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The Coulter remark stopped commentary on the Senate's upcoming tour of Walter Reed, but consider: what ELSE did it knock out of the news?
The shit is not about to HIT the fan, which would imply an easy lob of the feces into the blades, so much as it's about to be fired into it with cannons. Oh, and the "fan" it's about to be fired into has an airplane engine bolted to it.
Choose one of three possible disaster scenarios:
Scenario 1: Fearless Leader has already invaded Iran and we don't know it yet.
Problem with this scenario: DU members get most of their news from the foreign press, who isn't reporting any such invasion.
Repercussions from this scenario, as far as Bush is concerned: The military's general officer corps will use the Quickest Way Known To Get Thrown Out Of The Army: smoke a bag of weed and pee in a cup. And they'll do it in uniform, and in front of the White House. (Can you imagine the huge crowd of hippies that would form around America's highest ranking military men, all with one question on their lips: "can you pass that over, man?" if this came to fruition?)
Scenario 2: Someplace that isn't in the Middle East is about to go to hell in a handbasket.
Amplification of scenario: There are a little less than 200 countries in the world today. Very few of them are in the area spooks call MENA--Middle East and North Africa. An example that comes to mind quickly is the Korean Demilitarized Zone...North Korea is armed to the teeth with plenty of weapons that do work, has a desperate need for arable land and modern agrarian methods since DPRK agricultural techniques basically destroy a field in a couple of years, and supports a military that the Defense Intelligence Agency says can "march farther and faster on less sleep and less food than any other army in the world." South Korea's defense against this marauding horde consists of terrain--there's not a huge amount of the DMZ that's passable by military vehicles, and we mined the shit out of it decades ago--their small yet efficient army, a US Army division stationed within walking distance of the Military Demarcation line, another division in Hawaii and a third one in Washington State. Unfortunately for our friends in the Republic of Korea, the three divisions that were SUPPOSED to keep the North Korean Army in North Korea are getting blown up in the mine warfare in Iraq. Therefore, if Kim Jong Il decides he wants to reunify Korea, there's not a hell of a lot that would stop him from doing it.
Problem with this scenario: I could say "we aren't seeing any movement in the news" but surprise--North Korea isn't known as the most secretive nation on earth for nothing. Plus, all the hardware the DPRK would use to attack South Korea in the initial waves is in bunkers along the DMZ. I also considered the possibility of Bush using ICBMs to nuke Pyongyang and decided that not even Bush was that fucking crazy. North Korea is attached to South Korea, a major US trading partner; it's attached to China, a major trading partner; it's close to Japan, a major partner; and all those countries would either be destroyed or so pissed off we'd never see a nickel in foreign investment or a Kewpie doll from any of them for the rest of eternity. I think this one's pretty tight, if KJI decided he had nothing left to lose.
Repercussions from this scenario, as far as Bush is concerned: This one would be very bad for Bush's prosecution of the Iraq War, and the forthcoming Iran War. Bush HAS to defend Korea; there is no debate on this point. He can not let Korea try to stand up for itself because their whole defense program calls for ROK/US combined operations. He can't lose Korea to the South Koreans because of their status as a major trading partner. (Frank Blake, CEO of Home Depot, would personally kick Bush's ass if he handed our major supplier of appliances over to a communist who doesn't believe in foreign trade.)
On the other hand, the US Military isn't big enough to prosecute a counterrevolutionary war in Iraq while we simultaneously attempt to fight off the North Koreans' real army. Not even conscription would work to get enough army quickly enough to keep South Korea from falling...UNLESS he completely shut down the Iraq War immediately. This is, of course, what we all want...but we don't want them being pulled out of combat against revolutionaries with varying levels of training and equipment to be inserted into a war against a well-equipped professional army.
I seriously doubt that this is what they're trying to hide, though.
Scenario 3: It's Fitzmas Eve, and Bush knows it.
Amplification of scenario: We are currently awaiting the verdict in The People of the United States of America v. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Scooter Libby's incredibly guilty. About the only way he won't be wearing prison denim for the rest of his natural life without committing suicide before his reporting date is by using some sort of technicality Fitz has worked to avoid, if he gets pardoned by Shrub quick, or if he rolls over on the administration. Whether he rolls over or not, SOMEONE higher up in the administration--Rove, Cheney or Bush, choose one or all three--is going to get caught up in this scandal, and from that relatively small scandal some serious shit will roll downhill.
Problems with this scenario: Really none. This is my vote for the most likely problem, which is why it's last.
Repercussions from this scenario, as far as Bush is concerned: Are you kidding? They don't make tin cups with presidential seals on them.
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