Diplomatic Mutiny at Foggy Bottom

Some news outlets including the NBC nightly news reported on a mutiny of U.S. diplomats over forced assignments in Iraq. Trawling the major news sites didn't provide too much in the way of detail although I was able to find this brief story on the BBC site (of course). Even though NBC news with Brian " My nose was once broken and it really shows up in HD" Williams did a segment with Andrea Mitchell, there is no video or text posted at NBC. Probably because right off the bat Mrs. Greenspan referred to one hundred diplomats refusing to accept assignments in "Vietnam". Oops, wrong country same inescapable foreign policy nightmare. She quickly corrected herself but it was a great Freudian slip.

Back to the protests by those in the diplomatic corp faced with being sent to Surgeland. State has forty-eight postings to fill and almost nobody willing to take them. One staffer describes assignment to Iraq as a potential death sentence. Another observation was that in any other country the embassy would have been closed by now. What is telling is how this is a reliable marker on the status of the surge. The reports on the decreased troop casualties and pockets of security have gained steam over the past month. In the end short term gains in force protection and limited security where we have a large presence are not materializing into the strategic goals set out by war backers. The force required to maintain this status quo is not going to be sustainable in the long run (try spring). The diplomats being sent away to the Emerald City know this and realize that as they start arriving the surge will be starting to wane in numbers and effectiveness out of necessity. There is a good chance the country could continue to decline into a Hobbesian state in the coming year. Will they have to grab the last helicopter ride out of Saigon, err Baghdad?

Update 11/1/2007: The Washington Post has a story on the revolt in today's edition. It goes into more detail than the BBC story. The surge success is looking like more of an illusion in the eyes of the diplomatic corp.

Kevy wants to Be Governor When He Grows Up

State Senator and Cuyahoga Falls resident Kevin Coughlin got a swell write up in today's ABJ. Dennis Willard fashioned the piece as story on a rising star in the Ohio GOP. The profile focuses in on Coughlin's prolific legislative tenure and his aspirations of running for State wide-office. Kevin like many of his colleagues is term limited in 2010 and will be in need of new career path, preferably in the public sector. So the guy who has proposed orange license plates for sex offenders (yellow is already taken), special education school vouchers and a potential ballot amendment on eminent domain is hinting that he may one day run for Governor.

I think we would be safer if guys like Coughlin were not term limited and could spend the better part of their working lives in the legislative bubble of the Statehouse. There they are free to dream up a panoply of laws that address the seemingly endless stream of issues that need remedied. I know that I sleep better at night knowing he is on the job thinking about the proper color of license plate for the cars of sex offenders . No instead they are forced out of office and look for other ways to infect our eyes with their presence. In this case Kevin says, “I have a lot of ideas about what Ohio should be doing...” in regards to a future run for State-wide office. This ambition to rule a la the style of Ken Blackwell using conservative polemics didn't move voters in 2006 (remember that trouncing). Why does stupid think that it will work for him considering that our current Governor, a moderate liberal, has had success governing from the center? The tide is not turning for conservative blow hards like him. Ohioans are getting used to the sensible and bipartisan approach to public policy that seems to be gaining a foothold in Columbus.

ABJ Endorses Cole, Highlights Falls Clerk Race

Akron Ward 8 Council - The World is Holding It's Breath
The Beacon Journal endorsed Randy Cole for Akron Ward 8 City Council citing his "valuable experience" and something about being capable of addressing complex matters or some crap like that . I'm pretty sure they just reprinted Cole's campaign flyer. The ABJ editorial mentions Bob Keith's accomplishments but indicates it's the end of the line for the five term councilman. It seems that ol' Bob has hit that barrier to reelection known as passive leadership. Don't all incumbent office holders have this quality? Any way the Beacon practically phoned this one in. They even appeared to borrow the passive rap on Keith from the interview of Randy that appeared in the West Side Leader. The Leader endorsed Bob Keith. I'm still not sure for whom I will cast my vote. Maybe the one who can guarantee me the jackass next door won't paint anymore cars in his garage will win me over in the end.

Term Limited State Rep. Needs a Job
The ABJ also reported Sunday that the Falls Clerk race is causing a stir. Haven't we seen this before? A well connected State Rep. is looking for a safe place to land once his term runs out. Why not help him out and get him into a career track in public management? In this case John Widowfield is bringing his history of legislating license plate colors and a myriad of other really important public policy to the table. His opponent Lisa Zeno Carano currently holds the office and has 12 prior years experience working in a court system. Widowfield meanwhile points to his his strong suit

"What's so important is to have somebody that understands money - understands dollars"

You see all things revolve around the understanding of money (or dollars in layman's terms) and the ability to master that is the secret to sound public management. What he means is that he has raised a lot of campaign money from a few large donors and is hoping to grab the office for his overlord Alex.

Oops She Did It Again

In case you haven't heard our favorite conservative shemale has been at it again. This time Ann Coulter has decided to go after the jewish faith. Donny Deutsch was on the Today show to talk about Ann's brazen attempt at explaining how Jews can be "perfected" and her subsequent attempt to rephrase her idiotic remarks. Donny made a great analogy to Ann and Brittany Spears. His point was that Brittany doesn't exist until she gets in another car accident (his example not mine, he probably confused her with Lindsay Lohan) just as Ann only pops back into existence by issuing one of her classic wing bat statements. The boy's quite astute if you ask me. I've always said that Coulter has perfected political shtick and nothing more. The real question is whether legitimate conservative pols and pundits will finally distance themselves from her, not whether she should be banned from television.

Speaking of television. If you have a chance to watch the clip of the exchange in HD you will notice Ann has flop sweat around her mouth and chin. I think even she was surprised by her crassness.

Swarm! Swarm!

The flies were just buying Hafner some time. The Tribe pulls off another upset tonight against the Yanks. Go ahead and give Carmona the Cy Young now.

Voinovich the Phony Deficit Hawk

Since it is fashionable to call out phony people these days I direct your attention to the senior senator from Ohio. As PD openers notes Voinovich was the lone deficit hawk in the senate to vote against a paltry $3 billion border security provision added to the overall funding measure. He stated his reasoning in the Congressional Record,

"If we decide we absolutely need to spend $3 billion on something - and I support adequately funding border security - then we need to either raise more revenue or cut other spending to pay for it."

Again, George was adhering to his fiscal conservative beliefs when he voted against the bipartisan crafted expansion to the SCHIP program earlier this week. He sited the unreliable revenue source and increase the cause for voting nay. He wouldn't dream of allowing unbridled expansion of federal spending on his watch, this according to the 9/28 Gongwer news report,

"I came to Washington to reduce the national debt, not to pass the buck and add to it for future generations to deal with,"

When it comes to the nearly$190 billion request to continue the war in Iraq and Afghanistan where will George stand? What about the fiscal mess the war is projected to leave behind for "future generations" to deal with? I'm sure he will stand up as the lone deficit hawk that he is and suggest the funding at least be pared back. He may even demand the Bush tax cuts be rescinded to pay for the wars. He may not utter a peep and vote for the whole request and then find some other token proposal to take a stand against. Sorry kids your health insurance money is being spent in Iraq.

It's 9/30/07 and Rex Humbard is Still Dead

Someone needs to send the message to the ABJ who have not relented in their Rex related coverage. Okay, after five or six front page stories we get it. Rev. Rex was a pioneer at using television to flimflam followers into handing over their hard earned money. The good news is that all of that cash was poured (literally) into that landmark turned eyesore in Cuyahoga Falls that still unofficially bears his namesake (rhymes with detection).

While we never did get that groovy revolving restaurant at the top, the current owner was able festoon the thing with dozens of cell phone arrays. Ouch! my fillings are heating up.

Quid Pro Quo Doctor

Recently retired Cuyahoga County Coroner Dr. Elizabeth Balraj is taking a position as a forensic pathologist within the same County outfit she ran a mere two months ago. The newly created position comes with a modest salary of $157,000 plus posh fringe benefits. Yes, I said newly created position. It seems someone at the Board of Commissioners felt it was appropriate to give the good doctor the nod for all of her years as a dependable electable democrat. Of course Dr. Balraj can take the position for a short tenure to get her pension income level up a tad before she retires again. Yet one more nod from the County leadership.

What is really interesting is that the funding request was championed by Balraj while she still held the title of Coroner and had every intention of taking one of the newly created jobs. It gets better. The analyst at the County budget office that was responsible for working with the Coroner's on getting approval by the Commission was conveniently offered a better paying position that was also part of said funding request. All of this under the nose of the Budget Director and County Administrator. Is it ethical? According to the section of the Ohio Ethics Law dealing with seeking employment it doesn't even appear to be legal. Not bad for a County that's losing revenue, it's residents and looking to cut budgets across the board in 2008.

Mayor Don

The election for Akron Mayor is over and it's no surprise that mayor Don is in again. It was somewhat of a surprise to me that challenger Joe Finley managed to get 47% of the vote. That seems to be a testament to growing Plusquellic fatigue because I can't believe Finley energized a large portion of the electorate.

Everyone here is cool with another four years of Don. He is of course rude and abrasive all the time. He is also a tenacious and steadfast advocate for Akron and the NEO region. A little continuity of leadership is a good thing. Just ask the folks in the Falls about their Don.

Bush Completes Iraq Victory Tour

As I am writing this post the Prez is speaking to a throng of enthusiastic marines and soldiers at a U.S. military base in Al Anbar province of Iraq. A general introduced W to great applause, plenty of believers in that room. It almost looked like he was accepting a Grammy. He promptly thanked everyone in the room, his wife and the creator. Apparently going to Baghdad and making a speech wasn't in the cards not much good news to report there.

What we have witnessed today is the final stage of prepping the battlefield for the looming face off in congress in a week's time. The most important tenant of the this strategy is of course the PR offensive. The top secret insertion of the presidential contingent into the Sunni stronghold and subsequent seizure of the news cycle is a means to this end. So here you have it the latest mission accomplished moment. We already know what Gen." I have a PhD and you don't" Petraeus will report to Congress: the surge must be working we've pacified a Al Anbar. That's great but I doubt handing out piles of cash weapons to tribal sheiks required a surge. There's a Power Point presentation out there that backs me up on this. The creator Captain Travis Patriquin was killed by an IED in December of 2006 but, the seed of his idea started taking hold before the surge and has been a success in the otherwise dim situation across the country.

What I would like to see in the Congressional testimony from the good General and Ambassador Crocker is an honest assessment of the total strategy, not one tactical success. By the looks of today's orchestrated event and clear concentration on Anbar we are not going to get much of that. My guess is that we'll hear a lot about how Al Queda is on the run and that troop casualties are on the decrease. There are observers who would say the later point is not quite true. The last time I checked the center of governance in Iraq was Baghdad and the overall strategy that the surge was supposed to make room for was to create security for all Iraqis and progress on the political and reconciliation fronts. According to the just released report by the GOA we aren't seeing much of that these days. So tell us wise General and noble Statesman how much more blood and treasure do you need to continue this misadventure in the desert just to see if it may work? How many more "success is around the corner" speeches must we endure before the president and Bill Kristol admit that a surge of any size can't turn back the clock and erase the bad decisions and incompetence that have damned us to a seemingly unending occupation? We have to wait a week but my guess is we won't hear anything new.

Fredo Has Gone Fishing

It's no wonder that the Prez assigned the moniker of "Fredo" to the deposed AG. The guy didn't appear to have a handle on basic legal matters like the Constitution, Habeas or his memory for that matter. Al Berto did the honorable thing by taking his ball and going home. In the end he was not the right point man for the president's executive power grab orchestrated in the name of national security. Just like the weak minded Fredo Corleone he couldn't keep it together when pressured under oath about his involvement in the Rovian politicization scheme at the DOJ.

The only photo missing from the weekend meeting between the Prez and Alberto was one of W. laying one of those wet new years eve kisses on his Fredo. I new it was you all along.

He's Gone, Let It Go...

Karl "turd blossom" Rove has left the White House presumably to start his career as caretaker of the eighth circle of hell.

I am asking all of the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate (especially Leahy, Waxman and Conyers) to give it a rest and move on to bigger and badder things. Yes we all wanted to see Rove's head on a pike in front of the capital building but alas it's not going to happen. The guy has always proved to slippery to nabbed cold handed. Honestly gents, it was starting to look a bit quixotic in the way every investigation or line of inquiry would some how lead to getting the goods on Bush's brain.

I suggest we focus our efforts on more important and even attainable goals. Mr. Leahy get the Phase II intelligence report back on track. Mr. Conyers how about more attention to assuring fair elctions, there's a big one coming up next year. Henry keep doing that oversight and contracting abuse thing that you do so darn well. Karl would have been a nice prize but it's time to move on.

Photo- AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta

Cygnetec Opens Shop

Vince Rubino has resurfaced as an independent consultant under the moniker Cygnetec. We were surprised when we heard then news of his departure from Hope Homes, Inc. in March. It didn't take long for this impresario of health care services to dive back into the work he has been involved in for over three decades. Check out the website for a look at what's new.

And the Winner Is...Clinton Did It.

So much for the Scooter serving any time. Oh well we new that was coming. The right wing apologists including the Wall Street editorial page wasted no time getting out the real story behind the president's commutation of Mr. Libby. The old favorite "Clinton did it" is back. Every Libby supporter on all the cable news and NPR produced old reliable right within seconds of any discussion.

Yes Clinton pardoned the convicted white collar fugitive Marc Rich at the end of his term and many people right and left criticized that pardon. Of course the lies that got Scooter in trouble have contributed to thousands of American war dead.

TDF One Week Away

The greatest sporting event in the world gets underway in one week.

No Landis, Basso, or Jan. No wonder the betting websites favor Alexander Vinokourov to win the maillot jaune. Not bad for the Astana squad's top rider. More posts to follow.

"Al Queda" - The new Kleenex

Everything we're shootin' at in Iraq has been deemed to be Al Queda. I thought i had noticed this trend recently in the various news crawls and Wolf Blitzer blatherings. My suspicions were confirmed after reading Glenn Greenwald's column in Salon.

All of a sudden, every time one of the top military commanders describes our latest operations or quantifies how many we killed, the enemy is referred to, almost exclusively now, as "Al Qaeda."

What's even cuter is that the media are picking up the cue. He goes on to provide some recent examples from stellar publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post.

It appears the surge of mind speak was started to coincide with the military version. The same thing has been happening with Iran references. I have found from my observations that Iran is being accused of funding shia AND sunni militants in Iraq. My favorite was the claim made by the State Department earlier this month that Iran is funding and arming the Taliban in Afghanistan. So Iran is helping sunni groups whose idealogical bent is to destroy all shia (read Iranian) influence in the region? War truly is peace.

FERC Denies Hydroelectric Farce

Sunday's ABJ reports that Metro Hydroelectric had its request for a permit denied by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This is just another legal slap down that Metro Hydroelectric has experienced in its questionable pursuit of hydro power in the Gorge. I guess FirstEnergy thought that using a "green energy" project as a front would protect them from the future liability associated with removing the dam.

This is not just good news for the Gorge Metropark's monkshood colony but bad news for the ol' Edison dam. There's a legion of grassroots stakeholders (and paddlers) who are hoping to bring down the industrial age relic and uncover a forgotten paradise. The river will thank us for it when we are done.

We (not) the People II

As i had mentioned in a previous post war supporters are still refuting the November election results were a referendum demanding the President to change direction in Iraq. This time I caught Repub' strategist and former Minn. congressman Vin Weber on the Diane Rehm Show throwing out the "this a republic not a parliamentary government" excuse for the president's tone deafness on the war. This makes sense considering that the President has made it clear that he is the decider and ain't nobody outside his administration gonna tell him how to run this war. Except think-tankers, Bill Kristol and the Saudis.

This one talking point is still a refuge for war apologists regardless of the lack of progress the "surge" is showing or the stalemate exhibited by the Iraqi government. And just when you thought things really stink, Turkey is starting to complicate the one successful (until now) aspect of our national experiment in exporting democracy to the Middle East. I'll guess we'll just have to wait until September for something to change.

I will follow up on the Turkey situation in a later post.

It looks like DiLuca

There are still three days left but it looks like Danilo DiLuca will keep the maglia rosa and win the 90th Giro D'Italia. Gilberto Simoni took 30 seconds from the leader but the rider in pink was able to hold on and grab a respectable fourth at the top of Monte Zoncolan while fending off Simoni and the younger Schleck.

It's all pretty much flat until the end. Do I smell another Petacchi sprint victory?

Wolfie to media "Get bent!"

It was only a matter of time before the real culprit behind the Wolfowitz World Bank meltdown was made public. Of course it's the media stupid. In a BBC interview Wolfie explains that it wasn't the lack of support from bank employees that made him leave. The inaccuracies reported in the media were at fault, "I think it tells us more about the media than about the bank and I'll leave it at that" was the gem he offered in a BBC radio interview on Monday. Remember the bank's board had accepted that he had acted ethically in providing his girlfriend with a big-ass raise. Paul I think the bank was willing to agree to anything to get you out of there. It's too bad more people didn't follow the Wall Street Journals editorial remarks more carefully because the media wouldn't have had to take such a big piece of the blame.

I guess it's the media's fault that your ridiculous claims of Iraqi oil revenue funding the war never came to pass. Or how about the 12 million barrels a day that has yet to happen? Media's fault right?