Iraq, and Tabloid Politics
First Hillary and Bill were caught making up after you know what. Now Obama. In February, get ready for McCain. But first, Iraq.
Why Senator Kennedy wants a
\”quick vote\” on his legislation. He wrote it plainly today: Escalation?
It\’s not his decision to make.
I talked about it today on my radio show. Podcasts are below. But first a little
bit about my show. My radio show is not the same as my blog, neither is the
content. Thus I offer Obama\’s pic, while talking about McCain\’s, er… well,
you\’ll see. My show starts off with the lighter side of the news, including
tabloid stuff and non-political items, including items I find. We get to the
serious issues after that. The point is that radio is meant to be entertaining
as well as informative. If I was on basic radio on your a.m. dial, this is what
my show would be. My blog is different. I don\’t do the dish I do on radio. To
that end, you might need a little background for the McCain teaser I offer today
on the show. You could reference my old column on Rush
Limbaugh\’s \”My Ding-a-Ling\” radio show, which revolved around
Al Gore\’s package that became quite the dish during the 2000 election when Gore appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. Well, it\’s not Rolling
Stone, but Vanity Fair
who has the first package shot of the super early \’08 campaign season. Get the
February issue. You\’ll see… or there is a possibility that I\’m wrong! Nah.
But the story today is Mr. Bush\’s escalation, which is on. Cue the
theme song. See below.
One widespread, and plausible, theory is that the surge constitutes a last-ditch
effort at success. The thinking goes like this: Maybe this will work; and
if it doesn\’t work, the United States can cut its losses and pull back without
making the retreat seem like too disastrous a debacle. \”We gave it our
all,\” the president could say; \”don\’t blame us that it fell apart.\”
And, since Kagan and other surge-advocates are saying the plan would take
about two years to succeed or fail, the next president—not Bush—would
be the one who orders, and takes all the heat for, the retreat.I am not one who likens the Iraq war to Vietnam, but there is an eerie parallel
to a memo that John McNaughton, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara\’s closest
aide, sent to him on March 24, 1965, after it seemed clear that the Rolling
Thunder bombing campaign was producing scant results. \”The situation
in Vietnam is bad and deteriorating,\” McNaughton wrote. The important
aim now is to \”avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat (to our reputation as
a guarantor).\”Mission Impossible
Bush\’s smart new general can\’t save Iraq.
Tomorrow is the big day. Democrats are ready.
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