A Mendacious Turn of Events

Briefly, we should never have gone to Iraq. Having done so, the so-called "war on terrorism" has been made essentially unwinnable. It has been remarked by mice of every breed how it was that, after the events of 9/11, the world was almost unanimously on our side. With allies in every corner of the world, we may have been able quickly to ferret out the main terrorists, put dirt over their heads, and then go on with life as it has been for at least six millenia -- fighting open wars for hidden reasons, rounding up the occasional mad bomber, and watching Lucy & Ricky insult each other every Tuesday night (or whenever). As it is, we have bungled into a world in which Lucy and Ricky are living on Capitol Hill, mad bombers are multiplying like condomless fleas, and the rumors and reasons for war have become, not merely hidden, but labelled "State Secret."

Adding injury to insult, those who engineered the descent into Hell's inner circles are now screaming that those of us (the great majority) who see the world as the mess it has become are "soft on terrorism." Our leaders, who by their incompetence have escalated a matter for the police into a Holy War that's bordering on holy-caust, are implying that because they have managed to contain the "war on terrorism" so that only foreigners are being slaughtered, they should be trusted to continue in office. This has been made completely disheartening by the fact that there are still a few souls who agree with them. Where are you now that we need you, boy with eyes for the emperor's new clothes?

Hmmm. I almost left out the word "new." I had forgotten that it was a shyster tailor who convinced the stupid ruler that he needed a new suit, a Tartuffe whose ability to conjure illusions produced a king and a people unable to see the truth when it was staring them in the face. We certainly have our near-sighted emperor, and our smooth-talking Cheney-type devil whispering golden clothes in his ear. But our case is a shade different from the one that played out when the open-eyed boy pointed to the king's nakedness. We've got a coterie of suit makers, and gold merchants who profit from the illusion. We've also got a flock of people who remain so in thrall to the emperor's divine right to rule they remain unable to see the naked man as anything other than God's gift to humanity. We have a few here in Madison County who regularly have their picture taken as they stand by a lifesize cardboard cutout of His Nakedness, smiling as if they thought it just fine and dandy that on a good day only 35 Iraqi innocents die from the indirect effects of their hero's doings. (The deaths are direct effects by some views of the matter, those that see all Islamic people as terrorists.)

In about 90 days the American people will get another chance to express their opinion of those who led us into Iraq. Many seem to think that expression will result in the turning out of the emperor's sidekicks, but I have a less sanguine view of the matter. One of my unnamed mentors once said that no one ever went broke by over-estimating the gullibility of the American people. As for whether the emperor's invisible clothes will be "seen" remains a matter for the gulls to decide ... and I, a lowly mouse, trust them not at all to see.

But then, we shall see.