are we all insane?

Everybody in the world is a fool except you and me, and sometimes I wonder about you. Consider these stories from this morning's newspaper:

Authorities have arrested a polygamist, head of a "church," who over the past four years has "excommunicated" men and "reassigned" their wives and children to other men, apparently without serious opposition or objection. He has about 10,000 followers. Let's see. . .how many gallons of Kool-Aid would be necessary. . .

A headline reads, "Violence obscures Iraq's gains." It turns out that the "gains" are being measured by the number of bodies showing up at the morgue, and the number for August is substantially lower than for July and for June. The terrorists must have read that story, too, because at least 50 died in Iraq today and August isn't over yet. So much for "gains" in Iraq.

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said yesterday that critics of the U.S. war "strategy" don't know their history, and are like those who tried to appease the Nazis. I'd say Rummy doesn't know his history, certainly not the history of Iraq or the Middle East. Neither he nor anybody else in the Bush Administration knew that Saddam, although a butchering murderer along the lines of Stalin, was a balance of power against Iran, Osama, and the al-Quaeda. A year after the "Axis of Evil" speech, President Bush was unaware that Muslims in Iraq were divided between the Shia and Sunnis. Rummy did not know and could not predict that the troops would have more trouble with the Fedayeen that with the overrated Republican Guard. Rummy seemed unaware of the numbers of troops and the time required to build new nations out of Germany and Japan, but instead insisted on attempting to do the job in Iraq with insufficient forces and on a ridiculously short schedule that collapsed. The Bush Administration had no strategy for the end of the war. . .but they certainly detest criticism.

Finally, to make my day, Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown says he regrets that FEMA had no plan for the day (month, year) after Katrina. His positive statements in the days after Katrina about help coming through from the federal government were just "White House talking points" to protect the President. Given the choice between lying to "protect" the President and telling the blunt truth, he lied. Now we know what "White House talking points" are. Just a pack of lies.

I could add something about John Karr, but that's old news. He must have done something bad to somebody, somewhere. Fly him back to Thailand.

And all that from Section A of the newspaper. I can understand why George W. Bush doesn't read newspapers. It will disturb your otherwise bland equanimity and might even prompt you to think.