Why is Obama sliding?

Dave Lindorff has an article over at Counterpunch (here) that pretty much hits the nail on the head:

But how can I or any progressive vote for a presidential candidate who goes
from opposing a war to saying he not only supports the idea of keeping troops in
Iraq for another five years—the length of the entire WWII!—but who further says
he won’t rule out attacking Iran, even if that country poses no imminent threat
to the US, simply because it develops nuclear weapons—the same weapons that our
putative friends, Pakistan and India, have? How can I vote for a candidate who
wants to expand the military (by 65,000 troops) instead of shrinking this huge,
bloodsucking parasite of an organization which is costing as much as the rest of
the world spends on its armies?

How can I or any progressive vote for a presidential candidate who
cannot state categorically that he will defend the Constitution by reversing all
of President Bush’s abuses of power and who will not promise to prosecute the
president and members of his administration for any crimes committed while in
office?

Olympic Commentator Bloopers

Enjoy!

Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators so far
during the Summer Olympics that they would like to take back:

1. Weightlifting commentator: 'This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her
snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.'

2. Dressage commentator: 'This is really a lovely horse and I speak from
personal experience since I once mounted her mother.'

3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: 'I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother
and father.'

4. Boxing Analyst: 'Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in
boxing, but none of them really that serious.'

5. Softball announcer: 'If history repeats itself, I should think we can
expect the same thing again.'

6. Basketball analyst: 'He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like
it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.'

7. At the rowing medal ceremony: 'Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC
president is hugging the cox of the British crew.'

8. Soccer commentator: 'Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven
Dicks on the field.'

9. Tennis commentator: 'One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them... Oh my God, what have I just said?

Watchmen Trailer

I am really looking forward to this movie. I just read the graphic novel for the first time and it was really good. One interesting thing is that the climax of the book features a confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union. A few days later the fighting broke out in Georgia. Now we're sending troops to Georgia. Swell!

Anyway here is the trailer:

Pravda says it all

A quote from Pravda that sums up my feelings and those of a lot of Americans regarding our Resident and Commander-in-Thief:

“President Bush,

Why don’t you shut up? In your
statement on Monday regarding the legitimate actions of the Russian Federation
in Georgia, you failed to mention the war crimes perpetrated by Georgian
military forces, which American advisors support, against Russian and Ossetian
civilians

“President Bush,

Why don’t you shut up? Your faithful
ally, Mikhail Saakashvili, was announcing a ceasefire deal while his troops,
with your advisors, were massing on Ossetia’s border, which they crossed under
cover of night and destroyed Tskhinvali, targeting civilian structures just like
your forces did in Iraq.

“President Bush,

Why don’t you shut up?
Your American transport aircraft gave a ride home to thousands of Georgian
soldiers from Iraq directly into the combat zone.

“President Bush,

Why don’t you shut up? How do you account for the fact that among the
Georgian soldiers fleeing the fighting yesterday you could clearly hear officers
using American English giving orders to “Get back inside” and how do you account
for the fact that there are reports of American soldiers among the Georgian
casualties?

“President Bush,

Why don’t you shut up? Do you
really think anyone gives any importance whatsoever to your words after 8 years
of your criminal and murderous regime and policies? Do you really believe you
have any moral ground whatsoever and do you really imagine there is a single
human being anywhere on this planet who does not stick up his middle finger
every time you appear on a TV screen?

Do you really believe you have the
right to give any opinion or advice after Abu Ghraib? After Guantanamo? After
the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens? After the torture by
CIA operatives?

Do you really believe you have any right to make a
statement on any point of international law after your trumped-up charges
against Iraq and the subsequent criminal invasion?

“President Bush,

Why don’t you shut up? Suppose Russia for instance declares that Georgia
has weapons of mass destruction? And that Russia knows where these WMD are,
namely in Tblisi and Poti and north, south, east and west of there? And that it
must be true because there is ‘magnificent foreign intelligenc’ such as
satellite photos of milk powder factories and baby cereals producing chemical
weapons and which are currently being ‘driven around the country in vehicles’?
Suppose Russia declares for instance that ‘Saakashvili stiffed the world’ and it
is ‘time for regime change’?

I found this in the article by Paul Craig Roberts appropriately titled "President Bush, Why Don't You Shut UP?" over at CounterPunch.