A busy day for truth

Echoing yesterday's post about the nefarious ways Republicans have controlled the political debate in this country, now we learn that when the GOP was redistricting Texas a few years back, career civil rights lawyers with the Justice Department unanimously agreed that the plan was a violation of the Voting Rights Act. But the poltically-appointed head of the civil rights division overturned their decision. Just another lovely example.

And if the manipulation here at home weren't enough, today we also learned that the Pentagon has been paying a company to plant positive news stories about the war in Iraqi newspapers. Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia, head of the Armed Services Committee, is investigating, and actually seems pissed off about it.

Finally, retired Lt. General William Odom is arguing the claim that if U.S. troops pull out from Iraq it will plunge the country into chaos is fairly irrelevant. The country has chaos now, and it will have chaos when we pull out, even if that is ten years from now. However, our current presence gives fuel to Al Queda, who before was never welcome in Iraq (Al Queda detested the secular Sunni government of Sadaam Hussein). Without U.S. troops, Al Queda would have no friends in Iraq.