Common Sense Versus the Clown Show


Well, maybe there is a God, and perhaps she's gonna show us a bit of mercy after all...

The manufactured Kerry non-"controversy" has fallen by the wayside, in favor of another fallen GOOP'er, this time evangelical Ted Haggard, who claims he was "tempted," but vehemently denies having tasted any, um, ripe fruit (hmmm, if only Adam had thought of that, instead of blaming "the girl," but Genesis presumably harkens back to "a simpler time")...Well, I guess "the dog ate my homework" isn't, to go back to another simpler time, "operative" under the circumstances.

But, you know, all the dirty sexual laundry cluttering the political utility room really is just a sideshow. The GOP ballbreaker, of course, is Enduring Clusterfuck, where the Rove/Shrub Ship of State has broken apart on Reality Reef--and no amount of clever stage managing will convince anyone that a little bit of bailing is all that's needed.

That's not to say they won't try, and Cap'n Shrub himself has been seen staggering along certain areas of the deck, occasionally rearranging a chair or two, or, more often, alternately insisting that the (eye)rock they crashed into wasn't all THAT bad...while chiding the crew for thinking that the ship is, well, going down.

Now, why would anyone think that?

U.S. officer describes disarray in Iraqi army

In an assessment for a military journal, a U.S. Army officer who advised Iraqi troops concludes the goal of having Iraq control its security "will exceed" the new army's capability "for some time to come."

In an article for Military Review, Lt. Col. Carl D. Grunow wrote that "without steadfast American support, these officers and soldiers will likely give up and consider the entire effort a lost cause."

Congress Tells Auditor in Iraq to Close Office

Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart W. Bowen Jr. in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces.

And tucked away in a huge military authorization bill that President Bush signed two weeks ago is what some of Mr. Bowen’s supporters believe is his reward for repeatedly embarrassing the administration: a pink slip.

As Bechtel Goes By PAUL KRUGMAN

Bechtel, the giant engineering company, is leaving Iraq. Its mission — to rebuild power, water and sewage plants — wasn’t accomplished: Baghdad received less than six hours a day of electricity last month, and much of Iraq’s population lives with untreated sewage and without clean water. But Bechtel, having received $2.3 billion of taxpayers’ money and having lost the lives of 52 employees, has come to the end of its last government contract.

As Bechtel goes, so goes the whole reconstruction effort. Whatever our leaders may say about their determination to stay the course complete the mission, when it comes to rebuilding Iraq they’ve already cut and run. The $21 billion allocated for reconstruction over the last three years has been spent, much of it on security rather than its intended purpose, and there’s no more money in the pipeline.

The failure of reconstruction in Iraq raises three questions. First, how much did that failure contribute to the overall failure of the war? Second, how was it that America, the great can-do nation, in this case couldn’t and didn’t? Finally, if we’ve given up on rebuilding Iraq, what are our troops dying for?

That's just a couple of examples, for argument's sake. If you REALLY want the ever more depressing details, Juan Cole and Today in Iraq are a daily dose of grim.

But, more significant to me, is that we tend, contrary to Shrub's assertion re: "violence on the teevee screens," to see very little footage coming out of Iraq...and that's because, well, it's simply too dangerous for reporters to go out and get the story.

Think about it: if Iraq was even just moderately bad, Team Bush would be prancing about...well, like a certain boy chimperor on an aircraft carrier back in May of 2003. Instead, we get news of "unannounced visits" after the fact...because an "announced" visitor wouldn't exactly be greeted with flowers, candies...or as "liberators" now, would they, Messrs. Cheney...and Wolfowitz?

Aside from the sheer difficulties in collecting and reporting, we've got the added bonus of an administration cloaking itself in ever more layers of secrecy and classification (except for when it suits them to give away the trade secrets...nice)...you know, if I was a Democrat, I'd counter Shrub's whining about Democrats "having no plan" with a forceful insistence that THEY open the records...because how the hell can you have a plan if you're unable to determine the facts on the ground? But that's just me, I guess.

However, despite the veil over Mesopotamia, both by design and circumstance, I think the public is becoming ever more aware of the unfolding disaster: too many young men and women are coming home either horribly mangled--or in coffins--the news that DOES manage to make it out isn't exactly uplifting (the impending verdict for Saddam Hussein, conveniently scheduled for November 5th notwithstanding...hmmm, you know, I'd bet that Shrub would personally pull the trigger--and have it broadcast on HDTV--if Rove thought it'd help 'em keep control for two more years), and THEN you can add in all the other elements of clown rule: the Ted Haggert/Mark Foley soap operas...their UTTER incompetence down here along the Gulf Coast (again, I'm surprised and more than a little angry that THIS issue has received so little attention...in fact, I'd surmise that the general public likely knows LESS about the disaster down here than the one overseas), the sheer arrogance (rules--like the freaking CONSTITUTION--don't apply to THEM)...etc. etc. etc.

Or, at least you can hope that the public is fed up with...the hype. And that they'll hold the ones who created the mess accountable...