Coward-in-chief

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- CRAWFORD, TEXAS.

L.B.J. NEVER RAN LIKE A COWARD FROM A TEXAS TORNADO.

BUT BULLY BOY IS NO L.B.J.

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING WAS CALLED FOR PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS, BULLY BOY HAD TO BE EVACUATED FROM HIS RANCHETTE HERE IN CRAWFORD, TEXAS WHICH, FOR THE RECORD, IS SOUTH OF DALLAS, SOUTH OF DENTON, SOUTH OF SHERMAN AND SOUTH OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

BUT THE SAME BULLY BOY THAT PLAYED DUCK AND COVER FROM VIETNAM AND DID THE BUNNY HOP ACROSS AMERICA ON 9-11 WAS RUNNING FOR SHELTER TODAY.

ONE WAG WAS HEARD TO OBSERVE THAT BULLY BOY'S YELLOW STREAK HAD MORE MILES ON IT THAN INTERSTATE 20 WHICH BORDERS THE SOUTH OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

A FEW RAINDROPS, A BOLT OR TWO OF LIGHTNING AND BULLY BOY WAS IN FRET AND WHINE MODE UNTIL FINALLY THE SECRET SERVICE SUMMONED AN ARMOURED CAR JUST TO RUN HIM TO HIS TORNADO SHELTER NOT FAR FROM THE RANCHETTE.

WHILE BARNEY AND MISS BEAZLEY -- THE WHITE HOUSE DOGS (BULLY BOY LIKES TO PRETEND HE IS BUFFY ON FAMILY AFFAIR -- SO MUCH SO THAT HE CALLS LAURA BUSH "SISSY" AND DICK CHENEY "MR. FRENCH") -- AND LAURA BUSH GOT INTO THE ARMOURED CAR, BULLY BOY INSISTED THE TRIP WAS NECESSARY BECAUSE (A) HE WAS WEARING SUEDE AND (B) HE JUST GOT HIS HAIR PERMED.


LESS THAN 5 MINUTES LATER, WHEN THE CAR ARRIVED AT THE SHELTER, THE "CRISIS" HAD PASSED AND A YAWNING BULLY BOY SAID IT WAS "NAPPY TIME".

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Starting with fatality news. Today the US military announced: "Three Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Thursday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province." Watch for the New York Times to ignore that or Little Man Marcs to report "One marine died" if the pattern this month holds true. The Times can't say they weren't warned when they decided to ignore fatalities and minimize the few that they covered but readers of the paper who depend on it to provide reality (no chuckles) may end up shocked when they discover that today December became the deadliest month for US troops. The three deaths up the total for the month to 107. Prior to this announcement, October had been the deadliest month with 106.
Some outlets report 105 and that has to do with the fact that the US military tends to hold the deaths a bit, and has the since the start of the war, waiting for those first of the month look back press accounts to be published and then noting a death or two afterwards. 106 is the number ICCC uses, 106 is the one we'll go with here. 107 is now the total number of US troops who have died in Iraq this month. The total number of US troops who have died since the start of the illegal war stands at 2996 -- four shy of the 3,000 mark.
US troops have not been the only military fatalities and England's Ministry of Defense notes:"It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a UK serviceman was killed yesterday, Thursday 28 December 2006, in Basrah, southern Iraq. The soldier, from 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was taking part in a routine patrol in Basra City when the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle he was travelling in was targeted by a roadside bomb. He was very seriously injured and airlifted to the Field Hospital at Shaibah Logistics Base, but unfortunately died later as a result of his injuries." That death brought the total number of British troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 127.
Turning to the issue of war resistance and starting with The Nation magazine. On page 14 of the January 8/15 2007 issue (a double issue) Marc Cooper has an article entitled "Lt. Ehren Watada: Resister." The Nation makes the article availble online to subscribrs only for whatever reasons but seems unaware that they've published it for all (subscribers and non-subscribers) on Yahoo -- click here. Cooper describes Ehren Watada as "the lighning rod case of resistance" (Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq); and notes the speech he gave in August at the Veterans for Peace conference in Seattle (click here for text at CounterPunch and here at Truthout which offers both text and video of the speech) where Watada declared, "The idea is this: that to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it."; and notes that, in January, "a 'Citizen's Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq,' featuring Daniel Ellsberg and Princeton professor emeritus Richard Falk will be convened in Tacoma, Washinginton, in support of Watada".
January 4th is the date scheduled for the military's pre-trial hearing and Feb. 5th is when the court-martial is scheduled to begin. The US military is attempting to force journalists to testify at the pre-trial hearing (see yesterday's snapshot).Watada is part of a movement of resistance within the military that includes Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing (who was released from the military brig on Satuday) Mark Wilkerson, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress next month.Resistance takes many forms in the peace movement. As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Cindy Sheehan was arrested in Crawford, Texas outside Bully Boy's ranchette along with four other activists. Sheehan called the action a "peace surge" to combat Bully Boy's notions of escalating the number of US troops in Iraq. The AP reports that Sheehan's attorney Robert Gottlieb believes the arrest will have no impact on the conditional verdict the judge issued this month in Manhattan. The Smoking Gun reports that, were Sheehan convicted, the maximum sentence is six months in prison and the maximum fine is $2,000.

Recommended: "Iraq snapshot"
"And the war drags on"
"NYT: "Crisis in Housing Adds to Miseries of Iraq Mayhem" (Michael Luo)"
"Other Items"
"c.i. calls 2006"
"Thursday breeze post"
"Why wasn't Herb London i.d.ed as a right-winger?"
"Bully Boy hopes to hope it away"
"THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY'S REAL PLAN!"
"2006: The Year of Living Dumbly (Year in Review)"