Don Rumsfeld needs to be fired immediately. Yesterday during a Pentagon briefing he decreed that the press should no longer be referring to the insurgents in Iraq as insurgents. Ever since the end of the invasion in April 2003, the Iraqi’s that have been fighting back against the US occupation have been referred to as insurgents. Now Rumsfeld says:

This is a group of people who don’t merit the word `insurgency,’ I think

According to Dictionary.com an insurgent is defined as:

Rising in revolt against established authority, especially a government.

I suppose that if you consider that neither the current Iraqi government nor the American occupation force might be considered an established authority, then the forces fighting against the American military might not qualify for the term insurgent. Of course by this argument the “Iraqi government” doesn’t qualify for the term either. It seems that the shrub administration thinks it can finally defeat the insurgency by simply redefining them out of existence.

During the same briefing the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Peter Pace got into a disagreement with Rumsfeld about the mistreatment of prisoners.

A reporter asked Pace what U.S. commanders in Iraq are supposed to do if they find Iraqi forces abusing prisoners. Pace replied that if inhumane treatment is observed it is a service member’s duty to stop it.

“I don’t think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it _ it’s to report it,” Rumsfeld said, turning to Pace.

Replied the general: “If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it.”

Don Rumsfeld is a total embarassment and disgrace. The attitude of this asshole permeates down through the ranks and has lead to the abuses that have occured at Gauntanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. It is good to see Gen. Pace standing up to Rumsfeld and saying what is right. He is setting the right example for the troops. Hopefully the troops will hear these words and know it alright to do the right thing and not follow illegal orders. It is never right to torture and abuse prisoners. It is also counter productive. When your enemies hear about these practises it just hardens them against you. Just look at the situation in Israel and Palestine. The Israeli’s have been torturing Palestinian prisoners for decades and it has not stopped the violence there. US and Iraqi troops have been torturing prisoners for the last three years and the insurgency has only gotten worse over time. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and all their cronies need to be removed from office and put on trial for war crimes. America needs to cleansed of this plague.

Over on AmericaBlog they have an interesting post today on the possibility of removing shrub from office. The 25th amendment to the constitution deals with circumstances of removing or temporarily replacing the the president if the the president dies or becomes incapacitated. It reads as follows:

Twenty-Fifth Amendment – Presidential Vacancy, Disability, and Inability

Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principle officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

In general, I would love to see shrub yanked for being mentally incompetent. However, at this point in time, the treatment may well be worse than the disease. If the president is removed, the vice-president takes over. And handing the reins to Tricky Dick II is not a thought I can stomach. Now if the big time dick is indicted and is forced to resign, that opens up a whole new ball game. If the democrats in congress can grow some balls and actually have some impact on the selection of a replacment vp, then the 25th amendment might actually be a palatable alternative.

This blogger has the solution for how we can finally get shrub impeached:

Let it Fly – Memphis Flyer Blogs » Blog Archive » The ‘W’ Problem Solved: A Modest Proposal for Regime Change

When shrub talks about wanting America to be an “ownership society”, this is what he is talking about:

This cartoon pretty much sums up what is happening to working class people in this country today. The executives and their media spinners sail off into the sunset with their golden parachutes while all the working stiffs and engineers and low-mid level managers get fucked. While senior executives give themselves a 50% increase in severance packages, the people who have gone to work all these years see their pensions go up in smoke, their health care probably disappearing and demands from management for a 63% cut in pay. This stuff is going to hurt all of us. When those thousands of people lose their jobs, and a great many of them will, they will lose their houses, they won’t be buying cars, they won’t be going to restaurants. That means that others trying to sell their houses won’t get as much for them if they can sell at all. Those of us still working in the auto industry (including oems, suppliers, dealers, etc) will be pinched even harder. People running small businesses will se revenue dry up. We will all pay for the loss of companies like Delphi and Visteon and Collins and Aikmen.

No matter what you think of unions (and I agree there have been problems associated with them) you have to acknowledge that if a lot of our predecessors hadn’t organized and fought for better working conditions and pay and benefits, most of us wouldn’t be living anywhere near as good today as we are. This is truly a case of a rising tide lifting all boats. When large numbers of people are working at better paying jobs they buy more stuff and that leads to more jobs. A limited number of rich people with extra disposable income only has a limited effect on the economy. A person can only buy so much stuff. But lots of middle class people can buy a lot of stuff, food, houses, clothes etc. That’s what makes economies grow. But the middle class is shrinking and most of them are sliding downward. If we don’t focus on growing the middle and helping the lower classes move up, America will shrivel up into a third world country. The bush cabal needs to be stopped now. America needs new leadership with a real vision. I just don’t know where that is coming from right now. Somebody please step forward.

I just saw a great bumper sticker.

“Somewhere in Texas, A village is missing it’s idiot”