IF THERE'S ANYTHING SADDER THAN HILLARY C ATTACKING BARRY O ON FOREIGN POLICY -- WAR HAWKS PECKING OVER THE SAME WORM -- IT'S THEIR REFUSAL TO STAND BY THEIR POSITIONS.
BOTH MADE NICE AT A DINNER FOR VERNON JORDAN'S WIFE.
BECAUSE IN THE END THEIR BIGGEST BEEF IS NEVER WITH ONE ANOTHER. NO, THEIR BIGGEST BEEF IS WITH THE AMERICAN VOTERS.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Former Governor of New Mexico and 2012 Libertarian Party Presidential nominee Gary Johnson Tweeted the following today:
Gov. Gary Johnson
WSJ: "U.S. Begins to Assess Iraq Rescue Strategy". Obama insists
we are not going back to war, but how many bombs & troops = war?? #tlot
Let's turn to the political in Iraq. Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) maintains Iraq's prime minister-designate Haider al-Abadi is Nouri al-Maliki circa 2006.
Comically, he does that as Antiwar.com is in the midst of a fund raiser boasting they're always right.
I'm not always right. I'm often wrong.
But I wasn't wrong about Nouri.
And, unlike Jason Ditz, I didn't giggle on air and agree with Scott Horton about how wonderful Nouri was.
Jason Ditz has a lot of nerve. I've been kind but we all know I forget nothing.
I can quote from those chats with Horton -- where Scott and Jason made like the Gabby Gabors enthralled with Nouri.
Is Haider the same?
No.
Is he good or bad, saint or sinner? I already said this week that we don't know.
But what we know is that Nouri's selling point for the American government was chiefly his paranoia which, it was thought, would make him easily manipulated.
I knew about the paranoia and we wrote about it here, what, three or four years before WikiLeaks confirmed what we were saying?
I'm not hitting anyone up for their piggy banks.
I am saying that if you have the nerve, before the prime minister-designate has done anything, to insist he's another Nouri, you damn well better have called out Nouri.
Or you can sit your tired ass down.
This is my last nice, Jason Ditz.
I'm not in the mood.
Back to today's State Dept press briefing:
QUESTION: In Iraq, please. Today Prime Minister al-Maliki said he would not step down from his post until the Iraqi judiciary rules on whether or not his constitutional challenge to the process should go forward or not. I’m wondering if you all have any idea of how long this process might take as it speaks to some concerns people have raised about whether he will try to run out the clock on the 30 days he now – that designate al-Abadi has.
Also I’m wondering if you were able to get an answer to my question yesterday as to what level of confidence does the U.S. have in the Iraqi judiciary system.
MS. HARF: A couple issues, and then we’ll – I’m sure you’ll have follow-ups. The comments made by the prime minister today were similar to ones he’s made in recent days, quite frankly. And as I said yesterday, with all political systems there will be differences with how certain processes unfold. We never expected this to be completely seamless, but the United States firmly rejects any effort to achieve outcomes through coercion or manipulation of the constitutional or judicial processes.
And then look, I don’t want to get ahead of the constitutional process that’s underway. We just began the 30-day time clock for the Prime Minister-designate al-Abadi to form a new government. They are moving along with that process. So we will watch day by day as that plays out, but Prime Minister-designate al-Abadi is moving forward as part of this process, and that’s what we’ll be focused on in the coming days.
QUESTION: So you don’t believe this court challenge that Maliki is posing is going to be slowing that 30-day clock in any way?
MS. HARF: Well, look, the prime minister-designate is the one who is in charge of what happens during the 30-day clock, and he’s working actively towards that. And again, we would reject any efforts by anyone to use the judicial processes to manipulate or coerce the outcomes here. But there is a separate process and it’s the constitutional one, and that’s moving forward.
QUESTION: How is it that the designate has control of the clock when Maliki is still the prime minister?
MS. HARF: Well, he has control of the clock. What I meant was the progress that can be made in the 30 days to form a new government is in the hands of the prime minister-designate, who has the support, as I said over the last few days. He was nominated by the Shiite bloc, including many members of Prime Minister Maliki’s own party.
So we’ve seen these kind of comments from the current prime minister before, but separate from those comments there is a process under the constitution that is moving forward. And we expect that to move forward and we will continue watching what happens in the coming days.
QUESTION: Do you have any expectations of how long this court appeal will last?
MS. HARF: I don’t have any guess on that.
QUESTION: May I just follow up on that? I mean, his words were very critical of the United States, today – Maliki’s speech. He basically said that you espouse democratic values but you go ahead and sabotage the democratic process. What do you have to say to that?
MS. HARF: Well, the Iraqis have their democratic process that’s underway right now, and that process has led to a new prime minister-designate being named by the current prime minister’s own bloc. So the process is playing out how it should. Again, we knew this would not be without complication. Nothing ever is – certainly not here in Iraqi politics. But their own democratically, constitutionally outlined process has been ongoing and that’s what’s happening right now.
QUESTION: I know that you warned against manipulating whatever legal process in the courts or whatever to sow divisions and so on in Iraq. Has anyone talked to the prime minister personally to say refrain from doing that because you’re driving the country further into the abyss?
MS. HARF: We’ve certainly had conversations with a range of leaders, including Prime Minister Maliki, emphasizing, Said, that this is a key, critical time in Iraq on the security front, on the political front – they are very closely intertwined – and that nobody should do anything to prevent the progress that’s laid out under the constitution from taking place and from moving forward. Nobody should.
QUESTION: Mm-hmm.
MS. HARF: We’ve certainly had those conversations.
QUESTION: Okay. Now, as we – Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, they all welcome the prime minister-designate Haider Al-Abadi, but Maliki still has some support within the Shiites. He has some support within some, like, militant type of militias and so on. Are you concerned that he actually might resort to violence?
MS. HARF: I don’t want to venture to guess on that hypothetical, Said. There’s a process in place and that process is moving forward. What’s key here is that the President asked the prime minister-designate to name a government. This was the designate that his own bloc, Prime Minister Maliki’s own bloc selected. So I think that should speak very clearly about the support that Prime Minister-designate al-Abadi has. And, again, the process is moving forward.
We'll note this Tweet.
Twenty eight women (prostitutes) killed in Iraq! A reminder of Iranian regime when prostitutes were burned to die! pic.twitter.com/tI7bk9f3JM
I have no idea why a woman would do that to other women.
28 women were killed. By thugs.
The thugs call them whores.
And we repeat that?
That's how we show sympathy for these women who were killed?
The Tweeter's never been there and knows nothing.
'A press report said it!'
Oh, okay then. Press report are never wrong, right?
It would be something wonderful if we could see people rejecting an urge to insult the dead. (I am not attacking women who engage in sex work. I am noting that prostitute is a huge pejorative in Iraq and dead women who can't defend themselves shouldn't have prostitute tied around their dead necks solely because a group of men -- who killed them -- have labeled them whores.)
I'm not interested in running down violence. Monday night, I noted a death and offered Tuesday might be the last snapshot. The friend I dictated it too wisely pulled that. But a friend died this week and it really makes me question the point of online life.
This week saw the passing of actors Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall. (I was referring to Robin in the previous paragraph.) TCM has a video clip entitled "Lauren Bacall -- (TCM Remembers) 1924-2014." PBS' The NewsHour remembers her here.
Maria noted her passing in "The Walker," Ann in "Remembering Lauren Bacall," Stan with "Bacall," Elaine with "The great star Lauren Bacall," Ruth with "Lauren Bacall," Trina with "Lauren Bacall -- one of a kind," Betty with "Lauren" and Kat with "The wrong people keep dying." Robin's passing was noted in Mike's "Robin starred in so much of our childhood," Rebecca's "robin" and Marcia's "Iraq and Robin Williams." In addition, Robin was noted in a statement the Pentagon released earlier this week:
August 11, 2014
Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the Passing of Robin Williams
The entire Department of Defense community mourns the loss of Robin
Williams. Robin was a gifted actor and comedian, but he was also a true
friend and supporter of our troops. From entertaining thousands of
service men and women in war zones, to his philanthropy that helped
veterans struggling with hidden wounds of war, he was a loyal and
compassionate advocate for all who serve this nation in uniform. He will
be dearly missed by the men and women of DoD - so many of whom were
personally touched by his humor and generosity.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Nouri refuses to take the gold watch"
"Sometimes less is really enough"
"Ice cream sundays"
"The fake ass United for Peace and Justice"
"Robin Wiliams"
"Hillary Is 44?"
"They do go on"
"steve grand's classic"
"Videos"
"Iraq"
"My embarrassing political party"
"Let the facts battle it ou"
"THIS JUST IN! LIPS FLAP BUT NOTHING COMES OUT!"
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