Although none of the following news nuggets were found in the speech that President Bush delivered tonight, recently, we learned: (1) that an official from the Bush administration admitted to NBC News that President Bush's decision to "surge" troop levels in Iraq "is more a political decision than a military one," (2) that General John Abazaid, commander of the U.S. forces in the Middle East, "asked every top commander in Iraq whether more troops would add considerably to the odds of success...they all said no," and (3) that as many as nine Republican Senators oppose Bush's proposed "surge," as do the majority of polled Americans.

However, we also recently learned that most of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group had been blown off by the Bush administration, due to the resurgent influence of discredited and disgraced chickenhawk neoconservatives, such as Frederick Kagan and that obnoxious girlie-man, William Kristol. Why the resurgence? Because, the neocons and Bush need each other. After all, the criminality and incompetence attending the "cake walk" in Iraq tars them both. Unfortunately, both appear quite willing to see many more American soldiers killed and wounded in order to rescue their pathetic reputations.

You'll recall that it was a few Holocaust-traumatized and/or Israel-first necons (as distinct from the overwhelming majority of American Jews, who opposed the invasion of Iraq), who provided both the ideology and the attention-grabbing clamor for invading Iraq. For their role in destroying Iraq (which was far better off under Saddam Hussein), for the untold thousands of deaths in Iraq, for the thousands of American soldiers killed and wounded, for rendering the U.S. less secure than it was before the invasion, for causing the proliferation of terrorists around the world, and for besmirching the good name of the U.S., even among our allies; neocons Kristol, Wolfowitz, Feith and Perle should rot in hell. Yet, amazingly, the mainstream media still seeks their advice.

Knowing all of this, I was outraged by the comments made this morning by Gretchen Carlson at FOX News. Talking about Senator Ted Kennedy's proposed legislation to prevent the funding of Bush's "surge," Ms. Carlson said the following to White House counselor, Dan Bartlett: "You talk about the hostile enemy, obviously being Iraq, but hostile enemies right here on the home front. Yesterday Senator Ted Kennedy, proposing that any kind of a troop surge should mean there should be congressional approval of that. A lot of democrats not coming to his side on this. But obviously this is not going to be an easy sell on Capitol Hill, even if it's not an easy sell to the American Public."

Ms. Carlson's outrageous assertion prompted me to send the following email to FOX News:

Dear Gretchen Carlson:

Just when I was beginning to think that FOX News -- out of common human decency -- had placed numerical limits on the number of Fascists and/or smacked asses who could work at its network, I learned today that you suggested that Senator Ted Kennedy was a "hostile enemy" inside the U.S., simply because he seeks to end the no-win carnage in Iraq that the our Punk President Bush set in motion with his illegal, immoral and incompetent invasion. Your "Swift-boating" slander of Kennedy reveals your dishonesty or stupidity -- or both. And although your slime is far worse than the mistakes that got Dan Rather fired at CBS, it probably will get you a promotion at FOX.

Finally, talk is cheap. As an Army vet, I say: "Get off your fascist ass and enlist!" As Country Joe McDonald might say: "Be the first one on your block to have your ass brought home in a box!" Go "surge" for your country!

Sincerely,
Walter C. Uhler

I'll be flying to Memphis tomorrow to participate in the National Conference on Media Reform. And I'll be energized, not only by the knowledge that the mainstream news media still turns to discredited neocons, but also by the new evidence indicating that FOX News still cultivates fascists like potted plants.