See all in Phillipe And Jorge

Back in the saddle again

Phillipe And Jorge

Same as the old boss

Richard Walton, Phillipe + Jorge’s favorite lefty in the bullpen, throws us an article from the August 27 issue of the Nation, Alexander Cockburn’s “Beat the Devil” column, titled, “How the Democrats Blew It in Only Eight Months.” (Cockburn is what P&J call one of our “long-duration personal saviors,” with apologies to the Church of the SubGenius. Nearly three decades ago, his late, lamented “Press Clips” column in the Village Voice was one of the inspirations for the Cool, Cool World.)
 
Cockburn hits the nail on the head when he hammers the Congress-controlling Democrats, who have deservedly seen their institutional approval rating slump into the teens. Why? Because they all shouted out their virtues on the promise of ending this obscene Iraq war, and have done shit about it since taking the reins. The war has escalated on their watch, they have approved military budget increases (although our forces are still under-armed and under-protected), and they have allowed the authorization of warrant-less wiretaps.
 
Cockburn also points out how this lily-livered bunch has been silently bending over to Dubya the Dumb’s demands, while flapping their arms and gums over the disgraced, jumped-up Bush butt-boy and torture enthusiast Alberto “VO5” Gonzales. This has directed attention away from major problems — like an unraveled foreign policy, the abortion that is (still) the Katrina aftermath, and a totally broken health-care system.
 
P&J join Cockburn in his opinion that there is no excuse for this. Who among the Dems (besides Russ Feingold) has the balls to demand an immediate pullout?
 
All they are doing now (besides ignoring the US troop death toll, which is pushing 4000, with no end in sight), is trying to figure out if Georgie Boy may have had a point in comparing Iraq with Vietnam.
 
This claim is so preposterous, delusional, and off the charts of truth and history that it should not have hit the public eye without prompting media suggestions that Boy George is completely insane and a danger in his present office. But, of course, the bulk of the Fourth Estate — except for those with cojones, such as Cockburn — is just as enabling as our all-sizzle-and-no-steak Democratic milquetoasts.
 
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid? What a joke. Meet the new boss . . .