Hellzapoppin'

Whew!

There sure is a lot going on today.....let me try to bring you up to date:

If you haven't seen or read the transcripts from the Cheney interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN yesterday, you MUST SEE IT. It's jaw-dropping in almost every sense of the word. Click on the Link above.

In addition to that, the wonderful, wacky world of Right Blogastan is in an uproar over desertions from within the Republican ranks (Chuck Hagel in particular) and they are also swooning over the testimony of General Petraeus (the man taking Abizad's place in Central Command)before the Senate Armed Services Committee; especially the dialogue between our favorite (sarcasm)"Independent Democratic" Senator Joe Lieberman and Petraeus where Lieberman uses McCarthy-like techniques to put words in the good Gerneral's mouth. Glenn Greenwald at unclaimed Territory had a good article on it yesterday, but now....well....it's become a cause celeb for Right Blogastan. TBogg has a less academic but nevertheless satisfying description of what's going on here. (Note: you might have to scroll down a bit because posts are flying fast and furious this morning. It's under the title Circular Firing Squad)

Actually one of the Commentors from Glenn Greenwald's site, Dave had some of the best comments:

Hagel's impassioned plea was refreshing and I don't know if I've ever seen a politician speak with such candor and passion.

His Vietnam experience, as well and true conservative principles, were shining through.In the past week Hagel has (1) claimed that the GOP is not the same party as the one he voted for on a tank in the Mekong Delta in 1967, and (2) made an almost tearful plea to his colleagues that to fail to honestly debate the "surge" when so many lives are at stake is to "fail" the country. While this is refreshing and entirely in line with the foundations of this country, what's troubling is this veteran's comments, rather than sparking a true debate, seem to have started a movement to purge him from the party and cut off his funding.

Like true Machiavellians, they are cutting off the head of the flower that dares to stick its head up, to set an example and quell any other "rebels."So it looks like the "surge" plan is rapidly growing into a "purge" plan: you either agree with it or we remove your command and even accuse you of treason. You ask for a debate, claiming that you don't doubt the President's motives, and we develop a Loyalty Oath against you.

Well said, Dave. You covered all of it at once....reference to Lieberman's "treason" comment, Cheney's don't debate, don't tell strategy, and finally the Republican "from Surge to Purge" plan.

Our friend Josh Micah Marshall from Talking Points Memo has a great article on the true philosophic and tactical goals of conservatives in the Washington Monthly. Here's a snippet to whet your appetite:

In their view, invasion of Iraq was not merely, or even primarily, about getting rid of Saddam Hussein. Nor was it really about weapons of mass destruction, though their elimination was an important benefit. Rather, the administration sees the invasion as only the first move in a wider effort to reorder the power structure of the entire Middle East. Prior to the war, the president himself never quite said this openly. But hawkish neoconservatives within his administration gave strong hints. In February, Undersecretary of State John Bolton told Israeli officials that after defeating Iraq, the United States would "deal with" Iran, Syria, and North Korea.

The scariest part? It was written in 2003!

It's long but it's the kind of brain food we need to keep our sanity these days.

Speaking of sanity of lack thereof, we are pleased to know that our favorite Republican whipping girl (don't even think that!) Katherine Harris has made another debute....this time appearing on the floor of the House of Representatives before the SOTU handing out BUSINESS CARDS! Notice: all comments will be heavily screened to keep the obvious jokes out. Pictures are here


While Republicans are practicing their own version of a "purity pledge" the Scooter Libby Trial is going on in DC. There were a few bombshells in the opening day. Like the Libby defense team stating that Libby was being made the scapegoat for Karl Rove. And that Libby was being "set-up to take the fall" by the CIA. Christy and Marcy (emptywheel) are liveblogging for firedoglake if you want to keep up with it.

I'm also pleased to announce that our good friend, Stephen C. Day has resumed regular installments of his incredible series, Last Chance Democracy Cafe. It is one of the great fictional works on the web (in my opinion) and deserves a much wider readership than it usually gets. Steve's writing is pitch-perfect for our times and deals in a disarmingly honest manner with the dilema that the progressive/liberal community faces in these times. His characters become old friends very quickly and you share their thoughts and travails as you would with your neighbors. The latest episode is here. I won't give the subject matter away. Just ...just...read it.

Aside from that ....well....add your own comments....I've given you a lot to chew on....