In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed are Kings

The war in Iraq has decimated our military both physically and mentally through exhaustion and stress. Those serving in Iraq have been stretched to the limit with no end in sight only a continuation of the status quo as the body count rises. The military reports 5 U.S. soldiers killed this past weekend while at the same time the president presses forward in his cloud of disillusion speaking his lies of progress.

Only a third of the regular army's brigades now qualify as combat-ready.
Officers educated at the elite West Point academy are leaving at a rate not
seen in 30 years, with the consequence that the US army has a shortfall of
3,000 commissioned officers.

And it is not only the soldiers that are worn out. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to the destruction, or wearing out, of 40 per cent of the US army's equipment.

Considering these facts, it comes as no surprise that there is talk of reinstating the draft. As I listen to some of the crap that falls from the mouths of the emphatic war supporters I come closer and closer to agreeing, as long as the reinstated draft would be one that disallows deferments. I can't help but to think that instituting a draft with no free passes like those that were given to George Bush and Dick Cheney would cause a unanimous reversal of opinion among our war supporters.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Ramzi Binalshibh who supports the war and the continued escalation of the war, or at least he supports it this week, because as we have seen, his stand on the issues seems to change based on the day of the week or what state he is in. Regardless, he has 5 sons, none of whom have served in the military. A military which is currently fighting a war all of the Romneys claim to support. Mr. Romney states his sons "are supporting our nation by helping him get elected because they believe he will be a good president". So this is the lesson of the day, working on your father's presidential campaign is just as, if not significantly more grueling, demanding and dangerous than an extended tour of duty fighting in a war in Iraq. His sons state that "they took different career paths" and the military wasn't right for them. It is not surprising that this attitude is rampant among our young Republicans, many of whom readily state their belief that fighting this war is "the cause of our time" but at the same time have a myriad of excuses for not participating in that fight they deem to be so essential to our future.

Then there are the other young Republicans whose excuses for not serving go beyond the health issues and sports injuries. In July when Glenn Murphy was elected president of the Young Republican National Federation he claimed he was gong to be the "mouthpiece" for young Republicans. Who would have guessed he'd be using his mouthpiece to commit repeated sexual assaults on the unconscious. Given that whole "don't ask don't tell" thing, I guess it would be pretty difficult for any young Republican to join the military after being caught with a man in their mouth.

All of their excuses ring hollow and add to the hypocrisy we have come to expect from Republicans. I think these young Republicans know exactly what they are doing, they are not all dumb and they observe the outcomes just like everybody else, regardless of how the outcomes are spun and interpreted afterwards.

If my memory serves me correctly I believe Pat Tillman also chose a different career path but unlike our young Republican war supporters he put that career on hold to participate in what he believed to be serving his country. Everyone, regardless of political affiliation, saw what happened to him. We all saw how the government he wanted to defend, led by George W Bush, treated him no better than a naked, mutilated corpse being drug through the streets of Mogadishu. Better him, or anyone for that matter, than one of our promising young Republicans, right?

I believe that pictures can often speak volumes.
And in this picture I see a president who has taken so much from so many in order to satisfy what has amounted to nothing more than his own personal vendetta. The people from whom he has stolen the most, are the very same people he should be doing everything in his power to support and care for. Instead he is taking even more from them and using them to support his fat, bloated, dirty body, brain, ideology and politics, forcing them into keeping his lame, broken self upright and balanced, all the while smirking, enjoying the amusement in his folly.

While we are on the subject of fat, bloated, ugly liars, here is some further proof that criminals usually make hasty exits from their crime scenes.