WTF Is It Now?!?

Hero Sandwiches
Troops get death and pay cuts while Bush gobbles barbecue, rakes in dough

by Alan Bisbort:

Not since the days of Marie Antoinette, or at least Nancy Reagan, has there been such a disconnect between the ruling elite and what Marie and Nancy might call the unwashed masses. A potent symbol of this cynical detachment is provided by George W. Bush's month-long vacation, during which his only forays among the unwashed masses have been to whack his little white balls around a golf course -- and to host a "down-home" barbecue to shake down rich donors for another run at the White House. The cover charge for barbecue with the Bushes? Each of the 350 "very special guests" paid $50,000 to nibble on those Republican pig and cow carcasses.

To the ruling elite -- like the Crawford pig-nibblers -- the men and women in uniform are useful members of the unwashed masses. They served their purpose as of May 1, when Bush -- who went AWOL from military service during the Vietnam War -- dolled himself up with codpiece and flight helmet for his campaign photo-op aboard the aircraft carrier. "Mission accomplished," he trumpeted, and the media played along with the charade. Since then, at least 126 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and thousands have been wounded, physically and psychologically.