Richard729's Comments (767)

“Eye, you may be right. There are some similarities, however. Though there were uniformed Viet Cong troops much of South Viet Nam was full of snipers and civilan saboteurs who resented foreigners invading and occupying their country. Much of the same resentment is shared by the Afghani population against the U.S.

The policy near the end of the Viet Nam War was called "Vietnamization," meaning we lowered U.S. troop presence by training the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) to defend their country. Most threw down their arms when the VC overran the country.

The safe haven enjoyed by much of the Taliban and Al Qaeda remnants allows them to train inside Pakistan's borders in much the same way the VC used the Ho Chi Minh Trail inside Laos to funnel supplies and troops.

Agent Orange, used to defoliate the rice paddies supposedly to deny hiding areas to the VC, resulted in the destruction of crops and, as you know, caused widespread sickness and cancer among civilians and U.S. troops. Who knows how man strange diseases many of our troops have been inflicted with in both Iraq and Afghanistan? This war is a mess and I see no solution other than to leave it to the Afghanis who fight each other as much as they do foreign armies.”

“If you think fixating on ACORN will get the GOP back in power in 2010 you are pretty limited for issues that matter to the American people. All the money you are banking on getting from the big pharmaceutical and health insurance companies will not put your party back in power either because the only message you have is NO!

What exactly are the Republicans offering as an alternative to health care for 47 million people? How do they intend to end the war in Afghanistan? How are they going to turn the economy around if all they offer are tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of the population and ignoring any oversight or regulation of the Ponzi Scheme hucksters and swindlers on Wall Street?

You also have it backwards. The voters are the ones who listened to both party's candidates, then rejected McCain-Palin and repudiated the 8 years of dysfunctional, failed policies of Bush-Cheney. Obama won the election with 364 electoral college votes and 62,926,158 popular votes. He did not need 5 partisan, right-wing ideologues on the Supreme Court to step in and install him in the White House. Vox populi, vox Dei.”

“Afghan War More Difficult Than Iraq? Who woulda thunk it? The question is why, after 8 years in a country where the literacy rate is 28% (13% for women) and a life expectancy under 45-years-old, haven't we figured this out long ago?

I read recently where it costs $400 per gallon for fuel because of the rough terrain where there are no roads to transport weapons, troops and supplies. Several months back I also read where the U.S. Army is now reviving the horse cavalry, training soldiers to use horses in inaccessible areas.

Are the American people, ready to support nation-building in Afghanistan for the next 20 years? Even if we increase the troop strength to 100,000 as the Russians did during their failed war in Afghanistan, what is it that we hope to gain? Especially, since we can't even repair our own country's millions of jobless, homeless, poverty-stricken citizens whose only health care is through emergency clinics that cost the taxpayers 3 times as much had they been insured.

Thanks, George W. Bush, for abandoning this war at the most crucial time when we had Osama bin Laden trapped in Tora Bora. You got your "cakewalk" war in Iraq instead. Now, American taxpayers are paying for both even though neither have been won by any stretch of the imagination.”

“As I stated in my post, the issue for Republicans is not the section that deals with abortion; the issue is Hate Obama 24/7. That is exactly what Republicans mean when they demand that any of their candidates running for office must pass their "purity" litmus test.

If that candidate doesn't go on record as sufficiently opposing Barack Obama on EVERY issue, then that Republican is not welcome in their tolerance for none pup tent and can expect no financial backing from the RNC. That's their sole priority -- not health care coverage.

This strategy is already backfiring. All the major polls show GOP public approval at 20% or less, hardly a groundswell of support for the obstructionist Party of No.”

“The abortion issue in the health care bill is only part of the Republican sideshow in their zeal to defeat the Democrats and Barack Obama. "Abortion rights supporters are now backing Reid's approach, which tries to preserve coverage for abortion while stipulating that federal dollars may not be used except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Catholic bishops say they can't accept that because it would let federally subsidized plans cover abortion."

Now, look at the Republican so-called health care bill which they rolled out last week confronting the abortion issue: Section 303 states, "The limitations established in sections 301 and 302 shall not apply to an abortion if "(1) the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (2) in the case where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself."

To the NARLC and Catholic bishops opposed to the health care bill: read the Republican plan and then pass judgment. But, we know the truth. The truth is, Republicans are the biggest hypocrites of all. Their sole priority is not to help the American people but to "break Obama and see him meet his Waterloo" as stated by arch Obama-haters like South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.”

“Yes, as "unbiased"as the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal. Even as he is losing money on his New York Post, Murdoch's right-wing attacks against our country and our democratic­ally-elect­ed president continue the withering, incendiary rhetoric in an all-out effort to usurp and overthrow our government by force, especially now that Republicans know that they cannot win at the ballot box.”

“Joe Klein is right on every point.

The big problem is still the mainstream media's tendency to be influenced and intimidated by the negativity ginned up by Fox News and their Obama-hating cohorts on Screech Radio's Rush "I want Obama to fail" Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin, Michele Bachmann, all of the Red State South and the GOP's so-called leadership of John Boehner, Mitch McConnell and Eric Cantor.

Toss in the screechy, celebrity-hogging Sarah Palin whose Going Rogue book is being hawked on TV by Newsmax and before you know it, the headline-thirsty, ratings-seeking mainstream media are once again capitulating to the town hall crazies of teabaggers, birthers and AR-15 gun-toting militia types who are being egged on to incite more and more violence against Barack Obama.

Right now, it looks like the cacophony of Right-Wing wackos who have the loudest megaphone are succeeding in grabbing the headlines and disseminating their 24/7 message of Hate Obama. Fourth Estate, where are you when America needs you?”

“More bad news for Rush "global warming is a librul hoax" Limbaugh who thirsts for Obama‘s failure. Now, even the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, is joining up with Barack Obama in recognition that global warming and greenhouse gases must be cut back.

This news is also a rebuke to the redoubtable conservative icon, George Will, who scoffs at environmentalists while he embraces the global warming deniers like Limbaugh and his ant colony cult of dittoheads who rail against the scientific evidence that increasing CO2 and methane gases are harming the Earth's atmosphere and oceans.

When the GOP controlled both houses of congress from 1995 to 2007 their etched-in-stone edict was that any legislation addressing global warming or increasing greenhouse gases would never see the light of day.

Backward-thinking Republicans can always find global warming skeptics like George Will as well as scientists who have a lot to write about, but nothing that can refute the temperature rises, both on land and ocean, demonstrating the upward trend showing indisputable global warming over the last 100 years. They have also found scientists who proclaim that the Earth is only 6,000 to 10,000-years-old, everything was formed out of nothing at exactly the same time, men and dinosaurs coexisted and evolution never occurred.

But, look out! There are more than a few Mike Huckabees, Sarah Palins, James Inhofes, Michele Malkins and Rush Limbaughs out there with a very loud megaphone calling America to return to the 19th Century.”

“More horrible news for Rush "global warming is a librul hoax" Limbaugh. Now, even the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, is joining up with Barack Obama in recognition that global warming and greenhouse gases must be cut back.

This news is also a rebuke to the redoubtable conservative icon, George Will, who scoffs at environmentalists while he embraces the global warming deniers like Limbaugh and his ant colony cult of dittoheads who rail against the scientific evidence that increasing CO2 and methane gases are harming the Earth's atmosphere and oceans.

When the GOP controlled both houses of congress from 1995 to 2007 their etched-in-stone edict was that any legislation addressing global warming or increasing greenhouse gases would never see the light of day.

Backward-thinking Republicans can always find global warming skeptics like Geroge Will as well as scientists who have a lot to write about, but nothing that can refute the temperature rises, both on land and ocean, demonstrating the upwad trend showing indisputable global warming over the last 100 years. They have also found scientists who proclaim that the Earth is only 6,000 to 10,000-years-old, everything was formed out of nothing at exactly the same time, men and dinosaurs coexisted and evolution never occurred.

But, look out! There are more than a few Mike Huckabees, Sarah Palins, James Inhofes, Michele Malkins and Rush Limbaughs out there with a very loud megaphone calling America to return to the 19th Century.”

“You got it!!”

“Barack Obama all too often is compared to Abraham Lincoln who brought many of his harshest opponents and critics into his administration. That is a huge mistake. Lincoln didn't have to contend with Fox News usurpers and subversives to the degree that Obama is confronting today. Had Limbaugh been around 140 years ago he most likely would have been arrested, charged with treason and sent to jail for spreading treacherous lies and inflammatory propaganda.

I have cited the late George Carlin in past posts but I think it's worth remembering his words when asked by Charlie Rose in late November why he thought the Democrats lost in 2004. Carlin responded (paraphrasing), "When the other side has you speaking their language they've got you."

Democrats and Obama need to forget about Republicans' irrational whines over health care reform, dismiss the Cheney incendiary, demeaning comments over Barack Obama's decisions on the Afghanistan war and do what Lincoln did -- LEAD!!

Barack Obama will take a lot of heat in the short run but in the long run he'll be respected for helping the American people. If, however, he sits back in his comfort zone thinking he can appease today's toxic, despotic Republicans, he'll be a one-term president.”

“The Republican racial purists have been carrying the water for Rush Limbaugh for so many years that they believe every word he says. Limbaugh is their cult leader whose hatred for Obama is completely unhinged.

One recurring theme among Republicans: Never ever say one good thing about Barack Obama and always blame the ruin that the Bush-Cheney regime left behind on the Democrats and Barack Obama. Perino, the good right-wing soldier that she is, is pre-programmed to believe every lie spewed out by Limbaugh and Fox News crazies like Glenn Beck.

Limbaugh's rants are driving the shrinking Red Staters deeper and deeper into the certitude that they are going to take over both houses of congress in 2010 and the presidency in 2012. Even after the 2008 election Republicans began spreading the lie that America is a "center right" country. With their paltry wins in New Jersey (less than 39% voter turnout) and Virginia governorships they have now amended that belief, claiming that America is ideologically in tune with their racist, hard right radicalism.

The only way they can win in either of these election cycles will be if the Fourth Estate remains asleep at the wheel as they were during the Bush run-up to war with Iraq.”

“Why the misleading headline? "Obama's Afghanistan Decision: 34,000 More Troops And An Exit Strategy, Reports Say." What is the exit strategy?

I can think of no reason to stay in Iraq or Afghanistan at this point. Both governments are shot through with corruption and even U.S. private contractors are involved in it.

After being subjected to 8 years of Bush dysfunction who can blame any of us for being skeptical? So much at this point depends on Pakistan controlling their own borders and ridding the Taliban inside their own country. Unfortunately, we are not helping our cause by using drone aircraft which kill as many innocent civilians as they do the bad guys.

Adding 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan is getting to be just like Viet Nam. The Taliban are using Pakistan as a safe haven for training their insurgents and testing roadside bombs which are kiling most of our U.S. military.

In Viet Nam, the Ho Chi Minh trail was the main supply route for the Viet Cong inside Laos, a country that we avoided combat with the exception of a few clandestine operations. The same thing is happening in Afghanistan where the borders are pourous and where our so-called alliance with Pakistan is highly suspect.

I've said this before: how are we going to do nation-building in other countries when we can't even do nation-repairing at home?”

“To some degree I think Arianna is channelling the GOP's constant refrain that Barack Obama is failing and it's just a matter of time before he meets his Waterloo as South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint has proclaimed.

Katrina and the employment numbers are not synonymous. Bush and the Republicans didn't inherit Hurricane Katrina even though their response to it was dismal. But so was the response by Louisiana's governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin.

Arianna is also inferring that by some magic waving of a wand Obama should have been able to create millions of jobs overnight and stem the layoffs that resulted from a Wall Street Ponzi scheme crowd that ran wild and unregulated for eight years under Bush-Cheney stewardship.

GM, Chrysler and Ford have all gone through the throes of layoffs and plant closings which have had the domino effect of shedding jobs in all other categories such as auto parts suppliers, restaurants, hotels, fast food and housing. So, what's the solution? The truth is, unemployment is likely to stay above 10% for who knows how long?

Peter Whybrow's book, American Mania: When More is Not Enough, describes the plight of our economy today. We borrowed foolishly for too many years. Now, we want our Blackberrys and Apples while eating them too. Today, somebody else's citizens are producing them: China, India and Japan.”

“Republicans are still living in the past, pursuing the Ronald Reagan myth and belief in his sainthood. Reagan of course, as the record shows, expanded federal government on his watch. The conservative desire to outlaw abortion was never seriously pursued.

Today's backward-thinking Republicans loathe entitlements but even Reagan's promise to attack those entitlements never materialized; instead he saved Social Security in 1983. And he repeatedly ignored the fundamental conservative dogma that taxes should never be raised.

Just as today's Republican Party is cemented to the fabrication that Iraq possessed WMD -- a total lie -- so too have they built up this god-like image of Ronald Reagan. Their "purity" test is simply one more sad example of a party completely in the wildnerness, clinging to a Norman Rockwell America that never existed in the real world.

The only legacy they have to show for their pathetic 12-year reign of congress was a totally wasteful pursuit of a $70 million Whitewater investigation which ended with Kenneth Starr's partisan, prurient prying into books read by Monica Lewinsky and snooping into Chelsea Clinton's underwear drawers while she lived in the White House. But, one thing the Republicans have always insisted on is legislating everyone else's morality. It is one big reason they are the minority party.”

“Sjones, here's one of the biggest problems I have with this entire Palin firestorm. We have another one of those perfect storms shaping up:

1. voter disgust with both parties, but especially the horrendous bailout of Wall Street by the taxpayers of America.

2. Glenn Beck celebrity status featured on the front covers of Time Magazine and several issues singing the praises of his populist brand of politics.

3. A celebration and even approbation for hatred of Obama by the 24/7 toxic Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Michele Bachmann, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and racist neo-Nazis who are screeching Timothy McVeigh slogans like watering the tree of liberty -- meaning vilolent and lethal force with the ultimate goal of assassinating President Barack Obama.

An earlier story here on Huffpo reported that the Secret Service has seen threats against Obama increase by over 400% compared to previous presidents.

Ross Perot received 19 million votes in 1992. If a Palin-Beck ticket ran for president today we could easily see 30 million right off the top of the hard right-wing base. Add to that, disgruntled independents and Sarah Palin could be hearing Hail To The Chief. I doubt if she would need 5 partisan, activist, right-wing ideologues on the Supreme Court to settle a close election.

But this will only happen if the Fourth Estate is once again asleep.”

“The military should have allowed Palin to speak once they permitted her on base for the book signing. It became political the moment the commander gave her permission to promote a book that criticizes not only Barack Obama but John McCain as well. Col. Billy Buckner's explanation that Palin was allowed on the Fort Bragg post because she was no longer a politician is totally specious.

"She fell into a little bit of a gray area," he said. "She's not a political figure per se, but she certainly carries a tremendous amount of interest and influence across the country."

"Palin's tour bus parked nearby, splashed with her photo, encouraged donations to her political action committee, while supporters made clear that she should run for president.­"

Oh, Palin is not a politician, huh! Wink, wink. If this is the kind of U.S. Army Bush-Cheney created then Palin's father, Chuck Heath is right when he said, "I see a decline in our might. People used to be afraid of us and respect us, (but) they're not afraid of us and don't respect us anymore."

Yes, he's right. Foreign countries who see how easily the most powerful military in the world has been bogged down in two broken, corrupt governments, Iraq and Afghanistan for eight years have been emboldened by the weak, failed policies of Bush-Cheney.”

“Janns, you got it. Add Cheney's comment to the list when he said early in the Bush administration, "Deficits don't matter."”

“Wow! It still gets cold in the winter in the Northern hemisphere too. I suppose by your logic that proves we are entering a new Ice Age. Whew, those "fumes" must be coming from excess methane!”

“Even if Al Gore is getting money from promoting scientific evidence for global warming, so what?

The Rush Limbaugh ant colony cult has always swallowed his blather that "Global warming is a Librul hoax." Yeah, that's really credible coming from a person who doesn't have a degree in any subject.”

“Global warming deniers are always looking for "evidence" that the Earth is cooling, not warming. One of the biggest reasons why global warming has become politicized is due to the inveterate Republican hatred for Al Gore.

Not only is the increasing CO2 a culprit but even more of a threat is the melting of Arctic tundra permafrost which releases methane.Me­thane contributes far more to global warming than CO2. If you look at the web site one person linked from Spiegel Online you can read some of the key conclusions which confirm global warming:

"Despite their current findings, scientists agree that temperatures will continue to rise in the long term. The big question is: When will it start getting warmer again?

If the deep waters of the Pacific are, in fact, the most important factor holding up global warming, climate change will remain at a standstill until the middle of the next decade, says Latif. But if the cooling trend is the result of reduced solar activity, things could start getting warmer again much sooner. Based on past experience, solar activity will likely increase again in the next few years.

The Hadley Center group expects warming to resume in the coming years. "That resumption could come as a bit of a jolt," says Hadley climatologist Adam Scaife, explaining that natural cyclical warming would then be augmented by the warming effect caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.­"”

“Maybe you should try reading the GOP "alternative" health care bill. It is about 209 pages long (much shorter than the Democrat-backed bill) but offers no path to paying for it other than tax credits which are a joke since the average health care premium costs over $13,000 per year -- for those who can afford it.

Besides, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, even if they ended today, have cost the taxpayers upwards of $2 trillion and that doesn't include the decades of health care for returning wounded veterans who have life-disabling injuries.

In case you do a little more reading you will see that Bush borrowed over $800 billion from the Chinese to bankroll his gluttonous war spending. Those borrowed dollars supposedly are backed up by the same government securities that have been taken out of the Social Security trust fund to pay for all sorts of programs -- except for those who are now retiring and find out the trust fund is broke.

If G. W. Bush and the jingoistic Republican cronies found a way to kill tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens in a war that was waged over WMD fabrications, I think we can afford to take care of Americans who are losing jobs, benefits and have no health care coverage.”

“Broder is parroting exactly what the GOP want to hear, that the health care bill is too expensive. Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn said he won't vote for the health care reform bill because there is no provision to pay for it. But, he's wrong on the facts now that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has delcared the bill will reduce the deficit over ten years by $124 billion. Besides, Senator Coburn along with the rest of his Republican cohorts never introduced a plan to pay for the annual expense of waging the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, keeping the costs completely off budget.

The only bills vetoed by Bush were the stem cell research and S-CHIP bills which offered help to suffereing Americans who have Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's and other debilitating and disabling conditions. He vetoed the S-CHIP bill which would offer medical help for children, the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Bush, like all Republicans who are in the back pockets of the health insurance companies gave the reason that the expanded coverage would "federalize health care."

What is it about Republicans that they are so vehemently opposed to Americans having affordable, quality health care? It must be implanted in their DNA that they vow to never inhibit the health insurance companies' stranglehold over American citizens.”

“Bill Clinton spent too much time schmoozing it up with Republicans during his 8-year tenure but he of all people should understand that the lack of health care and continued poverty and hunger in our country is a scandal. So, it IS political, whether Clinton acknowledges it or not. Keith Olbmermann is absolutely right to focus on this American tragedy while Bill Clinton is out giving speeches and raking in millions of bucks for himself.

Keith Olbermann broke the monopoly the Republicans had on political TV news programs once dominated by Fox News. Now that MSNBC has Olbermann, Schultz, Maddow and Matthews, liberals are able to fight back with something more than marshmallows. Olbermann is tough, hard-hitting and above all, he's honest about his political stance. No more pussyfooting around trying to "debate" the right-wing crazies.

Bill Clinton can whine all he wants. I don't care. You go, Keith!!!!!”

“Hey, go back to Red State.”