BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL AID TABLE
THOSE RUMORS HAVE SOME WORRIED.
BUT NOT HIS WIFE CRANKY CLINTON.
IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW THIS EVENING -- MUST CREDIT BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- CRANKY INFORMED THESE REPORTERS THAT SHOULD BILL CLINTON BECOME A PROBLEM FOR HER CAMPAIGN, SHE WILL DROP HIM IMMEDIATELY.
NOT ONLY THAT, SHE WILL DENY EVER KNOWING HIM.
HAVING MARRIED HIM IN THE 70S AND BEEN FIRST LADY WHILE HE WAS PRESIDENT, WE QUESTIONED HOW SHE COULD SUCCESSFULLY CLAIM TO HAVE EVER KNOWN HIM.
CRANKY LAUNCHED INTO ONE OF HER TRADEMARK CHARMING CACKLES BEFORE REPLYING, "BOYS, WHAT LIE HAVEN'T I TOLD SO FAR? AND I ALWAYS GET BELIEVED."
Starting with terminology.
One definition of "distraction" would be "a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else." That's the definition we're interested in today.
From December 31, 2015's "Those never-ending victory laps:"
I guess every day is going to be about declaring and celebrating the liberation of Ramadi -- since it was first claimed on Monday and until the day finally comes that it is liberated.
Point of fact, it's still not liberated.
But every day, the limited amount of time the world press spends on Iraq is taken up by tales of Ramadi's liberation.
And so much more gets ignored.
For example?
IRAQI SPRING MC reports counter-terrorism forces in Diyala shot dead a female civilian in front of civilians and Iraqi troops.
Or how about a new flashpoint developing?
IRAQI SPRING MC notes troops being sent to Basra. This comes as NATIONAL IRAQI NEWS AGENCY notes MP Abd al-Salam al-Maliki is calling for the declaration of a state of emergency in Basra arguing the situation there is turning into a crisis.
But by all means, let's all waste another day declaring Ramadi liberated (when it's not).
That's how the year ended -- and with no western press coverage of Basra, to be very clear.
Nine days later?
Sinan Salaheddin (AP) reports, "Fear has become part of daily life amid a surge of violence in Basra, where rampant crime, kidnappings and extortion have become commonplace. Marauding Shiite militiamen drive around in cars with tinted windows and without plates, while local clans wage bloody feuds."
Basra's struggling and, in part, that's said to be because Iraqi forces are being deployed elsewhere in Iraq.
Such as?
Ramadi.
See the Iraqi forces are like the western press -- they apparently are small in number and can only focus on one thing at a time.
How does Basra fall off the radar?
Or has everyone forgotten this photo op?
Haider Al-Abadi
PM Al-Abadi visits West Qurna 2 in Basra and adopts new measures to enhance security for international oil companies
From the August 22, 2015 snapshot, "Iraq Times reports the reaction to citizens in Basra which was to protest Haider's visit. The activists noted that he traveled all the way to Basra to reassure Big Oil but he did not meet with a single local protester to address the concerns that have had them pouring into the streets for the last weeks. The report notes that the British and US Ambassadors to Iraq had lobbied Haider to visit Basra to reassure Big Oil. As Iraq Times also notes, just north of Basra is where a protester -- protesting against Big Oil -- was shot dead by security forces working for yet another foreign oil company in Iraq."
And the protests? They continue in Basra. ALSUMARIA reports Friday saw continued protests there against the government's corruption.
Yes, the western press should have been paying attention to Basra last year.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
