“Never Have So Many Been So Wrong About So Much” for So Long
Apologies to Sec. Rumsfeld, but this guy is so stereotypical it’s almost a parody.
His name is Scott Bateman, and he’s a freelance cartoonist. Allow me to fisk his three most recent political cartoons:
Actually here Scott is illustrating two ignorances – the general public’s and his own. First, the majority of Americans believe that Saddam was in some way responsible for the 9/11 attacks, which is not true. But is the war on Iraq part of the War on Terror? Absolutely. I invite you to read (if you haven’t already) two excellent pieces: Our World-Historical Gamble by Lee Harrison, and Steven Den Beste’s outline on the cause of the War on Terror. Yes, Scott, the war in Iraq is part of the War on Terror.
Note also the typical liberal’s respect for the “little people” – those they want government to rigidly control for their own good.
A government run, of course, by caring, compassionate liberals who believe that everyone is equal. But they’re the “More Equal,” of course. The rest of us are obviously idiots.
Next we have this one:
Note the unselfconscious use of the word “quagmire.” The invasion of Afghanistan was supposed to be a quagmire. The 21-day assault on Iraq was supposed to be a quagmire. Neither was. Now that we’ve overthrown the Taliban, unseated Saddam, kicked the crap out of Al Qaeda, and prevented any follow-up terror attacks on American soil for two years, Mr. Bateman characterises this as “screwing up badly.” I don’t know what planet he’s living on, but apparently it isn’t this one. Unless he’s in France, of course.
If all you see is what the newspapers and national networks show, I can understand his pessimism, but reports from the people on the ground aren’t so one-sided. They see the people of Iraq overwhelmingly happy that we’ve freed them. LTCR (select) Smash has this anecdote. Sgt. Pontifex explains that California is not limited to the L.A. city limits, nor is Iraq limited to the Sunni Triangle. Then there are these four reports from Basra. There’s much, much more out there if you just take a little time and look.
The “real world,” Mr. Bateman?
Pot? Meet Kettle.
Finally, we have this, most recent piece:
Note that none of Mr. Bateman’s “interviewees” are apparently among the majority of “idiots” he decries in the first cartoon. No, in this case they’re exclusively limited to the moonbat minority.
The first says: “Everything’s just as it was before 9/11.” Really? 3,000 people aren’t dead? The twin towers are still standing? The Taliban still rules Afghanistan and still protects Bin Laden and Al Qaeda? Saddam and Sons still terrorize the Iraqis? We haven’t killed seven and captured five of Al Qaeda’s top 31 people? (That’s over a third.)
The second says: “We’ve thrown two countries into total chaos.” Is that a fact? Not according to what I’ve been reading. Of course, we have freed them from murderous totalitarian regimes, so I can see why the caring, compassionate liberal would be upset by that. (See “More Equal,” above.)
The third says: “The Bush Administration has failed miserably.” Afghanistan: nine weeks. Taliban: removed. Iraq – three weeks. Saddam: unseated. Uday and Qusay: Dead and Deader. Bin Laden: running for his life. Al Qaeda: severely damaged. Recent terror attacks on U.S. soil – zero.
This is “failing miserably?” No wonder nobody knows who the Democratic Presidential candidates are.
The fourth says: “I’d feel way safer if I could cower with Dick Cheney in that undisclosed location.”
No, you’d feel way safer if we’d just wrung our hands, tried to “understand why they hate us,” and attempted to buy the forgiveness of the Islamists. I’ve got news for you, Scott: You’re way safer today than you were two years ago. All the radical Islamists are trying to get into Iraq and Afghanistan to keep us from destroying their fantasy ideology.
You’re safer, but apparently not any brighter.
(Bateman’s a Kucinich supporter. Why am I not surprised?)