What bokononists whisper whenever they think of how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is.


By Elton Beard

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who divide people into two kinds and those who don't. I don't.


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Friday, August 9, 2002
3:30 PM PDT
George W. Bush's Iraq obsession is not easy to explain, but outside of the few who believe that it's driven by rational geopolitical considerations, his desire to kill Saddam Hussein (transparently encoded in the phrase "regime change") is assumed by most observers to be motivated by a desire to finish the job that then-President Bush started in 1990. This theory, however, does not quite square with the fact that President Bush had made a considered decision to allow Saddam Hussein to remain in power at the time - his war aims had been achieved, and further destabilization of the region made no more sense in 1991 than it does now. So why is his son so preoccupied with Mr. Hussein?

One possible answer was suggested during NPR's Fresh Air program of this Wednesday, when Barbara Bogave interviewed Washington Post military correspondent Thomas Ricks.

Barbara Bogave: So, have your military sources expressed puzzlement over why the Administration is so intent on a military confrontation in Iraq?

Thomas Ricks: Yes, deep puzzlement. Something was said to me recently I've never heard before. A general who is involved in the Afghanistan war said to me, "You know Tom, all I can figure out is that something personal, something psychological [unclear] the president. That somehow he wants to get even with Saddam Hussein for trying to kill his father." Which the U.S. government believes happened shortly after Bush stepped down as president, with an assassination attempt on the first President Bush's visit to Kuwait.

In other words, at least one active-duty general suspects that the ex-president's son may simply be on a mission to avenge an offense to his family. If this view is widespread in the U.S. military then that could go a long way towards explaining the apparent reluctance of the warriors to engage in Bush's war. The implication of this being a familial vendetta, after all, is that Bush is willing to utilize the mighty U.S. military machine as weapon of personal destruction, aimed at exactly one man. Real soldiers might object to being used in this way.

No free transcript, but here is the RealAudio version. The above snippet is from minute 13:00.

Wednesday, August 7, 2002
1:30 PM PDT
President Announces Steps to Keep America's Children Safe. Overcoming a deep reluctance to extract political gain from the tragedy of bereaved parents, Mr. Bush addressed the subject of child abductions yesterday. A significant numerical error ensued. Per Bush:

The most recent statistics available tell a terrible story. More than 58,000 children are abducted by non-family members annually.
But happily, the U.S. Department of Justice reports a much smaller number (PDF):
NISMART [the 1988 National Incidence Study of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, or Throwaway Children] estimated that 3,200 to 4,600 short-term non-family abductions are reported yearly to law enforcement.
So Bush's rhetoric in this case provably differs from reality by more than an order of magnitude! Why, if investigative journalist and numbers expert Mickey Kaus hears of this discrepancy, it might just move him to declare Mr. Bush mendacious! [just kidding! --ed]

Monday, August 5, 2002
2:00 PM PDT
Miami-Dade County
If you want regime change, send in the proven team. These elegantly clad operatives were critical and effective warriors in the November 2000 hijacking of an American presidency. They can do it to Iraq too, and they're still on the payroll.
Miami-Dade County
Just change the team's name from The Bush Recount Committee to The Republican Guard and send them in, and Neil Bush will be Iraq's President for Life in no time.

And if they can't do it alone, dispatch Senator Joe Lieberman to advise Saddam Hussein on winning elections.

Addendum: image captions fixed, several hours later.

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Busy, busy, busy.

What bokononists whisper whenever they think of how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is.


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