You Wanna Play Politics? Let's Play Some Politics:
Like customers at a strip club where the DJ promises the titties of the next girl will be even bigger, we all wait anxiously, with pornographic glee, for the release of the reallllly bad photos from Abu Ghraib, the ones that show American soldiers fucking an Iraqi woman (although none have called it rape yet), the ones that show Iraqi guards fucking young boys in the ass - the rewards for a society that oppresses the sexuality of women, the ones that show the realllly bad beatings. Goddamn, those are gonna be cool photos and videos - our government funded snuff films.

So what happens? Does anyone actually hang their heads in shame and behave as if something wrong has happened, that something big in the system has gotten fucked up beyond all recognition? Nope. This administration/campaign (and, really, they're one and the same) goes on the attack.

There's two possible reads for that "What the fuck" moment of Bush standing out there with his evil and/or beleaguered cabinet in order to give a public hand job to Donald Rumsfeld. Wiping the cum from his hand with Colin Powell's hankie, Bush rhapsodized, "You're doing a superb job," cooing the sweet nothings about Rumsfeld as the call for the Defense Secretary's nuts on a platter grows louder. Option One: this is a public propping-up of the rep of a disgraced official before he "offers" his resignation. Option Two (and the more likely one): Bush honestly believes Rumsfeld should stay, which is not unakin to a baby refusing to give up playing with his own shit. One might even accuse Bush of playing politics by giving his unmitigated support to Rumsfeld before, as they say, "all the facts are in."

Rummy already threw down the gauntlet of politics in his hearing - saying, in essence, that those who believe that incompetent criminals should be forced out of an office where they are responsible for the lives of thousands of people are just being political. And that's been followed up by the loyal Bushkoviks, who now accuse John Kerry of "playing politics" with the abuse scandal (and it's nice to see the mainstream media refer to this as a full-fledged "scandal"). Bob Novak, combed-over, leering, traitorous bastard that he is, made it the center of a "discussion" on Crossfire last week.

But no one tops Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt in his ability to see politics everywhere, like a junkie sees roaches everywhere when he goes cold turkey. It is Schmidt's mantra, his raison d'etre, in the campaign. When Kerry pointed out that Bush was underfunding chemical plant security, Schmidt said that the Senator was "playing politics with homeland security." When Kerry said that America was behaving as occupiers in Iraq, Schmidt called it "playing politics with the war on terror." When Kerry said that Bush used "terror" as a means of covering his administration's ass on every issue, Schmidt said it was an "example of him playing politics with the most serious issue of our time: winning the war on terror." When Kerry questioned the Bushkoviks' policy of military base closures, Schmidt said, "This is another example of John Kerry playing politics with national security issues." When Kerry criticized Bush for not backing the elected president of Haiti, Schmidt opined, "Kerry was playing 'politics' in his critique of the administration’s Haiti policy." Now, when Kerry has been called muted and low-key on the abuse scandal, Schmidt is using the PP phrase again. Said the weasel-like Schmidt, Kerry has a "consistent pattern of inserting politics and playing politics with the war on terror and serious national security issues."

You know, one might imagine a political campaign is going on. One might imagine that the record of the incumbent might be open to criticism in that political campaign. One might imagine that if the incumbent candidate makes his record on said "War on Terror" the centerpiece of his re-election, especially if the previously mentioned incumbent mentions the "War on Terror" and the events around it at campaign events where he is raising money in order to run the previously mentioned campaign, like Bush did here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, that record might be ripe for discussion by the opposing candidate.

Ahh, but then you'd be playing politics.