For an invigorating exercise in cognitive dissonance, start with Olbermann's special comment from last night--that would be the quality micro-brewed IPA--and follow it with Paula Zahn's segment with Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Hitchens--that would be the shot of Albertson's house brand tequila. The Zahn bit is worth watching for Sullivan's spot-on characterization of Iraq as the foreign policy version of Katrina, and one-liners like "This isn't an election, but an intervention."
The part that made my head throb was Zahn's followup to Sullivan's discussion of the Sadr City blockade fiasco and, specifically, his statement that "We've abandoned a US soldier to the Shiite militias in Baghdad... where is he? Since when does the Commander in Chief abandon a US soldier to the enemy?" To be accurate, of course, her followup wasn't technically a followup because she completely ignored the issue of al-Maliki setting deadlines for the US Army and a man being left behind to ask,"Do you really think it's possible that Republicans will lose control of Congress based on this one issue? On Iraq?"
Iraq. One niggling little issue. Is it really fair for voters to focus on Iraq--Iraq!! Tiny little country no bigger than California!!!--when they could be focused on tax cuts, gay marriage, and a convenient small dip in gasoline prices? 2,800+ dead, 20,000+ wounded, billions down the crapper, terrorists incited, moral high ground lost for the foreseeable future... but it's just a single issue.
Paula should watch Keith. She might learn something about relating seemingly disparate events to each other, historical context, and, oh yeah, understanding the complexity behind "single issues" that cannot be transmitted in a three-word sound bite.
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