life on the bumper
I keep wanting to post about this unbelievable morass our country is in—and what happens when we elect some Democrats to clean up the mess? Nothing. Goddamnfucking nothing. They were apparently just waiting for their turn at the feeding trough of Washington politics.
Of course, it’s not all black and white, even after six years of an administration which sees everyone and everything that doesn’t agree 100% with their agenda as Helping The Terrorists, Undermining the Christian Faith of Our Forefathers, Trying to Destroy Our Families, and so forth. Our political discourse has degenerated to nothing more than dueling bumper sticker-sized sound bites, and that does not serve us well in a complex and rapidly changing world.
Take for example, Iraq. No, we should have never have invaded it in the first place, and doing so is arguably the worst foreign policy blunder in US history—but we’re there. And we’re leaving, sometime. Despite the fact that George Bush has successfully kicked that can of worms to his successor, the question remains: how and when do we do it? George Packer dissects our options (bad, worse, and horrendous) in a recent New Yorker article called “Planning For Defeat.” Whether you think that American withdrawal from Iraq will result in flowers and sunshine for everyone or complete victory for the terrorists, or if you would just like to have an idea how the various scenarios might play out, this is anything but bumper-sticker reading.
Meanwhile, Mideast expert Juan Cole demonstrates why the Pentagon’s own statistics show there is little evidence that The Surge has had any significant effect on violence in Iraq. Instead, the President has apparently decided to take LBJ’s Vietnam advice and “declare victory and go home,” since it has been widely known for some time that troop numbers have to return to their pre-Surge levels by next summer; there simply aren’t enough troops to sustain that level any longer. So we’ll have this kabuki theater wherein the generals soberly report that continued progress will allow additional troops to go home, advice which the president will gravely accept while proclaiming Return on Success. Or whatever the bumper sticker phrase of the moment happens to be.
Incidentally, Keith Olberman has some choice words for the president over his unprecedented decision to use a military officer to advance his political goals. But barely an eyebrow is raised in the media or the Congress. In fact, half the Senate Democrats, terrified to be seen as not “supporting the troops,” voted to censure MoveOn.org for simply exercising its free speech rights. Of course, right wing blogs and commentators routinely accuse liberals of treason and even call for their arrest or worse. But apparently that is protected speech.
FWIW, I thought the MoveOn ad was stupid. It strikes me as a first draft headline that was overcome by its own (nonexistent) cleverness, and no one took a step back to think it through. But, whatever. Did they have the right to say it? Absolutely.
On the homefront, an MIT student is “lucky to be alive” because she happened to go to the airport to pick up a friend, wearing a sweatshirt with an electric circuit board (which apparently made letters on the sweatshirt light up in geek-talk about her major at the university), something she had made for career day. Good grief, people, what kind of terrorist wears a bomb on the outside of her clothes? Oh, I forgot, when you go to the airport you’re supposed to give up your civil rights, liquids and gels, and enter full cattle panic mode. I especially like the way authorities referred to the glowing paint on her sweatshirt as “putty,” making it sound more like C4 explosive or something.
I wonder why I’m so frequently depressed these days? Thank god for Princess Sparkle Pony’s Photo Blog. Finding it this morning pretty much made my day.