Gallantry Par Excellence

The days of chivalry are once again in vogue. It is wonderful to see men defend a womans' honor by rising to her defense, beating back all manner of dastardly foes. Women have not seen support such as this for many decades. Profoundly gratified and appreciative for the newly found sensitivities being exhibited by men, women are clamoring for more, but are wondering why it took so long for these expressions of support and concern to be voiced.

The latest examples of modern chivalry are the furious, concerted efforts being espoused by hordes of right wing nuts to defend Condoleeza Rice from the horrific attack that was hurled her way last week by that known hater of womans' rights, Senator Barbara Boxer. Who knew that the likes of Bill 'phone sex harasser' O'Reilly, Rush 'prostitute habitué' Limbaugh, and Tony 'toadie' Blankley of the republican owned Washington Times, cared so much about a womans' honor?

So what was this horror of horrors all about? Last Thursday, Rice was appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to defend the Bush/McCain escalation plan for sending 21,500 additional troops into Iraq's civil war -

SEN. BOXER: Who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families. And I just want to bring us back to that fact.

Seems like an obvious statement of fact so far. Boxer then continues:

SEN. BOXER: Do you have an estimate of the number of casualties we expect from this surge?

RICE: No, uh, Senator...I don't think there's any way to give you such an estimate.

SEN. BOXER: Has the President, because he said 'expect more sacrifice', he must know...

RICE: Senator, I don't think that any of us, uh, have a number. That, of expected casualties. I think that people understand there is going to be violence for some time in Iraq. And that there will be more casualties and...Let me just say, you know, I fully understand the sacrifice that the American people are making and especially the sacrifice that our soldiers are making. Men and women in uniform. I...I visit them. I know what they're going through. I talk to their families. I see it. (pause) I could never...and I can never do anything to replace any of those, uh, lost, uh, men and women in uniform. Or the diplomats...

SEN. BOXER: Madame Secretary, if you please...I know you feel terrible about it. That's not the point. I was making the point as to who pays the price for your decisions. And the fact that this administration would move forward with this escalation with no clue as to the further price that we're gonna pay militarily. We certainly know the numbers. Billions of dollars that we can't spend here in this country. I find really appalling that there's not even enough time taken to figure out what the casualties would be. Thank you very much.

The real HORROR of this exchange is Rice's statement that the US government, led by our Chief Chimp, and assisted by the other immoral administration acolytes have supposedly made no estimates of the casualties this escalation will bring. No wonder the right wing mouthpieces and nutzoids are wildly spewing about, trumpeting this phony victimization story. Could it be that the Bushies are deliberately witholding casualty estimates due to potential political damage?

According to Jon Soltz, an Iraq War vet and co-founder of VoteVets.org:

"The Pentagon knows how many casualties they estimate for any of the actions the additional troops will be taking part of. It’s basic war planning," Solz told us this morning. "Depending on what happens, that number could go up or go down, but they know what they expect."

"Normally, the military shouldn’t have to release those estimates, but given that the administration is asking more troops to pay for its mistakes, they should be up front about how many they believe are going to make the ultimate sacrifice," he explained.

Could the truth be so sad as to reveal an adminstration that simply does not give a damn about death or injury suffered by American citizens – as long as it's not their kids of course. As Sen. Boxer pointed out so ably – they really have no skin in the game. So when America hears the news announcements that the Bush twins and other age eligible members of the frat boys' family have enrolled to fight in this 'noble crusade', maybe then Bush could gain some believability and credibility.
Posted on The Human Stain