I like dreamers, so I was really trying to follow what Bill Kristol had to say on the Daily Show last night. The gist of it was that though the war in Iraq had been mismanaged, yes, it had also kept us from being attacked here at home since 9/11, so Bush should get some credit for that.
The only way this makes a bit of sense, though, is if you think the war is keeping the insurgents so busy killing our kids in Iraq that they don't have to bother traveling all the way here to do the job. I won't pretend that's what he meant.
But I have no idea what he did mean, because if we were hit here on American soil tomorrow, that, too, would be offered as proof we were right to invade Iraq -- though we're no longer fighting the same enemy we went in after, who our president was told right after 9/11 had nothing to do with the attacks.
(Are you dizzy yet? Then listen to the president again this morning, trying to explain how when he said right before the November elections that "absolutely, we're winning'' in Iraq, he meant this in the spirit of the fact that that's what he hoped was the case - and still is pretty confident will be the case, even though he says now we are not winning. Got it?)
Last night, Jon Stewart asked Kristol if by his way of thinking, Bill Clinton shouldn't get even more credit for keeping terrorists at bay, given the eight years between the first bombing of the World Trade Center and 9/11. But his guest said no, because al Qaeda did attack our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the USS Cole during that time. Just like they've hit our allies in London and Madrid since 9/11? Oh, well.
Anyway, Kristol is a big fan of the "surge'' of new troops the president is considering sending to Iraq -- just so we can take one last best shot at not losing. But the whole pro-surge argument reminds me of that country song by Vince Gill, "Give Me Just One More Last Chance,'' about this drunk who's begging his girl for his umpteenth undeserved reprieve. Because just like in the song, you know all one more last chance in Iraq would get us: One more plea for one more last chance.