Canadian Cynic

THIS is what you're up against. Seriously.

Once again, just cribbing someone else's link but, really, you have got to read this to understand the unspeakable evil that is the right wing that you're up against. Follow Kevin's link to get here, to the blog of the right-wing, complete raving loon and dingbat Glenn Reynolds, and read the two excerpts posted there.

You can, of course, ignore the first excerpt from George Will for the simple reason that Will is clinically insane and utterly detached from reality. It's been this way for quite some time, and no sentient life form takes him seriously anymore. But it's the second excerpt that leaves one gasping for air, as the authors defend the military brilliance that is George W. Bunnypants:

And if you've ever cracked a history book, you'll realize that only 1200 deaths in a year and a half of invading a dictatorship, overthrowing its dictator, and fighting a chronic insurgency is astoundingly good news ... And the Commander-in-Chief at the helm during these amazing accomplishments is called incompetent? You've got to be kidding me.

Gawd almighty, where to even begin dissecting this idiocy? "Only" 1200 deaths? I guess everyone that's lost a loved one in Iraq should take a step back and get a new perspective. Quit your damn moaning and complaining. Only 1200 deaths. Jeez, you'd think that was something to be upset over or something.

Ignore, of course, that this is the fallout of the most powerful military force on the planet, the most advanced, kick-ass fighting machine in the history of the universe, invading an impoverished, backwards, crippled-by-years-of-sanctions dictatorship. Ignore, of course, that this isn't even going to be close to the final tally of U.S. dead, given that the mortality rate is actually increasing as we speak. Hell, yeah, let's ignore the dead and wounded and maimed for life -- all that really icky stuff -- and celebrate a thorough smackdown of a 98-pound weakling of a country that cost "only" 1200 dead. Oh, and several thousand Americans wounded. Oh, and even more Iraq civilians killed and wounded. Oh, and hundreds of billions of dollars in costs. Oh, and an almost total loss in world respect. And insurgents getting their hands on hundreds of tons of really nasty explosives, and the American military being stretched to the breaking point, and ... oh, fuck it, you get the idea.

And this is what these people refer to as "astoundingly good news". Make sure you understand this. You cannot reason with these people. You cannot debate them. The best you can do, I suspect, is to confine them where they can't hurt themselves or others around them.

P.S. You know, I really, really, really hate it when I agree with Andrew Sullivan. Trust me, it doesn't happen often.