Day: March 19, 2003

Steve reports on the job.
Whole lotta nothing being shown on the teevee now. Lots of talking heads trying to find different ways to say “target of opportunity” over and over again.
Hmmm… hey Steve, do you have a deck of cards or something? This could get dull real fast…
-NZB
PS – An no, unlike the intrepid VodkaGuy, I’m not planning on blogging all night. That dratted Real Job to get to and all that, you know; a bear must get his beauty rest…
PPS – Sean-Paul is on duty as well. Remind me again, who was supposed to bring the beer to this party?

Looks like it’s on tonight. Or rather, this morning, Iraq time.
Could we really be intending to do the first phase of full-scale bombing in daylight? Given all the ‘shock and awe’ talk, I suppose it’s possible.
And where the hell’s the usual crew? Steve? Glenn? Come on, I’m the B-list here, boys, get yer damned pages updated….

Am I the only one who gets a sinking feeling whenever CNN or MSNBC shows one of their (few remaining) correspondents reporting live from Baghdad?
Folks, let me be clear. If by any chance any of you intrepid journalists are reading this humble blog: get the hell out of there. I can do without the live video and headshots of you bravely silhouetted against the night sky filled with tracer rounds, honest.
And more to the point: I can also do without the shot of you, haggard and terrified, a week from now on a shaky videotape released by the last Special Republican Guard units remaining loyal who have holed up in a mosque with you as their hostages.
This is not Gulf War I. This is real, and nobody is screwing around.
Get. Out. Now.

It would seem that today will be the day.
I can’t help thinking of this conflict less as a war, in the traditional sense, and more as a hostage rescue. The lunatic has holed up, armed to the teeth and surrounded by innocent bystanders who were unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. His henchmen stand by his side; some rabidly willing to die for the Great Man; others who long ago took what they thought was the path of least resistance, hoping against hope that it would never lead to this moment here. And many, many more who were dragged into the fight; told to place their body in front of his, else they and those they love would lose everything.
The lunatic continues ranting and raving, threatening to wreak havok if his own worldview is not confirmed as the only true one; if his demands are not met and his whims are not indulged.
The question is not whether the lunatic wins; it never is. The question is how many innocents die when the law finally comes to take him down.
Today, or very soon, we’ll begin to learn the answer to that question.
My best thoughts and wishes go out to the men and women of our military, those of our allies, and the innocent people of Iraq. And yes, in that order. And I fix my hopes on the remote possibility that, against all logic, we will not see reprisal attacks against innocents here at home and around the world — and if not, that they may be limited, and that the loss of life and property be small.
I have no prayers to give, but on days like these, sometimes I wish that were not so. But it is, and so to all those confronting the lunatic for this last time, I can say only: good luck to you.
PS – To those of you who are about to add a comment saying that my description applies better to George Bush: don’t bother. You’re just embarassing yourselves.
Update: Simberg agrees…

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“An examination of anti-semitism on the web, particularly in its disguise as anti-zionism”
Amen to that!
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