna that sums up this week so well. I think Boehner had his three fingers pointing right back at himself when he uttered the S---t word (a severely tanned brain). Clearly he forgot about the last 8 years, Last Tango Sanford, Pathetic Palin and the celebrations by Iraqi's now that their occupyers are leaving. Bet Boehner has bunches of dirty little secrets. Where's the National Enquirers #?