Merry Christmas, War Is Over

By Brad Snyder

New York Times’ Op-Ed columnist and Looney Tunes impersonator Frank Rich thinks the war in Iraq is over and we lost…again. His giddiness predictably oozes from his tabloid’s pages. Uncork the Champaign bottles, it’s time for Bush-hating, peace-loving Socialists everywhere to celebrate.Bush failed, so let’s bring home the troops. Abadee, abadee, abadee…That’s all folks! Not so fast Porky.

“A president can’t stay the course when his own citizens won’t stay with him.”Rich uses falling Newsweek poll approval ratings for how Mr. Bush is handling the war as his corroboration that not only American citizens want out, but so does the military.First off, I will comment that approval ratings from Newsweek are unavoidably suspicious.Newsweek says that only 34% of American’s approve of the way the President is handling the war.Compare that to a 51% approval rating, in the same time period from Fox.

Since we’re talking about sinking ratings, perhaps now is a timely place to point out the substantial sinking readership of newspapers and the viewing audience of major network news.There are increasing arguments that mainstream news outlets have become entirely insulated and out of touch with the average American.Journalism has gone from a respected profession to a joke, and correspondents like Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd of the NYT can’t be taken seriously at all.We know what they will say before reading their column, so why bother reading them at all?My excuse is that I read his column because I needed something to ignite my journalistic vehemence …as good a muse as any, I think.

Wall Street also speaks volumes of the poor performance of these major news outlets.Media giant Viacom, who brings us such wholesome television as MTV is down 7% since the summer of 2003; Time Warner, parent of CNN is down a whopping 90%; and in that same time period, Rich’s own New York Times is down 36%.Let’s suffice it to say that gambling on any of these stocks, is like pulling for a three legged horse in the Kentucky Derby.You know?I believe there’s actually Liberals that might take that bet.

To point out how out of reality Rich is, for his purpose of claiming the war is over, he touts that the “real US commander”, Gen. George Casey sets a time table for troop withdrawal to next spring, as opposed to the president who has clearly stated time and again that “It makes no sense to use timetables as the terrorist will use this information to wait us out.When will Liberals get off their three legged high horse about how the President hasn’t planned sufficiently.No sooner had the first combat boot kicked up the sand in the Iraqi desert, these anti-American propagandists were demanding an exit strategy, like they even deserved to know in the first place.Their whining hasn’t stopped ever since.How much longer must we endure the question of President Bush’s “Exit Strategy”?

What General Casey said is that a fairly substantial withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq was possible in the spring of 2006 if two conditions were met: that Iraq's political process continued on track and that the insurgency didn't grow.The Pentagon plans call for increasing the 17 contingent U.S. troop presence this fall by 10,000 troops, before bringing it down to about 15 brigades next spring and possibly to about 12 brigades by the end of 2006.It’s hardly time for Rich and his cohorts to start singing, “Turn Out the Lights, the Party’s Over.”

“Nothing that happens on the ground In Iraq can turn around the fate of this war in America.”Victory isn’t a possibility, according to Rich and his partners-in-treason in Los Angeles.Now is the time for America to tuck her tail in retreat, because the war is a “fiasco, and has made us more vulnerable, not less, to the terrorists who struck us for years.”“The Texas president has lost not only his country, but also his army.”Hmmm…Really Frank, and what do you have against Texas anyway?

If I were to conduct my own poll, the President would most likely have something close to a 95% approval rating.The high ratings have to do with the President’s leadership. The military’s accomplishments, under President Bush are unarguably superlative.

But criticism is needed where criticism is due.It’s clear that mistakes have been made, and the president has treated the Islamofacist terrorists too delicately.By now Iran and Syria should have scorched cities; there shouldn’t be a dot on the map for Fallujia; and the mountain passages of Tora Bora should be impassable.Cave dwellers should be buried beneath fifty tons of rock.

The fact that the President can’t add any of these to his war room trophy chest signifies the war isn’t being fought to win. I believe we can thank the high level of criticism by the likes of our anti-American countrymen like Rich and should-be European allies for our military’s lack of resolve to fight a bona fide war.No matter what President Bush and our military leaders have attempted they have received such an unmerited level of denigration, that it is no wonder they are guarded to wage war with our enemies as is necessary.

Listening to an anti-Bush droll is like sitting behind a boisterous, obnoxious drunk at a football game, cheering for the opposing team.I’d rather listen to an old shtick holtz woman from The Bronx, with raisins stuffed in her nose than listen to this continuous yapping from Liberal elites.Since the media is Anti-American, they aren’t worthy of being heard any longer.Giving them a voice about the war is like giving serious attention to Senator Byrd’s opinion of Problems in the black community. His consultation would be better heeded if we were discussing such issues as… … Well anyway, you catch my meaning.

For the major news networks to make a comeback they should leave real news reporting to the Lexus Nexus and consider creating more remarkable and entertaining stories, like their fictitious global warming, or even worse, an accidental spilling of Viagra into Lake Michigan.Think of the implications this would have for families residing in Northern Wisconsin. Wha'? It could happen!

Brad Snyder

As a former collegiate football player, Brad graduated from Evangel College of Springfield, Missouri, in 1982, with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and Economics. His occupation has been divided between careers as a stock broker, Director of Business Development for a commercial insurance brokerage firm, and most recently financial management within the healthcare industry. While using the podium of various internet message boards, he discovered an appetite for engaging Liberals in the "warfare of words". Stemming from his sometimes overly zealous demeanor and passionate, "take-no-prisoner" approach, he has been labeled by some as angry and others a rebel. At present, as a contributing writer, his work can be read at People Political , The Conservative Voice , MichNews, Capitol Hill Coffee House,mensNEWSdaily, and TheRant, to list a few.

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