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" AS THE IRAQIS STAND UP, WE WILL STAND DOWN ." This phrase has been the essence of President Bush's strategy in dealing with Iraq. Unfortunately, it has many holes: 1. It puts an unfair amount of pressure on citizens who have already had to endure invasion, an occupation, and now constant terrorist attacks. How anyone could hope to properly train in such a fragmented and hostile environment is beyond me. 2. It implies that the majority of Iraqis wants us to leave. So far, any evidence of this has been subjective. I never believed we were going to greeted as liberators, but I strongly suspected that as time went on, a number of citizens would become dependent on us. 3. It suggests a timetable, but Bush has yet to give one. What defines a sucessful "stand up?" will it be different based on the troop size and location? What Iraqi unit "stands up," the corresponding American unit "stands down" and then the Iraqi unit gets attacked and destroyed?...

Let recap some things JBlaze and I have found, K? They way Bush's numbers are going down , you'd think he'd had spent his vacation kicking puppies and setting babies on fire. But nah, it's 'cause of Iraq and gas prices . Katrina hit the South East with a vengence , and because of certain distractions, the area wasn't as prepared as it could have been . The President gets a good view from his plane . Speaking of Iraq, things are still bad and it may get worse . Plus it's costing us in dollars and in lives . On tap: Social Security reform, a possible new Supreme Court Judge, and maybe, just maybe, a working consitution in Iraq.

Most of you know by now about Hurricane Katrina's Almost total devestation of New Orleans, and Western Misissippi. And many of you know there are oil refineries in that area of the Gulf. But, do you know that gas will surpass $3.00 probably even by the time I finish writing this post? In Richmond, VA gas stations here have hit 2.95 in the last 16 hours. And it's been reported that gas will top 3 dollars by the end of the week. It won't be long now. People are gonna have to ride horses to work........

Safia Taleb al-Souhail was once all for President Bush's strategy in Iraq. But problems with getting a modern-day constitution designed has made her re-think her position . I wonder how many changed minds it will take before the Bush Administration admits that mistakes were made. Or that advice that should have been heeded was not. Or why people who were once proponents are now becoming opponents.

ESPN's Ric Bucher doesn't think the Miami Heat will be the title contender most people are saying they are. I agree, and for the same reasons: 1. Shaq's decline in production, which decreases his role as the Alpha Dog; 2. Their new additions are offensive-minded, and their coach is defense-first; 3. The '03-'04 Lakers had more firepower and better defenders and they still lost. What I'm not so sure of is Bucher's implications that ex-coach Pat Riley is setting this all up so he can return to the floor.

Jeanine Pirro just isn't getting the love .

As our troops fight a war abroad, Americans here fight each other over whether our troops are fighting the right enemy in the right location.

The American Legion wants everyone who considers themselves American or freedom loving to support the GWOT . Of course, their position on such types of conflicts was different under Clinton's administration, as seen here . Attempts to verify this on the American Legion's homepage were fruitless because they don't have any records earlier than September 2001 (even though the site's been up since 1996). Hmmm....

How many people have had to give up a kidney for gas recently? Some blood? Your first-born son? Signing your soul over to Satan? With gas prices nearing $5 billion a gallon, what would you do for some inexpensive gas?

Pat Robertson done lost his damn mind yall! He says that the U.S. should just assassinate the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. on his show, "The 700 Club," this past Monday, Robertson said: "I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." The guy has gone off his nut! what do y'all think? Is he crazy or what? You what else is wild? That while the Bush Administration didn't necessarily agree with Robertson they didn't exactly condemn his remarks either. Hmmmmm................. If you're interested, read the article in its entirety here . ----------------------------------Recent Developments--------------------- Thursday August 25, 2005 Just yesterday, Pat Robertson apologized for the comments he made concerning the assassination of Hugo Chavez. When asked about his remarks, ...