Roughing It On The Bush

Every now and then, someone writes a good, genuine rhetorical slamming-- a piece that takes its subject by the hair and pounds it repeatedly, viciously, and let's not forget righteously, against a metaphorical wall made of real concrete. (Martin Luther would be the patron saint of this if he hadn't rejected the position on principle. ) Here, however, is the best example of the form I've seen recently, offered for your cranium-crushing delectation. Sure, it veers into aborted epilogues four or five times, the conclusion's entirely too trite, and it loses points for electing a subject so low on the level-of-difficulty scale (as opposed to Christopher Hitchens, who invariably assails the unassailable and consequently comes off more battered than his subject). But it does manage some impressive polemical drop-kicks and piledrivings, most of which provide at least some perverse pleasure along the way. Read it in that light, and you'll have fun. Unless, of course, you're a die-hard Shrubbie, in which case fun's probably beyond your capacity.

The Power of Myth

Briefly: If you missed it, check out Bill Moyers' report Buying the War online here. It's a fairly searing indictment of the journalistic complicity that helped get the US into the Iraq debacle, though it's largely old news to those of us in other parts of the world. In Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and many other countries, the media were deeply-- and often quite profoundly-- skeptical of the case for war. (And that's why Canada, for example, stayed the hell out of it.) The failures of the American fourth estate were as horrifying as they were galling. BTW, since Moyers' report was aired this week, you'd think the major Sunday chat-shows out of the States would have addressed some of the issues raised and accusations made. You'd think.

Something to remember: the Shrubbies aren't the only ones in a state of denial. Enablers always are.