May 09, 2006

Hagiography Bordering on the Pornographic

Did anyone catch Bret Baier's Fox special on Rumsfeld last night, "Why He Fights"? Amazing propagandistic fare, one for the time capsule. Eisenhower morphing into Rumsfeld, so as to portray the latter as noble knight staving off the perils of the military-industrial complex (those nasty retired Generals!), 5-10 seconds (seriously, if that) of gloss-over on Abu Ghraib, steely montage of all the other good wars fought before (but with far fewer casualties, of course, 'transformation'!). The kicker came towards the end, with Baier hunched over the backseat of Rummy's official car, like an adulatory lap-dog, breathlessly asking him about his faith and his plans for the future. You felt Baier just might have burst into tears if Rummy had surprised him and told him he was resigning. At times the mutual stroking almost seemed to get out of hand. Would they break into a cuddle, perhaps, arms akimbo and misty eyed at all the memories they had shared on their myriad trips to theater? Yes, the amorous play got hot and heavy all right. Call it Rummy porn. A bravura performance by Roger Ailes and Co. It doesn't get much better than this, but it's not for the squeamish...