What a difference a day makes...

But it had to take the referendum of the entire American nation to convince Bush that we were not buying his stupid war and much less the terrible circumstances that Rummy has envisioned for it, with spectacular arrogance and disregard, contempt even for his own troops. Meanwhile, how many American soldiers and Iraqi civilians were killed and maimed because of an absurd, untenable policy? For how long have many respected military leaders complained bitterly about the Secretary of Defense? The short answer is since the war started. But the Bush administration thought it could ignore and subvert and disrespect the public outcry.
I think Karl Rove, Rummy and Cheney should be hanged for treason to this country. They could be good company for Saddam.
Still, at least we have the comfort that the people spoke and Bush had no choice but to do something about it, even though until before yesterday he had no intention of changing anything. The putz.

By the way, if you are having a conniption over Daniel Ortega winning in Nicaragua, you can blame the Bush administration. It is not a coincidence that so many south of the border nations are leaning left (Chavez, Lula, Evo, Kirchner, Bachelet and now Ortega). Inequality and poverty are rampant in Latin America and so is the US indifference to it. Obviously, the US is not only not providing any guidance or solidarity or even a perspective, it has basically abandoned any semblance of coherent, constructive foreign policy in it's own backyard. The building of a wall with Mexico does not help matters. The standing of the US in the world is at it's lowest possible nadir, and so these left-leaning choices are a reflection of this. Hopefully, things may change a bit with the new congress (don't get your hopes too high).

I once heard Comandante Daniel Ortega speak in Mexico City, aeons ago, sometime in the late 80's.
I was dragged there by a friend.
In the mold of his hero, Fidel, Ortega spoke numbingly, excrutiatingly for about two hours about nothing that was remotely connected to reality. He suffered from the kind of diarrhea of the mouth that afflicts leftist revolutionary leaders who have a penchant for fatigues (and for fatiguing their audiences with cliches). Not that I expected much, but he managed to disappoint me deeply.