year five begins...more hard work to come...

year five of the war in iraq has arrived, and only now does condi rice finally dip her toe in the pool of the reality-based community by saying that "the Bush administration likely erred by failing initially to send enough troops to quell the civil strife that followed the overthrow of Saddam Hussein." um, duh?! after telling the ap this, condi also "called for patience" in iraq. you can call all you want for it, you ain't getting it.

so condi, i just heard the president give the same speech he's been giving for four years. progress is being made, but it's hard work, there will be good and bad days, september 11, we got rid of a dictator, keeping us safe, 9/11, blah blah blah...i'm so sick of this i could vomit.

..so happy birthday iraq war; no offense, but i'm hoping you don't make it to your next birthday. and you are not getting a present. not even a card.

an interweb rumor worth attention?

yeah, there have been tons of rumors over the past few years of the impending resignation of darth, excuse me, dick cheney. usually, someone quasi-sane as myself would disregard these interweb rumors as wishful thinking, be they proffered by dreaming liberals or some disillusioned condi-as-vp nutjobs. but this time, it's neither of these. it's the reserved speculation of the op-ed page of the Washington Post. that makes me pay a tiny, wee bit of attention:

"However beleaguered, Cheney will not resign over the president's refusal to take his advice. The only force that could drive him to that dramatic step would be that unshakable sense of loyalty to Bush, who desperately now needs a vice president in stable physical, emotional and political health. That is the equation you want to be watching."

it's also made the far-right bush apologists at Newsmax bring up the old condi switcheroo again. anyway, it's probably near impossible the the vp will step down, but with the president's approval rating at an all time low in some polls, a new vp may be just what the rove ordered.