Have you seen him on the talk shows yet? You've seen the headlines elsewhere.

Today Taylor Marsh has a post where she calls in the "hotline" number Ari's commercial lists that will get you through to Congress to express your views on the Iraq war . What Ari doesn't say is that they make you take a "survey" first. The first question is Do you think the war in Iraq supports the war on Terror. If you say no, they politely hang up on you.

Taylor thinks they only want supporters of the occupation to be able to get through to talk to Congress. Me, we all know that Ari is being paid big bucks by "somebody" to front Freedom Watch. Follow the money. I can't believe they think even supports of the war don't think this new "outreach non-profit group" is shallow as hell.

The Republican candidates are running against him, and they all attack each other. The Democratic candidates suspect he might be the candidate, so they attack him.

But the one who's really under attack from both sides is Thompson. I'm amazed how much FOX is trying to bring him down, considering how he was supposed to be this golden outsider. Heh, first time I've agreed with FOX on anything I know.

. . . .because he is ultimately the most qualified and competent candidate in this campaign.

Don't make me laugh. Rudi's as crooked as they come and is ideologically wishy-washy to boot. Electing him would be like thinking George would make a fine president. Twice. Oh, wait, right, nevermind ;}

This is not only nauseating but stupid as well:

Maybe what the war in Iraq needs is not more troops but more religion. At least that's the message the Department of Defense seems to be sending.

Last week, after an investigation spurred by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Pentagon abruptly announced that it would not be delivering "freedom packages" to our soldiers in Iraq, as it had originally intended.

What were the packages to contain? Not body armor or home-baked cookies. Rather, they held Bibles, proselytizing material in English and Arabic and the apocalyptic computer game "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" (derived from the series of post-Rapture novels), in which "soldiers for Christ" hunt down enemies who look suspiciously like U.N. peacekeepers.

The packages were put together by a fundamentalist Christian ministry called Operation Straight Up, or OSU. Headed by former kickboxer Jonathan Spinks, OSU is an official member of the Defense Department's "America Supports You" program. The group has staged a number of Christian-themed shows at military bases, featuring athletes, strongmen and actor-turned-evangelist Stephen Baldwin. But thanks in part to the support of the Pentagon, Operation Straight Up has now begun focusing on Iraq, where, according to its website (on pages taken down last week), it planned an entertainment tour called the "Military Crusade."

Apparently the wonks at the Pentagon forgot that Muslims tend to bristle at the word "crusade" and thought that what the Iraq war lacked was a dose of end-times theology.

*&^%ing idiots.

Via Baloon Juice:

Unsurprising news, via Steve Benen:

Nightmarish political realities in Baghdad are prompting American officials to curb their vision for democracy in Iraq. Instead, the officials now say they are willing to settle for a government that functions and can bring security.

Hell, Saddam brought security. He also counterbalanced Iran, kept a lid on jihadist crazies and tortured far fewer Iraqis to death on a per-month basis than the bloodthirsty gangs who will end up running the country. Iraq had electricity, sanitation, a vastly lower crime rate and a functioning medical system. Ethnic cleansing before/after Saddam seems to be a wash, only these days it is done with fewer beaurocrats and more cordless drills. Hey, at least we kept our credibility! Now when any middle easterner hears about America the first thing that comes to mind is abu Ghraib.

The sad thing is that Iraq really isn't any better off with our current attempt to play god than they were with our last one.

Democrats Refocus Message on Iraq After Military Gains :

Democratic leaders in Congress had planned to use August recess to raise the heat on Republicans to break with President Bush on the Iraq war. Instead, Democrats have been forced to recalibrate their own message in the face of recent positive signs on the security front, increasingly focusing their criticisms on what those military gains have not achieved: reconciliation among Iraq's diverse political factions.

[ ... ]

"We've begun to change tactics in Iraq, and in some areas, particularly in Anbar province , it's working," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Monday.

"My assessment is that if we put an additional 30,000 of our troops into Baghdad , that's going to quell some of the violence in the short term," Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) echoed in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. "I don't think there's any doubt that as long as U.S. troops are present that they are going to be doing outstanding work."

Enough said.