Sunday, March 14, 2004
Major Sunday Shifts
Spain is not only in shock over the tragedies of 3/11. They're also about to be floored by the massive turnaround thanks to today's election that has replaced the majority conservative Popular Party with the Socialist Party. I won't insult anyone by acting as though I know more than the last few days' headlines about Spain's internal political struggles. But it certainly appears that the willingness of the Aznar government to go to Iraq and lingering fears about retribution have created a massive popular shift in the course of merely a few days. This will undoubtably be the major international story of the week to come.
Back in the U.S., the big upcoming anniversary this Friday that I'm sure no one in the Bush Administration wanted to be forced into spinning is that of the invasion of Iraq. The WashPost posted a piece today that characterizes just how the Bushies are planning to handle it. Yuck. As if I care about Spencer Abraham showing off Libyan contraband. Nearly equal in terms of distaste, I loathe pondering the counter-spin from the Kerry folks that we must all expect. Somewhere lost in the mix is the fact that six more Americans were killed in roadside bombings this weekend, bringing the troops lost there to 566 (a rolling tally I hate to observe). The media's lost any perceived obligation to report the names of those lost souls "above the fold," so to speak. And with it, we've all already lost so much more.
I should be watching the Badgers play the Illini for the Big 10 men's b-ball Conference Championship. That would be so much more validating. Sports are such a great distraction from the uglier world at large. So screw it - I'll take my own advice. Until tomorrow, I hope the world rests somehow easier, no matter what I expect to transpire in my absence from sitting at the switch.
Spain is not only in shock over the tragedies of 3/11. They're also about to be floored by the massive turnaround thanks to today's election that has replaced the majority conservative Popular Party with the Socialist Party. I won't insult anyone by acting as though I know more than the last few days' headlines about Spain's internal political struggles. But it certainly appears that the willingness of the Aznar government to go to Iraq and lingering fears about retribution have created a massive popular shift in the course of merely a few days. This will undoubtably be the major international story of the week to come.
Back in the U.S., the big upcoming anniversary this Friday that I'm sure no one in the Bush Administration wanted to be forced into spinning is that of the invasion of Iraq. The WashPost posted a piece today that characterizes just how the Bushies are planning to handle it. Yuck. As if I care about Spencer Abraham showing off Libyan contraband. Nearly equal in terms of distaste, I loathe pondering the counter-spin from the Kerry folks that we must all expect. Somewhere lost in the mix is the fact that six more Americans were killed in roadside bombings this weekend, bringing the troops lost there to 566 (a rolling tally I hate to observe). The media's lost any perceived obligation to report the names of those lost souls "above the fold," so to speak. And with it, we've all already lost so much more.
I should be watching the Badgers play the Illini for the Big 10 men's b-ball Conference Championship. That would be so much more validating. Sports are such a great distraction from the uglier world at large. So screw it - I'll take my own advice. Until tomorrow, I hope the world rests somehow easier, no matter what I expect to transpire in my absence from sitting at the switch.
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