Snatching
More and more, Junta officials are sounding like the South Park depiction of Saddam Hussein. "Don't worry guy, lighten up. Look over there!" On the third anniversary of the Iraqi invasion, they all stepped out from behind the curtain to reassure a sceptical public that everything in Iraq was just peachy, and it's just the nay-sayers in the press making it seem like that country is circling the bowl toward the septic tank of civil war.
"Hey, relax, guy!"
If this was the plan - if indeed there was a plan, it would certainly make an interesting read. Step one: invade with 20% of the necessary troop strength. Step two: do not provide law enforcement on the street - allow looting and revenge killings. Step three: do not replace any of the infrastructure that was destroyed in the war and the sanctions that preceded it. Step four: deny that the first three steps happened.
That's it, and if you don't like it, well, you must hate America. Apparently, on the planet the Junta is running, the Insurgency and the Civil War are simply not happening. Never mind the daily casualties and ongoing bloodshed. Certainly, you can't mind the bodies of our heroic KIA's who are shipped home to their families as freight.
A real newsman asked Dick Cheney a real question about all this - certainly a rare occasion. It went something like this:
"Cheney also dismissed a statement by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who said the war in Iraq should never have been fought: "I would not look to Ted Kennedy for guidance and leadership on how we ought to manage national security. . . . I think what Senator Kennedy reflects is sort of the pre-9/11 mentality about how we ought to deal with the world and that part of the world."
But CBS anchor Bob Schieffer bluntly challenged Cheney on his own string of prognostications, such as his pre-invasion assertion that U.S. troops would be welcomed in Iraq as liberators and, 10 months ago, that the insurgency was in its "last throes."
Cheney replied that those statements were "basically accurate and reflect reality," but that public perceptions of Iraq's progress are being skewed "because what's newsworthy is the car bomb in Baghdad."
Huh?
Since when did Cheney start talking about "reality?" In a world where a guy apologizes for getting shot by the Veep, what does "reality" have to do with anything?
But to Lord Cheney, predictions that Iraqis would greet American troops as "liberators" and that the Insurgency is in its "last throes" are "accurate and reflect reality." Where do you start with that one? Simply put, it's not at all true. And, just as simply, Cheney knows it's not true.
Apparently, there is a rule about Vice Presidential dissembling: it must be constant, and it must be obvious.
I was watching Blazing Saddles last night, and it was striking how similar Georgie is to Gov. William LePetomaine (played by Mel Brooks). Constantly lost and misguided, always ready to give a political speech, he is easily led by the unscrupulous Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman). The idea of installing Bart (Cleavon Little) as Sherriff of Rock Ridge is insane - until Hedley "Rove" Lamarr points out that there is a political advantage in the move. Never mind that it's certain to get Bart killed.
"Let see, land snatching, land snatching. See: Snatching."
"Hey, relax, guy!"
If this was the plan - if indeed there was a plan, it would certainly make an interesting read. Step one: invade with 20% of the necessary troop strength. Step two: do not provide law enforcement on the street - allow looting and revenge killings. Step three: do not replace any of the infrastructure that was destroyed in the war and the sanctions that preceded it. Step four: deny that the first three steps happened.
That's it, and if you don't like it, well, you must hate America. Apparently, on the planet the Junta is running, the Insurgency and the Civil War are simply not happening. Never mind the daily casualties and ongoing bloodshed. Certainly, you can't mind the bodies of our heroic KIA's who are shipped home to their families as freight.
A real newsman asked Dick Cheney a real question about all this - certainly a rare occasion. It went something like this:
"Cheney also dismissed a statement by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who said the war in Iraq should never have been fought: "I would not look to Ted Kennedy for guidance and leadership on how we ought to manage national security. . . . I think what Senator Kennedy reflects is sort of the pre-9/11 mentality about how we ought to deal with the world and that part of the world."
But CBS anchor Bob Schieffer bluntly challenged Cheney on his own string of prognostications, such as his pre-invasion assertion that U.S. troops would be welcomed in Iraq as liberators and, 10 months ago, that the insurgency was in its "last throes."
Cheney replied that those statements were "basically accurate and reflect reality," but that public perceptions of Iraq's progress are being skewed "because what's newsworthy is the car bomb in Baghdad."
Huh?
Since when did Cheney start talking about "reality?" In a world where a guy apologizes for getting shot by the Veep, what does "reality" have to do with anything?
But to Lord Cheney, predictions that Iraqis would greet American troops as "liberators" and that the Insurgency is in its "last throes" are "accurate and reflect reality." Where do you start with that one? Simply put, it's not at all true. And, just as simply, Cheney knows it's not true.
Apparently, there is a rule about Vice Presidential dissembling: it must be constant, and it must be obvious.
I was watching Blazing Saddles last night, and it was striking how similar Georgie is to Gov. William LePetomaine (played by Mel Brooks). Constantly lost and misguided, always ready to give a political speech, he is easily led by the unscrupulous Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman). The idea of installing Bart (Cleavon Little) as Sherriff of Rock Ridge is insane - until Hedley "Rove" Lamarr points out that there is a political advantage in the move. Never mind that it's certain to get Bart killed.
"Let see, land snatching, land snatching. See: Snatching."
posted by fiduciary at 8:44 AM
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