True story - my great-grandfather was a scout for the Seventh Cavalry. He survived, and said it was because he thought Custer was crazy and managed to sprain his ankle so badly that he wasn't able to go out with them. (He had been on the Black Hills expedition, and apparently Custer disliked him enough not to demand that he hop on his horse and get with the program.) In our family, we believe this was good planning. Non-relatives have been known to suggest happenstance, but we ignore them.

No, Fragano, it means when we're done they'll support US policy from ON a reservation ...

The war in Iraq is like Lord of the Rings?

The trouble in Iraq is like Custer at Little Big Horn? [BTW, scouts may have kept him from riding in like a schmuck, but they wouldn't have let him win. Besides, we had scouts out, Heap-Big-Leader decided he could ignore them.]

They're using analogies to Tolkein and half-a-dozen bad cowboy films?

Do they even realize that every time they open their mouths they reveal their whole world-view is based on A FANTASY?

Oh, and my favorite comment Bush made on the Iraq report:

"I'm not going to outsource the job of Commander-in-Chief" Well, I guess we can all see how well he's listening, eh?

It's not "Stay the Course" anymore, it's "Once more unto the breach dear friends, and fill up the wall with our [American] dead"

(Signed, Committee for Paying Attention To The Spelling of Proper Names.)

Thanks, Patrick.

[Hangs head, mumbles to self]
How embarassing ...

Unfortunately for everyone, The Way Forward appears to be indistinguishable from Stay The Course.

(And I now have strange visions of a typographical Eliza Doolittle: "The token Tolkien toked at the Tokyo tokomak".)

The 6th Cavalry Regiment was initially based in Texas and wound up in Fort Huachuca, about 65 miles SE of Tucson (still an active base, although the Regiment's inactive. It's now home to US Army Intelligence). It fought the Apaches, particularly Victorio and Cochise.

anyway I want to see more comparisons of Iraquis with Balrogs.

And we can't treat the Iraqis like the American Indians. I mean, they're already in a desert. Where the heck are we supposed to relocate them?

Now, now, we don't want to milk the joke...

start spelling it Tolkeen (#10)

They do like to refer to "Coalition Forces"...

Well sit right back and hear a tale,
a tale of a fateful day,
of some scouts that Custer had
when they blew his ass away
- blew his ass away

Rumsfeld knew his metaphors
like a sock knows its darn
Junior had a hole in his head
like a hole in the yarn
- a hole in the yarn

The neocons stayed the course
and moved in new directions
they told the truth as often as
Rush Limbaugh has erections
- blew his ass away

Custer was an idiot,
history holds the score
Bush figures we'll all be dead before
we get out of Gilligan's war
-out of Gilligan's war.

Time to watch Blazing Saddles again.

What, you mean like:

We want to be so good, but he (they?) are sooo stupid?

Now, now, we don't want to milk the joke...

You're right--that kind of thing can make people sour.

Now, now, we don't want to milk the joke...

You're right--that kind of thing can make people sour.

What, you don't like cheesy jokes?

They do like to refer to "Coalition Forces"...

I read this as "Cotillion Forces," which has a certain charm the facts lack.

Maybe we should send a cotillion over to Iraq.

"Why do I always get the warped one?"

I never have a problem with his last name, but I often misspell "J.R.R."

I am prone to this, which is why I checked the cover of the Hobbit binding six times. Imagine how humiliating if I had gotten it wrong in leather.

There are whole websites devoted to that. I imagine you could've gotten a pretty penny for pictures.

Although I have a truly startling amount of leather, particularly in the guest bedroom, and although I can do some pretty amazingly wrong things with it, they are generally not the sort of thing that make people go "Phwooaar" and pay me lots of money.

(Note that Scottish builders do the same, but they don't say "Phwooaar". There's one near my office who even sings (badly).)

I have taken
the Tramadol
you bought
on the internet

and which
you were probably
saving
for headaches

Forgive me
dimethylaminomethyl
methoxyphenyl
cyclohexanol