The Shiites hit the fan

I would hope that the election in Iraq is actual rather than virtual, real rather than a political sideshow put on only to improve the comfort level of the Bush presidency just before the State of the Uniuon Address. (If the Iraq War Big Lie Program is in the crapper, then the next Big Lie Program -- the gutting of Social Security, won't fly.)

We all saw the Sunday-best dressed Iraqis celebrating, but as Josef Stalin was reputed to say after the American envoy bragged about how we had universal elections, "Who gets to vote isn't as important as who counts the votes."

But it's ironic.

As the ballots are counted from Sunday's nationwide balloting, Iraq's Shiites are poised to claim a hefty share of power. In Najaf, the Shiite-affiliated parties are confident they will oust the mayor, who was appointed to the job after arriving from Michigan with U.S. officials. Nationally, the whispered numbers collected from poll watchers hint at an impressive victory for the Shiite-backed lists.

It was Rumsfeld, Cheney, and all the rest of the players who take turns putting their hands up the ass of the sock puppet known as George W Bush, who installed Saddam Hussein in power over the Iraqi people in the first place because they so feared the possibility of Shiite dominance in the Middle East.

Kind of the way the US refused Ho Chi Minh's end-of-WWII request to have the USA come in and make Vietnam a client state -- because he knew neither Russia nor China would overrun them if US Steel and Standard Oil, etc., were in Hanoi. "Too liberal," they said, "Can't trust him." And after millions died... well, you know.

And after millions have died (not just this year, but since the Iran-Iraq War that we helped sponsor), hey, it sort of looks like the Shiites are the ONLY rational people in Iraq.

Ironic for everyone but the dead and their friends and families and all the people who would STILL like the electricity turned back on.