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Norm Coleman, the Republican Senator from Minnesota really needs to learn how to use a search engine. Having decided that he can improve his image by attacking the UN he held some hearings on the Oil For Food program.

Attacking Kofi Annan is pretty safe because the Secretary General of the United Nations is a diplomat and always “plays nice”, but accusing George Galloway, British Member of Parliament, of anything is sort of like kicking a fire ant mound barefooted – you are going to get hurt.

Galloway was ejected from Tony Blair’s Labour Party as a Member from Glasgow-Kelvin for his statements about the Iraq War, but he responded by winning a seat at Bethnal Green & Bow from a Labour Member as part of the Respect Party.

“Gorgeous George” is all attack, he doesn’t care about defense or moderation. He is proud and loud about being a liberal leftist.

skippy has a short transcript of Galloway’s opening remarks, and Crooks and Liars has audio and video of portions of his testimony, in which Mr. Galloway lays out some of the nasty facts of US-Iraqi relations, and the run up to the Iraq War. No punches were pulled and no quarter was given.

Fortunately for Coleman dueling is illegal, because Galloway would have called him out for a sunrise meeting. The Republicans have been lulled into believing that they can get away with anything because the Democrats don’t like to act abrasively. In the British Parliament you had better be ready for war before you badmouth someone, and you had better have your facts straight. Coleman has a war now, and Galloway is not going to give up.

And, Norm, Karl doesn’t want people to notice the British memo, so attacking a British MP was pretty stupid.

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In order to attract more people the military is now talking about a 15 month active duty tour. They want people to assume that you will only be required to serve 15 months and then you will be free.

READ THE FINE PRINT! You sign up for a total of 8 years of combined active and Reserve duty. The military has been calling up Reservists who have completed 4 years of active duty because of their Reserve commitment and are refusing to release people who have completed their entire 8-year term. If you sign the paperwork you belong to the military for a minimum of 8 years, not 15 months.

There was a 12-month National Guard program and many people who were in that are being retained well beyond those 12 months.

You are under penalty of criminal prosecution if you fail to fulfill your part in the agreement, but the government is able to alter their obligations at will. If they lie to you, a court will say that they are bad people, but you are required to do what they tell you to do. They don’t recognize any restrictions on their power.

My Father was kept in service for three years past his retirement date, and finally was allowed to retire for health reasons. If his health hadn’t gone to pieces there’s no telling how long he would have been kept on active duty.

The military is not a good option anymore. It pains me personally to say that, because for a long time I recommended military service to people who needed help to get their life in order and save enough money for a decent education. It was a way out of poverty for a lot of people, but the current regime has changed that.

If you feel inclined to a military life there’s always the Légion Etrangère. At least they don’t pretend to be something they are not. You will need to learn French.

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In a inconvenience to satire in blogtopia™ [skippy] the New York Times is following the lead of the Northwest Florida Daily News and will begin charging for its on-line content. At $50/year it is highly unlikely that the blog jesters will be willing to pay for access to the Times op-ed page when the fun articles will be released later in syndication. This will of course sharply reduce the number of visitors to the NYT web site, with a corresponding decrease in advertising revenue.

For some reason I don’t think the snarkmeisters will be willing to part with their wages from 8 hours at Wendy’s making chili to read David Brooks a couple of days sooner.

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