iraq

It's 3 a.m. on a Thursday night in a Brooklyn corner deli.
CLERK #1, an Arabic man in his 40s, stands behind the
corner with a weary look on his face.

A CUSTOMER, a white man in his late 20s, walks up to the
counter, and pays for a single bottle of beer.

                          CUSTOMER
              (with an Brooklynese Italian accent)
          They got him. Zarqawi.

                          CLERK #1
              (not understanding)
          Zaqqawi?

                          CUSTOMER
          Zarqawi, you know, Zarqawi.

CLERK #2, an Arabic man in his early 20s, looks up from
mopping the floor.

                          CLERK #2
              (with a harder "r")
          Zarqawi.

                          CLERK #1
          Ahh, Zarqawi.

                          CUSTOMER
          Yeah. (pause) I guess, I say it with my
          Italian accent ...

                          CLERK #1
          They got him?

                          CUSTOMER
          Yeah, it was on the news. They finally
          got that motherfucker.

                          CLERK #2
          A good thing.

                          CUSTOMER
          Yeah. (pause) Next is Bush.

CUSTOMER exits.

Give the Bushies some credit: They know how to force the Democrats into a corner. Witness the effusive outpouring of praise over last week’s Iraqi election, not just from the President’s own party or the easily cowed mainstream media, but from most voices in the supposed opposition party. Judging from the last week, history would have to judge Bush’s wrecklessness in Iraq as a resounding success. Iraqis overcame their fears and expressed their collective political will, so speaking out against the Bush policy is the same as speaking out against freedom, right? …