Methodology

President Shrub this morning implied that even if people in closed societies like many in the Middle East don't want Western-style democracy, it's our duty, as a "free" people, to impose such "freedom" on them-

"We don't impose liberty. Liberty is universal. And it's one of the interesting debates of the 21st century, I think, that some would be willing to say that it's OK for people not to live in a free society. It's not OK for us. If you love peace, in order to achieve peace, you must help people realize that which is universal. And that is freedom."

That last pair of sentences also sounds like it may have come from a Christian priest lecturing a group of missionaries preparing to head off into the Amazon or something.

Of course, this was all in the context of talking about the Israeli-Lebanese conflict, to which Condoleeza Rice has apparently helped broker some kind of half-ass peace deal whereby Lebanon gets the short end of the stick (Israel doesn't have to withdraw immediately). Shrub also managed to connect the current conflict to, drumroll please, 9/11!

He went back to some of his classic thumping points, talking about how terrorism is the enemy of democracy and whatnot, and then, in the middle of a press conference about ISRAEL and LEBANON, he says, "We don't expect every country to look like the United States, but we do want countries to accept some basic conditions for a vibrant society: human rights, human decency, the power of the people to determine the fate of their governments... And as a result of that policy, anger and resentment bubbled forth with an attack -- with a series of attacks, the most dramatic of which was on September the 11th."

Yeah! That's right! Israel's fighting the good fight, guys! They're helping us stamp out the terrorists who attacked us five years ago!

Wait a minute. Wasn't that (gasp!) ANOTHER terror group? Are they all working TOGETHER?

Well, shucks, they must be, right, Georgie?

Seriously, though, it was like he was name-dropping at the company Christmas party. Anyone who watched the press conference knew exactly where he was going at least a minute before he actually said it, especially once he started talking about democracy and freedom. It was like listening to his arguments for invading Iraq three, four years ago. He was saying all the same stuff, over and over again, invoking the holy name of "September the 11th" whenever he could.

And if the voting public in this country begins to associate Hezbollah with Al-Qaida and 9/11, well, that's perfect for the administration's support of Israel, because then their slaughter of innocent Lebanese doesn't look as bad, and won't affect as many polls, and there also won't be any kind of public outcry to stop the invasion.

Fuck this. I'm gonna go get a burrito.