Ha

Click this, it's funny.

Iraqi schools

Josh Marshall is going to write a column on it soon, but I think I'll beat him to it.

All of this hype about "opening Iraqi schools" is rubbish. "The schools are opening! The schools are opening!" the conservatives gleefully shout (as evidence that this farce was all worth it). The schools are only closed because WE BOMBED THE COUNTRY. Sure, the textbooks won't contain Saddam's indoctrination, but they will surely contain some other sort of boorish indoctrination, whether it be radically religious, anti-Jewish, or anti-American.

Whoop de do...the schools are open...

Will there ever be a female President?

Presidential candidates generally come from a pool of senators, governors, and (occasionally) military officials. Usually (and this is a crude estimate) about 5% of all governors and 10% of senators are in position to run for President in their lifetime. It just ends up that only these percents have the ambition, charisma, talent, fund raising skills, and luck to run. Only a very small fraction of retired generals are in position (Clark, Powell, Eisenhower come to mind).

Now take a look at the composition of these positions. There are 45 male governors and 5 female governors, while there are 12 female senators and 88 male senators.

According to my formula, 2.25 of today's current male governors will run for president, while 8.8 of today's current male Senators will eventually run.

Meanwhile, .25 female governors will run, and 1.2 female senators will run.

Who is that 1.2 Senator? Well, .2 of it is probably Dianne Feinstein, while 1 of it is probably Hillary Clinton.

Don't lose heart ladies - you are 51% of the population and vote more than men. Your day will come. It's just not statistically likely to be soon.

Stars and Stripes: troop morale low

The biggest news today is a survey of US troops in Iraq that shows that morale is quite low. This of course contradicts the recent right-wing assertion that Iraq is a much rosier place than we are led to believe by the media. In fact, the media hasn't been reporting individual discontent with the war among troops, and it took Stars and Stripes, a notoriously pro-Pentagon paper, to report it.

Why would troop morale be low if Iraq was such a fabulous wonderland that we've been told it is during the past week or so? Why would more than 50% of those surveyed want out of the military, as soon as possible?

The most tragic part of this story is that we HAVE to remain in Iraq (or at least cede control to the UN and bring in their troops). Bush has put us in the awkward position of sacrificing our soldiers for what does not seem like a very noble cause.

Why wouldn't we want to make some of the money a loan?

The Washington Post argues effectively that some of the 87 billion should be in the form of a loan.

Why would anyone oppose such a measure? Why is the White House balking at this amendment (it is sponsored by several Republicans and Democrats)? What sinister plan does the White House have for the 10 billion that would be included in the loan package (the White House wants it to be a grant)?

Voting against the 87 billion

Many Democrats, including John Edwards and John Kerry, are voting against the 87 billion that is being used for reconstruction / bribery of the coalition of the willing / no-bid contracts / and military stuffs. I don't blame them for voting against it, although I wish they would put up a counter measure that contained the same amount of money but did one or more of these things:

1. Rolled back the tax cuts on the rich (especially the ones that haven't even been enacted yet) to pay for reconstruction
2. Put an amendment in the bill that gave greater oversight of the money and stipulated that contracts would be awarded based on a fair bidding process.
3. Mandated the release of a point by point expenditure plan for the 87 million.

Voting against Bush's original measure is pointless without putting forth a counter measure that surely some disenchanted Senate Republicans would support.

What a sad, silly man

When the President of the United States* is being asked questions like, "Who is really in charge?" you know that the office doesn't hold the high stature it used to hold.



*technically