GINANDTACOS.COM IS FINALLY SPEECHLESS.

I think we can let this one speak for itself aside from briefly mentioning a link to the original story.

Pat Robertson, an ardent Bush supporter, said he had that conversation with the president in Nashville, Tennessee, before the March 2003 invasion. He described Bush in the meeting as "the most self-assured man I've ever met in my life."

Robertson said the president then told him, "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."

So apparently he's not a liar, he's just incomprehensibly stupid. Well. I feel better in that case.

A: FEDORAS AND SPEAKING

Q: What are "Two things that make George Bush look stupid," Alex?

Correct, for $500.

While browsing a CNN Story about a deadly mortar attack in Baghdad today, I could not help but stare in shock and awe at this photo:

The Iraqi 1st Heavy Armored Batallion readies its artillery for action

I would like to point out the state of armament of the troops to whom our President claims we are in the process of transferring power. After a double-take, I ascertained that the troops are on patrol in a Ford Expedition with the letters "ING" (Iraqi National Guard) spray-painted by hand on the side. This combat-ready vehicle is armed with what appears to be a hand-me-down, obsolete Soviet-era Kalishnakov AK-74 7.62mm machine gun hastily welded to the top of the SUV. Mind you, it's clip-fed, meaning it has about 4 seconds of firing capacity before it needs reloading.

The soldier in the foreground is brandishing a Chinese knock-off of the WWII-era Soviet RPG, accurate to about 50 yards and downright useless against an enemy on foot.

I may be incorrect, and I will call my local Ford dealership to verify this if necessary, but the Ford Expedition provides about as much protection from ballistics as a raincoat. I'm sure its 1/64" thick sheet metal, which is easily dented by a shopping cart, can withstand rifle fire. Not to mention that it is wheeled, not tracked, and therefore explosives can be rolled underneath it.

Oh, and by the way, it has a lot of windows. Windows don't offer all that much protection. That's why military vehicles that are expected to see combat don't have them.

So, good luck to the Iraqi National Guard. They are clearly ready to assume the duty of defending their nation against an enemy with which even the biggest, best, and most well-equipped army on Earth has its hands full. To paraphrase Reagan's famous civil defense pronouncement, everyone's gonna make it as long as there are enough used Fords to go around.

Somebody finally said it to their faces.

Jon Stewart on Crossfire, telling them how awful Crossfire is (click on 200k, written transcript here). It's really amazing actually.

Say what you will about Jon Stewart and the Daily Show's new higher profile in the campaign across major media networks, but anybody who calls Tucker Carlson a dick ("You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show") to his face on national TV is ok by me (watch the video, it really happens).

No really, you are a dick.

STEWART: Here's just what I wanted to tell you guys.
CARLSON: Yes.
STEWART: Stop.
STEWART: Stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America...And come work for us, because we, as the people.
CARLSON: How do you pay?
STEWART: The people -- not well.
BEGALA: Better than CNN, I'm sure.
STEWART: But you can sleep at night.
...
STEWART: See, the thing is, we need your help. Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations. And we're left out there to mow our lawns...you're not too rough on them. You're part of their strategies. You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks.
...
STEWART: [when asked why he wasn't harder on Kerry in their interview] is that the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity...You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls.

I still miss old Michael Kinsley squaring off against Pat Buchanan (whose Nixon-era mentality was already anachronistic in 1988). I haven't seen Crossfire since they took a cue from WWF for set design and level of maturity, but seeing that clip makes me think it must be an awful experience to sit through for a half hour each day.

...

Do you ever have a moment where something that is pretty ordinary or routine is made very personal very quickly? I had that intense moment when I was getting coffee and flipped open the Chicago Reader to see a picture of the late Chris Saathoff and to find an article about him and his band.

Chris was a friend of Ed and myself; I did not know him anywhere near as well as I wish I had before he died in Feburary. I still have very happy memories of defining "Saathoff's Constant" (still standing at 3.8) to late night drunken legal advice to a game of wits that had a drunken Irishman as the pawn and drumming motions as the threat. Chris was one of those people it was impossible not to like. As this webpage was not up at the time, I never got to post this treasured picture of myself running into him (literally) at a party.

I encourage you to read the article, even if you did not know him. I only met his bandmates from Chin Up Chin Up in passing (some under the worst possible conditions); the efforts they made to include Chris posthumously is remarkable. They built songs off of Chris's proposed basslines and isolated his tracks from demos to include them in their new album. It sounds like an amazing feat to have his presence in the project and I'm really excited to hear the results.