Thursday, July 13, 2006

There are no tigers in Scotland

A letter in the New York Times today:
It seems a shame that President Bush is forced to step back from his aggressive prosecution of the war on terror simply because he's done such a good job of protecting us.

Oh, my. Where does one even begin? I mean ... I mean ... really? He's done such a good job? Really? Just because there hasn't been another attack--yet--on the scale of 9/11 doesn't mean he's done a good job. The 2001 attacks happened on his watch, despite numerous warnings. There's been virtually no attempt at securing ports since then. Airport security is a joke. Homeland security money is going toward nowheresvilles instead of New York and Washington. There's just too much ineptitude to list.

And yet the fact there's been no additional large-scale attack means he's doing a bang-up job? I'm reminded of this old gag:
Two Scotsmen are riding in a train. One asks the other what is contained in a package in the overhead luggage compartment.

"It's a MacGuffin."

"What's a MacGuffin?"

"A device for hunting tigers in Scotland."

"But there are no tigers in Scotland."

"Well, then, it's not a MacGuffin, is it?"

No, it's not. And Bush isn't, either.

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