Sleight of Mouth
Bush's latest assertion that he does NOT foresee a long-term American military presence in Iraq coupled with a surreptitious readjusting of expectations regarding the nature of the democracy that may (is likely?) to emerge there represents the type of well polished compound message that inspires "shock and awe" in the minds of we few who are inclined to dissect softball interviews.
Because I'm in an exceptionally good mood today, I'll tread lightly on the first message's prima facie absurdity. Bush has no idea how long our forces will be required to stay in Iraq and has spent an inordinate amount of time trying to paint Kerry as a "cut and run" artist for suggesting we consider how and when we might withdraw some fraction of the personnel currently "in country".
Taking a cue from Dennis Miller, I’ll also give the president “a pass” on the substance of the second part of the message. Most of us see the puppet government in Iraq as the house of cards built on quicksand that it is, as opposed to the bastion of democracy our administration has tried to spin into existence.
No -- today I will not quibble on the substance of the president’s message, the likely death of thousands of our finest notwithstanding. Today I choose to stand in awe of the president’s ability to smuggle this verbal container, laidened with a huge weapon of mass distortion, into the collective “port of entry” of the American psyche. Guess it’s not just our physical borders that are porous and vulnerable.
Finally, in the spirit of national unity that Bush promised but was unable to deliver, I’ll resist the temptation to add “fundamentalist Muslim democracy” to the lexicon of oxymorons to which this administration has so faithfully and consistently contributed.
Because I'm in an exceptionally good mood today, I'll tread lightly on the first message's prima facie absurdity. Bush has no idea how long our forces will be required to stay in Iraq and has spent an inordinate amount of time trying to paint Kerry as a "cut and run" artist for suggesting we consider how and when we might withdraw some fraction of the personnel currently "in country".
Taking a cue from Dennis Miller, I’ll also give the president “a pass” on the substance of the second part of the message. Most of us see the puppet government in Iraq as the house of cards built on quicksand that it is, as opposed to the bastion of democracy our administration has tried to spin into existence.
No -- today I will not quibble on the substance of the president’s message, the likely death of thousands of our finest notwithstanding. Today I choose to stand in awe of the president’s ability to smuggle this verbal container, laidened with a huge weapon of mass distortion, into the collective “port of entry” of the American psyche. Guess it’s not just our physical borders that are porous and vulnerable.
Finally, in the spirit of national unity that Bush promised but was unable to deliver, I’ll resist the temptation to add “fundamentalist Muslim democracy” to the lexicon of oxymorons to which this administration has so faithfully and consistently contributed.
posted by grp at 10:01 AM
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