Top Ten List

[Recycled from 9 October 2004]

Back before the invasion of Iraq, I sent out an e-mail listing my top ten projects for the U.S. government that made at least as much sense as invading Iraq. I don't have a copy of my list handy, but it was something like this:

Invading North Korea
A Moon base
Bringing Puerto Rico into the union
That sea-level Panama Canal we've been promising ourselves for years
The next-generation space shuttle
Bringing Haiti into the union
Raising the Titanic
Invading Pakistan and shutting down their nuclear program
An expedition to Mars
Rebuilding Afghanistan

Note that I left out any "wimpy" projects like universal health care, alternative energy, &c. I stuck with things that I thought might appeal to the Crusader crowd.

I think back to that list, and how easy it was to come up with ten items off the top of my head, when I hear people scrambling to justify invading Iraq, saying, "Well, Saddam was a real bad guy, and it's good that he's in jail now, so that makes it a good idea we invaded Iraq."

I also think of a hearing I once watched, in which a crooked politician, trying to excuse his arranging a low-income housing contract for a friend's construction company:
Interrogator: Now, you were responsible for SleazCo getting the contract for this project.
Pol: Yes, and the people who are living there now are glad I did.

Never mind that twice as many people could have been housed with that money -- let's look on the bright side.

*sigh* Darn it, I've been thinking about Iraq again. Can anybody recommend a good comedy to rent?

//The Magic 8-ball says, "I [heart] Huckabees."\\