By coincidence, I have seen both the play "Stuff Happens" (about the build-up to our splendid little war, by David Hare, with Keith Carradine as Shrub) and the documentary movie "Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room" in the last week or two.[*]
There are several parallels between the two cases. Like Enron, the Bushwhackers were led by some very smart people (Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, not Bush) who were of course amoral, arrogant, and ignorant. Like Enron, the invasion of Iraq was heavily leveraged and based on blatant lies and unrealistic expectations. (The invasion was "leveraged" in the sense that it was assumed that strategic bombing and the like were used to multiply the impact of an inadequate commitment of ground troops, which must be the basis of a real conquest.) Like Enron, the war needs the co-opted cooperation of various establishmentarian forces (auditors, lawyers, bankers, and financial analysts for Enron; the media, think-tanks, pundits, etc. for the war). Propaganda is key. While Kenny-Boy pumped up the Enron bubble (keeping it from collapsing for awhile) by repeatedly telling people how well Enron was doing, Bushie-Boy speaks (and will speak tonight, again to a chosen audience) about how well the troops are doing, how democracy is on the march, etc. Enron was kept alive for awhile by organizing and exploiting the California energy emergency. I don't know what Bush could do -- or will do -- that would have this effect. Bomb Iran? Invade Iran with commandos? Organize another 911? He needs tremendous amounts of federal money at a time when increasing numbers of congresscritters are upset about the deficit. In the end, the Enron bubble burst. Switching metaphors in mid-stream, the house of cards collapsed. I forsee something like that with Bush & the war. The ultrarigid "defend the war" attitude -- combined with ultrarigid refusals to compromise on almost everything -- suggest that the administration may snap at some point. on another topic: this morning, on the way to work, U.S. National Public Radio interviewed a broad spectrum of opinions represented by pundits from the Hoover Institute for War and Counterrevolution and the American Enterprise Institute. In a year or so, they'll be interviewing creeps from the National Fascism Council and the Anti-Scienc Network... [*] a good movie that was weakened by its apologetics for Gray Davis. -- Jim Devine "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
