May 1st, 2003, Bush announced "Mission Accomplished"

And we are STILL bogged down in the Iraq quagmire four years later, with more than 3300 American soldiers dead, still no clear purpose, no exit strategy, no nothing. We are bogged down, with a new McCain/Bush/Lieberman escalation putting more time, money and troops into the war based on lies in Iraq while Osama bin Laden is free as a bird, and al-Qaeda, the people who actually attacked us, stronger than ever.

Yeah...Mission Accomplished declared May 1st, 2003...here is what Michael Moore had to say about it:

Mission accomplished. And yet, the money and the blood keep flowing. The following is released in honor of the 4th Anniversary of "Mission Accomplished" by Americans United for Change:

Doubt the headline's premise? Check out this YouTube of audio from the Rush Limbaugh show, featuring a rendition of

Barack

Negro

by an Al Sharpton impersonator.

Hello, Federal Communications Commission?

So Rudy Giuliani has "forgiven" Don Imus:

Embattled radio host Don Imus is getting support from many of the politicians and journalists who frequently grace his show - including presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Despite many calls for the shock jock's resignation, Giuliani said he would again appear with Imus, and after talking to him on the phone he believes Imus "understands that he made a very, very big mistake."

"I take Don at his word that he understands the gravity of what he said," Giuliani told the Daily News. "He seems sincerely sorry about it and seems like someone who will endeavor not to do that again and I take him at his word."

Well, that didn't take long.

It's nice of Giuliani to absolve Imus on behalf of his fellow African-Americans. What's that? He's not? Well then, it's hard to see what business he has "forgiving" a repeat-offending racist like Imus, isn't it?

Of course, this is Rudy Giuliani, much of whose mayoralty was premised on channeling white resentment against blacks. The same Giuliani whose malicious reaction to the Diallo shooting only made a bad situation worse. The same Rudy Giuliani who inflamed racial tensions by trashing Patrick Dorismond after Dorismond had been shot and killed by the NYPD. The same Rudy Giuliani whose policy of divide et impera managed to get him re-elected with two-thirds of the white vote but only 20% of the black vote.

Giuliani forgives Imus. The cobra forgives the rattlesnake for its venom.

We keep hearing from the Republicans about how somehow the McCain/Bush/Lieberman escalation of the Iraq quagmire will somehow bring us victory and solve all of our problems. My main questions I have had to date is just why are our soldiers dying in Iraq in the first place, what do they MEAN by victory (no exit strategy has yet been formulated!) and just where is Osama bin Laden, the guy who actually attacked America and who has never set foot in Iraq?

But now I have a new question. Just who is it who is winning? From what I can see, it sure as hell isn't us.

In Afghanistan, things have deteriorated so badly, that Republicans like Bill Frist are practically begging the Taliban to help us out. Remember the Taliban? Our enemies who are allied with Osama bin Laden? Well, Bill Frist wants us to patch things up with the Taliban and get them to pull our asses out of the fire in Afghanistan. So, Osama bin Laden is still free, al-Qaeda still operating in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and we are begging the Taliban to rejoin the government. Who's winning in Afghanistan?

I love the snow. Absolutely love it. Grew up in Southern California, so I went camping in the snow but never LIVED with snow.

My first experience with LIVING with snow was, ironically, a White Christmas in Kyoto Japan. GORGEOUS! Japanese architecture seems designed to look gorgeous in the snow. Walked all over snow covered Kyoto that first snowfall in a place I lived.

Most New Yorkers I know hate it when it snows. They say the snow gets dirty too fast and it becomes impossible to walk and all the people who refuse to clean up their dog's shit leave frozen little presents for pedestrians to step on weeks later when the snow melts. All true, but by and large I love looking up at the snow falling through the light of the street lamps, love hearing the snow hitting the window as I sleep and love seeing the snow on the ground before anyone steps on it.

But today, NYC SUCKED in the snow, culminated in iced over stairs at train stations that no one was willing to deal with despite the fact that it made the stairs almost impassable.

First off, in NYC the corners of intersections get all the snow from the streets piled up, making it hard to cross the street. Fine, the road is clear, but the drains are now covered, so the street floods, and pedestrians can't cross without great effort. I used to see that as a minor irritant, but you try pushing a stroller through NYC city streets after a snow. It is terrible! I can only imagine what it is like for someone in a wheelchair or an elderly person. What's with NYC? Can't they figure out how to clear the corners? It's not like no one walks here. I understand that after one day you can't expect them to be cleared. But there are times they don't get cleared away for weeks, except for that tiny path hordes of people have to squeeze past that are formed by the pedestrians wading through themselves.

(FDNY on 9/11/02)

Just stumbled across a completely infuriating blog post on Room Eight; it appears that the President of tomorrow's Saint Paddy's Day parade, John Dunleavy, has ordered that the FDNY contingent be moved further to the back of the parade, from the very front, for reasons of drunkenness. A sure sign that this is a bad move is that New York's stupidest blogger agrees with it.

Firehouse.com summarizes:

John Dunleavy, president of the parade's organizing committee, ignited this year's brouhaha by moving the FDNY from its traditional spot at the front of the parade to the middle of the pack.

Dunleavy then created a separate brew-haha by complaining that firefighters show up drunk for the parade - and continue drinking all day while in uniform.

Nice going there; first, Dunleavy indicates his gross stupidity by excluding gays and lesbians (because, I guess, no Irish fit that description) and then removes any lingering doubts about his stupidity by literally pushing the FDNY to the back of the bus. Because, and how unheard of that would be for Saint Patrick's Day, some members of the FDNY have a drink or two at the parade, unlike other New Yorkers who watch the events in cool sobriety.

There are those who claim that Hillary Clinton is congenitally and pathologically unable to take a position, any position, on anything, other than that of insistent supplicant on the fundraising circuit.

These people are entirely wrong. Hillary is capable of taking at least one position: she wants the U.S. military presence in Iraq to continue into the first term as President this vain, substance-free woman has deluded herself into believing she can win.

E Pluribus Media:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton foresees a "remaining military as well as political mission" in Iraq, and says that if elected president, she would keep a reduced military force there to fight Al Qaeda, deter Iranian aggression, protect the Kurds and possibly support the Iraqi military.

Or maybe these people are entirely correct. Asked whether she agreed with the recent comments by General Pace, who happens to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that homosexuality is immoral, she said:

"Well, I'm going to leave that to others to conclude."

Good thing that she's not running for President and people don't care what her opinion is, right? Oh wait, she is; never mind.

Every day that dawns brings a new reason to doubt Hillary Clinton. This is not leadership; it's leadering, something that looks like leadership, but is not. Too bad for Hillary that more and more Americans are noticing the difference.

[Update]: New York Blade says 'Hillary is a poor choice for gay voters'. Zing!

The Daily News has the story we've all been so breathlessly waiting for: there will need to be another special election in the 40th City Council District, because the rocket scientist who won the last one - that would be "Doctor" Mathieu Eugene - did not have the simple common sense to meet the legal requirements of holding office.

Such as, say, living in the district. Good for him, though, that they don't make these things clear to you when you decide to run.

Oh, wait, they do. Never mind.

"This great opportunity for the people I would represent, this historical victory for our city, has been shattered and tainted by technicalities," he said at a press conference with supporters on the steps of City Hall.

No, you dumbass. Your victory was shattered and tainted by your own unfathomable dumb-assedness. What part of 'you have to live in the district on election day to represent it' is too difficult for you? That's thirteen words, champ, none with more than three syllables. You tell me what's too hard about that for you.

The paper mentions a price tag for a new election of $340,000, though of course, there will also have to be additional candidate matching funds; the last election, the one just made moot because the winner declined to take the seat, cost $451,224, with more payments yet to come. That's about a nickel for every New Yorker. Literally chump change, since we all look like chumps now as New Yorkers.

Every once in a while, it can't hurt to re-state the basics, so here you go: The Daily Gotham is a blog for and about New York City and State politics. We cover developments of interest to Progressive New Yorkers, and I happen to think we cover them quite well. And while we have our challenges, technical and otherwise, overall, I'm pleased wth the work of everyone who contributes here.

What we are not - repeat, not - is a platform for people kicked off Daily Kos who then seek to execute a vendetta against Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, and in the process spew hard-right rhetoric all over the place. Say, like this.

And what I personally especially do not like is a rhetorical pap smear of the 'You hate God, which is why you hate Hillary Rodham Clinton' variety. Even if it's not directed at me. Sorry, no. Not in this life. That kind of logorrhea belongs exclusively on the political right, with people like Ann Coulter; who, to her scant credit, at least has a bit more originality than this diarist, haggard SkankBot that she may otherwise be.

To this diarist, I'll just say this:

Fuck.

Off.

End of discussion. We're done here.