I just watched Real Time with Bill Maher and...

Real Time with Bill Maher is one of the few shows on that I enjoy. This show is not afraid to discuss the issues that the mainstream media seems to avoid, albeit with a chuckle and smile and still a little daintily for my money. But politics include mediation of a message and keeping ones job so I don’t hold a grudge against Bill Maher who has already lost one show for speaking out (It does the first amendment proud, no?). But, between Real Time and The Daily Show with John Stewart there is at least some bastion of almost debate and somewhat pointed question asking that is going on on TV. O.K. so one show is on a subscription channel and the other is on Comedy Central, hardly mainstream but I’ll take it where I can. Sad, isn’t it, that some of the only remotely decent debate and news programming is airing on a subscription channel and Comedy Central? But I digress.

Tonight’s Real Time panel had Gore Vidal and Al Franken along with some ABC news correspondent who used to work for The Christian Science Monitor. Sorry, I don’t remember her name. During the show the war in Iraq came up for discussion and I was pleased to hear Bill say, albeit at the end during the “New Rules” segment, that if you “support the war” than go and fight in it. This sentiment is one that resembles this one veterans feelings precisely. He also said that Brittany Spears and her husband should be carted off to the same fate for her saying one time “…we should have faith in the Presidents judgment and trust him and support his decision.” This is another one of Bills decisions that I agree with. Although she might be more useful if we could teach her some actual facts and than have her maybe positively influence some younger minds, but than I digress into my daydreams. Who knows, even pop stars were getting blacklisted for speaking out against the President at the time so I won't push the Brittany issue. (Although maybe playing her videos "over there" could be used in "the war on terror.")

I have often “left” Real Time with Bill Maher thinking this one thought and have often wanted to express it and now it is time. Something that has not been stated on the show, or any other show too my knowledge even by or too Gen. Clark when he was on and that thought is this. When a soldier is sworn into service He/She is sworn in to ”defend the CONSTITUTION of the United States of America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”
Never once do you swear to defend the decisions of one person, even the President or Commander in Chief. Another bit of wisdom that made it’s way into the early establishment of America and ironically also gets forgotten.

My point is this, at no time has the nation of Iraq committed any attack, in any way, that threatens the Constitution of the United States. In fact, Iraq has never committed an attack against the US period physical or otherwise. Saudi Arabia and certain Afghan citizens another story, but Iraq no. I’m not saying that Saddam was a great guy or anything, but if he was such and asshole (and I’m sure he was) why did we (the United States, more specifically the CIA) put him in power in the first place? (And, who had a top position in the CIA at the time, you guessed it, Bush Sr.) This is just another one or our bastard stepchildren who we put in a position of power and who came back to bite us in the ass? Let us do a brief review: Manuel Noriega, who after allowing to smuggle millions nay billions of dollars worth of Cocaine into the country while receiving US protection, US service members still had to go rescue him and steel him out of his own country before being executed. Osama Bin-Laden, what!? How can that be? Remember the Soviet war in Afghanistan? Remember that bunker he was hiding in? Guess who built it? We, the US taxpayer built it. Guess who trained Bin-Laden, “We” again. Bin-Laden was "our ally" in the Soviet War in Afghanistan. Of course being a member of the Saudi Royal family doesn’t hurt. After all, the Saudi Royal family and the Bush family are long time family friends. Again, I digress. Where did all this training take place? At the College of the Americas where we have trained many of the 20th centuries great brutal dictators. Including the above mentioned political celeb’s as well as that guy who was having his own little genocide party in South America a few years ago, please remind be because I’m blanking out on his name but yes another star pupil.
Haven’t we had enough? Where does it end?

Is having a strip mall in every town in the world really this important? If so, what is the true price?