For you true conservatives....

[Harlowe]

I didn't catch this show, but I thought this was intriguing especially coming form a comedian. Wouldn't it be the most insidious way to hurt us? Obviously taking Al Qaeda leaders at their word is foolish.

Last night on Bill Maher, the comedian Gary Shandling, of all people, synthesized the connection between our current economic crisis and 9/11 and the Iraq War in a way I have not heard:

On 9/11, Al Qaeda had no expectation of a traditional military victory against the United States. The point of the attack was economic -- to draw the U.S. into expensive and protracted foreign wars that would deplete our resources and destabilize our government. By invading Iraq, George Bush became the happy idiot to assist Al Qaeda in this goal. Now, Sarah Palin and John McCain take the leaders of Al Qaeda at their word when they say Iraq is the major front in the war on terror.

Neither consider the possibility that Al Qaeda wants Iraq to be the major front because it furthers their goal of weakening the U.S. while inflicting minimal damage on their operations.

Seven years after 9/11, we are seeing Al Qaeda's long-term goal being realized: the destabilization and economic collapse of the United States. Even as it's happening, the people who supported it all along want to continue facilitating our own long-term disintegration by clinging to simplistic concepts of traditional military victory and defeat. In this sense, they are possibly the most myopic, least strategic thinkers in the history of this nation.

As Gary Shandling said, with this approach, our only hope of killing Osama Bin Laden is that he'll laugh himself to death.

[Ddrak]

It's cute, but not factually correct. The Iraq war didn't really have that much to do with the meltdown of the financial industry. It certainly didn't help that the government was already neck deep in debt due to the war, but that was just the cream on the shit-pie that the banking industry created all by itself.

Dd

[Embar Angylwrath]

Well, that might have been the one thing Gore was wrong about. Gore, knowing he had won the election, asked his party to stand down after the SC ruled. He thought continuing the fight would be too damaging to the country.

I agree on Congressional Dems. They are cowards for the most part. They rolled over (or enough of them did) on many issues when the Republicans were in power, and they capitulate on issue after issue now that they have control. Not that I'd call it "control" since they still allow the Republicans to push them around. That might change with an Obama Presidency and a larger majority in both houses.

Nope... you were right the first time. A larger majority didn't change anything. They managed to take the hammer the electorate gave them and beat themselves in the nuts with it.