Victory Dance
First we have endlessly repeated viewings of the fall of Lenin toppling of the Saddam statue. (I won't bother to find a link because I'm sure those pictures are burned into your retinas.) Then we have the long shot view of the very same event showing the U.S. tanks blocking off the area, the U.S. mechanized vehicle, and the tiny number of people needed to totally stage the event for the TV close-ups.

Ok, I'm wandering off here. I do that. I'll try to mark it so you can just skip over it if you are of a mind to.

Apparently the military services are capable of a learning curve. In the protests of the 1960s and 1970s the protestors learned to effectively use the media to get attention. The military has learned the skill very well. Not only have they blanketed the airwaves with their point of view and enforced the constant drumbeat of "dissent is unpatriotic" but they have also learned the more advanced skill of the staged media event. If they can just spread Big Brother a little further and prevent international journalists from watching the staging they may be able to totally own the spin.

Where was I?

Oh yes. So I'm watching the statue topple accompanied by all kinds of nonsense that reminds me of nothing more than a bunch of adolescent fraternity boys who have had a bit too much beer, and I am thinking that this looks more like a riot than a liberation. And twenty-four hours later I am watching scenes of rioting in Bhagdad. Oh, and I am being assured by my lovely full time war networks that this isn't the only thing going on. Swell.

Why am I not surprised that what starts out as an American led and approved riot ends up out of control? I guess it is because I have seen this very same pattern time and time again in the good ole USA. Of course the color of the people involved varies from darkish when it is happening in South Central LA to pale when a small number are beating Rodney King, but the pattern is universal.