And so it goes ...

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. passed away earlier this month on April 11. For a certain generation, and I count myself among them, Kurt was the first author that caused us to laugh on the outside while simultaneously crying on the inside. This ability was his genius--truly his gift to generations of mostly adolescent boys who in turn look back on Vonnegut's novels today with gentle, warm regard. So it goes ...

FoxNews savaged Vonnegut in their broadcast obituary. It's up on Youtube but I'll not bother providing a link. It was as predictable (and unbalanced) as one would expect from the quasi-official administration mouthpiece. A classic example of the "Kick Down, Kiss Up" mentality that robs us all of our humanity. So it goes ...

During the week that brought Vonnegut's life to a close, the U.S. military suffered 23 fatalies in Iraq. Vonnegut, a survivor (as a prisoner-of-war) of the bombing of Dresden, Germany by Allied forces during World War II, often remarked that he was the sole person on the planet who profited in any way from the event, as measured by his royalties for the semi-autobiographical novel, Slaughterhouse Five. It would be instructive to see a list of the people and corporations profiting from the current insanity in Iraq. War was considerably more naive sixty years ago than it is today. And so it goes ...

So long, Kurt.

Putting Lipstick on a Pig ...

... refers, of course, to this week's new course of action, as described by President Bush during his very important speech to the American people, more of whom will now be off to Iraq to risk life and limb in a fruitless effort to rescue the political legacy of the worst president this country has ever known. And it will be the blood of these brave Americans that tint red the lipstick smeared on the pig by our President.

For the length of the war, until now, Bush has ignored reality, repeatedly claiming he is just following the direction of his generals. Those generals are all gone now, either run off by the foolish leadership of the Defense Department, or sacrificed in favor of a new breed of generals more subservient to Bush's insanity than the previous set.

It is not by coincidence that virtually every "retired" general has voiced serious criticisms of virtually all of Bush's war strategy, while the "current" crew of military leadership are happy doing nothing more than licking Bush's feet, whenever they are able to push Tony Blair out of the way.