Donald Trump is celebrating victory over ISIS that owes its success to President Obama.

Big wins against ISIS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2017

What his Twitter-ness fails to comprehend is that though this IS a victory for the United States, it is NOT a victory for him.

Courtesy of The Independent:  

While the Iraqi armed forces staged an exhausting nine-month siege around the city of Mosul, the US-led air campaign in Iraq and Syria initiated by the former president appears to have proved successful in weakening Isis forces. 

The US and its allies, including but not limited to the UK, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey, also provided continual training and advised proxy local forces without sending their own troops into action. 

Pentagon officials told the AFP news agency that the outcome in Mosul was clear and that the Iraqi military had become a battle-hardened army which eventually prevailed. 

One senior US military official who was deployed to Iraq from 2015 said the "training worked". 

"It has enabled the Iraqis to take back their country," he said. 

In 2014 things were looking grim in Iraq and Americans had no stomach for sending in more of our own troops.

So instead President Obama came up with a strategy called "by, with and through". Which involved training local Iraqi troops to fight in small units, set up defenses and breech minefields.

And that strategy is the one still being used today, and we know that because Donald Trump ordered a new plan and then rejected it last week because it was too similar to Obama's.

So this victory? This is all courtesy of President Obama.

(P.S. The good jobs numbers are as well.)

Hobby Lobby forced to return illegally obtained "Biblical" artifacts and pay 5 million dollar fine.

Courtesy of NPR:

Hobby Lobby, the Oklahoma-based chain of arts and crafts retail stores, has agreed to pay a $3 million fine and forfeit thousands of ancient clay tablets and clay bullae that were smuggled into the United States with improper labels. 

The announcement by the Justice Department says Hobby Lobby bought over 5,500 artifacts, such as clay tablets and blocks with cuneiform writing, and cylinder seals for $1.6 million. The artifacts, originally from Iraq, were shipped to the company from the United Arab Emirates and Israel with labels that described them as "ceramic tiles" or "clay tiles (sample)." 

In a statement, Hobby Lobby President Steve Green said the company "was new to the world of acquiring these items, and did not fully appreciate the complexities of the acquisitions process. This resulted in some regrettable mistakes." 

"We should have exercised more oversight and carefully questioned how the acquisitions were handled," he said. 

But the Justice Department prosecutors say the company should have realized that its acquisition of the artifacts "was fraught with red flags."

As it turns out Hobby Lobby was warned about these "red flags" by their own expert.

Courtesy of CNN: 

"In October 2010, an expert on cultural property law retained by Hobby Lobby warned the company that the acquisition of cultural property likely from Iraq, including cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals, carries a risk that such objects may have been looted from archaeological sites in Iraq," the DOJ said. 

"The expert also advised Hobby Lobby to review its collection of antiquities for any objects of Iraqi origin and to verify that their country of origin was properly declared at the time of importation into the United States. "

But hey, why listen to THAT guy?

As if all of this were not embarrassing enough to Hobby Lobby, there is also the fact that they may inadvertently be funding ISIS.

Courtesy of Newsweek:

Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq are netting between $150 million and $200 million a year from illicit trade in plundered antiquities, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations said in a letter released on Wednesday. 

"Around 100,000 cultural objects of global importance, including 4,500 archaeological sites, nine of which are included in the World Heritage List of ... UNESCO, are under the control of the Islamic State ... in Syria and Iraq," Ambassador Vitaly Churkin wrote in a letter to the U.N. Security Council. 

"The profit derived by the Islamists from the illicit trade in antiquities and archaeological treasures is estimated at U.S. $150-200 million per year," he said.

These artifacts were scheduled to be displayed at the Hobby Lobby's Museum of the Bible.

But here's the thing, MOST so called "biblical artifacts" turn out to be bullshit, and are either actual ancient artifacts unrelated to events in the Bible or outright fabrications of pottery and cuneiform tablets that sell like hot cakes to Christians desperate to prove that the Bible is accurate.

In fact Archeological finds rarely support events occurring in the Bible, though that often does not stop charlatans from offering them up as proof.

I think the only thing that one could learn by visiting this "Museum of the Bible" is that the folks who own Hobby Lobby have money to burn, and that it would undoubtedly be better spent helping the poor, building a REAL museum, or at the very least not wasted fighting against having to provide access to contraception in their employee's health care plan.

Just like back in the Vietnam era, Trump Administration is hiding the troop deployments from the American people.

Oh boy, I have an army of my own now too!

Courtesy of the LA Times:  

Even as the U.S. military takes on a greater role in the warfare in Iraq and Syria, the Trump administration has stopped disclosing significant information about the size and nature of the U.S. commitment, including the number of U.S. troops deployed in either country. 

Earlier this month, the Pentagon quietly dispatched 400 Marines to northern Syria to operate artillery in support of Syrian militias that are cooperating in the fight against Islamic State, according to U.S. officials. That was the first use of U.S. Marines in that country since its long civil war began. 

In Iraq, nearly 300 Army paratroopers were deployed recently to help the Iraqi military in their six-month assault on the city of Mosul, according to U.S. officials. 

Neither of those deployments was announced once they had been made, a departure from the practice of the Obama administration, which announced nearly all conventional force deployments.

The excuse for this is that Trump wants the element of surprise, as if the enemy is not aware when large numbers of American soldiers land on their shores unless they read it in the America press first.

What seems to actually be happening is that Trump is escalating conflicts all around the globe and keeping the American people out of the loop.

That is essentially the tactics used during the Vietnam era to keep us from knowing how many of our soldiers were fighting and dying in a war that we had already lost.

And you can bet your ass that if the Trump Administration is not going to tell us how many troops are being deployed, and where they are fighting, that there is no way they are going to keep us apprised of the casualties that result from those decisions.

Here let be take a moment to laugh at the people who claimed they were not voting for Hillary because she was a "war monger,"  and then further claimed that Trump was antiwar.

Fucking morons!

These are his actual words, and yet almost half of the country will vote for him.

You know I often see Trump surrogates on cable news arguing that they should stop focusing on all of these sex scandals and start focusing on important policy questions.

I think I actually agree with that.

I would love to see Trump respond to an actual policy discussion during a debate without benefit of notes and with a moderator who asked follow up questions and did not accept vague fact free responses.

Does anybody really think that Hillary would not mop the floor with him in a debate structured like that?

The only reason the Trump surrogates make noise to suggest they actually want to talk about policies is because they are confident that the interviewer will not call their bluff.

If suddenly Anderson Cooper or Joy Reid said "Sure let's talk in depth about Donald Trump's policy solution to Syria," they would urinate all over themselves and make a mad dash for the door.

Donald Trump says the world was "100%" better with dictators Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi still in power.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Donald Trump believes the world would be much better off if ruthless dictators like Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi were still in power. 

"100%," Trump replied when asked that question in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper that aired Sunday on "State of the Union." 

Trump said he believes Iraq and Libya, the respective countries of the since-deceased dictators, would be less fractured and promote a more stable Middle East if the two had not been forcefully pushed out of power. Hussein fell from power following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and Gadhafi was ousted following violent civil strife in 2011 that ultimately drew a NATO-led military intervention. 

"I mean, look at Libya. Look at Iraq. Iraq used to be no terrorists. He (Hussein) would kill the terrorists immediately, which is like now it's the Harvard of terrorism," Trump said. "If you look at Iraq from years ago, I'm not saying he was a nice guy, he was a horrible guy, but it was a lot better than it is right now. Right now, Iraq is a training ground for terrorists. Right now Libya, nobody even knows Libya, frankly there is no Iraq and there is no Libya. It's all broken up. They have no control. Nobody knows what's going on."

"People are getting their heads chopped off, they're being drowned. Right now, they are far worse than they were, ever, under Saddam Hussein or Gadhafi," he said.

Okay well you know how much it pains me to say this, but I kind of agree with Trump here.

I mean in the case of Iraq I am in almost total agreement, and on Libya I am in partial agreement because I think that situation is still evolving.

I also agree that when the United States intervenes in the affairs of other countries it seems to rarely work out in our favor, or even for that matter in theirs.

In some ways this is kind of what worries me about Hillary. Not that she is quite the war hawk embraced by the Right, but many of her votes while in the Senate put right quite comfortably among them.

Now if you will excuse me I have to go into my closet and scream until I no longer feel shame over agreeing with Donald Trump on something. This may take awhile.

Iraqi man shot dead while taking pictures of the first snowfall he has ever seen. Because you know, Texas.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

A man who just recently moved to Dallas from Iraq was shot dead as he was taking photos of the first snowfall he had ever seen, police said. 

Authorities are investigating the death of Ahmed Al-Jumaili, 36, who was killed in the parking lot of an apartment complex late Wednesday night. 

Al-Jumaili only moved to America three weeks ago, according to a fundraising page set up by friends. 

The Dallas Police Department said that the shooting took place at 11:40 p.m., when Al-Jumaili and his wife were taking photos of the snow. 

He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died. According to ABC affiliate WFAA, witnesses told police that a group of men randomly started firing a gun and some nearby cars were also hit. 

Crimestoppers offered $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest.

And here I bet that this man believed he was leaving the dangers of Iraq for the safety of America.

I guess somebody forgot to tell him about Texas. 

New report finds that yes religion is the source of most of today's terrorism.

Courtesy of the Guardian: 

Religious extremism has become the main driver of terrorism in recent years, according to this year’s Global Terrorism Index. 

The report recorded 18,000 deaths in 2013, a rise of 60% on the previous year. The majority (66%) of these were attributable to just four groups: Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaida. 

Overall there has been a fivefold increase in deaths from terrorism since the 9/11 suicide attacks. 

The report’s authors attribute the majority of incidents over the past few years to groups with a religious agenda. 

Before 2000, it was nationalist separatist terrorist organisations such as the IRA and Chechen rebels who were behind the most attacks. The number of incidents from nationalist separatist groups has remained relatively stable in the years since while religious extremism has grown. 

The prevalence of Islamist groups in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria is the main driver behind these trends. 

This report is interesting because it flies in the face of  arguments given by Islamic apologists, like Reza Aslan, who argue that religion is NOT the trigger for extremist views or violence.

And in fact making this connection was what got Bill Maher into so much trouble recently.

However I would be quick to mention that just because it seems that Islam is the religion of choice for most terrorists today, there is still plenty of terrorism in the name of Christ as well.

And it could be argued that in the not too distant past Christian terrorism terrorized communities around the world for many hundreds of years before it was brought under some semblance of control by more civilized minds.

As Steven Weinberg once said, "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

And now some unsolicited advice to our President concerning conflict overseas from a woman who does not even know how to stop her family from attacking the neighbors.

Resplendent in her best pleather jacket, Palin decides to tell the President exactly what he is doing wrong in dealing with ISIS and how she would have handled things much worse better.

I have had two cups of coffee and a Dramamine so let's see if I can get through this transcript without losing my breakfast or throwing my computer through the wall.

Here goes:

"President Obama is leading from behind again."

Goddamn bitch! How dare yo....I'm gonna....You don't know sh....Okay, okay I have control again.

Deep breaths Gryphen, she is talking to her supporters so of course she is going to throw them some partially digested red meat. Okay let's try again.

"ISIS, that death cult, it's beheading Americans and persecuting Christians on a massive scale. And killing our allies in the Middle East. Yet, the President's aides actually told the New York Times that, quote 'We don't want this to look like an American war,' unquote. (Which, by the way, exactly reflects the attitude of the American people.)

And how are they going to do that? by pulling the same tricks he pulled in Libya. By arming jihadists. By launching very limited air strikes. And by hoping all that just turns out better than it did before. But we all remember Libya (Cue the Benghazi picture.) where our so called allies? They turned on us soon after they got what they wanted from the US. Where they killed our brave diplomats, where they filmed themselves jumping into our ambassador's swimming pool recently. (Or in Palin-speak "concrete pond.") Woo hoo! Partying it up, celebrating, after chasing America out of the country. 

Now Libya is in a state of near anarchy. (Sounds like any weekend at the Palin compound.) Offering safe haven now for jihadists all across the region. They're a mess. That's the strategy we want for ISIS? To defeat ISIS? The President told America that he wants to destroy the group, now that they are beheading Americans. Even though said earlier he said..um...basically he suggested that they weren't much to worry about. You know they're JV squad. Well now he says 'Okay we'll destroy'em.' But the President's already backing away from that promise. 

On Meet the Press his Chief of Staff gave a definition of success that is far far from destroying ISIS. 

(This, by the way, was the White House Chief of Staff McDonough's statement on MTP concerning success against ISIS or ISIL.  ""Success looks like an ISIL that no longer threatens our friends, can't accumulate followers and threaten Muslims in Syria, Iraq, or otherwise," McDonough told NBC "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd. "And that's exactly what success looks like." To me that sort of sounds like it would be the end of ISIS and their ability to do any real damage in the Middle East. But I guess if every single one of them is not hunted down and shot in the face that will it not satisfy certain people. )

Their definition of success? I don't believe it would be your definition of success America. Even worse, okay here's a problem, what we hear now from Obama, though granted they're changing their plans, and red lines that they draw, it seems like daily. Very inconsistent. They dither around with foreign policy. (Yes responding to new data and to changing dynamics in the regions must really confuse those who see the world in black and white.) 

But even worse, what Obama's planning to do, it sounds like, is to arm Syrian rebels. (The same plan that John McCain has been pushing since 2012.) We don't know if we can trust Syrian rebels. These Syrian rebels. they may have sold one of our journalists to ISIS. So the President's planning to arm rebels who have already handed over weapons to ISIS? And who allegedly just reached a ceasefire agreement with ISIS? The Syrian rebel group who's palling around with even more dangerous terrorists? (Well THERE'S an oldie but a goodie from 2008.)These rebels, these jihadists, they're not our friends. Um but the President wants to arm them anyway and thinks that they can be trusted. 

No, we need facts in order to...uh...I guess, prod the President in making the right decisions on where this country needs to go when America's interest is being adversely affected by this group ISIS that is hell bent on destroying those in the Middle East and coming on over and destroying us too. (Did Sarah Palin actually say we need "facts?" I must have heard that wrong.) Right now the President wants it both ways, what's new? He wants to look like he is doing something, buuut he really doesn't want to get too involved.  (Once again reflecting the mood of the American people.) We all know that we're not going to be able to defeat ISIS with just air strikes. But Obama knows how unpopular sending combat troops would be. Especially under HIS command. (And why would it be just "his" command? Where the hell is Congress? They have left this President high and dry, while they run off to take yet another vacation from the job that they have failed to do for the last six years.) But if not us on the ground defeating ISIS then..then who? The truth is we have no idea how to sort out the moderate forces from the radical forces. And President Obama's buffaloing you if he's leading you to believe that HE knows how to sort out moderate Muslims from radical Muslims in an areas that for..for the most part is letting us know that..um..you know, they're not our friends. (Is she actually about to quote a bumper sticker and suggest that we "Kill them all and let Allah sort them out?") 

We can't trust the rebels in Syria. Some think that we can get the Sunnis in Iraq..well like maybe, we'll switch sides again and fight with us against ISIS.  Good luck with that. We can count on the Kurds of course to help us out, and ally with us, but they're only going to fight for their own area. So where does that leave us? 

(Okay you know how when you are driving there will be a sign that warns you that there is a sharp turn ahead? Yeah well Palin is about to do a 360 that just might cause you to get a little nauseous.)

Well I've said this before that I don't want to see us going back to Iraq either, but I'm a realist. (Wait, what?) Is ISIS a direct threat to our own national security or not? That's the first question we have to ask.  (Okay did this woman NOT just spend over half of an hour screaming about how the only way to defeat ISIS is to send American troops back into Iraq as well as into Syria and kill them all? And NOW she is asking whether or not they present a legitimate threat to America?) And I agree that it's a question for legitimate debate. If we do decide that ISIS is a direct threat to our security then of course we must go in, we must defeat them over there. But we have to be in it, to win it. (Okay let me see if I can make sense of this. We need to put boots on the ground, and engage ISIS now, while we are deciding whether or not we should be engaging ISIS st all?)

Please Mr. President listen to America on this. It means we go in with overwhelming United States of America force, the red, white, and blue, we punch hard. (Like Bristol punches hard?) We defeat them, and then we get out. Only this time let's listen to those on the ground, top brass of military, the experts, who are saying..um.. we do need a residual force staying there to make sure this doesn't happen again. (So we need to pull out, but not all the way out. Isn't that how daughters get knocked up?) For now the tragedy is that our President just doesn't get it. For more than six years he's appeased jihadists.  (Yes by killing hundreds of them.) And now the Middle East is in flames. He's been weak, our President is weak, and again and again he shows this. 

Thirteen years after 9/11, the jihadists are stronger than they’ve ever been. No Mr. President you didn't tell America the truth when you suggested that all these terrorists, you had them on the run. Specifically you said you had Al Qaeda on the run. Yeah, running right towards us, as I've said before. Sir enough is enough. If we're in this we need to be in it, to win it. No half measures. NO more leading from behind.

Well it appears that unlike virtually ALL of the politicians in this country, Sarah Palin would like to commit a large number of troops to the eradication of ISIS. But not if they do not in fact present a danger to America, which we can debate while we are eradicating ISIS.

Does she have an editor for these videos, or is she just assuming that the people who are stupid enough to send her $9.95 a month are too stupid to actually listen to the words coming out of her mouth, and attempt to understand them?

Gee no wonder she is threatening to sue Bob Cesca for allowing the world to see these unpolished turds of wisdom.

Well she better add Wonkette to that list as well, becasue that is who made this video available.

Their take on it can be seen here.

Lindsey Graham is almost over come with the vapors during Fox News interview about ISIL.

Senator Graham sat down with Fox News this morning, and well he kind of lost his shit.

You know I have plenty of experience transcribing lunacy from my years of doing so for our favorite batshit crazy half term governor, but I do declare that Graham gives her a run for her money.

Take little peek into the mind of somebody on the verge of a full blown nervous breakdown.

First let's get the Hitler comparison out of the way:

"The first thing I want to tell the America people, from my point of view it is our fight. It is not just their fight. This is a radical Islamic army that's pushing the theory of a master religion. Not a master race like the Nazis."

So they are just like Hitler, in that they also hate the Jews, but instead of co-opting the Catholic church to help spread their ideology they are sticking with their perverse brand of Islam.

Please continue Foghorn Leghorn.

“It’s about protecting millions of people throughout the world from a radical Islamic army. They’re intending to come here. So, I will not let this president suggest to the American people we can outsource our security and this is not about our safety. There is no way in hell you can form an army on the ground in Syria to destroy ISIL without a substantial American component. And to destroy ISIL you have to kill or capture their leaders, take the territory they hold back, cut off their financing, and destroy their capability to regenerate."

Hey does that kind of sound like religious genocide to anybody else?

I mean I think ISIL needs to be stopped as well, but isn't this a little Crusade-y for this day and age?

And then Graham really starts with the hysterics.

“This is a war we’re fighting! This is not a counter-terrorism operation! This is not Somalia, this is not Yemen! This is a turning point in the war on terror! Our strategy will fail yet again! This president needs to rise to the occasion before we all get killed back here at home!” 

Holy crap! I think this is usually the part in the move where John Wayne slaps the woman to get her to calm down. 

When the host suggests to Graham that his plan of making this an America fight would only attract more people to join ISIL and that the best way to handle this is to support the indigenous forces, Graham just about comes unglued.

"Apparently nobody's been listening to what Senator McCain and I have been saying for the last three years."

That could be because the both of them are constantly calling for the military to invade every country who gives us the finger, and destroy every political faction that won't kiss Graham's countrified ass cheeks when he and McCain stop by for a visit.

Graham continues on to warn that it will require American boots on the ground to "go in there and dig these guys out," and that failing to do so will have the following result:

“They will open the gates of hell to spill out on the world,” he said.

Yeah, okay Screaming Mimi, let's not get our panties in a twist.

It is true that this will not be easy, and it will undoubtedly require more of a military commitment than what is being proposed right now, however what is also true is that the President can only do so much without the support of Congress. (A Congress we should be reminded who is currently threatening to sue him for taking executive actions and doing things without their approval.)

And that approval is not expected to be coming any time soon.

So if Graham and McCain are so all fired ready to send American troops back into Iraq, then the first place they need to start working is to convince their own party of that need, and lay off pissing and moaning about the President's unsatisfying response.

President Obama is doing the best that he can with the little that the Republicans have left him to work with.

Personally I think that if John McCain and his Southern belle think that the solution to the Iraq situation is American boots on the ground then they need to strap on a parachute, grip a bowie knife between their dentures, and have a military transport drop their wrinkled asses right into the middle of the conflict.

But don't forget, America does NOT deal with terrorists or pay for the release of hostages.

Once again Sarah Palin offers the President unsolicited advice on a subject that she does not understand.

You would think after the embarrassment suffered last weekend that Palin might want to lay low until a certain investigation comes to an end, or at least until she is sure that there is no video evidence of the Palins being Palins.

But then again she has bills to pay, and has to continue the charade of being a person of knowledge concerning politics and world affairs.

So late last night Palin decided to critique the President's Special Address about his plan to defeat ISIS. (You can read a transcript of that speech here.)

I am not going to share the entire Facebook post, because to be honest the smell of that much bullshit might cause some of you to pass right out.

Here is how she starts her diatribe: 

War is hell. So go big or go home, Mr. President. Big means bold, confident, wise assurance from a trustworthy Commander-in-Chief that it shall all be worth it. Charge in, strike hard, get out. Win.

You know that sounds suspiciously like the tactics used by her family last Saturday. 

You know except the winning part, that is.

Palin's ghostwriter then goes on to blame the rise of ISIS on the President. 

The rise of the animalistic terror group, ISIS, is the result of Obama’s lead-from-behind foreign policy. He had broadcast his war strategy for all the enemy to see in Iraq, so the enemy could wait us out and strike as soon as America turned tail and turned away from all we’d sacrificed there. Terrorists who we had under control got to regroup and grow after Obama’s premature pull out. 

Still using that vaguely sexual language I see.

Of course Palin is completely misrepresenting the reason for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, which was in response to a deal brokered by the Bush administration and honored by our current Commander in Chief.

The President offered to leave troops behind, but was rebuffed by the Iraqis who were understandably tired of American occupation.

And of course the destabilization itself is the direct result of the Bush/Cheney attack on Saddam Hussein in the first place. They broke it, and then left it up to President Obama to fix it.

Now everybody is yelling at him for not doing it fast enough.

Then Palin decides that the real problem with the terrorists are simply that they are Muslim. 

You must acknowledge reality: the organization calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is, in fact, “Islamic.” Not many of us pretend to be experts on the Muslim religion, but these terrorists obviously consider themselves Muslim and they believe what they’re horrifically doing to innocents is part of their “religion of peace.” So, you can use your soapbox to fiercely encourage the sane, civilized Muslims of the world to tell ISIS and all these sickening terrorists that they’re wrong. In the meantime, we must identify and understand the enemy by at least acknowledging their ideological motivation and identity. Our president is naive to ignore this.

So in Palin's view the objective is simple.  Though she admits that "not many of us are experts on the Muslim religion" it is clear to her that they are all murderers and must be destroyed. Or I imagine converted to the more peaceful religion of Christianity.

(Because lord knows Christians have certainly not engaged in genocide at any time in the history of the world.)

Palin wraps up her ghostwritten rant with the following:

We should honor and understand our brave men and women of the U.S. armed forces today more than ever. Please do not support politicians who join Obama in diminishing our military. Our finest, trained to fight for what is right and determined to win, deserve our support. Thank you, military, may you be heard when you pray America’s leadership understands that if we’re in it, then we're in it to win it; no half measures. Troops, we are always with you. 

- Sarah Palin

So essentially Palin would like to honor the service of our men and women in the military by putting more of them in harm's way in Iraq and Syria.

Something by the way that the President is desperately trying to avoid.

You know I think that when the military prays, they undoubtedly give thanks that Palin and her grandfather did not win the presidency back in 2008.

Because if old man McCain and his arctic floozy would have won, not only would troops still be in Iraq, but we would probably be fighting wars with several other countries as well.

President Obama is doing the best that he can with absolutely NO support from the Republicans, one of whom said this in response a question about taking a vote to deal with ISIS: 

“It’s an election year. A lot of Democrats don’t know how it would play in their party, and Republicans don’t want to change anything. We like the path we’re on now. We can denounce it if it goes bad, and praise it if it goes well and ask what took him so long.”

The only surprise about that statement is that he said it in front of reporters.

You know perhaps Palin should worry less about big problems that are clearly above her pay grade, and instead focus on the shit storm that many of us are fairly certain is coming her way.

Sarah Palin, and her cub Bristol, pimping a Fox News exploitation piece while doubling down on calls for a religious war with Islam.

This from Joan of the Arctic's Facebook page: 

Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 7pm ET to FOX for Greta's special on the persecution of Christians around the globe.

She then links to Bristol's ghostwritten blog, which in turn posts a video of Greta Van Susteren  promoting the Christians Under Attack special appearing on Fox tonight. (Palin also posted a video previously

Of course as we know Christians are certainly being brutalized in Iraq by the ISIL, however they are far from the only group that is being targeted and in fact they are not the ones being targeted the most aggressively.

As I wrote last Saturday, the Iraqi people under attack include not just the Christians, but the Yazidi, Turkmen, Shaback, and Kurds.

As it turns out the Yazidi were the group most in danger and the Obama administration reached out to protect them and it appears that may have been successful.

However both the Palins and Fox News seem to be actively ignoring the fact that this ISIL group is going after all kinds of groups that it finds offensive to its political and religious beliefs, and are instead focusing on the Christians in an attempt to fan Islamophobia in this country.

This is an incredibly divisive and potentially dangerous tactic as it encourages people in America to think of the conflict in Iraq not as genocide, but instead as a religious conflict in which they have a vested interest because it involves "their" religious brothers and sisters.

I swear Sarah Palin and Fox News will not be happy until American forces show up in force on Iraqi soil to beat the infidels to death with steel covered Bibles while yelling at them to repent their sins and accept Jesus as their Lord and savior.

P.S. By the way Brancy offered up a way for people to help stop the "Christian massacre in Iraq," which included prayer, giving money to a religious organization, and signing a petition started by a Christian organization.

So in other words you can help by doing everything you can think of that falls short of actual help.

Fox's Eric Bolling pushes for holy war with ISIS. Well this isn't helping.

Courtesy of Mediaite:

He said, “There’s a common denominator with these murderous thugs: they’re Islamic, they’re radical, they’re extremist, and they’re purely intolerant. It’s time to wake up.” And as far as Bolling’s concerned, the persecution of Christians and the call by one terrorist for the flag of Allah to fly at the White House just go too far: “You want a holy war? We’ll give you one. It just may be time to unleash hell on radical Islam. Don’t worry, Islamic jihadists, your 72 virgins await.”

If you listen to Bolling the only two groups he mentions by name are the Christians and the Jews. Every other group that is being terrorized, including many that are Muslim is of no real consequence.

After all if you are going to promote a holy war, it helps to have each side clearly defined by their different religious affiliations.

As I said yesterday, this situation needs to be addressed in terms of humanitarian needs, NOT religious intolerance.

It does not matter that ISIS, or any other group, wants to draw America into a holy war. We are a secular nation, despite Christian revisionists attempting to paint us otherwise, and we need to move forward as a country that cares for ALL people without regard to their skin color, country of origin, or religious beliefs.

And seriously just when is Fox News finally going to be identified as a hate group?

Sarah Palin quotes scripture while demanding that the President sacrifice more American lives to "secure America above all else."

Courtesy of Mary Megadeath's Facebook page: 

For such a time as this, our finest need our support; demand the Commander in Chief prioritize troop needs to secure America above all else.

The quote above is attributed to David who was calling upon his God to help him to smite his enemies.

Which of course is exactly what modern day Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing as well right now.  Only they are praying to Allah to help rid themselves of Christians.

In fact right now ISIS is on a rampage through Iraq trying to eradicate Christianity altogether in their homeland. And in response there has been much outrage here in the United States, and among other Christian nations, to stand up and defend their Christian brothers and sisters.

There are great atrocities being committed against innocent men, women, and children, that is to be sure. And I agree that something needs to be done to stop it.

However ISIS has been targeting not only Christians but ANY people living in Iraq who they do not find worthy, including the Yazidi, Turkmen, Shaback, and Kurds.

Many of these people are also Muslim, yet ISIS does not consider them "pure" enough to live unmolested in their country. They either demand that they convert to their brand of Islam, or they kill them outright.

So if the United States, is going to intervene (And by the way we ARE intervening.), it must do so as a response to ethnic cleansing and on behalf of human rights. NOT as a Christian nation coming to the aid of its fellow Christians.

THAT only feeds into the idea of a giant religious war, which is exactly what ISIS is hoping for.

So little bullshit Facebook posts by Palin and other Christian zealots do nothing but inflame religious outrage and cause people to put their faith ahead of their humanity.

The last thing we need to do is engage in another Christian crusade.

George W. Bush already tried that once, and we are still dealing with the fallout to this day.

Russell Brand goes after Judge Jeannine Pirro over her recent rant on Iran, and calls Fox News "more dangerous than ISIS."

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Comedian Russell Brand on Tuesday blasted Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro for taking a position on bombing Iraq that he said was even “worse” than the militant group ISIS which has taken over a large portion of the country. 

In what BuzzFeed called “the craziest rant a Fox News host has ever done,” Pirro over the weekend lashed out at the president for not ordering sustained air strikes on Iraq. 

Brand took to his YouTube channel on Tuesday to dissect Pirro’s commentary, starting with the claim that ISIS was “coming for us.” 

“Hold on, they’re not,” Brand noted. “They not coming. Also, it’s interesting when she says, to them, we are the infidels. Meaning that she regards them as the infidels. Which means unclean, disconnected from God. Don’t try to counter religious extremism with religious extremism.” 

Pirro said that her solution to the recent violence Iraq was to “bomb them. Bomb them, keep bombing them, bomb them again, and again.” 

“F*cking hell!” Brand exclaimed. “When they do these bombings it creates more insurgents, that’s what creates them. Don’t think of a bomb as going down there and destroying stuff, think of it as like a seed that goes into the ground, and grows insurgents out of it. It creates more terrorism, doing it.” 

During her rant, Pirro had also labeled ISIS a “fanatical religious terrorist organization.” 

“So is Fox News — is a fanatical terrorist propagandist organization,” Brand observed. “This isn’t reasonable, is it? Like the way she’s talking? ‘Bomb them! Bomb them!’ She’s worse… She’s the savage, she’s totally espousing savage values.” 

“I don’t’ recommend it, but there are porn site available where you can let a woman abuse you,” he continued. “There on the camera, she’ll go like, ‘Look at you, look at your little d*ck. Think that I fulfill you? Oh yeah, what are you going to do with that thing? Wanna smell my ass? Wanna sniff my bum bum?’ They say stuff like that… This woman is like those people.”

You know my opinion of Russel Brand grows by the day.

I don't always agree with him, but I would absolutely love to sit down and discuss, or debate, any topic of his choice. I think that would be a blast, and quite entertaining.

Bill Maher's New Rules from last night's show.

I thought the episode was very funny, and I liked how Maher closed it out on the issue of Iraq.

Maher compared America's fixation with trying to bring democracy to rogue nations to a woman who always believes she can "fix" a man by smothering him with love.

I was really tired last night for some reason, so I may not have been thinking clearly, which might explain why during the conversations I kept finding myself agreeing with Glenn Greenwald on most of the issues.

I don't really like him, but he really did have a valid point more times than not last night.

And Maher's point that in order for America to do anything about what is going on in Iraq right now we essentially have to choose sides in a religious conflict, is also dead on.

Sergeant in charge of Afghan "Kill Team" gets life in prison for abusing his leadership position.

Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs

Courtesy of The News Tribune:

A Joint Base Lewis-McChord sergeant will spend the rest of his life in jail for abusing his leadership position and persuading junior soldiers to join him in plots to murder Afghan civilians in combat-like engagements last year. 

Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs’ conviction Thursday affirms the Army’s depiction of him as a cold-blooded murderer who called Afghans “dirty savages” and openly cut fingers from corpses to bind his collaborators into a rogue “kill team.” 

He was found guilty of 15 criminal charges, including three murders. The murders carry a minimum sentence of life in prison. 

Gibbs appeared shocked as the jury forewoman read the verdict. His wife, Chelsy, sobbed. A sentencing session is under way in which Gibbs could win the possibility of parole. 

Gibbs, 26, fought the charges, arguing he was framed by pot smoking junior soldiers who shifted blame to him for their crimes in exchange for lighter punishment from the Army. He insisted he thought the killings took place in legitimate combat in enemy territory. 

But Gibbs couldn’t overcome layered testimony from his platoon mates. A five-soldier jury panel made up of three officers and two senior noncommissioned officers did not buy his defense.

As I am sure many of you remember this is the same group of murderers which included Wasilla resident, and Track Palin hockey pal, Jeremy Morlock, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty this last March.

These crimes are a terrible black mark on the United States, and its military, and I hope that this sentence will signal to the people of the world that we do not condone this type of abhorrent behavior even in a time of war. (Even illegal wars.)

However we also must realize that this may be the direct result of the Bush administration dramatically lowering the standards for military recruitment in a desperate attempt to meet recruitment goals and to keep young American bodies feeding the ravenous appetite for blood in Iraq.

I would like to believe that in a different time Morlock, with his history of violence and substance abuse,  would never have been accepted into the military.  The same should hold true of Gibbs, but because the military was fighting two wars and stretched well beyond its capabilities standards were lowered to allow just about anybody with a pulse to take up arms and represent this country in an environment where they were face to face with unspeakable horror, and where their grasp on their humanity was challenged at every turn. And this is the unfortunate result.

Sadly for the innocent Afghans who were targeted by this "kill team" there was nobody responsible enough to keep these deeply flawed men in check, and they were allowed to act as cold blooded assassins instead of soldiers.

I have little doubt that this incident, like Abu Ghraib before it, is only a small sampling of the atrocities committed on behalf of the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I only wish I could believe that America would learn its lesson and NEVER send our citizens to foreign lands to kill their people on behalf of the military industrial complex. But I once fooled myself into believing that after Vietnam, and I am no longer nearly so naive. 

Joe Biden: Government not prepared to see Blackwater go unpunished.

Vice President Joe Biden has announced that American authorities will appeal against a court ruling dismissing manslaughter charges against five security guards from the Blackwater company accused of killing Iraqi civilians.

The charges stemmed from an incident in Baghdad in 2007 when the guards opened fire in a crowded square, killing 17 Iraqis.

The case was quashed because the judge ruled that testimony had been wrongly used by the prosecution.

After talks with President Talabani, Mr Biden said the Obama administration regretted the decision by a federal judge at the end of December to throw out the case against Blackwater.

Speaking in Baghdad, Mr Biden said his government was not prepared to see Blackwater go unpunished.

I hope Joe Biden is not just talking out of his ass. I was very frustrated to see the judge throw that Blackwater case out.

I heard rumors that Erik Prince was using threats of blackmail, concerning his associations with the CIA, to pressure the government to let him off. When he DID get off I assumed those rumors were probably correct.

But if Biden is right, that means the little shit may finally have to face justice for at least SOME of his criminal activities in Iraq.

Erik Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe." And he sent his mercenaries to Iraq and Afghanistan to do just that:

Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince's executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to "lay Hajiis out on cardboard." Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince's employees openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other Arabs, such as "ragheads" or "hajiis."

I am going to be paying attention and I certainly hope that the Vice President is correct about this. Now that "W" is out of office we need desperately to earn our reputation back. And putting this hateful murdering piece of shit behind bars would be a very good start.

(I apologize if my language seemed a little raw, but I really dislike this son of a bitch.)

The US Military begins to respond to the "Jesus rifles" debacle.

It appears that both the Army and the Marines are concerned enough to at least investigate the situation.

Army officials said Tuesday they will investigate whether a Michigan defense contractor violated federal procurement rules by stamping references to Bible verses on combat rifle sights used by American forces to kill enemy fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Marine Corps, another major customer of the telescoping sights that allow troops to pinpoint targets day or night, says service acquisition officials plan to meet with the contractor, Trijicon of Wixom, Mich., to discuss future purchases of the company's gear.

Capt. Geraldine Carey, a Marine Corps spokeswoman, said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement that "we are aware of the issue and are concerned with how this may be perceived." Carey said Marine Corps acquisition officials plan to meet with Trijicon to discuss future buys of the company's sights. The statement did not say what the nature of those discussions would be.

However it does not appear that the people in charge of our two wars in ISLAMIC COUNTRIES really grasp the potential fallout.

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which manages military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the sights don't violate the ban on proselytizing because there's no effort to distribute the equipment beyond the U.S. troops who use them.

"This situation is not unlike the situation with U.S. currency," said the spokesman, Air Force Maj. John Redfield. "Are we going to stop using money because the bills have 'In God We Trust' on them? As long as the sights meet the combat needs of troops, they'll continue to be used."

Okay the comparisons between U.S. currency and death dealing weaponry is completely ridiculous. The only way the two would be in the same category would be if our soldiers in Afghanistan were stuffing dollar bills down the enemies throat until they suffocated!

Besides at least the phrase "In God we trust" could refer to Allah, and therefore appear much more benign to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. It is much harder to explain away phrases like "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" and "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, 'I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life'". Especially when those references are stamped onto a gunsight that just helped an American soldier blow the brains out of an Afghan soldier from a hundred yards away.

Are you still not sure how badly this looks for the US military, and how dangerous it could be for our troops? Perhaps this will put it into perspective.

Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says the Trijicon sights could give the Taliban and other enemy forces a propaganda tool: that American troops are Christian crusaders invading Muslim countries.

"I don't have to wonder for a nanosecond how the American public would react if citations from the Quran were being inscribed onto these U.S. armed forces gun sights instead of New Testament citations," Weinstein said. The foundation is a nonprofit organization opposed to religious favoritism within the military.

Weinstein said he has received complaints about the Scripture citations from active-duty and retired members of the military. He said he couldn't identify them because they fear retaliation.

I am hoping that after all of this attention the President will address this situation in the next week or so. This kind of religious and ethnic insensitivity should not be a part of our country's message to the world any longer.

Iraqis angry that American justice allows Blackwater murderers to get off scot free.

Iraqis seeking justice for 17 people shot dead at a Baghdad intersection responded with bitterness and outrage Friday at a U.S. judge's decision to throw out a case against a Blackwater security team accused in the killings.

The Iraqi government vowed to pursue the case, which became a source of contention between the U.S. and the Iraqi government. Many Iraqis also held up the judge's decision as proof of what they'd long believed: U.S. security contractors were above the law.

"There is no justice," said Bura Sadoun Ismael, who was wounded by two bullets and shrapnel during the shooting. "I expected the American court would side with the Blackwater security guards who committed a massacre in Nisoor Square."

I had such high hopes for this administration and I find myself disappointed over and over again. These Blackwater (Or if you prefer Xe) mercenaries have demonstrated themselves to be trigger happy killers and yet we allow them to run roughshod over the people of Iraq after supposedly liberating them from an evil dictator.

Death is death to the people of Iraq, whether it is delivered with a bullet fired from the gun of Saddam's Republican Guard or from the weapon of a Blackwater mercenary.

Of course the people of Iraq never stood a chance of receiving justice so long as Erik Prince and his Xe "guns for hire" are currently conducting an illegal secret war in Pakistan alongside the CIA. Just imagine what kind of scandalous government secrets Eric Price has in his possession.

And if that wasn't enough to insulate Mr. Prince and his mercenaries against facing justice, we also learn from Frank Schaffer on the Brad Blog, that he has long standing ties to Christian fundamentalism.

Prince is the son of Edgar Prince. His vast wealth funded Dominionist organizations including the Moral Majority and Focus on the Family. I was connected to both groups, speaking often for Jerry Falwell, and James Dobson gave away 150,000 copies of one of my right wing “books” (A Time For Anger) in which I called for revolution against the “Left” and the “liberals.”

Erik Prince grew up with powerful leaders in the Christian Right. Prince quit a White House internship with George H.W. Bush. He said Bush was too secular. As a converted Catholic, Prince joined the Knights of Columbus. Today Prince sees himself as a Christian crusader, an armed one with a private army. Blackwater’s criminal torture of U.S. war prisoners has been documented so has employee intimidation and threats of violence. Prince sees his call to rid the world of Islam and make way for Christian hegemony.

Isn't it amazing how cozy the fundamentalist Christians in this country are with the murderers we send overseas to Muslim countries? One would almost think we were conducting Christian Crusades against our brothers in the Middle East, like the Europeans did back in the 10th century.

But surely somebody would notice if the United States were conducting a religious war, now wouldn't they?

Rachel Maddow interviews Jamie Leigh Jones, the woman at the center of Al Franken's "anti-rape" amendment.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The fact that 3 out of 4 Republican Senators voted against protecting a woman from being raped and then stripped of her legal rights is an abomination.