just heard on npr that the expected cost of reconstruction in iraq is now at $16 billion "and will likely be much higher."

what the f*** is this? we did not do 16 bill worth of damage to iraq. we should repair what we damaged, give them a copy of the federalist papers and be done with it. $16 billion? what, are we putting gold leaf on all the mosques?

jfk told a joke about going to his father late in the 1960 campaign for more money and the old man replying, "i'll pay for a victory but i'll be damned if i'm going to pay for a landslide."

no landslides here, no shining cities on a hill.