Cowboy Confessional

Any male who has walked through a rough neighborhood will attest that a display of strength is critical to preserving life (and we cowboys have an odd advantage in big cities — wearing pointed boots, a Stetson and an expression that says “I castrate yearlings like you, boy” will win you a bye almost everywhere outside of Texas).

It is therefore unsurprising that after the appearance of power evaporated in the Untied States, the bloodshed in Iraq exploded, with more than 700 people perishing in the past weekend (that’s 350 people a day for folks at the New York Times).  An elected Democrat majority to both houses (right or wrong) showed a lack of faith in the commander of the U.S. military, and thus a display of weakness.  Jihadist thugs then felt free to take full advantage of innocent bystanders given that the cops had been reined.

History may one day write that Iraq was lost by Bush, or that it was lost by the Democrats.  Truthfully, Iraq may be lost by a poor decision of the voters based primarily on a single scandal.

I was tracking Election Projection – an outfit that called the 2004 presidential race spooky close — through this last election.  Right up until the Mark Foley scandal broke, the GOP had a thin yet serviceable lead in the polls, and stood a good chance to retain both houses.  The week after Foley was flayed, Republican chances in the polls fell and never recovered.

I cannot blame anyone for detesting Foley, who may well have motivated Satan to dig a new and lower ring of Hell for Mark’s comfort.  But for voters to dismiss the GOP based on a knee jerk reaction to a single member pedophile would be as absurd as accusing all Democrats of being perverts just because Bill Clinton could find no better place to store his cigars than inside interns. 

The net effect though appears that either Iraq will be lost to terrorist (state sponsored or otherwise) or that the U.S. will have to commit a massive increase of troops, and by that increase American bloodshed.  Either alternative stinks.

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