or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
May 28, 2008
The Similar Governing Philosophies Of George W. Bush And Saddam Hussein
From the Politico story about Scott McClellan's new book:
Bush was “clearly irritated, … steamed,” when McClellan informed him that chief economic adviser Larry Lindsey had told The Wall Street Journal that a possible war in Iraq could cost from $100 billion to $200 billion: “'It’s unacceptable,’ Bush continued, his voice rising. ‘He shouldn’t be talking about that.'”
From the CIA WMD report:
Advisory groups [Saddam] established generally assumed Saddam already had a preferred position [on issues] and commonly spent time trying to guess what it was and tailor their advice to it. More conscientious members of the Regime sought to work around sycophantic or timid superiors...Saddam ignored his economic advisors in the Ministries of Finance and Planning with respect to strategic planning. For example, Saddam entered the Iran-Iraq war heedless of Ministry warnings about the economic consequences. He had no plan or strategy for how the war was to be financed.
—Jonathan Schwarz
Posted at May 28, 2008 07:20 PMBush's similarities to assholes neither begins nor ends there. He's also been known to parallel communists: http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/?uc_full_date=20080527
I don't think corrupt regimes deserve the poly sci distinctions bequeathed to them. Fascism, communism, totalitarianism -- these notions, peeled away from bullshit ideology, are practically identical and should be treated with similar scorn. Upshot: Bush is more like Saddam than not, and both will look more like a garden-variety fascist, and all of them will look pretty much the same as an absolute monarch. Non-corrupt leaders will be alien to all of those, regardless of the political system they are in.
Posted by: No One of Consequence at May 29, 2008 09:51 AM
