You Say You Want a Revolution
Apparently there was a series of gigantic anti-war demonstrations all around the country yesterday.
Or not.
It seems this massive call to arms from the "Bush Is Evil!" bunch drew a few hundred here and there, protesting or picketing or whatever in desultory fashion.
Yeah. Tidal wave of popular sentiment. Takin' it to the streets. Stickin' it to the MAN. Even the press seemed not to notice, and usually they're up for anything that can make Bush look bad.
Oh, by the way, that's a pretty far-right fringe site in that link up there. I picked that one because I thought the captions were funny. There's a bunch more out there. If you want to google it or something. I dunno, I don't really want to give it much more effort than the protesters themselves put out. Meh.
In counterpoint, here's a piece from The National Review Online's Michael Rubin with some highlights about what's going right in Iraq. Here's a quote to tantalize you:
"Iraq's per capita gross domestic product is today almost twice that of Yemen and nearing that of Egypt and Syria, hardly a sign of failure in a country in which, just three years ago, antiwar groups insisted children were starving en masse. Statistics aside, the Iraqi economic boom is apparent to anyone who visits an Iraqi market. Not only are appliances and luxuries in the stores, but customers are actually purchasing them."
It kind of amazes me how different the stories are between what the press reports here in the States and what gets reported by people who have spent time on the ground in Iraq, outside the Green Zone. This is not to say that there aren't problems, of course . . . a lot of the money earmarked for reconstruction in Iraq has been diverted to security matters, a lot has been wasted, a lot has simply gone poofie . . . but progress continues to be made, milestones like the (barely covered) vote on the Iraqi Constitution are passed, things get better little by little.
Patience, gentle reader. Patience. We, and they, will get there.
Or not.
It seems this massive call to arms from the "Bush Is Evil!" bunch drew a few hundred here and there, protesting or picketing or whatever in desultory fashion.
Yeah. Tidal wave of popular sentiment. Takin' it to the streets. Stickin' it to the MAN. Even the press seemed not to notice, and usually they're up for anything that can make Bush look bad.
Oh, by the way, that's a pretty far-right fringe site in that link up there. I picked that one because I thought the captions were funny. There's a bunch more out there. If you want to google it or something. I dunno, I don't really want to give it much more effort than the protesters themselves put out. Meh.
In counterpoint, here's a piece from The National Review Online's Michael Rubin with some highlights about what's going right in Iraq. Here's a quote to tantalize you:
"Iraq's per capita gross domestic product is today almost twice that of Yemen and nearing that of Egypt and Syria, hardly a sign of failure in a country in which, just three years ago, antiwar groups insisted children were starving en masse. Statistics aside, the Iraqi economic boom is apparent to anyone who visits an Iraqi market. Not only are appliances and luxuries in the stores, but customers are actually purchasing them."
It kind of amazes me how different the stories are between what the press reports here in the States and what gets reported by people who have spent time on the ground in Iraq, outside the Green Zone. This is not to say that there aren't problems, of course . . . a lot of the money earmarked for reconstruction in Iraq has been diverted to security matters, a lot has been wasted, a lot has simply gone poofie . . . but progress continues to be made, milestones like the (barely covered) vote on the Iraqi Constitution are passed, things get better little by little.
Patience, gentle reader. Patience. We, and they, will get there.
posted by Lanz at 10:24 PM
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