They’re full of energy and they’re very eager to succeed

Went to the vet today. Was kept waiting 43 minutes. The fee for the visit: $43.

Happy Mission Accomplished Day. I know it seems like ages have passed since The Day of the Stuffed Flight Suit, the day the mission was in fact accomplished, and our memories of the Iraq War have faded into the nostalgic sepia tones of simpler times...


At today’s Gaggle, a reporter repeatedly tried to get McClellan whether Bush could stand under a Mission Accomplished sign today (the correct answer is “Of course he could, because he can’t read”). After several tries at that, there came this exchange:

Q Let me ask it another way: Has the mission been accomplished?

MR. McCLELLAN: Next question.

Q Has the mission been accomplished?

MR. McCLELLAN: We’re on the way to accomplishing the mission and achieving victory.

Asked whether Colin Powell did indeed express reservations about the number of troops being sent to Iraq, Scotty said: “The President, when he was making the decision, looked to his team to provide advice, and he welcomed all advice that his team provided, and there was a lot of advice provided during that time. ... I can’t go back all the way to that time and relive all the advice that was given.”

Zeynep (Under the Same Sun) calls Orwellian the claim that the US can’t return prisoners now in Guantanamo to their home countries because they might be treated... wait for it... inhumanely. Breathtaking in its audacity, yes, but it might actually be worse than Orwellian, a term which implies cynical knowing distortion of the truth: the Bushies might well genuinely believe that America’s motives are so pure and enlightened that the exact same treatment is somehow a superior experience to those at its sharp end when meted out by Americans than it is when inflicted by the dusky hands of lesser nations.

Bush recounts Condi & Rummy’s impressions of the new Iraqi leaders: “they were optimistic people, that they’re full of energy and they’re very eager to succeed.” Sound like interns or cheerleaders or puppy dogs or something.

Another line from Condi’s appearance on Face the Nation: “you defeat an insurgency through politics, not just through military force.” Oh dear, I think Zarqawi’s about to be... Swift Boated.