Chickensquawk


Yawn. The pResident, like an old GI Joe doll, delivered yet another "stay the course" speech. Pull the string and get the same, repetitive, tired old lines:

freedom
freedom is once again assaulted by enemies
global campaign of freedom
we will see freedom's victory

Two, four, six eight:

I appreciate Carl Gershman
I appreciate Chris Cox
I appreciate the secretary of state

Mantra:

fourth anniversary of a great evil
proud city covered in smoke and ashes
September the 11th
like September 11th
September the 11th, 2001
September the 11th
September the 11th

Suck up:

Ronald Reagan
General Peter Pace
Americans in uniform

Fear mongering:

mortal danger to all humanity
deadly bombing
Innocent men and women and children
the killers
evil Islamic radicalism
militant jihadism
Islamo-fascism
Zarqawi
Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot
Al Qaeda
Bin Laden (wonder if he coughed)
Wolf (well, not really, but...)

OK, I guess you get the gist of it. And, to be honest, on a purely rhetorical level, there are some items with which I can agree: hell yes, terrorists seek to exploit conditions of suffering (especially when suffering results from occupation). Duh. And there are at enough nut-jobs out in the world with ready access to enough designed or improvised weaponry to be a cause for concern.

But there's more to the GWOT than the ultimate fool's errand in invading Iraq, and NO justification after the fact takes away from it being the ultimate Operation Stumblebum. In a sense, Operation Iraqi Clusterfuck is the perfect metaphor for Dubya himself, all pomp and show but ZERO substance, ZERO planning, and, when all's finally said and done, ZERO return. I've used this metaphor before, and don't really like it all that much, but it fits: they confused scoring a touchdown with winning the game. Ask the average Saints fan if that's how it works.

Shrubusto can bark all he wants, but Iraq is a done deal (emphasis on DONE)--and, if he had the slightest shred of conscience, at the VERY least you'd hear something about "to the extent the federal government is responsible blah blah blah." But you don't even hear that. A couple of days ago, when asked about the "Iraqi security forces" (who really are making ARVN look like disciplined cadres), Bush talked right out of his ass. Does the guy even KNOW what Rummy said last week?

Bush is not merely crashing and burning--he's increasingly becoming irrevelant. Despite fawning praise from the likes of Rick Santorum--which itself speaks volumes(Santorum is evidently a rat that's too stupid to desert the sinking ship), speeches like this merely hammer home the point that the Brush-Clearer in Chief has no clue as to existing conditions in the war he started--and neither does he understand the broader picture, beyond hackneyed platitudes more suited for high school debate--or, to be more precise, cheerleader for high school debate.

Yes, developing a long term strategy or strategery for countering terrorism is definitely hard work--both physical and mental. Why anyone would think the pathetic failure occupying the White House could accomplish either is quite beyond me.