Friday, December 24, 2004
Rummynation -- you get what you vote for
Rumsfeld penetrates my news blackout!
This just in from the Department of Duh, as reported by the No Surpises Here section of the newspaper:
Donald Rumsfeld does not care about the lives of the troops!
Don't get me wrong, I think it's gross that Rummy has been signing condolence letters with a pen machine, yet part of me can't help but feel two cynical reactions. First, the outrage over this is yet another example of Americans' penchant for elevating symbolism over substance. The real outrage is the administration's poor planning of the Iraq war, reflecting a callousness for the lives and safety of the troops, combined with its hypocrisy in attempting to manipulate symbols to prove the opposite.
Second, what do you expect? Rumsfeld actually is a machine. Didn't his nod-nod/wink-wink role in the torture tactics on Iraqi prisoners, among other things, give a sort of clue that this is not a man with a big, warm heart? And how about that Dick Cheney fellow? There's a walking pen-machine man if I ever saw one!
The growing chorus of Republican voices calling for Rumsfeld's resignation -- starting several weeks ago with John McCain on the more substantive ground that Rumsfeld has been botching the Iraq campaign from the outset -- raises an interesting state of affairs. The outcome either way will provide a significant window into the Bush administration.
If Rumsfeld resigns, it would constitute an acknowledgment by the w Bush administration that it has in fact botched the Iraq campaign, that it is not going well today or last fall, and that Bush's protestations to the contrary during the campaign were naked lies.
If Rumsfeld does not resign, it would strongly support my thesis that the "L'il Man of the Year" George w. Bush is not in fact running the show, but rather that he is spokesmodel for a small cabal of hardheaded pen machines of which Rumsfeld is a key member.
Now that I think of it, these headlines too would come straight from the Department of Duh.
This just in from the Department of Duh, as reported by the No Surpises Here section of the newspaper:
Donald Rumsfeld does not care about the lives of the troops!
Don't get me wrong, I think it's gross that Rummy has been signing condolence letters with a pen machine, yet part of me can't help but feel two cynical reactions. First, the outrage over this is yet another example of Americans' penchant for elevating symbolism over substance. The real outrage is the administration's poor planning of the Iraq war, reflecting a callousness for the lives and safety of the troops, combined with its hypocrisy in attempting to manipulate symbols to prove the opposite.
Second, what do you expect? Rumsfeld actually is a machine. Didn't his nod-nod/wink-wink role in the torture tactics on Iraqi prisoners, among other things, give a sort of clue that this is not a man with a big, warm heart? And how about that Dick Cheney fellow? There's a walking pen-machine man if I ever saw one!
The growing chorus of Republican voices calling for Rumsfeld's resignation -- starting several weeks ago with John McCain on the more substantive ground that Rumsfeld has been botching the Iraq campaign from the outset -- raises an interesting state of affairs. The outcome either way will provide a significant window into the Bush administration.
If Rumsfeld resigns, it would constitute an acknowledgment by the w Bush administration that it has in fact botched the Iraq campaign, that it is not going well today or last fall, and that Bush's protestations to the contrary during the campaign were naked lies.
If Rumsfeld does not resign, it would strongly support my thesis that the "L'il Man of the Year" George w. Bush is not in fact running the show, but rather that he is spokesmodel for a small cabal of hardheaded pen machines of which Rumsfeld is a key member.
Now that I think of it, these headlines too would come straight from the Department of Duh.
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