On September 11 at school

The kids I teach were mostly 10 or 11 on September 11, 2001. Mostly the accounts they gave today in class recollected the news accounts of "an airplane that flew into the World Trade Center." Some saw the events unfold on televisions in classrooms. Others apparently didn't find out until they got home later that day.

One young lady was very concerned for a family member currently serving in Iraq. Another Still believes strongly that George W. Bush has done good things for the country, though she couldn't say exactly what those were.

Look, politics aside - you know what I think about Mr. Bush - none of these kids had any point of reference for understanding how exactly that tragedy changed their world.

They don't have a reference or awareness yet of the USA PATRIOT ACT. They also don't have any understanding of the ferocity of the people who want to kill Americans.

These kids don't know who their true enemies are. They don't yet understand that billions of people around the world would like to have what they have. They sit in a classroom in suburban Ohio not realizing what's in store for them.

Get out of Iraq and sucker the mullahs all at once

The late John Kenneth Galbraith, economist to presidents, published his most famous book "The Affluent Society" forty five years before Prince George's (Bush) misguided, 2003 adventure in Iraq. Galbraith was obviously no stranger to the nuances of the dismal science (economics), but he also had something to say about common sense, or atleast the conventional wisdom. What he said still holds true today:

Conventional wisdom, Galbraith writes, is a view of the world served up by pols and pundits according to what their constituent audiences already believe. It confirms their preconceived notions and opinions. In other words, tell the people what they want to hear, and they will believe you.

But conventional wisdom is finally made obsolete, Galbraith finds, by "the march of events." In otherwords, facts on the ground eventually overwhelm people's self congratulatory delusions. However, it often takes quite some time for this to happen. Possibly, far after the fact.

Anyway, it's time for the conventional wisdom about Iraq to go away. People need to stop believing that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are doing a smashing job leading the troops in Iraq; That we could still win! That we dare not allow Iraq to sink into civil war.

You heard me: bugger that. The march of events has now made the conventional wisdom on Iraq foolish.

We have lost big. We have now lost more servicemen in Iraq than civilians in 9-11. This on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, according to a CNN report.

We need to pack it up and ship out. But before we leave, let's make sure someone else loses bigger. Let's pass the buck.

Iraq is already a civil war. It is a civil war between Shia Sneetches who have bellies with stars and Sunni Sneetches who have none upon thars.

We need a Sylvester McMonkey McBean - the Fix-it-up Chappie (ala Dr. Seuss) - to sucker the mullahs and the terrorists into stepping into that quagmire.

So, let's get our brave men and women out of Iraq. And, let's let the Iranians, the Saudis and the Syrians have a go at filling the power vacuum by sending in their brave soldiers. We could slow Iranian nuclear ambitions, drain their national coffers and clean up the bugsquat that is Al Qaida, Hamas and Hezbollah all at once. Oh, and we could wipe that smug look off of Old King Saud's face. The ungrateful bum.

If we play both sides against the middle, we never worry about terrorism again. Let's have the terrorists fight the war on terror for once - the only people they hate more than us is themselves. Let's let them kill themselves. Then we can mop up whatever is left.

Conventional wisdom. Bugger that.