He Labored Mightily, and Brought Forth a Mouse

I don't know if I can really offer much more on the appeal to foolishness than has already been said by far better writers...but...

Like Attaturk did, I made a small tally sheet to track some of Shrub's red meat phrases, which, coming from his mouth, sound more like microwaved chickenhawk leftovers. For the record, there were five direct references to 9/11--one every five minutes--and five more "almost 9/11" references--bin Laden got a couple of mentions, as did Zarqawi, while Al Qaeda clocked in with a single.

Whiskey Bar has more on the incredible shrinking cheerleader--as Billmon puts it, "at his best...he can come across as one of the boys...the Turkey Server in Chief. But he can't make himself larger than life, and neither can his cult followers, no matter how hard they try." He also noted some interesting choices of terminology, which could well be weasel words should the time come to negotiate with terrorists Iraqi insurgents. In the end, Billmon considers the speech lighter-than-air (my term)--and he's right. Unlike say, the "election," or the "transfer of sovereignty," which certainly were empty gestures, but empty gestures offering the appearance of something significant, last night was low wattage--or dim bulb, if you prefer.

There's no better example of this than the revelation by Mr. Purty Lips himself, Terry Moran, that it was a White House advance team member who began clapping late in Shrub's speech, managing to generate a tepid round of applause among the assembled. I mean, not only is Bush decidedly smaller than life, he doesn't even make it into the pantheon of infomercial emcees with his effort.

Let's see...Bush forgot neither Poland nor polls, though his memory seems, um, dim when it comes to Abu Ghraib. There was the usual mix and match of jutting-chin rheroric with occasional Kumbaya feel-good ("Beacon of Hope," "elections", "sovereignty,"), flypaper strategery--funny how our Iraqi "friends" weren't exactly consulted as to their becoming "the front line"...though Bush, in a rare moment of candor, admitted that "terrorists can kill innocent civilians"...yes, they sure can, particularly when an army of occupation isn't really able to, um, OCCUPY with any genuine degree of authority...there was the aforementioned "9/11" mantra, some obligatory references to allies and the UN--and, of course, an insistance that "Iraqification" is both innovative and workable--geez, if I had a nickel for every "trained Iraqi soldier/unit," I'd either be insanely rich (Team Shrub's numbers), or dirt poor (reality-based assessment)...Bush concluded with a literal request to fly the flag in support of the troops--and an odd little direct appeal:

And to those watching tonight who are considering a military career, there is no higher calling than service in our Armed Forces. We live in freedom because every generation has produced patriots willing to serve a cause greater than themselves. Those who serve today are taking their rightful place among the greatest generations that have worn our Nation’s uniform.

I'll let you pass your own judgement on Lt. AWOL himself putting in a plug for enlistment.

Steve Gilliard and plenty of others point out that this opens the door to questions as to the enlistment plans of George W. Bush's children--and, for that matter, an entire generation of neo-con keyboard commandos. 101st'ers--your Preznit needs you!

One thing I DIDN'T see was any significant understanding that the ship, as it were, has rather ugly, gaping holes on both the port AND starboard sides--in addition, shoals and reefs are dead ahead...but the captain insists on full steam, insisting that all is fine and eventually safe harbor will come into sight, as long as we stick to the course--said Cap'n Shrub, presiding officer of the USS Ship of Fools...