"What are they smoking in the Bush White House?" [SF Chronicle]

[Seabiscuit]

Another day, another face for Robert Gates:

"Even as government statistics now show marijuana is America's No. 1 cash crop, it is important to remember that militarism is the most dangerous drug threatening our sanity. Yet even formerly sober folks -- first Colin Powell and now new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates -- get a contact high from cozying up to the walking hallucinogen that is our president.

"Succumbing to the Bush fantasy that freedom is fertilized by firepower, a vision that has mucked up Iraq beyond recognition, Gates told CBS that 'as the president has made clear, we simply cannot afford to fail in the Middle East. Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility, and endanger Americans for generations to come.'

"This from a man who recently made sense during his confirmation hearings, when he told members of Congress that we are not winning this war, despite having committed, proportionally, as many troops as we did in Vietnam. But now, as a rising chorus of obsessed hawks calls for a 'surge' in U.S. troop deployment in Iraq -- a call echoed even by some prominent Democrats -- Gates endorses the staying-the-course strategy for compounding the Iraq failure rejected by the voters. A member of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG) who had apparently supported its unanimous findings that the military strategy was bankrupt is suddenly blinded by Bush's Iraq victory myopia."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/12/20/EDGOULJ69J1.DTL

This is the kind of news coverage we need to see more of in the MSM.

[StrictlyRockers]

1. K&R for a pungent aroma of truth.

[Seabiscuit]

2. Thanks! (Didn't expect that)

I especially like the graphic language the author uses, e.g. "Yet even formerly sober folks -- first Colin Powell and now new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates -- get a contact high from cozying up to the walking hallucinogen that is our president."

I thought DU'ers would appreciate it.

[flordehinojos]

3. how soon kiss ass gates forgot the kids he was conferring degrees upon just a few short days ago.

...of course, if those were sons and daughters of higher income parents (which graduation from an institution of higher edcuation might indicate--they don't have a damn thing to worry about--they like the twins and the jebbies, george p's and noelle will be protected.

[Morgana LaFey]

4. the walking hallucinogen that is our president???

Wow. That's pungent, man. And hilarious. And true. I'm a little surprised at Robert Scheer using such an intemperate phrase, but it really has come to that, hasn't it?

[formercia]

5. Another Crusade bites the dust.

Fearless Leader weighs in on the 'Long War':

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-1.html

"This war on terror is the calling of a new generation; it is the calling of our generation. Success is essential to securing a future of peace for our children and grandchildren. And securing this peace for the future is going to require a sustained commitment from the American people and our military.

We have an obligation to ensure our military is capable of sustaining this war over the long haul, and in performing the many tasks that we ask of them."

[earlybelle]

6. Just heard re-broadcast of Democracy Now with Scott Ritter and Semour Hersch

What an eye-opener!! If you can catch it on the Net, please do listen. If you want to know who the neocons are and how much power they have over our government, this show is a must.

[Roland99]

7. I knew Gates was selling snake oil from the get-go.