It was a rough day for the members of the 101st Ankle-biting Brigade, as they were ambushed with good news from Iraq regarding a largely successful election. Bombarded with positive news stories all day, the soldiers of the loony left hunkered down trying to re-group. Fortunately, Brigade HQ has issued new marching orders, and all the units are once again marching in lock-step, singing cadence, and telling us why they found it impossible to be happy and optimistic for ONE DAY.
What has these soldiers marching again once in unison? Why, Iraq is just like Vietnam!!!! This is what has them gleeful:
U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror
by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3– United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.
According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.
The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.
You gotta love these guys. Someone actually spent the night digging through the NY Times just to find a reason to justify their behavior- because, after all, Iraq is JUST LIKE VIET NAM! General Kennedy said so!
My question is, what is your exuse for acting like assholes for the 24 hours before the Daily Kos issued your marching orders?
BTW- the beautiful thing about this clipping is that not only does it give them a reason to piss all over the elections, but it ties in nicely with the meta-narrative. Foolish right-wingers- we Democrats are so much smarter.
IB Bill
Actually the turnout was higher in Vietnam.
But you nailed it on the “marching orders”. It’s amazing how much the Kozites want this effort to fail.
Here’s the problem with the Vietnam analogy: There were no Shi’ites in South Vietnam … that is, South Vietnam was not some kind of organic unity, like a Shi’ite Arab nation would be in that area of the world.
South Vietnam was made up at a peace conference at the conclusion of the Vietnam-French War, if I recall.
The second biggest problem with the Vietnam War analogy, and the one that really pisses me off, is Gen. Giap himself admitted that post-Tet, they were fucked.
In other words, we nearly WON in Vietnam.
Anyway, we’re far from out of the woods. Our leadership could wobble and allow Iran and Syria off the hook. The former Ba-athists could go on wave after wave of political assassination until Iraq looks like Colombia. Lots of bad stuff could happen. The new government could become corrupt and the new military could stage a coup. All sorts of shit.
But you know what? We can have one day of celebration, and piss on the leftists and the Kosites if they don’t like it.
Plus, I think we’re going to win, and the Iraqis themselves, are going to win. And the leftists are going to do what they always do — harp on some minor point, naysay, doommonger, and/or change the subject.
Ripclawe
I wouldn’t call it hard investigative research, the NYTIMES wrote about it on the 28th and Hitchens ripped it apart today.Kos and the others are holding out hope for failure.
Nytimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/29/politics/29viet.html?oref=login
Hitchens
http://slate.msn.com/id/2112895