Jane!

Rules of Engagement… What’s that?

fatuous militarist and flaming asshole Jacobs also thinks Scootie is innocent and the investigation was bogus. He has used his service in a very unseemly way and should be shunned.

frist rules of engagement applied to military doctrine, not just remote medical diagnoses …

lee5 @
4

frist rules of engagement applied to military doctrine, not just remote medical diagnoses …

I guess that does make him the Bill Frist of military analysts.

How do you suppose Chickenhawk Georgie would have handled himself if he’d been similarly apprehended while actually serving in a hostile zone instead of skipping out on his weekend warrior commitment?

yup … equal quality in the opinions …

Minnesotachuck @ 6

How do you suppose Chickenhawk Georgie would have handled himself if he’d been similarly apprehended while actually serving in a hostile zone instead of skipping out on his weekend warrior commitment?

Don’t be so cynical. I hear those paintball guns can really hurt.

*sniff sniff*

Why, yes, that is the sulfurous smell of the Devil’s own, Rupert Murdoch.

In a rational, adult world, if the navies of two nations who are not at war encounter each other in an area of disputed boundaries, the best possible outcome is that those taken on either side are quickly released, unharmed, and nothing is done to further inflame the situation. That’s essentially what happened.

In the wingnut world, every opportunity you have to start a war between two nations not at war should be exploited, and those who are put in this predicament should either die or kill the other side. That is not manly; it’s not smart; it’s not courageous. It’s simply insane. Jacobs is an idiot.

ps Thanks for this post. Since I first heard him on Ious –calling the Brits “French” I have wanted someone to say STFU. And msgop has let him repeat his hate speech unaswered for two days

OT …

WaPo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01935.html

“The World Bank rank and file were most upset by our recent column noting that Shaha Riza, linked romantically with bank President Paul Wolfowitz, got some curiously hefty raises upon being detailed to work at the State Department — but remaining on the bank’s payroll.”

all tied up together …

Without knowing how badly the Brits were out gunned and all of the really relevant circumstances, all I can say is live to fight another day seems to fit here.
You are of no use to any one dead.

Jane Hamsher @ 8
Don’t be so cynical. I hear those paintball guns can really hurt.

And now for the fettle report: Fine!

Maybe it is time to take General Electric and Microsoft to task for giving someone like that a platform.

I take exception to referring to the British military personnel as hostages. They were in uniform conducting military exercises when taken prisoner by Iran. Whether or not what Iran did was legitimate, the British were prisoners and not hostages.

Jane @ 8:

You just triggered a scary vision of Chickenhawk Georgie and Deadeye Dick in a paintball shootout.

One of the sailors stated that the Iranians had machine guns and RPG’s pointed at them. They said they quickly made the choice not to fight they probably would not win and because it would create an international incident. They did exactly the right thing.

Jacobs goes on to say that “no American” would have done what they did

Has Jack ever heard of the USS Pueblo?

I’m sorry this comment is a bit off topic. I just want to say a couple of times I’ve been over-powered the big realization is there is nothing you can do. For example I was held by one and battered by two others; it’s true I don’t know Karate, but thinking about this incident over the years I’ve never thought out what I could have done. Col. Jacobs remarks remind me of those who question the level of resistance by women who suffer sexual assault. It makes me sick the denial of the reality that in certain situations there’s nothing a person can do to protect themselves.

Bustednuckles @
13

Without knowing how badly the Brits were out gunned and all of the really relevant circumstances, all I can say is live to fight another day seems to fit here.
You are of no use to any one dead.

It is amazing that the incident went down without launching the next war. There was a not small amount of luck that soldiers on both sides didn’t get trigger happy.

lee5 @
12

OT …

WaPo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01935.html

“The World Bank rank and file were most upset by our recent column noting that Shaha Riza, linked romantically with bank President Paul Wolfowitz, got some curiously hefty raises upon being detailed to work at the State Department — but remaining on the bank’s payroll.”

all tied up together …

T-Rex here is my vote for your next late night post.

I feel I should add that referring to the British prisoners as “hostages” is right wing framing meant to demonize the Iranians and inflame outrage at what happened. The truth of what occurred has plenty of tension surrounding it without inserting gratuitous warmongering neocon rhetoric.

I’ve been listening to the BBC coverage of this from the outset. Yesterday I heard one of their military heads (forget the name) saying that their personnel behaved bravely and appropriately for the circumstances, and that reprimands due to their TV appearances were absolutely, completely out of the question. MSNBC can push their neocon rhetoric all they like, but fortunately cooler heads appear to be running the British military.

Pat_AlexVA @ 21

It is amazing that the incident went down without launching the next war. There was a not small amount of luck that soldiers on both sides didn’t get trigger happy.

esp’ly given that it sure seems like there were at least some folks in our gov’t hoping this would start a war …

I think big shot Jack Jacobs said he was a bugler and a lousy shot. Nothing wrong with buglers, but I don’t know what kind of combat experience he has to insult the actions of those facing down machine guns and RPGs.

Jack Jacobs is stupid, dishonorable, and disreputable. He is also a dick.

Well, for a start, as has been said already, people in rubber boats surrounded by bigger hard ones with nice big guns, would have to fancy a long swim in the dark if they open fire at such moments. Col Jacobs opinions become more or less garbage from that moment on, probably.

Despite the Royal Navy protestations about where the patrol was, the fact is that there are only sort-or-accepted borders for most of the that water, so insisting they were in the right place is difficult.

We now know that the Royal Navy patrols were as much out collecting information as they were “checking for smuggled cars”, so the lads and lass may easily have been busy dumping clandestine-action-supporting equipment rather than getting their life jackets on so they would be ready to start swimming after the shooting began.

Col Jacobs is, of course, sitting in a chair after years of service in an army with four hundred years of accumulated experience of being and Occupying, Colonizing force in unwelcome places. His colleagues in the US armed forces are displaying their continuing utter ineptitude as Occupation Forces every day. I hear that at last there is finally a little training that they do not shoot, that when searching a building the cupboards are not kicked open, that every single apparently aggressive action leads to further loss of Hearts and Minds. One of the biggest rules is not to exacerbate the situation. (You would not believe the rukles about when one can open fire when In Aid Of The Civil Power!)

So get it on, Colonel Jacobs…… your Preznint is doing REALLY well at pissing off the owners of 40% of the world’s oil — you know the 40% we get, not the Russians 60%, and your Preznint is pissing off the 1.3 billion pals of the owners of that 40%. There is something very wrong when the ibn Sa’uds, whom Roosevelt brought into the US aegis (gave them a lot of gold and a lot of Maria Theresa 1780s) are now pissing in our ears…… go for it Col Jacobs. BTW, Sir, just where did you serve in a colonial army or an occupation force?

Scarecrow @
10

In a rational, adult world, if the navies of two nations who are not at war encounter each other in an area of disputed boundaries, the best possible outcome is that those taken on either side are quickly released, unharmed, and nothing is done to further inflame the situation. That’s essentially what happened.

In the wingnut world, every opportunity you have to start a war between two nations not at war should be exploited, and those who are put in this predicament should either die or kill the other side. That is not manly; it’s not smart; it’s not courageous. It’s simply insane. Jacobs is an idiot.

Well there is that.

Facing life choices one can rise or fall to many spontaneous and uncontrolled events . Having the ability to recommend how others act is a bit indicative of a person who has had little opportunity to exercise those same qualities which are the mark of individuals who having faced those same altering events and the wisdom acquired from them .

Jane,
Perhaps we should go back and look at what the Captain and sailors on the USS Pueblo did when the North Koreans captured the ship and interned the crew. Ask Jacobs what he thinks of that behavior.

The Bushies can’t be happy about how easily the British soldiers caved to pressure. They weren’t even roughed up that much, and they did/said whatever they were told. This flies in the face of the torture policies of the Bush administration. I guess terrorists are as hard as nails and would never succumb no matter what their interrogators did.

LS 26, Take it back, because he served honorably in Nam.

Okay. I apologize.

Newton Leroy Gingrich was waxing poetic on C-Span about how he would simply destroy Iran’s one refining facility. Then when the Iranians are reduced to using ox carts to get around they’d realize that they were small and the US was big.

Under Neo-Con logic the world is a prison and it is either fuck or get fucked.

Just like all the hand wringing about “losing face” against Bin Laden….” “It will appear as weakness!”

No shit. Democracy appears to be weakness according to the Bin Laden philosophy, would Bush and the neo-cons recommend we end our democracy in order to appease that part of his beliefs. The answer is yes.

-GSD

He’s upset that they don’t refer to him as “Black Jack Patton” Jacobs.
He seems to be all over the map on the Iraq invasion/occupation. One day he thinks it’s good, next he thinks it’s bad. It must depend on how far away he is from Karl’s remote.

I guess Colonel Jack Jacobs thinks John McCain is a coward as well, since he spilled his guts while a POW. A real man would have knocked out his guards, taken their weapons and gone Rambo on the POW camp not only freeing himself but everyone else.

All I can say is I really wish Colonel Jack Jacobs had been there to show those Brits how to do it.

This is OT but I had to share because its so funny.
I have been wanting some new dishes, now I know where to get a collectors set.
I recommend watching this one.

H/T Alternate Brain.

http://alterx.blogspot.com/200.....alert.html

the peace time bugler is Don Imus
and you can bet he did not serve honorably

LS @ 26

I think big shot Jack Jacobs said he was a bugler and a lousy shot. Nothing wrong with buglers, but I don’t know what kind of combat experience he has to insult the actions of those facing down machine guns and RPGs.

Bugler, are you sure he didn’t play the Wurlitzer?

-GSD

I’d also guess that if many American servicemen and women have no idea what their mission in Iraq is, an even larger number of British soldiers have even less clue (being one country removed from shrub…). It has to be a pretty tall order to die for another country’s preemptive war of one-man’s glory.

Let’s leave aside the obvious initial observation that the Iranians treated their prisoners better than we treat ours, yet elicited confessions that were far more consistent and plausible than those we have been cranking out of the Guantnamo network.

If the British military personnel were seized in Iranian waters, they and their captors behaved pretty much as they should: Iran finds foreign military in its waters, so it brings them in to ask the obvious questions. Diplomacy ensues.

Both parties agree that the capture did not take place in international waters.

If the capture took place in disputed waters, then everything that followed is open to dispute (who’s right, who’s wrong) as well.

If the Iranians invaded Iraqi waters to capture British military personnel, international law still offers remedies short of war.

Maybe it’s a question of who had the cooler head. I’m so glad Col. Jacobs has no one to command.

Hostages????

The Iranians demanded nothing in return for their release.

“Hostage” is being used by Bush and the media to make an association with the actual hostages from the 1980s.

Oddly enough, Hizbollah took hostages in order to secure the release of members from Al-Dawa which attacked a US Embassy in 1983.

Yes, Al-Dawa, the same party as Al-Maliki.

GSD @ 39

LS @ 26

I think big shot Jack Jacobs said he was a bugler and a lousy shot. Nothing wrong with buglers, but I don’t know what kind of combat experience he has to insult the actions of those facing down machine guns and RPGs.

Bugler, are you sure he didn’t play the Wurlitzer?

-GSD

Actually, after I made the comment, I looked him up and now have my tail firmly between my legs :{

Do we know Jacobs served honorably…just because he got a bunch of medals –perhaps we need a group of servicemen who were with him or near by to give their opinons. I’ve always wanted to be an ambassador to Belgium (yum) I’d be happy to help raise the cash

Let me ask a dumb and tangential question:

Here is the case of Britain’s finest saying that they were held in isolation and subjected to psych ops for 2 weeks and the understandable effect on them.

What does this say about the hostages in Gitmo after 5 years ?

puppethead @
16

I take exception to referring to the British military personnel as hostages. They were in uniform conducting military exercises when taken prisoner by Iran. Whether or not what Iran did was legitimate, the British were prisoners and not hostages.

Obstensibly, they were conducting inspections under the UN Iran sanctions regime, not engaged in military action. However, Democracy Now reported this morning that even before they had been seized in disputed waters by the Iranians, the commanding officer of HMS Cornwall, their ship, admitted to Sky News that parts of their duties involved gathering intelligence on the Iranians. Sky News sensibly sat on the report until after the soldiers were released.

Col. Jacobs is a genuine American hero, but for him to have only made Colonel in 20 years after winning the Medal of Honor shows he was disregarded or passed up for one reason or another along the way.

The obvious solution to all this is to have a radio-controlled cyanide dental implant put into all American and British military personnel before they go to combat zones. That way, if the soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines refuse to die one way or another when caught, Dick Cheney can push their personal delete button. On second thought, maybe we shouldn’t let people like Jacobs or Cheney get any new ideas.

puppethead @
16

I take exception to referring to the British military personnel as hostages. They were in uniform conducting military exercises when taken prisoner by Iran. Whether or not what Iran did was legitimate, the British were prisoners and not hostages.

Fair point, I’ll change.

I think the concerted media smear on Pelosi came at the behest of the White House and has been exacerbated by frustration at having this Iran provocation fizzle — there was also some mention that Pelosi may have had something to do with the release itself (no links provided). I think there is something impromptu and reckless about this anti-Pelosi campaign, notwithstanding how concerted it is. Evidence for this is in some of the Republicans who were themselves in Syria defended Pelosi tpm link.

Note Cheney’s strident emergence from the crypt to rebuke her and rant about Iraq-Al Quaeda.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/americ.....acobs.html

Isn’t shrub still holding 5 iranian diplomats incommunicado somewhere?

Jacobs not only was a good infantryman in his time, he was a brave and hard one, and got a M of Honor for it. He has then made a pot of money so he has been the American Dream. He’s still a complete idiot and NBC deserves such a military analyst.

Jane you hit it square on the head:

“So there you have it. Because they didn’t Rambo-out, grip a knife between their teeth, jump the gunwales and fight to the death so George Bush could escalate his war with Iran, the British soldiers are a big bunch of girls”.

Notice that these same “military experts” were not claiming the same thing about American soldiers taken captive during the beginning of the Iraq war. It was all about escalating the conflict with Iran.

katherine graham cracker @ 44

Do we know Jacobs served honorably…just because he got a bunch of medals –perhaps we need a group of servicemen who were with him or near by to give their opinons. I’ve always wanted to be an ambassador to Belgium (yum) I’d be happy to help raise the cash

We know how easy it is to get a chest full of metals…….The Shitboaters told us the soldiers just apply for their own with fraudulent papers.

-GSD

clem: Iranians treated their prisoners

“prisoners”

That is exactly what the Brits were.

They were not hostages.

There is a huge difference between prisoners and hostages.

Again, by using “hostage” the Bush admin is trying to re-kindle the Iranian hostage crisis from the 1980s.

Hostage is wrong!!

Fox has given up on Tony Blair and the war! Notice how they are trying to attack their OWN troops for not being brave, sorry SUICIDAL. Yesterday I read that right after the troops came back Fox News aired a piece which claimed that the troops WERE SPIES were and they were SPYING on IRAN. Despite Tony Blair saying that they were not spies and they were not in Iranian waters, with friends like these Tony and after all you did to help Fox expand into England YOU’VE BEEN PLAYED! I wonder how long until Fox DOES THE SAME TO BUSHie? The Fox network seems awful anxious to hold a Democratic Presidential debate, of course after the way Tony just got played only a fool would go along with it.

I served w/Jack Jacobs….

His scurrilous denigration of a fellow soldier is nothing new…more than once I toyed with the thought of fragging his sorry ass.

Larry

GSD @
54

“The Shitboaters”
-GSD

Ya mean our new honorable recess-appointed US ambassador to Belgium?

CNN - Gonzo’s job hanging by a thread…

brendan @ 49

I think the concerted media smear on Pelosi came at the behest of the White House and has been exacerbated by frustration at having this Iran provocation fizzle — there was also some mention that Pelosi may have had something to do with the release itself (no links provided). I think there is something impromptu and reckless about this anti-Pelosi campaign, notwithstanding how concerted it is. Evidence for this is in some of the Republicans who were themselves in Syria defended Pelosi tpm.

Note Cheney’s strident emergence from the crypt to rebuke her and rant about Iraq-Al Quaeda.

What do you think of the possibility, Brendan the Idiots are throwing out chaff ‘cos they really are going to have a`crack at Iran?

BTW — since you are here, did you lunch with the Unfragrant and if so tell all…….

Minnesotachuck @
6

How do you suppose Chickenhawk Georgie would have handled himself if he’d been similarly apprehended while actually serving in a hostile zone instead of skipping out on his weekend warrior commitment?

I think we should do a test.

Jacobs was only too happy to agree with the shitboaters

Damn fruity British fops ruined our easy path to war! Damn them!

-General Bolton and Field Marshall Kristol

Jacobs was a bugler alright - an ass bugler. Now he’s turned pro. To my British friends - this douchebag does NOT represent thinking Americans. Someone needs to put him on a raft and set him adrift in Iraqnian waters, just to see how fast he starts crying. Scum.

Anything will be discussed or scorned by the likes of folks like this colonel as long as it enables a continued failure to look in the mirror.
If our Joint COS are anything like this Colonel we are quite likely doomed for conflict with the Iranians and lord knows what else.

puppethead - would detainees or possible tresspassers better describe the Brits? (not hostage or prisoner)

I heard Jacobs was a coward and the whole heroism story was made up at the Pentagon propaganda office.

I heard Jacobs was a slacker who refused tough duty in favor of playing poker and getting drunk.

I heard he was a loser and a fake. That’s what I heard.

Anyone else have broken margins?

smapdi @
2

Rules of Engagement… What’s that?

Seconded!

Busted.

-GSD

puppethead @
16

I take exception to referring to the British military personnel as hostages. They were in uniform conducting military exercises when taken prisoner by Iran. Whether or not what Iran did was legitimate, the British were prisoners and not hostages.

Ding!

Yep, Busted, me too.

HotFlash @
61

I think we should do a test.

Unfortunately, no self respecting post-Korean-war member of the shrub family would ever put himself or herself into that position, so we’ll never know. Fighting for American is SOOOOO beneath them now. Divine right of kings and all that…

Bustednuckles @
66

Anyone else have broken margins?

I tried a new format — graphic with left alignment. Is it screwing with anyone’s browser?

CNN: Malveaux, “Is Bush’s patience wearing thin?”
…Backchannels say, momentum has slowed…

Is WH involved in prep for testimony?

“They don’t want to look involved and don’t want to be tied by what he’s going to say…”

He is toast.

LS @ 33

LS 26, Take it back, because he served honorably in Nam.

Okay. I apologize.

Serving honorably in Nam or elsewhere does not excuse or give him writ to say what he did.

Larry

mine’s fine, using Mozilla Firefox.

I watched Jacobs making his comments this morning after the press conference, and it turned my stomach. This is a military man for Chrissake! Fight to the death against someone tou’re not at war with? The man is despicable.

Whoa. My beautiful post — where did it go?

Slothrop @
66

I heard Jacobs was a coward and the whole heroism story was made up at the Pentagon propaganda office.

I heard Jacobs was a slacker who refused tough duty in favor of playing poker and getting drunk.

I heard he was a loser and a fake. That’s what I heard.

links?

yes Jane..

Larry 74, I agree Larry, I just don’t think it is my place to be the judge of that without knowing the background info.

Jane Hamsher @ 73

Bustednuckles @
66

Anyone else have broken margins?

I tried a new format — graphic with left alignment. Is it screwing with anyone’s browser?

yes

Clarification: That Pelosi was serving as an emissary from the Israelis was enough to get the smear going from Bush/Cheney. But the release of the sailors didn’t help.

Looks like the Clusterfuck’s clusterfucks know no end.

A Pakistani cleric is setting up a Taliban style vice campaign and have threatened a suicide bombing spree if Musharraff tries to stop it.

(Snip)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - In a bold challenge to the government, a firebrand cleric said Friday he had formed an Islamic court to enforce a Taliban-style vice campaign in the Pakistani capital, threatening suicide attacks if authorities try to stop him.

Let’s see, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia…..now Pakistan.

-GSD

Mods - the margin on this posting is way wide. Formatting?

And a minor typo:

Colonel Jack Jacobs — has been on the air relentlessly calling them “stupid,” “disreputable” and “dispicable.”

dispicable => despicable

Broken margins here too. Firefox.

Nevermind the margin comment. It’s OK on refresh.

Edward Teller #79:

I think “Slothrop” is jokingly reminding us of the Swift Boaters.

Jane @ 72:

It’s screwing up my Firefox 2.0.0.3 browser, too.

No links, Mr. Teller. I was Swift boating the guy.

WTF are you all talking about?
It’s not like they folded under questioning. They just said, “yes, we were where the GPS indicated”.
Several of them joked and laughed during the ordeal?
h/t to them.
Maybe, as in the US, not all the people swallow the bs of their leaders.

After I centered it I can read it fine now.

Refresh at top of post fixed it.

As to Jacobs. The Republican Revolution is getting near their Terror phase and have begun to consume their own.

Matthew Dowd was recently set upon by the concren trolls on the right……anyone who isn’t on board will be feasted upon.

Enjoy the heartburn assholes.

-GSD

Hostages Released for Al-Dawa

Freeing the al-Dawa prisoners in Kuwait was one of the main objectives of a string of kidnappings and bombings perpetrated by Hezbollah over the next several years. (One of the Kuwait 17, Mustafa Badreddin, is a relative and associate of Hezbollah leader Imad Mugniyah.

The Kuwait 17 then played a role in the Iran-Contra scandal: The principals of Iran-Contra offered to sway Kuwait to release the Kuwait 17 as one of several incentives to free American hostages in Lebanon. However, when President Reagan learned of this offer, he allegedly responded “like he had been kicked in the belly.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Dawa_Party

Alice @
15

Maybe it is time to take General Electric and Microsoft to task for giving someone like that a platform.

Heh

pc based — margins went wide, but after refresh, they went back to normal.

Great post! I haven’t watched MSNBC, so I haven’t seen the Colonel’s secret recipe for propaganda.

(I’m using the newest IE and this thread is bigger than the margins of my screen).

So, I’ve been out at church, and I just turned on CNN and Cafferty. His quesiton of the hour:

What condition would the REpublican presidential field need to be in for the party to consider Dick Cheney for President?

I can’t even think of an answer. I cannot imagine any scenario possible where anything but the tiniest minority within the GOP would want him to run.

(so, can we start an underground “Draft Cheney” as a Third Party candidate movement? Hehehee!)

It’s not a problem for me on Firefox. The height of each individual comment on the screen is less, because of the wider margin. IMVHD, that’s a good thing. I can still see everything I need to see, such as the comment number.

LS @
26

I think big shot Jack Jacobs said he was a bugler and a lousy shot. Nothing wrong with buglers, but I don’t know what kind of combat experience he has to insult the actions of those facing down machine guns and RPGs.

That’s Imus the bugler. Say what you want, and I agree on the point of this thread, they don’t hand out the Medal of Honor unless it is earned and he earned it.

Interesting update to the whole Pelosi smear:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c.....post_2.php

Fred Hiatt has been showing his neocon cards since 2006. It indicates a weakened position.

Personally, I rarely agree with Jacobs’ opinions and find the vitriolic force of his comments on this issue reprehensible and over the top. That seems to be the general and well reasoned opinion here at FDL and for good cause. that should not serve as a basis to demean the man’s service however. Jacobs is a Medal of Honor recipient, as well as three bronze stars, two silver stars and two purple hearts. He is also, according to a friend of mine who attended both, an instructor at West Point and the National War College. I am about as far removed from being a military type of person as can be, but by the same token, we should not demean the service of those who were; especially a guy with the record Jacobs has. His opinions are more than fair game and deserve to be attacked; no reason to go further.

Colonel “Batshit Crazy” Jack Jacobs is a disgrace to the country and our military and a waste of skin.

brendan @
83

Clarification: That Pelosi was serving as an emissary from the Israelis was enough to get the smear going from Bush/Cheney. But the release of the sailors didn’t help.

Your comment makes no sense. Pelosi might have offered to convey information from one government to another at multiple stops on her trip. Although her Knesset speech was public, most of her meetings were private. There is no evidence I’ve seen tying anything she did to the release of the seized UK soldiers. And why would the Bushistas smear a national level American politician for acting on behalf of the Israeli government. It isn’t as if it hasn’t happened now and again in the past.

bmaz @ 102

Personally, I rarely agree with Jacobs’ opinions and find the vitriolic force of his comments on this issue reprehensible and over the top. That seems to be the general and well reasoned opinion here at FDL and for good cause. that should not serve as a basis to demean the man’s service however. Jacobs is a Medal of Honor recipient, as well as three bronze stars, two silver stars and two purple hearts. He is also, according to a friend of mine who attended both, an instructor at West Point and the National War College. I am about as far removed from being a military type of person as can be, but by the same token, we should not demean the service of those who were; especially a guy with the record Jacobs has. His opinions are more than fair game and deserve to be attacked; no reason to go further.

Fuckin A right.

bmaz @ 102

Personally, I rarely agree with Jacobs’ opinions and find the vitriolic force of his comments on this issue reprehensible and over the top. That seems to be the general and well reasoned opinion here at FDL and for good cause. that should not serve as a basis to demean the man’s service however. Jacobs is a Medal of Honor recipient, as well as three bronze stars, two silver stars and two purple hearts. He is also, according to a friend of mine who attended both, an instructor at West Point and the National War College. I am about as far removed from being a military type of person as can be, but by the same token, we should not demean the service of those who were; especially a guy with the record Jacobs has. His opinions are more than fair game and deserve to be attacked; no reason to go further.

But it’s okay to attack John Kerry.

Ed*ard Teller @ 79

Slothrop @
66

I heard Jacobs was a coward and the whole heroism story was made up at the Pentagon propaganda office.

I heard Jacobs was a slacker who refused tough duty in favor of playing poker and getting drunk.

I heard he was a loser and a fake. That’s what I heard.

links?

Links We don’t need no stinkin links swiftboaters deserve to be treated the same way they treated Kerry! Joking on a blog is one thing printing books and newsarticles spreading lies before an election and never being called on it. AHHRG! if anything we should stop the jokes they don’t go far enough! We should leave the lies to swift boaters and just call this jerk an armchair general who forgot what its like to be a solder in combat. This Joke has forgotten!

OT but good info on USA Gate: Here

Paul Krugman noted a couple of weeks ago, for example, that Chris Christie, the former Bush “Pioneer” who is now the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, issued subpoenas as part of an investigation against Sen. Bob Menendez (D) shortly before last year’s election.

* In New Hampshire, Democrats want Congress to investigate whether prosecution of a Republican phone-jamming scheme on Election Day 2002 was intentionally delayed until after the presidential election two years later.

* Did the U.S. Attorney’s office in Pennsylvania intentionally target Bob Casey allies to undermine his Senate campaign against Rick Santorum?

* Why was the career U.S. Attorney in Guam removed in 2002 after he started investigating disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff?

* Why has Western Pennsylvania’s U.S. attorney, Mary Beth Buchanan, spent a disproportionate amount of her time launching public-corruption investigations against Democrats, while overlooking Republicans?

* In July 2005, the U.S. Attorney in Denver decided not to pursue a matter in which bouncers at a Bush event impersonated Secret Service agents to throw out three law-abiding ticket-holders because of their bumper sticker (the Denver Three controversy). Did politics dictate the decision?

Jim @ 103

Colonel “Batshit Crazy” Jack Jacobs is a disgrace to the country and our military and a waste of skin.

And he’d agree that even stupid ass statements like this should be protected.

But it’s okay to attack John Kerry.

So, because vitriolic ass hole right-wingers do it then we should?

Raven, did you call into Washington Journal? Just asking.

Jacobs piled on Kerry as far as I am concerned everything about him including his boy scout badges are fair game

Ed*ard Teller @ 104

brendan @
83

Clarification: That Pelosi was serving as an emissary from the Israelis was enough to get the smear going from Bush/Cheney. But the release of the sailors didn’t help.

Your comment makes no sense. Pelosi might have offered to convey information from one government to another at multiple stops on her trip. Although her Knesset speech was public, most of her meetings were private. There is no evidence I’ve seen tying anything she did to the release of the seized UK soldiers. And why would the Bushistas smear a national level American politician for acting on behalf of the Israeli government. It isn’t as if it hasn’t happened now and again in the past.

Why would they smear a Democrat for “acting on behalf of the Israeli government”? Keep up with the news. There have been stories of late how the White House is trying to veto any peace overtures from Israel to Syria. Doesn’t that make sense to you, especially in light of Cheney’s very personal vitriol?

As for the release of the sailors, I just noted the timing, and I recollect someone (maybe TAPPED or Washington Monthly) speculating about this.

LS @ 110

Raven, did you call into Washin