Little sluggish this morning

Just worn out, I think. This week I turned in a course development proposal, another application to change a course's status, finished grading two sets of exams and papers, and gave another exam and paper assignment. Oh, and finished up one course. Then I finished the week helping a former student on a documentary project.

We finished the week with a lovely sushi dinner at the home of our good friends. But I am still in first gear this morning, and that may not change until Monday morning. Of the next week.

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Saw that former commander Ricardo Sanchez has some sharp criticisms for this war. How long until Fox News and Glenn Beck say he is a traitor?

The Washington Note: "~ In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top American commander called the Bush administration's handling of the war incompetent and warned that the United States was "living a nightmare with no end in sight."
~ "After more than fours years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism," Mr. Sanchez said, at a gathering here of military reporters and editors.

~ "There was been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders," he said, adding later in his remarks that civilian officials have been "derelict in their duties" and guilty of a "lust for power.""

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And evidently there are people within the CIA who think the same thing

it turns out that a former senior CIA legal official quit in protest over the administration’s use of “enhanced interrogations.” This official, whose name I have promised not to publish, previously worked as a deputy IG for investigations under Frederick Hitz, who served as CIA IG between 1990 and 1998. From there, the official moved on the CIA’s Office of General Counsel.

What’s interesting is that this official was generally known as something of a hardliner. I haven’t been able to pin down the date of his departure, which may have occurred a year ago or more. However, the sources tell me he couldn’t stomach what he deemed to be abuses by the Bush Administration and stepped down from his post.

Hardliner who finds Bush/Cheney too much. How does he still have this image?

More telling, perhaps is how this CIA insider explained the divide within the agency.

This person went on to describe a split at the CIA, saying, “There’s an SS group within the agency that’s willing to do anything and there’s a Wehrmacht group that is saying, ‘I’m not gonna touch this stuff’.”

Given that we learned the phrase "enhanced interrogation" from the Nazis, how nice that the entire comparison is in use.

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Speaking of Bush and faith, when I searched for that above image, I ran across a website devoted to praying for Bush. In fact, it is called "prayforbush.com." And while I have no problem with people praying for this man (God knows I have prayed that he not invade another country or undermine our Constitution any more), the way they see him is straight out of fantasy land.

"While many politicians flaunt their "faith" and claim to be Christians, not as many live their faith, with Jesus Christ living in them. We believe George W. Bush is a man after God's own heart. He is a man who lives in Christ, and obeys God. Like King David, he is not perfect, but he is repentant, humble, and full of the mighty courage that results from trusting the Lord. We believe George W. Bush is a merciful gift from the Lord to an undeserving people. We ask you to join us in constant prayer for our President, his family, his administration, and his country. "

Created in 2000, this website really displays how much poeple thought they were voting for one of theirs. Or, as they say on their "about" page:

"We believe more prayer went into Election 2000 than for any other election in recent memory, and we believe the only reason George W. Bush is President is because of the prayers of the Saints, and the unmerited favor given to us by God."

Now, with torture, war and attacks on our Constitution, I wonder how many of them still think that Bush is a man of God? As I have said multiple times, when I first heard of the torture allegations, I said this would cause problems with the religious conservative base. And I can't tell you how disappointed I am to be so very wrong about that.