Back when Powerline were still a bunch of unknown asshats, and the re-election of Preznit Magnificent Idiot was not at all a sure thing, despite Ohio, many, many of us were concentrating on getting the message of the Deserting, Cowardly Fratboy out there, especially with American Soldiers lives on the line in Mess O'Potamia. It was (and is) unseemly that someone whose total military service was wasting the taxpayers money learning to be a marginal Air National Guard pilot and getting a dental exam was a legitimate issue. Unfortunately, we all know where that went ... right into the wood-chipper that is the Right-Wing Noise Machine, and it came out as a destroyed story thanks to the incomplete reportage of the CBS team (credit for trying, but not much).

A better an more telling issue to have hammered home might have been the utter failure that Beloved Leader was as a businessman. Like Iraq, no endeavor he has ever touched has been even a modest success, even Texas is eating itself slowly in terms of education (his "signature" issue), children living in poverty and without healthcare and environmental issues because of his "leadership".

It looks like we should have paid more attention to his Harvard MBA, which was seemingly worth about as much as the coveted "flight status" given him by the Air National Guard, but a much more reliable indicator of his performance, or lack thereof. His lack of ability to even run a small business on a turn-key basis with the amazing credentials of being a Harvard MBA should have been a big-ass warning sign. I know it got some play, but nowhere near what his alleged "military service" got. All his failed business ventures have foretold his skill in managing any enterprise without intervention of capital and cover-up by family and friends his whole life. Unfortunately in the case of Iraq, no one is going to come to his aid now or ever ... he's failed there and he owns it, even Poppy can't fix it for him now or ever.

I guess that we also should have realized he wasn't actually joking about the how much easier it would be to run the government if he was a Dictator.

All this is to say one thing, Alito can't change his stripes anymore than Preznit Flying FUBAR can...what he's done and what he's said and the way he's said it are all reliable indicators that he's spinning as fast as he can to avoid the truth being told. He's already lied once to the Judiciary Committe under oath, something that should be making this a Judicial Impeachment hearing, not a Supreme Court Confirmation hearing.

We can't miss this opportunity to reject Alito, even if it means Frist's Un-American "Nuclear Option"...so long to any Senate Business for the rest of this term ... and it's all their fault, as long as our alleged "leadership" can stick to the message and not capitulate to the Millionaire Punditry faster than Mike Brown getting promoted.

So what, we're all supposed to cheer about the Army finally getting around to doing the right thing? Finally? They finally decided sending adequate body armour might be a good idea? I'm glad soldiers who have been sent into the line of fire on behalf of the North American Bedwetter Brigade are finally getting the armour they should have had from Day One. The Army doesn't get to claim credit for finally getting around to doing the right thing.

Army officials said Wednesday that they had decided to send additional body armor to Iraq to protect soldiers from insurgents' attacks.
...
In Congress on Wednesday, Army and Marine officials defended their efforts to procure additional armor, saying they had to weigh the benefits of additional plates against adding weight and restricting mobility.

From todays Rockin' Scalito Lie-a-palooza, we learn that if Vanguard only managed hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, instead of (to quote the late Carl Sagan) "Billions and Billions" of dollars, then it might have mattered that he fucking out and out lied to the same committe that he's sitting in front of now:

This case involved some thousands of dollars. Vanguard manages billions of dollars of funds. The idea that the outcome of this case could have some effect on the mutual funds that I hold is beyond preposterous, and I don't understand anybody to have suggested anything like that.

Alito is a liar who will do anything or say anything. In respectable circles, lying on a job application or in an interview and getting caught after being hired is enough to get you summarily fired. Unless you're a modern-day republican, then it's OK.

Because they lie about everything.

The goober christo-fascist brigade has made a significant inroad into crime and punishment. In the US Military. It's now a UCMJ-punishable offense to patronize a hooker (what about in Nevada, where prostitution is, um..legal?).

For the first time, the Department of Defense has specifically made it a crime for a servicemember to patronize a prostitute. The punishment: up to a year in prison, forfeiture of pay and dishonorable discharge.

The formal order came in a presidential executive order signed without fanfare Oct. 14, directing changes in the Manual for Courts-Martial. It is part of an assault the military has been waging against human trafficking.

Let me be real clear here: I don't favor human trafficking, and ostensibly this is what this is going to help end. But, soldiers and sailors have always sought the comfort of women of the oldest profession for as long as there have been armies. Right? No. True? Yes. Seeking that "comfort" is not a practice that restricts itself to the E-1 to E-9 group of soldiers and sailors either. It will be interesting to see if this is enforced in the case of officers as well. I have seen many, many of my peers in the former Subic Bay/Cubi Point bases make their required and entirely voluntary missions over Shit River to score a little comfort. Yours truly was no choir boy as a first-tour San Miguel fueled young aviator on a mission.

Subic doesn't exist as a port that is anything like it was, but the Navy still goes (I think) to ports like Phattaya Beach, Thailand, where you used to be able to go to a whorehouse and see all the girls sitting on bleachers, with big numbers on their chests...you ordered a girl (or two or three) by number, and went off to do business with them. I can honestly say that the exploits of some of the senior officers would have earned them that Duck Dinner rather quickly...Their defense, for all pencil-necked moralists would have been Phattaya was our first port after a 135-day at-sea period. No liquor, except beer days, no women and no (known) sex.

Is this going to end the practice? No. But it's guaranteed to ruin lives. You can't legislate keeping your dick in your pants no matter how much you try. Education about what the victims of human trafficking go through, and reinforcement of that by discussion would do far more, I believe to keep most soldiers and sailors out of brothels than all the puritanical rules promulgated on behalf of the alleged "men of god" who are Preznit Mine's Bigger "base".

While the change to the courts-martial manual makes it clearer that prostitution is illegal, Marine commanders from the top down already know that prostitution is a punishable offense and have taken steps to combat it, wrote Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Douglas Powell via e-mail.

“Marines are briefed by their commanders, especially those who are deploying overseas, that they should not engage in prostitution,” Powell said.

via Susie at Suburban Guerilla

1. An Opportunity We Missed
   
2. Unbelievable...
   
3. Size Matters...
   
4. Into your mind next...