THE STRAW MEN ATTACK!

DICK CHENEY


After a quiet couple of weeks from Tricky Dick (version 2.0), Mr. Cheney came out from his hidden bunker in an undisclosed location with a vengeance yesterday, this time throwing around a straw man argument that is quite possibly lamer than just about any straw man his "boss" has ever come up with. From Reuters:

"Some in our own country claim retreat from Iraq would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone," Cheney told a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno, Nevada. "A precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would be ... a ruinous blow to the future security of the United States."

That right there is the very definition of a straw man! NO ONE anywhere has ever ever ever ever said what he just said!!! EVER!!! It just boggles the mind. I mean, just the inference that a terrorist has an appetite that can be satisfied makes no sense. There is nothing on the planet that we could give the "terrorists" (as if they are some sort of monolithic entity) that would "satsify their appetite." Dear lord, but it's just so frustrating! We could pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow and cut off all support to Israel immediately and "the terrorists" would still be plotting ways to attack us! Their demands mean bupkis to them. These people are fanatics. They are operating on a level that we cannot hope to understand, much less conquer, as long as people like Bush and Cheney are in power.
Last Friday, Al Franken said something on his radio show to the effect of "the biggest mistake we've made in the Middle East is attempting to simplify a very complex situation." There aren't any easy answers for Iraq or the Middle East as a whole. And because of that fact, no one has ever made a statement about placating their appetites by leaving Iraq.

This November will be a big test for voters. Think of it as a midterm before the final exam in 2008. Have voters wised up to the fact that the GOP has nothing to offer them except for straw men and bogus terror alerts? Unfortunately, over the last two election cycles, the majority of voters have bought into this fear and smear paradigm. The 2006 elections are going to be a big test as to whether Americans have learned this crucial lesson.