I think I need to clarify that I’m not really a big fan of Mahmoud’s. You know I’m just irresistibly drawn to dictators, tyrants and warlords, e.g. I still say bring back Saddam if you want law and order in a secular Iraq. And isn’t that what we in the West want for Iraq: law, order, secular government?
In last week’s Time their reporter in Baghdad wrote: “In 3-1/2 years of covering Iraq, I have not come across a single leader who has seemed able to rise above petty political or sectarian interests.” Isn’t this the cue for Saddam to clear his throat loudly and point to himself? Say what you like about the old Doritos-chomper, but he rose above all petty politics and kept sectarian interests strictly under control.
But back to Mahmoud. It was the 60 Minutes interview that convinced me that there was more to Mahmoud than his spiffy beige jacket. Unfortunately, if he thought he could be a bigger jerk than Mike Wallace, he didn’t realize he was totally out of his league. To quote an e-mail from My Contact in the Nation’s Capital: “Wallace is a self-righteous giant tool”. (It’s the “giant” part that made me laugh.) I’m still trying to figure out the logic of the 60 Minutes producers: “Let’s make Ahmadinejad look bad by making Mike Wallace look even worse”. Brilliant strategy. Of course, it had the opposite effect. Wallace’s job is to terrorize the interviewee. Nobody wants to picture themselves on the receiving end of Wallace’s withering condescension. Why doesn’t he retire? How old is he now? 150? Give it up, Mike, stay home and terrorize your family.
It seems that all American networks were being snarky about Mahmoud’s blog last night. This naturally made me wonder what Bush’s blog would be about: Biking, brush-clearing, strutting, exercising, and maybe a bit about baseball. Nothing else really interests him.
Worrying point. I read Seymour Hersh’s latest article in the New Yorker, about how Lebanon is a test run for the bombing of Iran. Now, you would think, wouldn’t you, that seeing how difficult Hezbollah turned out to be, Bush would be reconsidering, but no. It was a great defeat for Hezbollah, so full steam ahead. The man is clueless.
1 comment:
This part I can't stand that neo-conservative "we can take on anything" attitude. No. No we can't we are stretched so thin militarily that it's a running joke here.
Never mind that much as we might not like what other countries are doing, we have previous military commintments. Like oh, say find bin Laden and the mess that is Iraq.
Gah. Raises my blood pressure just thinking about it.
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