With war losing support, Rumsfeld stages a retreat

[Cocoa]

someone else wonders, where's Rummy...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/whitehouse/la-na-rumsfeld5aug05,1,4181999.story?coll=la-news-politics-white_house

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, once so popular as an administration spokesman for the Iraq war that President Bush dubbed him a "matinee idol," has reduced his public profile, trimming appearances as the war has turned from a positive for the Bush campaign into a potential liability.

Critics, particularly on the left, have delighted in the shrinking Rumsfeld role.

<snip>

Among 19 television and radio interviews Rumsfeld has done since May, many have been with local media or with supportive satellite and cable networks, which often give more favorable coverage than other national media.

"Well, you know, I'm one of your big fans," Radio America reporter Blanquita Cullum told the secretary at the conclusion of a program last month. "I love you a lot." In Nashville, WWTN radio interviewer Steve Gill ended his interview with Rumsfeld by saying, "Keep up the great work."


more...

[phasev]

1. Rummy about to be chopped at the knees n/t

[saigon68]

2. every soldier who dies in this cluster-fuck

Has died for nothing more than Halliburton profits and the rights of a few mercenaries to MAKE OBSCENE TAX FREE SALARIES.

[gasperc]

7. tax free saleries, they are making $100,000k + tax free

fuckers!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lebkuchen]

10. What do those mercenaries make?

the ones who guard Bremer?

[saigon68]

16. $1000.00 TO $1500.00 PER DAY

That US Green Backs my friend

Supplied by the poor of America from their Federal Income Tax Withholding.

[lebkuchen]

30. Saigon,

Do you have a link for that? I believe you, but I want to prove it to friends.

[saigon68]

31. Its all out there here are a few

http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro


http://www.slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2104305&entry=2104507&#ContinueArticle

Paying civilians to play soldier makes no sense. Today the United States employs between 7,000 and 17,000 civilians in infantry roles. The pay is extraordinary, hovering between $500 per day and $1,000 per day for everything from site security (for government compounds throughout Iraq) to convoy/company security to personal security (for dignitaries). This money comes tax-free in a combat zone. There are four problems here: morale deflation, gross monetary waste, tactical confusion, and direct competition for a tiny talent pool.

http://www.gunweek.com/2004/hs042004.html

[aquart]

3. Yes. Yes, he should be out there. Often. Daily.

[Wickerman]

4. "He's our rock star,"

Oh come on, he makes Keith Richards look young and healthy - he is no rock star.

And, if that is the best the GOP has an example of party greatness then they are more fucked than even I can imagine them.

[mac56]

6. He's their rock star? Like Elvis?

photocred: webpages.charter.net

[Wickerman]

15. More like this, I'd say

[Stuckinthebush]

17. Oh, lord! That should never have happened!

Who let this poor man go outside like that? I'd hazard a guess and say that those pants are a wee bit too tight.

:D

[reprobate]

19. OMFG, it hurts just to look at that!

[NickB79]

20. Sweet Jesus, is that ball cleavage?

It IS ball cleavage!!!! Where's my bucket, I feel sick.

[ellie]

22. Thanks!

You just upset my DH!

[gatlingforme]

23. Ugh, I have to laugh and cry at the same time.

[notadmblnd]

29. That man has major camel toe happening

I leard that term from my teenage neices.

[puerco-bellies]

34. My Eyes, My Eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God Damn it! Don't ever post that again!!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

36. That ain't right!

Next time warn us will ya?

[klook]

9. More of a lounge singer, I'd say

Bruce Springsteen is a rock star. Rumsfeld is the old has-been who performs in the Holiday Inn bar.

I've often wondered how much of Rumsfeld's popularity stems from the fact that his speaking voice sounds a great deal like Henry Fonda's. Or is it that the content of what he says sounds a great deal like Prof. Irwin Corey?

BTW, here's a favorite Irwin Corey quote: "If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." Couldn't have said it better myself.

+ =

[Ernesto]

12. What do you have against Henry Fonda?

[klook]

14. Hey, no offense to HF meant

I was just referring to the timbre of his voice. There is some similarity to Rumsfeld's, don't you think?

No offense to Irwin Corey meant, either. He makes as much sense as Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld: "I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started."

Corey: "This is merely a small indication of this vast throng gathered here to once again behold and to perceive that which has gone behind and to that which might go forward into the future…we’ve got to hurdle these obstacles." (from his acceptance speech for the National Book Award, on behalf of Thomas Pynchon, 1974)

[Judi Lynn]

26. Thanks for the invaluable quote.

If the world's foremost authority hasn't said it, it truly doesn't matter!



That photo from his callow youth is WONDERFUL.

[klook]

28. I Feel More Like I Do Now (eom)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. I hope he isn't signing off on another torture memo....

cuz that would just about do it for me.

On other issues... such as his views on racial issues... not sure.... need to do some reading I 'spose.


http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/dailynews/rumsfeld010107.html
On the tape, Rumsfeld can be heard making several acknowledgments, such as “yes” and “that’s right” as Nixon rambled on during a conversation about African and American blacks.
The conversation was reported in Sunday editions of the Chicago Tribune.

[lebkuchen]

8. Rummy wrote a letter to the troops in Stars and Stripes a week ago.

Or rather, Rove did. It was a sign of desperation.

I'll bet Stripes received several negative responses to it as well as to the Abu Ghraib tortures on Rummy's watch. Bush's puppet-masters are beginning to lose their voice as a result.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=23520

Bush’s leadership weak

President Bush has disappointed conservatives and military members by betraying the very values that he swore to uphold when he campaigned for the White House. His appointment of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has led to weakening the resources of the military and spreading them too thinly around the globe. The plans that this administration has for cutting personnel, closing bases and reducing our presence in Europe will deeply diminish U.S. military prestige and power.

Under Rumsfeld, there has been increased dissension between uniformed leadership and the White House on numerous issues. Everyone in Washington knows that this has been occurring since before the Iraq war. Threatening about-to-retire military leadership that their lucrative lobbying jobs with defense industries won’t be there if they speak out against flawed administration policies is standard procedure. Even when generals and intelligence agencies warned against actions and timing that put soldiers at risk, the administration followed its own ambitions that disregarded these respected advisers.

It has become clear that Bush is led and managed by Vice President Dick Cheney and his network of neo-conservative, starry-eyed defense advisers.

It is also widely acknowledged that Bush has failed to take basic steps to protect the United States against future terrorist attacks.

Cutting veterans’ benefits and scaling back the services so that additional private, expensive contractors can be hired do not serve the institution of the military. It makes it less attractive as a professional choice.

This is not strong leadership, but rather the abdication of it.

Because of this weak leadership, the safety of soldiers and ordinary citizens is more compromised, and the prestige and respect for the U.S. military has been damaged.

Robert Van Burkleo
Seattle


http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=23587

What protection?

I have read that President Bush, by invading Iraq, has protected the United States and our freedoms.

How has he done that?

Iraq was already a defanged, toothless tiger. From Operation Desert Fox in 1998 to the start of the war in 2003, our air forces and those of the United Kingdom flew more than 40,000 sorties against Iraq, dropping tens of thousands of munitions. In over four years, the Iraqi anti-aircraft crews did not shoot down one aircraft.

In March 2003, Bush decided that he had enough of U.N. inspections and we went to war against a country that was not involved in 9/11 and was not a threat to us. None of the 19 hijackers were Iraqi. The invasion was justified on the basis of weapons of mass destruction. Hardly a word was said about bringing democracy to Iraq.

In Baghdad, we had enough troops to guard the oil ministry, but none for the museum. Some of our prison guards disgraced their uniforms and their country. On June 28, we installed — in a bunker — a puppet government. In the United States, governors have said that with so many Guard and reserve personnel in Iraq, they don’t have enough people to deploy if disasters occur in their states.

Now we read that Iran, not Iraq, may have given the 9/11 terrorists help. We’re bogged down in a bloody occupation, costing over 900 American dead and well over $100 billion so far, with the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel not in sight. We have received no appreciable help from either NATO or the United Nations. Most of the members of the United Nations think, but dare not say, “I told you so.” U.S. prestige, as a result of all of this, is at an all-time low.

So, how have we been protected by this folly?

Gene Seiler
Kiedrich, Germany

[llmart]

11. He's a "matinee idol" alright.....

but probably only to those women over 75! He's still Dr. Strangelove to me. He's a freakin' war criminal.

[Junkdrawer]

13. I think Rummy, Wolfowitz and Cheney are busy planning something...

Wonder what that could be....

:think:

[gatlingforme]

24. hmm,, that is anyone's guess. They could be looking for

invisible duck tape for W's mouth. Or they could be planning the latest sell for going to war with Iran.

[CatWoman]

18. it's worse than we think

Rummy is reduced to having THIS for support????

[Cocoa]

21. Blanquita, I presume

who the hell is she, and what is the setting of that photo. Is she waiting for her turn at the outhouse?

[demoman123]

32. "Blanquita" = "little white female"?

:) Is that really her name?

[allalone]

33. isn't that Melanie Griffith?

[Gregorian]

25. Wow, they sure are getting good at embalming, these days.

I'd say they used a bit too much formaldehyde on that one.

[Judi Lynn]

27. Never heard of her until Bush had the Supreme Court select him.

She seems like an escaped lunatic who has seized control of a radio show: self-important, vicious, only slightly conscious. Maybe the more sociable companion to Michael Savage.

If Rumsfeld would even speak to crap like this it DOES tell you they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

[struggle4progress]

35. Maybe a cameo appearance with Lynndie England will boost his ratings! eom

[Disturbed]

37. Rumsfailed is a War Criminal

I am surprised that the the Military has not assasinated him. He has screwed up the Military and is responsible for many troops deaths and maiming.

Rumsfailed Admitted violating Geneva Convention

Rumsfailed admitted in public that when CIA Tentet requested that a prisoner be sent to a secret Afghan/US Prison that Rumsfailed did so. After four months a DOD Attorney stated that this was an illegal act so Rumsfailed ordered that this prisoner be sent back to Abu Graib but the prisoner was not listed at that location on purpose. That is two violations of the Geneva Convention. Tenet and Rumsfailed violated the Geneva convention, thereby also The Constitution of the USA. Not one complaint or charge was made regarding Rumsfailed and Tenet, not even by any Dem in Congress. Rumsfaild's admission came after some in Congress called for his resignation and after Rep. Rangel issued Impeachment of Rumsfailed, which nothing has been heard of since then.

Does the US no longer follow the Geneva Convention or the Constitution of the USA?

It appears so.

[progressivebydesign]

38. Geez talk about media whores!

"love you lots" and "keep up the good work"???? Is the journalistic profession officially dead? Tell me there are decent journalists that understand the job. I see so many so-called reporters breaking the most basic rules I learned in jr. high journalism class..

Sorry to see Rumsfeld hiding out. The Bush admin. KNOW he's a liability.. so he's hiding. I want ALL their dirty laundry aired for the world to see. Wanna bet he's going to "spend more time with his family" if Bush (God forbid) is re-elected.

[goforit]

39. Where are you Rummy?........Whatcha afraid of?