At last, someone who understands

Thanks, as always, to xkcd

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Would you look at that... Analysis: US now winning Iraq war that seemed lost

From the Associated Press:

Despite the occasional bursts of violence, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents, who once controlled whole cities, no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.
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Beyond that, there is something in the air in Iraq this summer.

In Baghdad, parks are filled every weekend with families playing and picnicking with their children. That was unthinkable only a year ago, when the first, barely visible signs of a turnaround emerged.

Now a moment has arrived for the Iraqis to try to take those positive threads and weave them into a lasting stability.

Of course, it should have been apparent that things were turning around when liquor stores in Baghdad stopped getting blown up.

''I open my store at 10 a.m. and close it at 7 p.m.,'' Dawood said. ``The security situation is much better, and I hope it becomes even better because I believe that all Iraqis are brothers and deserve to live in peace.''

Compare this to a story from 2005

Mr Sabah has little competition largely because Islamic extremists now register their disapproval of alcohol by bombing his rivals' premises. The Rose, however, is unscathed, presumably because the bombers fear the proximity of US military hardware.

and another from just eight months ago

But even as Iraqis begin returning to liquor stores, they still take care to remain inconspicuous. On a recent day outside a liquor store on Saadoun Street, two men with a case of Johnnie Walker in their car were removing the bottles from the brightly labeled box and stashing them under the seats and in other hiding places.
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A construction worker and Sadr City resident, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition he not be named, told of how he was beaten last year by the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, after his brother complained to militia members about his drinking.

Regardless of the legitimacy of this war's beginnings, regardless of your opinion of Bush, things are getting better in Iraq. I guess the mainstream media is finally realizing they can't cover it up until November 9th.

Not that we're finished:

U.S. commanders say a substantial American military presence will be needed beyond 2009. But judging from the security gains that have been sustained over the first half of this year — as the Pentagon withdrew five Army brigades sent as reinforcements in 2007 — the remaining troops could be used as peacekeepers more than combatants.

And it's still costing a shitload of money. What's the price for a stabilized democracy in an unstable region? How much is a military presence in the Middle East worth? More than we originally thought, but still less than the Democrats would have you believe.

Flame on, everybody. Don't disappoint me.

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Oh shit... Shockey traded to Saints

From Gambit:

Saints pick up outspoken, talented, temperamental disgruntled tight end Jeremy Shockey

New York’s loss is New Orleans’ gain?
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We’ll see if donning the Black and Gold tames Shockey’s temperament and makes him more, well, gruntled.

And at nola.com:

Saints trade for Jeremy Shockey

Perhaps the Giants finally had enough of the tension created by their disgruntled star, who was reportedly pushing for the trade to New Orleans.

Like jeffrey says, training camp hasn't even started.

This could be really good or really, really, REALLY terrible.

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Teeth in My Pocket

Just because people are starting to think I don't have any fun at all...

CHEESE

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Great, now I have to move to Kansas

Click that. You won't be sorry.

I'll be sending my moving bill to PZ Myers.

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Obama, McCain to New Yorker: "We're just as dumb as the rest of America" Related: Poe's law escapes internet; "never going back"

Personally, I think that's pretty fucking funny.

Look at all the elements:

• burning flag
• Osama bin Laden
• Lunatic black-separatist
• Evil Muslim
• in the Oval Office
• standing on the Presidential Seal

It's a cornucopic festival of stupid right-winger paranoia. It's even funnier when you realize that all the idiots who think this is real wouldn't have picked up the New Yorker if their lives depended on it. After all, the cartoons just don't make any sense.

However, in a scene that has become all too common in this country, we get this:

Obama: "tasteless and offensive"
McCain: "totally inappropriate"

What a pair of idiot pansies! Have we become so scared and stupid? Really, guys, I think you'll find your balls rolling around under the campaign bus seats. Maybe some staffer found them and put them in the overhead.

I saw on the news tonight (the NATIONAL news) some idiot saying, "Some people will take it seriously and may use it in political commercials." Yeah, we have words for those types of people: dumbass; imbecile; moron. If we didn't dumb down everything in our society in order to cater to the lowest common denominator, perhaps we wouldn't have to worry about all of those idiots thinking this is serious. I mean, come ON! The only people not offended by this are the fuckers who are being ridiculed. And that just adds to the FUCKING JOKE!

To quote Mugatu, "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

From SFGate

But Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and former New Yorker staffer, was baffled that much of the negative reaction to the cartoon was coming from Obama supporters on liberal blogs.

"They sound so elitist," Spiegelman told The Chronicle. "The essence of what they're saying is, 'I get it, but I don't trust the people in Kansas to get it.' But isn't that what the whole hope and change thing is supposed to be about? That they will get it."

What Art (Do you mind if I call you Art?) fails to realize is that the left-wing elite know that the rest of us are too stupid to get it. We need to have everything spoon-fed to us by the Nanny so we don't think too quickly and get our tummies all upset. Plus, as I've mentioned, people in Kansas don't read the New Yorker.

McCain should have, to stay on message, said something akin to Little Green Footballs:

The cover is obviously a moonbat parody of what they think are right-wing ideas about their messiah. But they got so meta with it, they ended up wrapping around and making themselves look stupid.

That's a perfect response. Just as much arrogant, snarky condescension as the cover, itself.

Obama should have said, "As bullet of mypantstheatre, a dear friend and, frankly, idol of mine, remarked, 'Personally, I think that's pretty fucking funny.'"

Or everyone could have, you know, ignored it. Like most of the country ignores every other issue of the New Yorker, which is, let's face it, a really boring magazine. Even when I was living in New York, I only read it because I felt like I had to. It never ceased to amuse me how important New Yorkers thought they were. Of course, I could hold that opinion because I wasn't one of the deluded East Coaster assholes who made living in NYC such a pain in the ass.

I'm going to have to stop. The irony levels are out of control! The ship canna take it any longer!

Is it November yet? I am so tired of this bullshit.

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