Part of the magic of The Daily Show is that you're never entirely certain whether something is a joke, partly a joke or real news and it doesn't really matter because the jokes usually provide more insight and truth than the actual straight on facts.
So when Jon Stewart last night reported that the Republican Party was boasting about "more good news" from Iraq in the form of Baghdad's first Water Park and Wave Machine, I assumed that devil Stewart was fucking with us.
I was wrong.
In fact the Republicans are mad as hatters and Alice (that would be us) is politely sitting at the tea party in wonder, absolute wonder.
"Have some wine," the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.
Alice looked all around the table but there was nothing on it but tea. "I don't see any wine," she remarked.
"There isn't any," said the March Hare.
"Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it," said Alice angrily.
"It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited," said the March Hare.
"I didn't know it was 'your' table," said Alice. "it's laid for a great may more than three."
Iraq's basic services are worse now than before war. According to The New York Times, virtually every measure of the performance of Iraq's oil, electricity, water and sewerage sectors has fallen below pre-invasion values, even though $16 billion of U.S. taxpayer money has already been disbursed in the Iraq reconstruction program. This was reported in February to no less a body than the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But the residents of Baghdad will now have their own water park; many them have no water being pumped into their homes, but they will be able to ride an artifical wave in the middle of the desert.
Click here to link to the Republican National Committee website and check out the lead story for "Other Good News" in the lower right hand corner of the page. You can also link here or here for the "full" story, such as it is.
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