December 14, 2004, Scenes from a Cakewalk
One of the funniest television shticks I've ever seen was but a moment: on an NBC television special hosted by Don Rickles in the early 1970's, the network decided to feature another of its stars, and asked Rickles to point him out. Rickles did so, as follows: "Ladies and gentlemen, its Mr. Bob Hope! I guess the war must be over!" [It wasn't.]
Fast forward to a less funny moment in what has now moved into the ranks of bloodiest American military adventures, and what now passes for "entertaining the troops", an event attended by around 1,000 service personnel (same number roughly as combat dead) at Camp Liberty, Iraq, where the "celebrities" were Robin "It's pronounced Ork" Williams, former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and (wtf) "sportscaster" and model(?) Leeann Tweeden...
Well, in a world where Senator McCain can tell us he has no confidence (whatsoever) in Secretarissimo Rumsfeld and his handling of the Iraq fiasco, and His Holiness the President's response is that Rummy is doing a "tremendous job" (an upgrade from his previous "superb job"), I guess this is what our troops get (they're sure as hell not going to get decent armor for body or vehicles, or anything like an appropriate overall strategy, as we continue to merrily ensure our ultimate defeat with each "offensive" we "win").
Well, hey-- we're killing more of them than they are of us... so we're winning, right? Lessons seemingly not learned by Senator McCain. A lesson not learned, for that matter, by Senator Kerry (or the rubes in Iowa and New Hampshire who foist him on us as Democratic nominee because they valued "winning" over principle and thereby achieved neither). Had Kerry, of course, been willing to acknowledge that just one mistaken politically opportunistic vote for war was a gross mistake and that the only way to "support our troops" was to extricate them from the Mesopotamian killing fields ASAP, he would almost certainly now be the President-elect.
No matter. Shades of the last time we measured "winning" in this peculiar manner of "more of them than us"... Cheesy USO shows... Can helicopters from the embassy roof be far behind?
Comments
What are we doing sending people over there to entertain the troops?
They are doing a fine job of entertaining themselves:
Marines in Iraq were convicted by military trials of committing a variety of abuses of captured Iraqis, including using an electric transformer to shock a detainee repeatedly to make him "dance," according to documents released Tuesday.
...
Another marine was sentenced to 90 days' confinement for squirting a flammable liquid on a detainee's hands and then lighting it with a match, also at Mahmudiya, in August 2003. The detainee suffered second-degree burns.
Posted by rorschach at December 15, 2004 11:28 AM
. Had Kerry, of course, been willing to acknowledge that just one mistaken politically opportunistic vote for war was a gross mistake and that the only way to "support our troops" was to extricate them from the Mesopotamian killing fields ASAP, he would almost certainly now be the President-elect.
I don't know about that one, TD. I really think that the debate was too skewered for Kerry to have won. If he would have admitted a mistake, it would have just been one more log on the fire for El Presidente.
Put it this way-- if last January, the DNC made a wish list of things they wanted to happen to unseat Bush, in their wildest dreams it couldn't have been as favorable as what actually happened. Abu Graib, escalating violence in Iraq, no WMD, Bush saying he doesn't care about Bin Laden, Bush looking like a fool in at least one debate, Farenheit 9-11, OBL dropping videos right before the election.
Kerry goes out and says the war's a mistake, and that he voted poorly. I don't think that changes one person's mind.
Posted by Tom at December 15, 2004 12:22 PM
Tom--
Harry Truman said it best: if given the choice between a Republican and a Republican, the American people will chose the Republican every time.
2004 was no exception.
Posted by the talking dog at December 15, 2004 3:20 PM
What Kerry should have said: "Yes, I voted for the damned war because I was deceived by George W Bush. I've made a vow to never be deceived by him again and if you never want to be deceived by him again, then vote for me."
Posted by Michael Farris at December 15, 2004 3:23 PM
Regardless of what Kerry should have said, Kerry was the wrong candidate. The TV-tainted public simply prefers a C student, hypocrite, recovering alcholic "regular guy" who doesn't use big words--they just plain don't like them snooty interlectials. And the Republican PR/attack/smear apparatus was very successful--it didn't matter what Kerry said or did: people watch and believe Fox, Swift Boat vets, etc. The post-election poll, in which a large portions of those who voted for Bush indicated that they believed he was for improved national health care, stronger Social Security benefits, and stem cell research, tell the whole story. Most people do not have the faintest freakin' idea what policies the candidates espouse--they vote for the most "likable" guy and assume that the most likable guy shares their own views. Inexplicably, they thought Bush was more "likable." They also thought Teresa was "foreign" and "unladylike." Personally, I'd rather shoot the breeze with either Kerry over either Bush any day, but . . . .
Posted by mamayo at December 15, 2004 4:10 PM
Mamayo: Sadly true. By the end of Bush's second term, these people are going to discover that the warm fuzzies and a dollar will get them 57 euros and not much else.
Posted by Miss Authoritiva at December 16, 2004 10:17 AM
Miss A.--
A dollar will get them more like .57 euros, or as I fear, maybe .057 or .0057...
Just because most Americans are TOO STUPID to do math and science doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for accuracy.
And yes, I AM SHOWING CONTEMPT FOR MY FELLOW AMERICANS-- SOMETHING DEMOCRATS HAVEN'T DONE NEARLY ENOUGH OF, RATHER THAN TOO MUCH OF. Some points of view are really NOT worthy of respect-- and I'm sick and tired of Democrats and Democratic campaigns thinking they can win by pandering to such points of view.
There. I said it.
Posted by the talking dog at December 16, 2004 10:25 AM
Yes, you can always count on the TD for a dose of some good old fashioned morality. Particularly touching this time of year. And the comments from the "usual bunch." Heartwarming indeed.
Ok, group hug everybody.
Now cut it out! Don't you realize fortunes are being made as you pontificate?
Posted by Hassan Bar Sinister at December 16, 2004 11:37 AM
The post-election poll, in which a large portions of those who voted for Bush indicated that they believed he was for improved national health care, stronger Social Security benefits, and stem cell research, tell the whole story.
That fact keeps a friend of mine up at night. For some reason, I am not shocked by it. I don't really know why. Bush supporters are stupid! Shock! Awe! It would have been more shocking if his supporters DID know what he stood for. Then, you'd have to wonder why they were voting for him.
I don't think there was a better candidate than Kerry. I really don't. Bush was able to control the dialog, largely because he was the sitting president.
It saddens me to the point of nausea that people Kerry would have helped don't have the sense to vote for him. But, in the words of JCM: Ain't that America, for you and me.
Posted by Tom at December 16, 2004 3:46 PM
Umm. Ouch. Okay. But you got my basic point, right? Would you be kind enough to balance out my checkbook register, too? Even though it doesn't entail foreign currency conversions, it still has lots of wandering decimal points.
Posted by Miss Authoritiva at December 18, 2004 3:40 AM
The problem in this country is people can't think for themselves. They someone or something to do it for them.
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