or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
April 07, 2008
New TomDispatch
General Entrap-Us or General Entrapped?Posted at April 7, 2008 10:32 AM
Democrats Should Treat Petraeus and His Surge as Irrelevant
By Ira ChernusIt was supposed to be a "cakewalk." General Petraeus would come to Congress, armed with his favorite charts showing that the "surge" had dramatically reduced violence in Iraq. He would earn universal acclaim for his plan to "pause" troop reductions from July until after the election in November -- the same plan that John McCain counts on to help him win that election.
When it comes to Iraq, though, the Bush administration's cakewalks never seem to turn out as planned. The renewed violence of these last weeks in Iraq, and the prospect of more to come, gives war critics ample ammunition for a counterattack...
Decoding the Battle over Iraq
It should have been obvious all along that the Republicans do not mean it literally when they claim that reducing violence in Iraq is their highest priority. It's not likely that too many of them care a whole lot about the killing and maiming of Iraqis. So when they speak so urgently about lower levels of violence, it's a coded way of saying something else; in fact, a lot of things.
HOPELESSNESS springs eternal from the Democrat's breast. Much like Charles, them A-rabs WILL get US out of THEIR country. (it'll just take a while and end up bloody) Meanwhile any sream engine will run on coal and there's PLENTY here in Wyoming. (I'm assuming gas and diesel are going to get a little expensive) I'm voting for Michael Meyer.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at April 7, 2008 01:29 PMYes, the good Professor Chernus has some fine advice for the Democrats on how they can best frame the debate about Iraq, but as he admits, they aren't going to take his advice.
So we can expect that the "debate" about the Iraq war will continue to be: "How can we be more effective imperialists?" and "Why aren't the Iraqis more grateful for the precious gift of freedom that we have given them?" It can't be anything else, because the only "antiwar" voices that will be allowed on the establishment media are the voices of Democratic elected officials. Oh, if we could only get the proper words to come out of their mouths!
That's why I think of the American left's relationship to the Democrats this way:
You (the left) are handcuffed to the bars of a prison cell. Just out of reach is a ticking time bomb. The door of the cell is open, so if you just had a key to the handcuffs, you could escape.
Oh, and did I mention the monkey? Yes, there's a monkey in the cell with you, and he's got something shiny in his hand - it's a little key, maybe it's the key to the handcuffs!
Right now, he's using the key to scratch at the lice in his armpits, but if you could get his attention, he might come towards you, and you could snatch the key from him and save yourself! (And the monkey too, of course.)
Gesture to him, maybe you can get him to look your way! Yes, now he's looking at you... come here, little monkey! Oh, now he's found a peanut in the corner, and has to go investigate that. No, it's not a peanut after all.
Wave at him! Hey, maybe if you make a sound like a monkey, he will come towards you - yeah, that's it! How does a monkey sound? Oooh ooh ooh? Oh, that's scaring him, and now he's hiding in the corner. Too bad.
Posted by: SteveB at April 8, 2008 09:19 AM
