Fabio

Knight Templar

The threat to men of great dignity, privilege and pretense
is not from the radicals they revile;
it is from accepting their own myth.
Exposure to reality remains the nemesis of the great
-- a little understood thing
--John Kenneth Galbraith

Miniver loved the days of old
When swords were bright and steeds were prancing
The vision of a warrior bold
Would send him dancing
--Miniver Cheevy, Edward Arlington Robinson
____________

John Kenneth Galbraith said the above following the country's slide into the Great Depression.

Ranger, simple person that he is, has given a lot of thought to George W. Bush's statement last Thursday to troops in Afghanistan that the goat screw they are mired in is "in some ways romantic." And for once, Ranger totally agrees with Mr. Bush.

It is romantic, and Ranger learned this from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Romantic:

• Having no basis in fact; imaginary
• Impractical in conception or plan
• Marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized

This definition is totally in sync with Ranger's view of the whole balagan. Now, President Bush is on board.

The last definition is, "constituting the part of the hero especially in a light comedy." The problem is, George's most excellent adventure is neither a comedy nor a romance for those playing the parts in real life.

While availing ourselves of the dictionary, we also checked Walter Mitty: "An ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs."

The office of President is not a job for a Mitty or a Cheevy. Not in real life.

Proliferators of WMD are Us

George Bush is Edward Arlington Robinson's Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, if we were to read his psychology charitably. A few stanzas from the poem about our knight manque:

Miniver loved the days of old

When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;

The vision of a warrior bold

Would set him dancing.

* * *

Miniver mourned the ripe renown

That made so many a name so fragrant;

He mourned Romance, now on the town,

And Art, a vagrant.

Miniver loved the Medici,

Albeit he had never seen one;

He would have sinned incessantly

Could he have been one.

* * *

The boychick has brought on two wars that are run like PR campaigns. Pakistan is spinning on the brink of collapse. Turkey has their battle blood up, and a possible ally -- Iran -- wants a nuclear weapon, which we won't let them have (Cheney: "We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”) Right.

When Turkey's parliament recently authorized a resolution to send troops into Northern Iraq last month, one lawmaker, Nihat Ergun, explained, "Iraq has become a stomping ground for terrorists." Iraq has become a stomping ground. . .and what event presaged that sad state of affairs?

We don't seem to care that Pakistan has at least 20 nukes in a country that is anything but democratic.

We might bomb Iran, but that would only prove their argument that they need a nuclear defensive capability. Then again, GWB doesn't do nuance.

"The administration will designate the entire Revolutionary Guard [the most elite wing of Iran's military] under Executive Order 13382, signed by GWB in June 2005, which allows the United States to freeze the assets of any proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its supporters." Hello -- that would be us, with India being our newest nuclear client, if they continue their contract with us, that is. I suppose we could always claim the Fifth should push come to shove.

Whether Iran ever has a nuclear weapon is not as relevant as the question of whether the U.S. will ever return to a strong dollar. Not bloody likely with these geopolitical alignments.