Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[harrypothead]

Spinning Like a Broken Record
Or, George W. back on the offensive
by Christopher Deliso
balkanalysis.com

Buffeted by criticism from all quarters, crippled by plummeting polls and with his trustworthiness in doubt for an increasing number of Americans, President George W. Bush did on Friday what he's always done whenever his policies are questioned: he launched a stubborn frontal assault on detractors allegedly less patriotic and less protective of the homeland than himself. In doing so, he once again sounded like a broken record, scratching and skipping in garbled tones over the same old baleful dirge.

In an angry and predictable Veteran's Day speech, Bush accosted his critics as "deeply irresponsible" for questioning the rationale that led us to war in Iraq, desperately insisting that "these baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will."

Yep, it's the same old nonsense we've been hearing for four years now: the country is at war, and now is not the time to question why the country is at war, because when the country is at war, any dissent is unpatriotic and harmful to the troops' morale.

Yet perhaps the troops' morale in Iraq is less affected by antiwar protesters in America than by, say, getting shafted out of body armor and bonuses and armored Humvees by the Pentagon. Citing military sources who say the Army is "on the verge of snapping," Bob Herbert recently discussed the effects that the "bring 'em on" president's wars have had on the soldiers:

http://www.antiwar.com/deliso/?articleid=8020