War Cry

by digby

I haven’t had the guts to listen to FoxNews this morning, but I’ve been tuned in to CNN. According to their latest chyron, “the middle east is hurtling out of control.” There are breathless teasers: “Were the missiles made in Iran???!!!” They have sent in Anderson Cooper (and he looks just fabulous in his desert gear.) New logos are being designed as we speak. Eric Boehlert notes this oddity in CNN coverage.

Is it groundhog day?

Karl Rove must be very happy this morning. He is convinced that “war” (it doesn’t matter who or why) always accrues to the Republican party’s benefit. And the media agree that when things heat up, they really want the guys with the big swinging members in charge. (For some reason, they are under the misapprehension that the group of chickenhawks running the US government have such endowments.)

I realize that it is somewhat distasteful to discuss this issue with domestic politics in mind. But I can guarantee that the white house is. They view everything through the lens of domestic politics.

They are incoherent. Even while they publicly pretend to be seeking a peaceful solution, they’re publicly fanning the flames:

John R. Bolton, the American representative, denounced Hezbollah for a “deliberate and premeditated provocation” meant to destabilize the region. Mr. Bolton also said that Syria and Iran, which he called the main sponsors of Hezbollah, must be “held to account” for the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers.

“No reckoning with Hezbollah will be adequate without a reckoning” with those two countries, Mr. Bolton said.

I can’t help but think back to the summer of 2002, before the last midterm, when the Iraq war suddenly seemed inevitable. From that moment it didn’t matter what anyone said — and deep inside we all knew it. The only question at that point was whether you’d jump on the bandwagon.

I have a sinking feeling that we are in the same position again today. Perhaps this time it will peter out. Let’s hope so. But even if it does, after the smoke has cleared (if it clears) we will have a middle east that is more unstable than it was a week ago. And despite the fact that the Bush administration has been instrumental in destabilizing it over these past few years the smart bet is that by a very tiny majority, the American people will once again look to the “strong” leadership of the GOP to handle the situation.

I’m beginning to believe that if there is a God, he is definitely a Republican. He seems to always provide for Karl at just the right moment. (Either that or Karl is a genius at turning lemons into lemonade.) I don’t know if he’s succeed this time. But look for the GOP rhetoric to start shifting to reflect the notion that the world needs the big tough Republicans to manage this dangerous situation. They will count on Americans reflexively accepting that premise as they have for the last thirty years. The question is whether the events of the last six might have made them wonder if that makes sense anymore.

Update: Billmon darkly analyzes the situation through the prism of oil politics — as only he can. Jesus Christ, what a mess.

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