Who Gives a Fuck What the "Enemy" Feels?:
Has anyone come up with a compelling, legitimate reason as to why terrorists, insurgents, and vaguely-defined enemies should dictate how the United States acts and reacts in the Iraq War? 'Cause, like, now that the word "embolden" has become such a big goddamn part of the talking point vocabulary of war hawks and Lieber-men, it sure seems like we're all supposed to worry what the "enemy" will feel if we don't act the way they think we should act. Among those engaging in Iraqi Surge III: The Anti-Emboldening are President Bush (in the State of the Union), Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and the aforementioned Man of Lieber, who told Chris Wallace on Fox "news" that a non-binding Senate Resolution slapping the President with a wet noodle over the escalation of the war would "encourage the enemy."

The Bush administration has effectively reduced America's status to that of the emotional turmoil of a pathetic middle-aged man trying to keep his Latino boy toy lover happy: "Oh, fuck, Juanito, don't act like that, I'll buy you the plasma screen TV you want; oh, c'mon, baby, don't sulk, I'll be the bottom, see? See my asshole? All for you. Oh, please, I'll give up my retirement fund so you can get that sex change." Goddamn, you see such a man and you wanna do him a favor by running over him with your car and then backing up to make sure you finished the job. You know that his last words will be an exultant "Thanks" with his final breath. Because pathetic middle-ager hasn't learned, in all his sad, meaningless life, that if you worry so much about what some piece of ass is thinking, you have given up your self, man, and you're on the long road of delusion.

Should it be the policy of the U.S. to check with the enemy to make sure they're cool with what we're doing? 'Cause, while the Rude Pundit ain't one of your Heritage/AEI-approved "experts" in geopolitical paradigms, it sure seems like if you're so worried that you're gonna give the enemy a reacharound with your exercise of your so-called democratic institutions, you probably oughta be more worried about your own country than about the happy, dancing enemy.

The Rude Pundit's trying to get his head around this argument, as he has every time the notion is mentioned that actions by America that aren't just "make 'em bleed more" strategies make Osama bin Laden sleep better. Because, like, as Joe Biden and Sam Brownback (for fuck's sake) pointed out this weekend, what the fuck does "emboldened" look like if it doesn't look like what's going on now in Iraq?