Kos and others gave advance publicity to the Editor & Publisher piece which anticipated Joke Line's latest on the Shrubbery. Some people actually thought Joke Line would write something relevant, insightful, and respectful of readers' intelligence.
This would, of course, be a radical departure from his usual habits. The man can't help himself--some time back in the nineties, he sold his soul to the rethug machine, in exchange for his cushy gig as a senior, "bipartisan" pundit.
Guess he's an honest crook--he stays bought. His anticipated new piece is no good, despite the cheerleading comments on the blog.
Joke Line:
the three qualities that make this Administration one of the worst in American history: arrogance (the surge), incompetence (Walter Reed) and cynicism (the U.S. Attorneys).
Really? Torture of suspects in US custody doesn't make the cut? Blatant violation of people's constitutional rights (Padilla, et al) is a routine bit of government? Systematic, organized and extensive law-breaking (warrantless wiretapping, Hatch Act violations, systematic disenfranchisement of liberals) is rather boring, no doubt? That's right, arrogance is the problem, not the fact that more people (Americans and Iraqis) have died since IdiotSon's escalation began!
From the start, it has been obvious that personal motives have skewed the President's judgment about the war. Saddam tried to kill his dad; his dad didn't try hard enough to kill Saddam. There was payback to be had.
Well, golly gee, aren't we lucky we have Joke Line to help us recognize this, as early as four fucking years after the occupation started!
The internet tubes are our friends. Type "http://www.time.com/time/columnist/klein" into the right box, and lo! The Joke Line's immortal words spring forth! Back before the Shrub's corrupt little occupation of Iraq began, thus spake the Joke Line:
a stronger Israel is very much embedded in the rationale for war with Iraq. It is a part of the argument that dare not speak its name, a fantasy quietly cherished by the neo-conservative faction in the Bush Administration and by many leaders of the American Jewish community.
No kidding. And this, no doubt, was Joke Line's way of doing his duty: lifting the fog a little off the inner workings of Washington, DC, and letting us plebs understand a little how the world works.
Too bad, then, the Joke Line never found the time, energy, sense, courage, patriotism or humanity to peel the lid off the biggest problem with the Shrub's Iraq misadventure: there was no rationale for it! Saddam wasn't involved in 9/11, there were no nukes, and he posed no danger to us, our allies (back when we still had them!), his own neighbors, or even his own minorities (the Kurds were effectively protected by the no-fly zones, etc.)
Joke Line ends with a whimper:
And it is increasingly difficult to imagine yet another two years of slow bleed with a leader so clearly unfit to lead.
Amazing. In 2007, in an article whose title talks about the administration's collapse, this is the best the Joke Line can do? And in Time's blog, Joke Line explicitly says he doesn't think the Shrub has committed any "high crimes"!!
Butt-licking must be a difficult addiction to kick. Even after recognizing the Shrubbery's imminent "Epic Collapse", Joke Line can't bring himself to say that deliberate, blatant and repeated law-breaking isn't a high crime! Amazing!