In the wake of the release of the WikiLeaks video showing the massacre of civilians in Iraq, two former soldiers from the unit involved have written a letter published at Truthout.org.

The two soldiers, Josh Steiber and Ethan McCord, weren’t in the helicopter. Ethan McCord was one of the soldiers that pulled the children from the van. Josh Steiber wasn’t even on the scene.

But, in their own words, they understood what was happening in their unit:

We have been speaking to whoever will listen, telling them that what was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering we have created. From our own experiences, and the experiences of other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region.

This incident occurred in 2007. Three years later, after the April 5, 2010, release of the video, these two former soldiers have penned a letter of contrition and apology.

This is way too little that comes way too late.

(published at Truthout.org)

On August 19, 1953, pro-Shah supporters in Iran staged a coup on the Iranian government that was planned, organized and supported by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and British Intelligence. Iranians lived under the brutal rule of Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi for the next 25 years until the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Though the CIA-led coup in Iran was the first time the agency overthrew a democratically elected government, it wasn’t to be the last. In 1954, the CIA orchestrated a coup against the democratically elected president of Guatemala. In 1963, the CIA orchestrated the coup in Iraq that eventually brought Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athist Party to power. In 1973, the CIA orchestrated a coup against the democratically elected leader of Chile. In every case, those who were helped into power instituted regimes of terror and violence. These regimes prompted bloody revolutions, or worse, US-led invasions. Either way, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed due to US foreign policy.

You have got to love it when people decide to “out-crazy” the crazies.

The scheme reads like a sequel to “Being John Malkovich”: Levins group of protesters plan to get in the heads of tea partiers at the Tax Day Tea Parties nationwide Thursday and manipulate them right out of relevance. They’ll dress like tea partiers, talk like tea partiers and carry signs like tea partiers. In fact, according to Levin they’ll be completely indistinguishable from tea partiers, except for one thing — they won’t be out-crazied by anyone.

“Our goal is that whenever a tea partier says ‘Barack Obama was not born in America,’ we’re going be right right there next to them saying, ‘yeah, in fact he wasn’t born on Earth! He’s an alien!” Levin explained. He said that by making the tea parties sound like a gathering of crazy people — his group’s goal — the movement will lose its power.

I’m dying here!

There has been an uproar over the new health care bill from the left and right. On the left, it was that the health bill didn’t go far enough and became a give-a-away to the insurance industry. On the right, it has been nothing short of sheer stupidity.

There isn’t a better example of sheer stupidity than this:

First there was Dr. Cassell firing patients. Then there’s “dermdoc” bragging on a message board that he has just laid off his first Obama-voting employee. From CBS News’ Political Hotsheet:

   Last Friday, someone going by the name “dermdoc” posted a thread on a message board for Texas A&M students and alumni with this topic: “Laid off my first Obama voting employee today.”

   “Our reimbursement rates are spiraling downward, taxes are projected to go up with Obamacare, so I did it,” the person wrote. He later added: “I made this decision because I can.”

   “It is kind of interesting watching their face as you explain to them the economic consequences of the policies of the guy they voted for,” wrote dermdoc.

The original message board thread has now been removed, but that didn’t deter “dermdoc” from expanding on his original thesis.

   “Elections have consequences,” wrote dermdoc. “If you vote for someone who raises my taxes and lowers my income, you pay the cost.”

   “My office manager and med business guru have calculated that this is just the beginning. Tax rates are going to go through the roof with additional Obamacare taxes AND the expiration of the Bush tax cuts,” he added. “And most analysts think reimbursement rates for docs will go down about 20-25% the next 2 years, and that is BEFORE Obamacare really kicks in.”

And, we then learn, that this was all just a case of the person being an idiot…

If you missed it, and I’m glad I did as I don’t watch Chris Matthew’s, he totally went off the deep end about Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin teaming up.

From Crooks & Liars:

Matthews and Buchanan go on to describe the Palin and Bachmann rally and their featured speakers as…

an amazing event

very fascinating political figures

very good on the stump

much more exciting than Mitch McConnell or John Boehner

the new “star power” of the Republican Party

dazzling

dynamite

extremely attractive women

rodeo queens

women of the west

Pat Buchanan, an old racist dinosaur (just read some of his comments), and Chris Matthew’s, who didn’t fawn over SOMEONE in a drooling mess, teaming up to gush over the two nuttiest women in Republican politics.

THIS is pure comedy gold!

In the comment section of my last essay, I let a cat out of the bag.

I’ve been writing op-ed pieces that have been published by Truthout.org.  To date, they have published five of my op-ed pieces.  You can read them, if you wish, on my facebook page.

While it is still uncertain, I was asked by the editor’s of Truthout if I would be interested in writing for them in a regular column.  Of course, this is still something that is a maybe, and, might occur in a month or two. But, you can understand my surprise at even being asked.

More below…