Biden and the Blackwater Appeal

On Saturday, January 23rd, Vice President Joe Biden assured Iraqi leaders that the dismissal of manslaughter charges against Blackwater mercenaries for their violent and unjustified attack against Iraqi civilians in 2007 would be appealed. On January 2nd, Federal District Court Judge Ricardo M. Urbina had dismissed all charges against the Blackwater thugs in an unusually detailed and critical ruling, which teachers of criminal law say makes an appeal highly unlikely. Judge Urbina’s ruling came about, he said, because there had been a “reckless violation of the defendants’ constitutional rights”. Ugh! Can of worms! The judge may well have felt he had no choice but to rule as he did in the matter. And Biden may well have been advised to pledge that the judge’s ruling would be appealed in order to pave the way to withdraw combat troops in August after the March 7th parliamentary elections in Iraq. But I am fairly sure there will be no appeal. Well, no appeal as such. A lot of rhetoric will be spewed...I mean, we’re talking Joe Biden here...of course rhetoric will be spewed. And Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is a formidable bullshitter who, out of one side of his mouth decries any interference by the Americans in Iraq, while out of the other side of his mouth, cries and begs for help, aid and justice from the Americans when situations become difficult to control. But I will bet (and I would like to be wrong) that no legal appeal will be brought and that the ruling will not be reversed. But what with the current Republican Tea Party assholes feeling they now have a clear and unimpeded path to controlling American politics because the Dems lost an important election in Massachusetts recently, I would like to remind the TP folks about a few things in the Republican recent past. The entire financial crisis the US is currently experiencing was brought about by the Republicans. The stupid and unnecessary war in Iraq, which has bankrupted the US and sullied its reputation throughout the world, was brought about by the Republicans. And it was the Republicans who decided that George W. Bush--a ne’er-do-well, alcoholic loser with a messianic belief that he was sent by God-- should be president of the United States. And it was this same narcissistic silly twat, known as “Dubya”, who welcomed and received spiritual counseling from James Dobson, the founder of “Focus on the Family”. And it was this spiritual advisor of GWB who was a close pal of Erik Prince, the wealthy far-right Christian fanatic and former Navy SEAL who built a training camp for mercenaries in Camden County, North Carolina, called Blackwater. Dobson and Prince had a vision for the course Christians would need to take. Dobson said, “I stand in a long tradition of Christians who believe that rulers may forfeit their divine mandate when they systematically contravene the divine moral law. We may be rapidly approaching the sort of Rubicon that our spiritual forebears faced Choose Caesar or God. I take no pleasure in this prospect, I pray against it. But it is worth noting that such times have historically been rejuvenating for the faith.” Dobson wrote and Prince agreed that the United States was heading for “a showdown between church and state” and a “morally justified revolution”. So when the Bush administration couldn’t interest enough people to go to Iraq to fight its BushWar, they suited up the Blackwater mercenaries to make up for our lack of troops and they sent Blackwater hoodlums to fight beside our soldiers and be representatives of the United States. In that circumstance, the Blackwater enforcers marauded, murdered and created mayhem. The above is by way of saying: LEST WE FORGET. And now that the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party is bloviating and bragging and in general sounding like Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Condoleezza Rice, George W. Bush, Erik Prince and James Dobson at their deluded worst and lying best, one wonders, where are Condi and Dubya and what are they up to? And how is Blackwater doing under its new name, Xe? Have you war-mongering morons got any new wars to sell? Or as William Kristol said in his 1997 Project for the New American Century manifesto--which gave credence to starting wars in little countries where the US wanted to usurp resources--are there any “regimes hostile to our interests and values” you guys would like to invade and overrun for the good of the Republican Tea Party?