DOA in IOWA

What's up with all that that which will not be mentioned? Why has Bush's legacy been non-grata in Iowa? While many Americans are hooked on Wii^®, others are filled with ennui. (A significant number evidently thinks that clever can substitute for philosophical - troubled times indeed!)  Is history being accurately described to us or do we have to settle for one long string of concocted stories?

The savvy reader, taking stock of 2007, is reminded of the dangers of rooting for outcomes aligned with one's pre-conceived notions. At this time last year, this disaster which was Rumsfeld's was stripped down, sanded, and waiting for a fresh coat of good news.

There was such an investment in waiting for the Petraeus report that it blinded many to the realities on the ground in Iraq. Once the focus was back on abstractions, the ramifications of its civil war took a back seat to a wait and see attitude. These pages described it thus: "And now, along with the new year, we enter some supposed new phase. Judging solely by the swagger of five of the most powerful people in government on the lawn of the Crawford ranch, bad things await ripening. (My guess is they run contrary to what Democrats and reporters say was the meaning of the mid-term elections.)" Who knew an N.I.E. on Iranian intentions would take the wind out of those ample neo-con sails?

When Karl Rove recently flubbed an attempt to blame congressional Democrats for a rush to war in 2002, many were left puzzled. I had expected it for the better part of a year. "Allowing yourself the luxury of waiting for the right time to place the inevitable Iraq legacy on Democratic shoulders is concurrently a sign that the strategy to place credit on your own has been a miserable failure." Rove's attempt was so careless, and perhaps half-hearted, it bombed. But one should be reminded that, at its peak efficiency, the Rove machine was proffering just such conceits and they went uncontested by a flaccid press and a borderline disloyal opposition.

Late in January a story highlighted the disconnect between minutes of cabinet meetings and White House press releases. Of course we'll never get to see the former, or have to wait a long, long time, but what else can one infer from truly authoritative sources? "On any given 'bad news Friday' you may read that a Senator has revealed that Bush actually wanted permission to wage war on the region, including Iran, not just on Iraq. Some wrinkle turned up by the new Democratic subpoena power? Grab your Pepto, Chester, the story comes from the nearly disowned and totally authentic, Chuck Hagel."

Now we just need Senator McCain to come clean about his insider's perspective on torture and the hastily convened White House strategy sessions after a series of leaked reports revealed we commit it routinely.

Whistle blowers figured heavily in 2007 - perhaps none with more impact on the citizenry than David Iglesias, attorney from New Mexico who got phone calls from the Congressional delegation to bring indictments against state Democrats before the mid-term elections. The firing of eight US attorneys was supposed to be viewed as presidential prerogative, nothing more.

I was not alone in my disagreement: "The reassurance that the cause of justice is paramount is undermined by exercising the prerogative to fire in mid term. The appearance that the US attorney replacements were meant to better align the corps with policy competes with the appearance that the dismissals were punishment for past failures to align and bend to political pressures."

2007 had its share of hypocrisies. Al Sharpton made an issue of Don Imus to the point of getting him fired, and then went back to life as normal. Within a couple of weeks I was writing: "But scary religious bigotry manifests itself not only in the de-facto theocracy of the right wing's expressed intentions. Referring to the Mormon in the race, Reverend Sharpton, slayer of alien gods, said to Christopher Hitchens, slayer of any and all gods, "...those that really believe in God will defeat him anyway." Five or six days later and he's not having to go on Mormon talk radio and prostrate himself. Bingo! There's the difference between Al Sharpton and Don Imus. Sharpton's juice is boycott-proof. He lives to blat another day."

As the year progressed and the surge was being applauded for its accomplishments, news of strange alliances with once avowed enemies could easily have made one think the occupation was the whole point of the occupation. Then the question of why would certainly follow. "I can't help but think that there is a corporate cabal which can't wait to get back its (er, the Iraqi people's) oil. My strongest evidence is the plethora of reasons for continuing our occupation. If we've learned anything about Bush and his crew, it's that whatever you're being told is either unprovable, conceited or tautological. The truth is usually to be found wherever something is said to be absolutely not so. This is not a war for oil. QED."

2007 had its viral video moments like the "don't tase me bro'" guy. "While much attention was paid to the man who was tased even though he called the campus policeman his 'bro,' the more nuanced, even ironic angle to the story was that a dissenter to Iraq policy has better luck disturbing an appearance by someone like Senator Kerry than the president, vice-president or others in the upper echelons of government."

The year ends with few surprises. The White House continues to get a free pass in turning every important issue into a 'he said - she said' scenario, the kind that soap opera writers love and now, evidently, cable news producers.

Right before the now famous N.I.E. debunked some of the push, much ratcheting was taking place. "First come the framers to test the waters. The thinkateers are everywhere on the move. The Ledeens: 'They (Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno) know that Iran and Syria still have a free shot at us across long borders, and Gen. Petraeus told Congress last month that it would not be possible to win in Iraq if our mission were restricted to that country.' By the time Dick Cheney explains it to Tim Russert, it will feel like old hat. First cause for strike against Iran not panning out? Trot out a good number two, as it were."

Those are some highlights of 2007 from these pages. Next week, we'll know who's moving on ahead and who's DOA in Iowa. But for now, Happy New Year, savvy reader! Salud!

Next week: Calendar Girl

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