I put Drano down the bathroom sink....

Highlight of my evening actually.

Had left over pot roast, and some garlic bread. It was a delight.

In Politics:

Iraq panel offers hope, but unlikely to end debate

James Baker and company are busy mulling a possible plan to help rectify the battles both in Iraq, and a likely 2 year quagmire that threatens to unfold between our legislative and executive branches of power. Of course this will not likely be unleashed full throttle until January when the Democrats get their chance at the reins.

There are several points to keep in mind heading into this. One, often left on the back burner is the interesting tid-bit that the Democrats were able to gain power, in part, due to a conservative group called the Blue Dogs. These are Democrats with often social and fiscally conservative routes. They often won in areas that typically lean to the right. Some of these candidates are said to have little difference policy wise than their Republican opponents did. It is fair to say that the "Republican Brand" was severely tarnished in this election, but people from below the Mason Dixon line were still looking for the same ideals to be championed. They just wanted to punish the Republicans for, uncharacteristic spending, legislative inactivity, corruption, and in some cases incompetence.

The big issue of contention is the idea of setting a time table for withdrawing troops. While I think Iraq is a fiasco, I feel it is our duty not to leave until we can feel comfortable in Iraq's ability to maintain, if nothing else, a loosely held sense of order. We are obviously quite far from that, as just today 100 Iraqi government officials were kidnapped. As I've said before, ultimately politics will win over reason, after all that is sort of the reason we are there to begin with! So I think you can fully expect that eventually, perhaps not for two more years, but eventually we will pull out before securing the country. This will likely go down as one of the worst debacles of Western policy since the treaty of Versailles.

Fundamentalist hatred is at an all time high, and western hatred and blood lust is quickly transforming from something that is supported by the few, to the accepted beliefs of many. It is Jihad that is the abused term. It is one easily abused too, and is perhaps the source of much of the ease in transforming what should be a religion of peace to one of confrontation, intolerance, and war.

This page is an Islamic site which appears to preserve the intent of jihad in a manner that allows for coexistence with the western cultures. allahuakbar.net Movements such as this, as well as Cat Steven's return to pop culture (Yusuf Islam) can help promote a positive, civil, and accepting voice to help drown out extremists.

I am concerned that ultimately the trends appear to favor the rhetoric of hatred and fear ultimately winning the minds of much of the Muslim world. These are people who glorify death and fighting. School children are being taught that we are murderous devils. In light of recent failed U.S. policy, it is easy to see how this can be spun with little to no effort. Iran was on its way to becoming a secular, more liberated society before the latest Iraq incursion. Now it has done a 180 and threatens to be the seat of the iron fist that could begin a quest unlike any seen for more than half a century.

It is an interesting contrast between Western and Mid-eastern societies. Where as our culture treats these topics with kids gloves (Prevention of planting seeds of hate within our own people?), much of the middle east is filled with fascinating stories of our uncontrolled evil. Will we make the same mistakes of past World Wars? Probably...

It's kind of like a filling that you know you need but you put it off until you have a horrible tooth ache.... or its like my leaky kitchen faucet. I'll have to fix eventually but I'm avoiding it as long as I can. Trouble is, in this case, we will all have to pay for the water bill.