Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Yet Another Domestic Iraq

In the course of complaining about how Obama refuses to use his new perch to destroy America's unions (was that a campaign promise?), Mickey says:

The auto bailout sounds more like Iraq every week.

Now, Mickey's not the first one to compare the auto bailout to an intractable foreign policy clusterfuck (and not the the first one I've mocked for doing so), and Mickey's certainly not the only one at Slate above comparing Thing A to Thing B on the flimsiest of pretenses (George Lucas is like Henry Kissinger!, the UAW is like immigration activists!, etc.), and it's definitely not Mickey's first foray into "Hey liberals, this thing I hate is like that war you hate!" territory. But, still.

It really is remarkable that Mickey can look at the Iraq War, with its massive cost, shifting rationale, availability of other less-bad options, and lack of meaningful oversight ... and see the Auto Bailout.

But then I remember that Mickey can't blame the collapse of Lehman Brothers on Democratic special interest groups, and it all makes sense.