Quote of the Day II

"Fortunately, after years of effort and expectations in Iraq, an Islamic state has come to power and the constitution has been established on the basis of Islamic precepts. We must congratulate the Iraqi people and authorities for this victory."
- Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of Iran's powerful ultra-conservative Guardian Council

"This is the future of the new Iraqi government - it will be in the hands of the clerics. I wanted Iraqi women to be free, to be able to talk freely and to able to move around. I am not going to stay here."
- Dr. Raja Kuzai, an obstetrician and secular Shiite member of the Assembly who met President Bush in the White House in November 2003.

While New Orleans turns into Water World, there is still a war in Iraq whose purpose seems to be to create another Iran.

Those of us with more than a couple of brain cells have seen the writing on the wall for years, and we keep wondering where the straw that breaks the camel's back is. I'm beginning to think there is none.

And I throw up my hands in frustration, getting ready to write the words: "You asked for it, you got it, too fucking bad."

Natural selection is supposed to work, right? Maybe we're seeing mother nature make that statement in a big way. Or maybe the rapture Christians are right, and Jesus is getting all set to make a grand entrance.

Or maybe the history books will mark this time as the turning point in the fall of the second greatest empire in human history.