Newscoma

The air was filled with the smell of stale beer and old cigarettes. Smoke lay knee level, like a dark fog in the fall, it moved ever so slightly when patrons walked through it. The jukebox sat idle and the only sound you could hear was the clinking of bottles and soft conversation of the patrons’ day. The room shed little sunshine from the late afternoon sky, so the establishment sometimes, and I’ve thought this before, is a bit oppressive as the shadows seem to be taking over.
The two men were soldiers. They told of being in prison together. One of them rolled his eyes good-naturedly at his friend when he made the statement.
He said simply, “We were in Abu Ghraib.” As National Guardsmen, they were stationed at the prison that made headlines a few years back. It was a private joke between them, and they let us in on it.
The Engineer looked at me curiously. He has been with me before when a conversation turns from simple small talk into something a bit heavier and I think that’s the primary reason why I like him and his wife so much. He rolls with each conversation no matter what it might be. I might have lifted my eyebrows a bit, trying to be subtle back at him letting him know it was going to get a bit heavy, but I said nothing. When you speak of war with the men who have been there, you say nothing.
You listen.
Their time there was after the controversial incident that happened in 2004. Although they couldn’t give us many details, I do know they were there roughly two years later. And although the banter from the two gentlemen never went too deep into anything other than surface information, it was still serious.
One man, whom I’d never met before, spoke of how frightening the vibe of the cells were. The tale he told was one of death before they got there, and how people were detained in the bleak rooms marked with a terrible vibe of torture and blood. He spoke of how innocent people were also kept there as well as criminals during Saddam Hussein’s reign in Iraq.
“It was creepy,” he shared.
I can only assume it was. They spent months in this prison of death.
They talked of IEDs going off outside the prison’s existing walls. The conversation shifted at times. One soldier is awaiting the arrival of his first child, a girl. The other talked of his marriages. He was wearing a firefighter’s cap and shirt. He smiled quite a bit, but he spoke of his deportation and I knew it laid in the front of him mind, always there. Lingering.
The Engineer and I had another beer as we listened to the stories that shifted from the recent past in Iraq, to the future of children and jobs.
Eventually, the conversation moved on. The Engineer and I were headed to an awards banquet for the local PBS station so we headed that way where we ran into other friends. Where we talked about politics and the future. About the honor that the television station had won and things coming up in Hoots in the coming months. He needed to get home. I needed to deal with the next day’s events.
I wonder if their words stayed with him throughout the evening as they did with me.
No one knows what goes on behind the scenes of a war unless they’ve been there.
In many ways, I felt gratitude for their actions, and sadness that this is something they share that cannot be penetrated by those who have not been with them through it. What we can do is listen. It’s all we can do, quite frankly.
I wonder if there is rest for the war weary.

From Hullabaloo:

I suppose I shouldn’t be alarmed by this, but I have to confess to being a little taken aback by the snickering and high-fiving in the blogosphere over the CIA’s attempt to curry favor with Afghan tribal leaders by offering them Viagra.

I just can’t imagine this being any good for Afghan women. Not at all.

From The Washington Post

“Take one of these. You’ll love it,” the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.

The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes — followed by a request for more pills.

For U.S. intelligence officials, this is how some crucial battles in Afghanistan are fought and won. While the CIA has a long history of buying information with cash, the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives and creative bargaining to gain support in some of the country’s roughest neighborhoods, according to officials directly involved in such operations.

I wonder if they are going to give birth control pills to the women.

Tonight, as I’m in one of those tired modes, let’s talk about Eugene Sledge and my grandfather.

There is a connection, believe it or not, to me at least.

I’ve been watching “The War” on PBS. Today, over at MCB, Ned Williams asked about the Ken Burns documentary.

I am not going to sit here tonight and pontificate about the comparisons between that war and this war. I’m just not up for it tonight. I feel like my brain is in a blender and it’s just a damn good thing I know the difference between razor blades and dog food, or the kind and smelly canines who live with me would be in trouble. (They had kibble. Thank goodness.)

Yeah, I’m that tired. Working, fretting and working some more. Thus my life these days.

Anyway, I have been watching and will turn it on again tonight.

What am I getting from “The War”?

I’m getting my grandfather. My dear sweet grandfather, a message from his generation, in this documentary that is reminding me that he once was a young man too. A man, who joined the Marines at a very young age. I’m getting the voice of his time.

And, my friends, this is not bad at all. I have a picture of him in his uniform, his face so handsome that it would break your heart. His cap, sitting just a bit askew on his head and a smile, man, that would knock the socks off of a holy woman. He’s beautiful.

But what I’m seeing are the things he didn’t say in this documentary. He was in the Battle of Saipan. He told a few stories, but kept many to himself. I know of the time he killed a nurse shark, because the men were hungry. I know about taking a bath with real soap and being shot at by a sniper.

I know he was damaged from his time there, but never broken. He learned too young about death and war, about young men dying for their country. He knew, though, in his mind it was something he wanted to do.

And, I adored him. Just adored him.

So, to answer the question, I’m getting whispers from my grandfather as a young man, unfortunately at war. Not old enough to drink, yet old enough to fight.

And, I needed it.

There is no political commentary here tonight. I’m watching a documentary that I’m enjoying.

Because, although I’m alone this evening, I can feel my grandfather’s presence.

And as for Eugene Sledge, read about him here. He had a voice. And, in some ways, I here it in my grandfather’s quiet Southern drawl that I haven’t heard for more than 26 years.

Photo from Wikipedia from Battle of Saipan and National Archives

Do I have your attention?

What in the hell is going on in Washington?

Well, the Webb Amendment is. What is this, you ask. Well, I will tell you. Or the Chicago Tribune will:

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) is a blunt Vietnam War veteran and secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan who wore his Marine son’s combat boots as he campaigned for the Senate last fall. After he was elected, Webb notoriously badgered President Bush during a private White House reception to bring his son — and the remainder of U.S. troops — home from Iraq.

A second time around.

Now Webb is pushing the Senate for the second time this year to require that the Pentagon give the troops at least the same time at home as their time served overseas.

That’s one thing. The Hill reports this on this fine almost fall day.

Four new Senate Republicans signaled Tuesday that they may vote for a Democratic amendment aimed at giving U.S. troops in Iraq more time at home between deployments, helping Democrats inch closer to a rare victory on the conduct of the Iraq war.

The talks came amid tense backroom negotiations over the terms of the Iraq debate in the Senate, which is expected to dominate the floor schedule during the next two weeks. Democrats suggested that they would not soften an Iraq troop-withdrawal amendment and Senate leaders signaled that some compromise measures being negotiated by centrists from both parties likely would not come to the floor for a vote.

But, according to other reports, John Murtha is saying this, and John Warner is reconsidering.

And a deep-bone rattling sigh …

Maybe if we got all of the politicians in Washington to Talk Like A Pirate, as today is the day, we could get something accomplished.

Of course, I’m sure my fine idea wouldn’t go over very well although Dick Cheney snarls like a pirate already. And, you know, the shooting in the face thing which was kinda pirate like.

Just saying.

8th District Congressman John Tanner is battling it out with fellow democrats according to the Memphis Flyer.

The topic? You guessed it.

Iraq.

Here’s what it says, campers.

The 9th District’s Steve Cohen isn’t the only local member of Congress to be in the middle of a verbal firefight these days. Tennessee’s 8th District congressman John Tanner, who represents part of Memphis and much of northern Shelby County, is feuding with fellow Democrats over a bipartisan measure he’s sponsoring to relax the terms of a congressionally mandated withdrawal from Iraq.

In response to criticism from MoveOn.org and other critics who want more direct and immediate withdrawal measures, Tanner, a leader of the Democrats’ congressional Blue Dog faction, said, “When these soldiers, sailors, and airmen are buried, they’re not buried as Republicans or Democrats. I care a hell of a lot more about them than I do about partisan politics.”

There’s more.

I keep watching Sen. Richard Lugar. He is saying some interesting things right now. He isn’t spending his political chips right now, but this has been going on for awhile and I think he is worthy of watching right now.

Helen Thomas writes this:

Sen. Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has hinted at his disenchantment with the war but hasn’t stepped up to announce a withdrawal of support.

Lugar said he believes some success in Iraq is possible but added “we should acknowledge that we are facing extraordinarily narrow margins for achieving our goals.”

I keep hearing things about Lugar. I think that the key to a more introspective dialogue about the war in Iraq will hinge on bipartisanship. There’s more here on how Senate Democrats are reacting to recent developments.

Sen. Harry Reid said this:

The goal is to attract enough Republicans to break the 60-vote threshold in the Senate needed to end a filibuster. Democrats have been unable to do that since taking control of Congress eight months ago.

“I call on the Senate Republicans to not walk lockstep as they have with the president for years in this war,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said at a news conference. “It’s time to change. It’s the president’s war. At this point, it also appears clear it’s also the Senate Republicans’ war.”

It’s going to have to be a bipartisan effort to get the 60 votes needed. Who will put their hands out? Reid is obviously trying to push buttons here with his last sentence although in theory I don’t disagree with him necessarily.

Both political parties need to get out of their comfort zones and start having a dialogue.

I’ve been watching CNN for the last couple of hours and my eyes are bleeding.

Man, there is too much going on in the political world today.

And, Jack Cafferty, you are the man. Agreed, agreed. I hope you sell a bunch of books.

And the headline mentions Afghanistan, but not Iraq. Rummy, verrrry interesting.

It’s September. I told you it would be an interesting month in Washington.

And I think we just got started.

Washington in September sounds like a movie title. I could always copyright it. Yeah, it’s hot.

Finally, Rob Briley was held at gunpoint by cops after apparently being a complete idiot and still finished his drink. I give points for style as R. Neal said, but I do hope the man gets some help and thank goodness he didn’t hurt anyone because he could have. This is not a movie and the anti-hero thing doesn’t work here. Even Jimmy Naifeh said this in a story in the Knoxville News Sentinel:

Republican leaders are calling for state Rep. Rob Briley to resign after his arrest for drunken driving over the weekend, a partisan move House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh called “pretty lowlife.”

A heavily intoxicated Briley, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, fled the scene of an accident in DeKalb County on Saturday afternoon, then led police in Wilson County on a 100-mile-an-hour chase before finally stopping, according to police reports and court documents.

The Nashville Democrat was arrested at gunpoint after stopping his SUV in the middle of the road and is alleged to have kicked the window of a patrol car while in custody.

Cabs, people. CABS!

In Hooterville we don’t have that luxury.  We just find a tractor or a nice friend and catch a ride home. Rep. Briley, a note to you, people are trying to help you. Take their help, regardless of your political life. Do it.

And, on a final note, just go visit Frank today because he made me laugh out loud twice within a two-hour period and he’s cool. Just do it.

Are you loyal to the Commander-in-Chief or to the country or is there a place for both?

I would hate to be in this guy, or others’ shoes right now.

What is the answer?

I am assuming Petraeus will say that the surge is working. Ummm … OK.

When does it end?

Well ……

Two things happened yesterday that I think have great significance.

1. The Republican Party cannot really talk about the Hollywoodization (is that a word?) of the Democrats anymore when Fred Thompson announces on Jay Leno’s show that he’s running for president.

2. I agree with Sharon Cobb about the clip she has over at her house on the web. The exchange between Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee during Fox’s GOP debate was truly amazing. And, as I watched it twice, I swear I felt like something very important was happening. That there was an honest dialogue between the candidates on the war who both had valid points and who didn’t back away from them (although I lean toward what Paul said, of course.) I almost feel that I was witnessing something that will carry some weight in the coming days.

Now, the presidential race is going to get interesting.

I read this post yesterday while eating a sandwich in the corporate offices. I had a few minutes to myself and was meandering about the tubes, and stumbled on to this post.

It starts out slowly, and it is wonderful post on so many levels because it’s about love, fear, letting go and threads of all of those things combined into a lovely, yet lonely quilt.

The house is very dark and very quiet all around me. It is also missing something that has been here for the last 19 years, my oldest son.

I read the post and thought of so many things. I think about the parents. As a person who never had children, I can relate on other levels because I look for connections even with folks I don’t always agree with on a political level.

I can relate to a lot of folks on a human level.

Blue Collar Muse joins a lot of my friends who have seen their children join the military, and then are ultimately deployed. I have seen their eyes, interviewed parents who have seen their children board buses. Most of them come back, others do not. I have met with friends who joined the National Guard never expecting to go to war.

But they did.

In my office, there is a photo of my grandfather, handsome and smiling, in his Marine uniform with a devil-may-care twinkle in his eyes. Man, he was gorgeous. I don’t have to defend myself in believing in the troops, but not approving of the war because he taught me that. He is the one that joined just days after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He’s the one that turned his back on a football scholarship to UT because he felt he needed to defend his country (Ned McWherter is actually the one who told me they called him Doll Baby when he was on the football field. I can’t imagine anyone calling Chad Clifton or Justin Harrell Doll Baby in this day and age, but I digress.) He was also the one that worked several jobs to get my uncle into school. He didn’t like the Vietnam War, and he didn’t want his son to go. Fortunately, he didn’t have to.

My grandfather made sacrifices on a lot of levels.

I don’t like this war in the least, but I do respect the people making sacrifices. People like Rack9, BCM’s son, countless others. The list is long and varied and is real people making real decisions.

You see, the common thread is love. And love knows no political affiliation. It is something we all can relate to.

I really haven’t ever been through a war in my lifetime. So this practice is not something I’m familiar with. War-time drinks apparently are the “it” thing?

Ummm, wow? I think.

Have you ever had a “Bin Laden”? I’m thinking that it’s a drink that was on your table and then just plain disappears without comment, but you can find out how to make it if you head to the link although they don’t specify it.

But by far the biggest shelf for war-inspired spirits is cyberspace, where anonymity fuels drinks that bartenders might shy from serving in the light of happy hour. Amongst the most offensive are the Jihad Cocktail, a (surprisingly) grandmotherly mix of orange juice, vodka and lemon-lime soda, and the Afghanistany Whore, a blend of rum, Coke and vodka. According to Tanya Wenman Steel, editor of Conde Nast’s recipe site Epicurious, “There was a surge in these types of recipes after the Afghan invasion, and again with the public flap about ‘freedom fries’ in 2003,” when Congress renamed french fries on House cafeteria menus in a culinary rejoinder to France’s refusal to support America on Iraq.

This practice apparently has been going on for years:

The idea of war-inspired watering may sound crass, but historically nothing whets America’s whistle quite like conflict. Artillery Punch and other hard punches emerged from the ashes of the Civil War. World War I inspired the French 75, a gin and champagne concoction used to toast fallen pilots, while World War II saw the emergence of the kamikaze shot, a hairy blend of vodka and triple sec mocking Japan’s so-named suicidal flyers. Even the Korean and Vietnam Wars left their liquor legacies in the form of the Korean sling and napalm shot.

Yeah, you’ve probably had a Kamikaze at least once (except I can’t remember ever having one, actually. I know what it is, but ….) I’m a beer girl, although not Coors Light, as those of who you read me know I’ve evangelized this for years.)  Bass Girl. 2 Bucks in Hooterville. Maybe I should stay here.

I’m not a hard liquor person, tends to make me feel bad as they taste good and then make you want to be deceased (or at least wishing for it) the next morning.

War. Creates some weird pop culture things happen.

Who’s up for a Peace drink?

I’m in.

The pictures alone are devastating.