Dexy's back and Davy's got him

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The U.S. military on Wednesday denounced a chaotic raid conducted by an Iraqi special forces unit Tuesday morning that killed an Iraqi government employee and sparked a gunfight with police in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.
"It was what appears to be a rogue operation," said Brig. Gen. James C. Boozer, the deputy commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, which oversee Diyala.
The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni party in the country, has condemned that raid and another in which a local university president was arrested, describing them as part of a Shiite sectarian campaign.

The above is from Washington Post's "Around the World" -- their global briefs section. And no, the New York Times has still not reported on it. Even with four articles from Iraq today. Three already discussed, what we were saving?

The Sob Sister. The Flasher of Falluja -- who exposed himself while covering for the US military during the November 2004 slaughter. Yes, he's back and Dexy's putting on the red light yet again. "Exiting Iraq, Petraeus Says Gains Are Fragile" screams the headline and Dexy checks his Loretta Young hairdo and smooths down his tweed skirt and jacket. The Sob Sister of the Green Zone returns, shoulder pads in place, hunting for more myths and lies to repeat.

Remember this from Sunday night:

But the US military has good news! "Attacks down except roadside bombs, rigged houses"! So attacks are down . . . if you eliminate some of the attacks. The opening sentence: "The numbers of houses rigged with explosives and roadside bombs have increased since the beginning of the Iraqi offensive in Diyala, while other attack trends have been decreasing." Guess this wave of Operation Happy Talk should be dubbed "win some, lose some."

Now we all know Dexy knows how to read press releases from the Green Zone. But somehow he forgot to include that in his article. He just notes Davy Petraeus whispering to him that car and suicide bombings dropped "last month." It was a rough report for Dexy. He looked over (in the morning) and he saw his David "looking drawn, exhausted, and more than a few years older than when he took command" of Dexy's heart? "18 months ago." Thank goodness Dexy is back in the Green Zone to sing:

Love woke me up this morning
Feeling fine
I had you on my mind
Love woke me up this morning
And I haven't had a heart ache today
And all my little tears have gone away
Skies are blue
Because of you.
-- "Love Woke Me Up This Morning," written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, recorded by the Temptations on the album All Directions

Happily, Dexy woke up singing that song. Sadly, Davy whispered to Dexy, "There is not much in the tank at the end of the day."

Don't lose hope, Dexy, just switch to another Ashford & Simpson lyric and sing "you've got to lay it brick by brick, to make it stick, you've got to use all of you, 'cause that's the glue." But wait, he already did: " . . . in the general's exhaustion comes the glimmer of hope . . ." Not the Hope Diamond, mind you, but some day, Dexy, some day.

Let's not even go there on that seventh paragraph.

Forever and ever the story seems to drag on (A&S: "It seems to hang on . . .") until finally it ends. Every thing Davy spits out, Dexy swallows. And hasn't it always been that way?

If Dexy's back in the Green Zone, he may not get the pass he got before. Judith Miller blocked a lot of attention that could have gone Dexy's way. He was fortunate in that regard. Iraq was less so. Some day his tombstone may read: "He was had for a Hershey bar."

Turning to the US presidential race. This is from Ralph's Daily Audio and it is entitled "Debates Declaration:"

This is Ralph Nader. The two major parties -- Republican and Democratic Parties -- and their candidates seem to want to ration debates in this country. Why do we allow presidential debates to be rationed?
We don't allow weather reports to be rationed, entertainment to be rationed, sporting events to be rationed. But when it comes to the future of our country and it's place in the world, when it comes to the livelihoods and the necessities of the American people, we're left with three debates, so-called, in the fall with only Barack Obama and John McCain on the stage. Their own debate commission/corporation ensures that no one else on the stage and they're really not debates, they're like parallel interviews.
So we want people to open up the debates and to support the following declaration:
"We call for opening up the debates. The scope of discussion must be as broad and deep as the serious challenges we face as a nation. We agree that vibrant debate is the heart beat of our democracy and our First Amendment especially during an election year. We recognize that smaller third parties and independents have traditionally played a vital role in our democracy including leading the charge for the abolition of slavery, the women's right to vote and economic justice for workers and farmers. We support opening up the debates beyond the two parties and the so-called Commission on Presidential Debates -- which is a private corporation, co-chaired by former chairman of the Republican and Democratic Parties -- it's time for our presidential debates to once again be hosted by truly non-partisan, civic minded associations."
If you support this declaration, let's hear from you.

Yesterday evening and night time community posts revolved around the theme of 80s music so be sure to check out Rebecca's "corey hart's 'never surrender'," Ruth's "Stevie Nicks' 'Edge of Seventeen'," Kat's "Tracey Chapman's 'Fast Car'," Marcia's "Ashford & Simpson 'High Rise'," Elaine's "Cyndi Lauper" and Mike's "Tina Turner, Bangles, R.E.M.." Cedric's "Barack tells people what he thinks there problem is" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! HE JUST CAN'T CONNECT!" joint-post addresses Barack. In response to the order people are listed in for Wed. theme posts, listing them in the order Wally and Cedric do which allows them to grab all the links easily without going site to site (their order is: Rebecca, Ruth, Kat, Marcia, Elaine and Mike). As for an e-mail asking why Rebecca used '' around a song title, (a) everyone did and (b) Rebecca always does that. Rebecca always does that (using the British music writing version). Everyone did last night in their titles (only Rebecca used '' in the text of the post) because of Wally and Cedric grabbing the post headings to link to. Trina's "Split Pea Soup in the Kitchen" went up this weekend as did Betty's latest chapter "Betsy and Valda come calling" and we'll note those here as well.

Back to Ralph's Daily Audio for "Bob Herbert's World:"

This is Ralph Nader. The New York Times columnist Bob Herbert has a problem.
He's written numerous columns complaining about presidential candidates and their campaigns ignoring serious policy issues. It's as if no one else is running for president in Bob Herbert's world other than Barack Obama and John McCain.
In a recent article that he wrote in the New York Times, he complains about how the two major candidates and their campaigns are ignoring the problems of the cities: the poverty, the transportaion problems, the lack of repair and expansion of public works and facilities, the crime. He complains that the mayors have been complaining that they have been abandoned by Washington, citing a recent gathering of city mayors that he attended.
In one of these gatherings he cites the mayor of Meridian, Mississippi, John Robert Smith saying that he believes the nation should devote the same level of commitment to developing a first-rate passenger rail system as was marshalled for the interstate highway system in the Eisenhower era. Well, the Nader-Gonzalez campaign has taken a strong stand for the expansion and modernization of passenger rail as a way to save energy, to reduce casualties on the highway and to provide more immediate evacuation of the cities in case of a calamity or a natural disaster.
But to Bob Herbert, the Nader Gonzalez campaign which supports almost one-for-one so many of the issues that he advances and champions doesn't exist. To him, the Nader-Gonzalez campaign or any progressive third party campaign doesn't exist in his column so I say to Bob Herbert, "At least level with your readers, Mr. Herbert, tell them that you think the two major parties, Republican and Democrat, own all the voters and there's no one else on the ballot. At least level with them."
This is Ralph Nader.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

[Note: Entry originally titled, "Dexy's flashing 'The Look of Love' again." After it posted, changed to new title.]

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