What an Incredible Coincidence

The Republicans are now so far down in the polls that they rank just above the Black Death. Poll after poll says the American people think the party in power is living in a dream world and has no idea what real life on Planet Earth is all about. The question is not whether the Democrats will wipe the floor with the GOP in next month's elections, but how hard the wiping will be. GOP insiders outside the White House bubble of unreality have pretty much conceded that they will lose control of the House, but still retain some hope of holding on to the Senate.

In the long sad saga of the Iraq War, Bush has gotten minor poll bounces out of such "milestone" events as the capture of Saddam Hussein, the "handover of sovereignty," the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and others. Of course, such bounces are quickly extinguished as reality sets in, but they still exist for a few days.

It therefore seems just a touch too coincidental that our puppet government in Iraq has announced that the verdict in Saddam's long-running trial will be revealed on Sunday, November 5 -- just two days before the midterm elections. Nobody seriously doubts that Saddam will be convicted and sentenced to death.

To this, I have three reactions:

1. A helpless here-we-go-again feeling that once again, the White House is attempting to distract our attention with yet another well-timed "milestone" which is utterly meaningless except in its short-term political impact.
2. An even more helpless feeling that even after all the lies, deceptions, political manipulation, etc, people will still be fooled into thinking the GOP is a can-do party that gets things right.
3. A distinctly disgusted feeling that Bush et al have such a low opinion of us, seeing the American people as so bovinely stupid that the same dishonest scams will work again and again.

Of course, there's always the possibility that the same people who were tricked in 2004 realize how the Republicans played them for suckers and are determined not to get conned again. But I always remember H.L. Mencken's immortal observation that "nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."

It remains to be seen what impact such a transparently political event will have on the voting public. I hope that we, as a nation, are smarter than to be deceived once again.