Reward & Punishment, USMC, and SOTU

So I was supposed to get a massage on Monday. With the success of my fitness regime I wanted to treat myself with something other than food (which is kind of self defeating when you think about it). So I thought getting a massage would be a good way to reward myself for losing 20 pounds. But . . . . unfortunately I got on the scales Monday AM and I'd gained almost 5 pounds back. So if exercise and diet helps you lose weight, then not exercising and not dieting means you gain weight. And the trips to San Diego didn't help with the diet or the exercise part. And will say that I've made an awful discovery in Americone Dream! Damn you Stephen Colbert!! Damn you!!

So instead of rewarding myself, I'm now punishing myself. Yes, it's time to go back to my self-esteem crushing gym. I looked at my workout book and apparently I haven't lifted in a month. And I'm going on a cruise with teh gays soon, so I need to crack the whip and get back on track. So goodbye creamy rich ice cream, goodbye french fries, goodbye bread, goodbye alcohol. It was nice knowing you.

Spinning the subject wheel: The US Marine Corps. So I watch VH1 in the AM since that's pretty much the only time they play videos. And lately as I've been watching I notice this ad/infomercial for Black History Month about some of the first African American Marines. Apparently the ad/informercial is produced by the USMC. And I have to tell you, it rocks. And I think it's great that they are doing that.

Spinning the subject wheel again: State of the Union. Wow. It's the first one I've watched all the way through in 8 years. Again. Wow. It was really amazing. Andrew's got some good responses, and I feel for them all. It's the first time in a long time that I felt a politician was talking to me as an adult. We're in a tough situation. It's not going to be easy to fix. It's not going to get fixed overnight. But we're Americans and we can do it. Wow. Thank you for being honest with us. Thank you for treating us a responsible adults. Wow.

Oh, and Nancy, honey, please . . . . SIT THE F&CK DOWN!! Yes we got you are happy (so are we!), but you look like some sort of demonic cheerleader jumping up from your chair every 5 seconds.

Mr. 4000?

Well, apparently common sense and reality isn't enough to break through into the fantasy land that our President lives in, and so it appears he's heading toward the surge option. A depressing prediction? He'll be Mr. 4000 by the end of the year. Dear Lord, I pray that I am wrong. In the meantime, what little bit of reality that was allowed into his proximity is now being shuffled away. I love Dan Froomkin, he calls it like it is. The Purge of the Unbelievers. He's now surrounded by all the yes men he needs to make sure no one ever questions him again. I wonder if Casey and Abizaid realize that they've been played, and then kicked to the curb? Now that he's bringing in a new set of generals, he can say he's listening to the military again. He's listening to the military he's put in power and I'm sure they will tell him what he wants to hear. Again, I hope and pray that I'm wrong, but I'm not sure.

And now it's time for our first Bush Hypocrisy Watch for 2007! Does anyone else find it absolutely amazingly hypocritical that Bush when signed the Postal Reform Act he added a signing statement saying that without a warrant, the government can open your personal mail? And then we learned that the Bush Administration made a deal with the Secret Service to make the visitors logs to the White House "presidential records" and thus not subject to the rules of the Freedom of Information Act. Apparently it became these logs became a potential embarrassment when it was determine Mr. Jack Abramoff had been to the White House a lot. And by a lot, I mean a way, humungous amount more than the "oh one or two times" the administration originally said. Yep, now the government can read your personal mail now, but you can't know who goes into the White House. I really think we need to change the nickname of the White House from the "People's House" to the "Imperial Palace."

On a lighter note, I went to go see DreamGirls. LOVED IT. And Jenifer Hudson just rocked! I may have to break down and get the soundtrack.

Mr. 3000

Unfortunately while I was channel surfing this weekend, I ran across Mr. 3000. It really is an awful movie. But then we heard about the the 3000th US fatality in Iraq and I knew who the real Mr. 3000 is. It's our Dear Mr. President. 3000 men and women. That's half of the town I lived in when I was younger. HALF! Imagine living in a town and over the course of 3 years see half of your neighbors and friends just disappear. It should boggle the mind, but it doesn't. While 3000 is an awful number, it doesn't seem to register on a lot of peoples minds. It's more than the number of people who died on September 11th, but spread out over three years. They say it hurts less if you rip off the band aid, but maybe if you stretch it out over days, you learn to deal with the pain. I don't know. Tell that to the families who've lost sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. If there was pictures of our soldiers coming home in coffins at Dover AFB every day, EVERY day, then it might stir some response.

I found this on the web. It's an interesting site. It's an animation, superimposed on a map of Iraq that documents every US and allied death in Iraq. It's not quite current, but it gives you a sense of the death, and chaos, looking back over three year. Definitely a different perspective.

Andrew's back and poses some good questions as usual. He's right. It's hard to get by the lies and half truths that lead us into this war. It's hard to just ignore the criminal mismanagement of the war from the utter lack of planning to the incompetent execution. But we need to figure out a way to put that behind us. What's done is done. We can (and should) discuss that later. The question is what now. Where do we go? Do we leave, do we surge? What do we do? I don't know. I really don't. It's easy to throw out the old cliche about if you're in a hole, stop digging. But this isn't a cliche. These are people's lives that we're talking about here. We need to do the right thing, no matter how painful it is.

Whatever happens, I just hope Mr. 3000 doesn't become Mr. 4000.