Quote of the day
Daniel Radosh? Where to start with Donald Rumsfeld's masterwork of indignant denial. Most stories spotlighted "Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes," which I have to admit is kind of enticing to those of us who live in the land of the free (I'm gonna bust into the White House and steal some chairs, yo!). Then there was the they're-looting-"symbols of the regime" defense, which must be news to the civilians who saw their homes, stores, hospitals, and museums ransacked. But I kind of liked the part where he said the photographers just happen to get off a few lucky shots. "I could do that in any city in America. Think what's happened in our cities when we've had riots and problems and looting. Stuff happens!" He continues in that vein for a while. Worth reading the whole thing. Now I'm not saying things won't eventually calm down (soon people are going to have to resort to looting the looters if they want to get anything good) and Iraq will still be better off than under Saddam, if messier, but Rummy's whiplash turn from gloating to defensiveness is sure delicious.
Meanwhile, this photo had me fuming all over again about Chris Hitchens' idiotic "barely a 'war' at all" claim. I think the average American personally knows about 500 people. Let's say a shmoozer like Hitchens knows twice that. Somehow I think if he could imagine every person he knows dead -- and then multiply that by five to ten -- he wouldn't be so quick to claim that "scarcely" any blood was spilled. It's not just me, the guy's gone totally delusional, right?
Also in Slate, the ever-smart Kinsley says victory in war does not equal victory in the argument about the war -- though I for one still think it's possible that Saddam had some CBW's, though not in any quantity or type to remotely threaten the US.