Op-Ed Highlights

William Kristol is, if nothing else, consistent. Whatever the problem, to Bloody Bill war is the answer.

“My center is giving way. My right is in retreat. Situation excellent. I attack!” That’s the message supposedly sent by General Ferdinand Foch of France to his commanding general, Joseph Joffre, during the crucial First Battle of the Marne in September 1914. The French and British counterattacks succeeded. The German Army, after advancing for a month, was forced back.

Sure, it took another three yrs. to end that war, but it's doubtful that would have bothered Bill had he been alive then. He likes war. He wants John Sidney McCain III to go to war; here, there & everywhere.

Situation not-so-excellent. Time for McCain to attack — or, rather, finally to make his case. The heart of that case has to be this: reminding voters that when they elect a president, they’re not just electing a super-Treasury secretary or a higher-level head of Health and Human Services. They’re electing a commander in chief in time of war. The McCain campaign intends, I gather, to return to the commander in chief theme with an event in Florida Wednesday showcasing former secretaries of state and retired senior military officers. But why not showcase young Iraq vets instead? These young soldiers and marines can testify eloquently to the success of the surge that John McCain championed, and to the disaster and dishonor that would have followed Barack Obama’s preferred path of withdrawal.

Yes, the magical "surge." Apparently a "surge" in bribery, but a surge nonetheless. Maybe our troops could just come home & we can keep pumping money into Iraq. No blood for oil, just the Treasury. And you'd have to wonder hat those vets will say if some one shows them Sidney III's voting record on veterans' issues. But, w/ a wk. (which may still be an eternity) to go, the race looks to be over. Monday, or over the wknd., this reporter heard John McCain refer to "the Obama presidency." Not "an Obama presidency," but "the." McCain knows it's over. As does Jonah Goldberg, who re-types the daily talking points, possibly w/o any help from mommy Lucianne, though we suspect he rec'd. some help from Mark Levin, one of the gnomes lurking about NationalReviewOnline. Levin, an extremely annoying & irritating crypto-fascist, pretty much gave out the same line on his radio program last night. One novelty Jonah adds: That touch of racism so many of you out there like so much.

Note: If Obama wins next week, all three of his preconditions will have been met, and his colleagues in the House and Senate are itching like junkies for a new New Deal. Only in a country of amnesiacs could one claim that socialized medicine is a "new idea." Blowing away the dust and cobwebs from ancient wares doesn't make them new. Save for his skin color, Obama doesn't represent anything novel. Rather, he symbolizes a return to an older vision of the United States that was seen as the "wave of the future" eight decades ago. I for one have no desire to go back to that future.

We have a great desire to see that future implemented, instead of put off again by the forces of capitalist repression, more Great Depressions, & so forth. And just for the hell of it, you can read at Slate what the reality is behind these claims of Marxist socialism. P. S.: We must wonder at the Incredible Shrinking Newspaper™©. There may be an excess of editors, even now. Print title of Goldberg's column: "Something old is new again" Web title of same: "Obama's not 'new' Don't think that policies Obama is touting haven't been touted before." Alternate Web title: "Obama's stale liberalism."