the madness of the shrub

So you may have heard by now, if you're not hiding under a rock yet (I have the internet and cable TV under my rock), that the Shrub wants to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq. Joy.

-_-

What is this supposed to accomplish, exactly? And don't just skim over that, think about it. It's not a rhetorical question. What is our goal? A goal is an important thing to have when you're putting lives in danger; most people don't take that kind of thing lightly. However, The impression just keeps growing stronger (to me anyway) that our intrepid leader hasn't got a clue. And the scary thing is, he doesn't seem to care. We wanted to eradicate Saddam's huge stores of WMDs. Whoops, they're not there. Okay, just kidding, we're there to liberate the Iraqis. Whoops, we destroyed their infrastructure. Okay, new plan, now we'll be teaching the Iraqis how to clean the place up. Whoops, they hate each other's guts and have started a civil war instead. Um....okay I'm outta ideas, anybody got something? Immediate troop removal? Nah, too sudden. Phased withdrawal? Nah, not flashy enough. Hey guys, I've got one, let's send MORE troops, they'll NEVER expect THAT one!

What about checks and balances, you ask? Surely the president can't do something so godforsakenly assinine with the Democrats controlling Congress; the whole reason they won in the midterms was that people were sick of Bush and his bullshit. They won't provide funding for such a harebrained scheme. And that, my friends, is where you'd be wrong. The Democrats, getting off to a promising start in their first moments of Congressional control, have fractured. One camp does not agree with the "surge" and wants to take away the president's means of carrying it out, i.e. money. The other camp does not agree with the "surge" but does not want to seem anti-troops, so they want to allow the president to have the funds but sign a "non-binding resolution" as a "symbolic gesture" of their disapproval. WTfuckingF mate? We don't need a "symbolic gesture," we need people who have spines and aren't idiots! Dear God, will the madness never cease?!

On his show earlier this evening, Stephen Colbert (in character, of course) said to the Democrats, "You have real power now. Don't fall into the trap of using it." How depressingly accurate this statement is.

In other (happier) news, the Bears and the Colts have each made it into their respective playoff games. If they both win, I'll have a dilemma on my hands come Superbowl time. But it will be a pleasant one.

And one final note, I'd like to announce just how very much I am craving a trip to Red Lobster right now, where I would order a big plate of shrimp alfredo with a side of coconut shrimp, and two slices of key lime pie. If only Galesburg had a 24-hour Red Lobster. If only such things existed. *sigh*