War with Iraq AND Iran...?

Shrinks who work in mental institutions run the risk of acquiring behaviors similar to those displayed by the patients. (At least, I recall reading something along those lines in my Psych 101 textbook.) Nuttiness, in short, is catching. That's why, after a valiant effort to hear out the President's whole hallucinatory speech, I soon had to turn to a channel offering saner fare.

Ray-Ray made pesto tonight. Boy, I love pesto. But those pine nuts are awfully expensive. Does anyone know of a viable alternative?

If, like me, you had to switch stations out of fear that prolonged exposure to Dubya's dementia might unhinge the delicate workings of your psyche, you can read the speech here. Warning: Fearless Leader's new plan is even worse than predicted. I suggest tackling this text one paragraph at a time. A faster clip might prove toxic.

Here's the part that sent me scuttling off to the Food Network:

From Afghanistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian Territories, millions of ordinary people are sick of the violence, and want a future of peace and opportunity for their children. And they are looking at Iraq. They want to know: Will America withdraw and yield the future of that country to the extremists – or will we stand with the Iraqis who have made the choice for freedom?

Unreal! Does this yarn-spinner actually believe that Afghans, Lebanese and Palestinians long for our continued presence in Iraq? Or that anyone in Iraq wants us there?

Does anyone in the land of the free actually believe the issue in Iraq is democracy vs. terror, instead of Shi'ite against Sunni? Who among us is dunderheaded enough to accept at face value the proposition that Syria and Iran have armed and trained the "terrarists" in Iraq?

And I doubt that even Joe Lieberman would agree that reaching out to Joe Lieberman qualifies as bipartisanship.

It's clear from this speech that Bush has picked the Shi'ite side in Iraq's civil war. Maliki owes his position, in large measure, to the Sadrists; thus, we cannot expect to see that faction disarmed. Effectively, this decision places the United States at odds with Saudi Arabia, which has already signaled that it will aid the Sunnis. We will fight a proxy war against our chief oil supplier.

At the same time, siding with the Shi'ites requires commensurate action against Iran; any other strategy means ceding Iran increased power. And that means hostilities -- simmering or blazing -- with both Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Although Bush claimed to take responsibility for "mistakes," note that he did not say one word about the corruption that diverted so much reconstruction money into the coffers of KBR and other GOP-friendly firms.

I agree with Larisa Alexandrovna (and I hope she will forgive my quoting her at such length):

Translation: war with Iran.

Three key points:

1). The President has apparently admitted that we did nothing to secure the peace, provide the Iraqis with jobs, rebuild the infrastructure, and basically spent our money god knows where.

2). We are going to attack Iran and Syria, make no mistake.

3). Lied about Afghanistan, Al Qaeda levels in Iraq, Al Qaeda document, about the successes in Iraq, about the role this war has played in creating the very violence he is now trying to stop.

I don't want to end on a sour note, so let me reiterate that Ray-Ray's pesto looked really good. Man, I wish I could be eating that stuff right now. I made up a batch of mac and cheese, and despite the inclusion of a handful of real cheddar, the stuff in my bowl is about as indigestible as Bush's plan.