That's a long story

Billmon on the reprehensible new Republican ad touting Bush’s “policy of pre-emptive self defense.” Make sure to read (or view) the ad, which is also on the link. The line I liked best was “Some are now attacking the president for attacking the terrorists.” Note the use of the word attacking two times, to equate legitimate criticism with assassinations, pre-emptive self defense (wars), and indefinite detention.

In Britain, Bush visited a “special” school. A 12-year old “special” student stumped him with a “special” question about Iraq. He said, “That’s a long story. I will have to tell you about that at another time.” The same student asked Blair about his heart difficulties (which we now know he lied about), and got the same answer.

Bush visited Tony Blurr’s constituency in Sedgefield, had the fish and chips (which he ate with his hands and dunked in ketchup), mushy peas, and the alcohol-free ale, in a 4-hour visit that cost County Durham £1 million for security. So there goes the health clinic. And so the visit to Britain, to celebrate the establishment of democracy by spending a lot of time with a hereditary monarch, comes to an end.

This Sunday, The Simpsons are going to England. Blair’s people worked very hard to make sure that no tapes of the episode reached Britain during the state visit. Tony Blair’s voice will appear, but not the Archbishop of Canterbury’s (yes, they asked him, he’s a fan, but he’s not stupid). And not Posh and Becks.

Remember those Japanese soldiers who never heard about the war ending? The Japanese government thinks there are some still out there in the Philippines and is going looking for them. An article in The Times on this also mentions a farmer in Honduras who fled into the jungle and hid for 32 years after the 1969 border war with El Salvador, which was over in four days.

The Post says that Evangelicals are upset that Bush said that Christians and Muslims worship the same god. It is, of course, ridiculously easy to upset Evangelicals, and a lot of fun.