someone will get it

I wonder if the GOP's tactic of "embracing the war" is actually going to work. These guys are so good at turning things around and distracting the voting public it might be a successful strategery. Here's the plan:

• hammer away at the Democrats' plan of withdrawal meaning that thousands of troops have died for naught
• an "Islamo-fascist empire" would spring up and use the vacuum we create by leaving to take over Iraq
• the U.S. would have it's most stunning defeat since Vietnam

Here's the counter-attack:

• you were the one's who killed American servicemen by invading a sovereign nation that posed no threat to our country
• how long will the threat of something I'm pretty sure you made up last? Forever? I mean, you intend us to leave sometime, right? We're not just going to do that whole imperialist puppet thing that has been so wildly successful in places like Latin and South America, are we? Your longterm plan of wiping out tyranny is a joke. As long as humans exist, so does tyranny.
• we're going to stay and continue losing Americans because of our ego. The irony that they are using Vietnam as a reason for staying is stunning. Just. stunning.

And this article in the Post about the shrinking middle-class neighborhoods should come as no surprise to anyone given that the middle-class has been shrinking for years. Ugly McMansions and declining, crime-ridden neighborhoods are in the not so distant future. Unfortunately, given the major changes in what jobs drive our economy and the inevitability of many being left behind due to lack of education it does us no good to wish things were like they used to be. Nothing is going to be like it used to be. There is no way to go back in time and get our middle-class jobs back. They're gone to Asia and Mexico. The good ol' U.S. of A. is in for an unsteady and uncertain future.

Can you tell I started The World is Flat?

My self-education continues as I didn't bring the above book to work today to read during lunch. I may have mentioned this one before, but I picked up The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies, and Nations. It's all folksonomied out which I can dig.

My early morning run did not happen due to unforeseen circumstances. I came up with a brilliant solution though: I'm running home! I brought my running stuff (forgot my watch, but after this week that's aok with me) and am just going to change here, leave my stuff in a locker, and run home. I'll have to add on a little bit but I thought it an ingenious move. I have to get home anyway and this is a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone solution.

Efficiency is my middle name.