Surrealism as Public Policy


Inspiration for the pic courtesy of Billmon:

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the news (from Harper's via TPM Muckraker) that Porter Goss, director of the CIA, may be implicated in a hooker service for corrupt (and horny) congressmen paid for by defense contractors and run out of -- you really gotta love this part -- the Watergate Hotel.

So what are we supposed to call this new scandal? Watergategate?

It sounds like a game of can-you-top-this played by a couple of spy novelists (say, Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum) after a night of snorting cocaine and downing tequila shooters. Or maybe a screenplay cooked up by Fellini and Costa-Gavras -- with some help from Spike Lee and Salvador Dali.

And how are these assclowns expecting to refill the treasury's coffers? By beating down on disabled veterans:

Army specialist Tyson Johnson of Mobile, Ala., had just been promoted in a field ceremony in Iraq when a mortar round exploded outside his tent, almost killing him.

"It took my kidney, my left kidney, shrapnel came in through my head, back of my head," he recounted.

His injuries forced him out of the military, and the Army demanded he repay an enlistment bonus of $2,700 because he'd only served two-thirds of his three-year tour.

When he couldn't pay, Johnson's account was turned over to bill collectors. He ended up living out of his car when the Army reported him to credit agencies as having bad debts, making it impossible for him to rent an apartment.

"Oh, man, I felt betrayed," Johnson said. "I felt like, oh, my heart dropped."...

Staff Sgt. Ryan Kelly lost his leg in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq.

He didn't realize it, but the Army continued to mistakenly pay him combat bonus pay, about $2,000, while he was in the hospital rehabilitating, and then demanded that he pay it back.

He, too, was threatened by the Army with debt collectors and a negative credit report.

"By law, he's not entitled to the money, so he must pay it back," said Col. Richard Shrank, the commander of the United States Army Finance Command.

Lends a whole new meaning to the term "costing an arm and a leg."

Meanwhile, Shrub's doggedly determined (emphasis on "dog") to turn SOMETHING over to Dubai...something...anything...let's see...um, how about military manufacturing plants? Yep:

President Bush is expected on Friday to announce his approval of a deal under which a Dubai-owned company would take control of nine plants in the United States that manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft, say two administration officials familiar with the terms of the deal.

And, via The Rude Pundit, here's something from Georgia 10 that should have everyone in this country furious at the government...oh, but that's right: Bay "Bitch" Buchanan speaks for the rest of the country when she asserts that we're "tired" of Katrina. I guess sorta like we're tired of civil rights, the Constitution, and everything but the war in Iraq--which is going so well that the dingbat who insisted on starting it took time today...to come out against singing the National Anthem in Spanish. Wow. How courageous. Really stepping out on a limb there, George.

Will you personally deliver that message to the foreign nationals currently serving in our military? Or will you just let your treasury department handle that by presenting the wounded ones with a bill?

Besides, in Spanish, it's not "freedom," it's "libertad."