Good Lord - go away for a holiday weekend and everything happens at once.
First off, President Bush's "surprise" visit to Iraq. Notice that he stayed far away from Baghdad, where some of the sectarian civil war's worst fighting has been happening and where the Iraqi "government" is in shambles. No, he went to Al-Asad Air Base, a gigantic and heavily guarded American military outpost with a thirteen mile fortified perimeter. Thus kept far away from any of the actual Iraqis whom he claims to have liberated, Bush shamelessly exploited the thousands of soldiers stationed there for a photo op.
"Those decisions [on finally leaving Iraq] will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground," he said manfully, "not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media. In other words, when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from a position of fear and failure. To do otherwise would embolden our enemies and make it more likely that they would attack us at home."
That pretty much sums up Bush's presidency right there. Set up other people to take the fall when your policy decisions go bad. Smear anyone who disagrees with you as spineless wimps. And use psychological terrorism of your own to scare people into supporting you even though everyone knows you have no idea what you're doing.
Once again, we see how Bush is so hopelessly delusional he can't recognize reality even when it walks right up and bites him.
Second development, also from the Bush Administration. We're seeing a level of rhetoric against Iran that's heightened even by this crowd's standards. Speaking to the friendly American Legion, Bush said that "Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust. Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere."
And where have we heard this one before? "We will confront this danger before it is too late."
Yes, Bush is trying to repeat the very same act that deceived us into invading Iraq when no threat was present.
Who cares that nuclear engineers and inspectors all insist that Iran is maybe a decade from developing such weapons? Who cares that Iran scholars both inside and outside the Beltway all say that an attack would be, to put it lightly, counterproductive? That Iran's production facilities are too widespread to be destroyed by anything other than a massive and sustained invasion? That it would cause the Iranian people to rally round the Tehran government? And that it would give Al Qaeda yet another recruiting poster?
And finally, the hypocritical moralists of the Grand Old Party forced Senator Larry Craig to resign for being gay. Let's not beat around the bush here (as it were, har!) - Craig was shoved out not because he covered up a disorderly-conduct arrest but for being homosexual. After all, the GOP was just peachy with Senator David Vitter's commerce with various ladies of the night. What's worse - patronizing prostitutes or cruising airport bathrooms?
OK, they're both pretty icky and not very defensible. But it's just wrong that the Republican Congressional Caucus gives Vitter a standing ovation and then gives Craig the heave-ho.
First off, President Bush's "surprise" visit to Iraq. Notice that he stayed far away from Baghdad, where some of the sectarian civil war's worst fighting has been happening and where the Iraqi "government" is in shambles. No, he went to Al-Asad Air Base, a gigantic and heavily guarded American military outpost with a thirteen mile fortified perimeter. Thus kept far away from any of the actual Iraqis whom he claims to have liberated, Bush shamelessly exploited the thousands of soldiers stationed there for a photo op.
"Those decisions [on finally leaving Iraq] will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground," he said manfully, "not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media. In other words, when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from a position of fear and failure. To do otherwise would embolden our enemies and make it more likely that they would attack us at home."
That pretty much sums up Bush's presidency right there. Set up other people to take the fall when your policy decisions go bad. Smear anyone who disagrees with you as spineless wimps. And use psychological terrorism of your own to scare people into supporting you even though everyone knows you have no idea what you're doing.
Once again, we see how Bush is so hopelessly delusional he can't recognize reality even when it walks right up and bites him.
Second development, also from the Bush Administration. We're seeing a level of rhetoric against Iran that's heightened even by this crowd's standards. Speaking to the friendly American Legion, Bush said that "Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust. Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere."
And where have we heard this one before? "We will confront this danger before it is too late."
Yes, Bush is trying to repeat the very same act that deceived us into invading Iraq when no threat was present.
Who cares that nuclear engineers and inspectors all insist that Iran is maybe a decade from developing such weapons? Who cares that Iran scholars both inside and outside the Beltway all say that an attack would be, to put it lightly, counterproductive? That Iran's production facilities are too widespread to be destroyed by anything other than a massive and sustained invasion? That it would cause the Iranian people to rally round the Tehran government? And that it would give Al Qaeda yet another recruiting poster?
And finally, the hypocritical moralists of the Grand Old Party forced Senator Larry Craig to resign for being gay. Let's not beat around the bush here (as it were, har!) - Craig was shoved out not because he covered up a disorderly-conduct arrest but for being homosexual. After all, the GOP was just peachy with Senator David Vitter's commerce with various ladies of the night. What's worse - patronizing prostitutes or cruising airport bathrooms?
OK, they're both pretty icky and not very defensible. But it's just wrong that the Republican Congressional Caucus gives Vitter a standing ovation and then gives Craig the heave-ho.
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