Fantasy Land
by ChrisDecember 17th, 2004 10:00 am
By anyone’s standards, terrible things are happening in Iraq, and no amount of self-congratulation in Washington can take the edge off the horror being endured by American troops or the unrelenting agony of the Iraqi people. The disconnect between the White House’s fantasyland and the world of war in Iraq could hardly have been illustrated more starkly than by a pair of front-page articles in The New York Times on Dec. 10. The story at the top of the page carried the headline: “It’s Inauguration Time Again, and Access Still Has Its Price - $250,000 Buys Lunch With President and More.”
The headline on the story beneath it said: “Armor Scarce for Heavy Trucks Transporting U.S. Cargo in Iraq.”
…
The man who took the lead in vetting Bernie Kerik, the White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, was also the point person in the administration’s bid to duck the constraints of the Geneva Conventions, and even to justify torture.
Mr. Gonzales is a favorite of the president, who has nominated him to be attorney general and may someday appoint him to the Supreme Court.
Medals anyone? The president may actually believe that this crowd is the best and brightest America has to offer. Which is disturbing.
Metals for failure, promotions to reward incompetence and cruelty, blind eyes gazing on the brutality of the Iraq war and declaring that all is well. Par for the course. The American People voted for this mess and we’ve got four more years of it to look forward to. I fear the worst is yet to come.
