Bush Ain’t No Churchill
And Iraq Ain’t No World War II... But Don’t Tell That to the G.O.P.
According to the Bush administration and its supporters, the Democrats and a majority of the American people are a cross between Benedict Arnold and Tokyo Rose. What set them off was a one-two punch from the Democrats -- the bill that would require American troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq by October 1, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's statement, "As long as we follow the president's path in Iraq, the war is lost."
The words were barely out of Reid's mouth when the Bush dead-enders -- a peculiar group now consisting of less than a quarter of the American people, two GOP congressmen and two GOP senators -- began Googling "great traitors of history,” leading White House spokesperson Dana Perini to comment that "tonight, the House of Representatives votes for failure in Iraq, and the president will veto its bill."
Bush supporters have been labeling war critics defeatists, appeasers and surrender monkeys ever since 9/11. But those who live by bogus patriotic fear mongering die by bogus patriotic fear mongering. Having cast its lot irreversibly with Bush, the GOP is now condemned to play out the dismal endgame in Iraq by his all-or-nothing rules. They have no choice but to pretend victory is at hand, attack those who say otherwise, and make up apocalyptic scenarios about what al-Qaeda will do to us if we don't stay the course.
The problem is, no one believes any of this anymore -- probably not even the people who are saying it. The gap between reality and Bush spin, always large, has become as large as the Grand Canyon. As a result, the doom-and-gloom rhetoric so beloved of the Bush administration is rapidly becoming devalued. "War is peace" just doesn't have that inspiring ring it once did.
More here:
http://www.thebulletin.com/archives/2007/may/bullpen0517.htm