The shit will REALLY hit the fan on January 20

[jmowreader]

Bush didn't pick the date he lynched Saddam out of a hat. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhu_al-Hijjah, this is the month of the Hajj...the pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are required to make at least once in their lives.

Iraq not being all that far from Saudi Arabia, a lot of the people who could be expected to get really violent about Saddam's lynching probably went to Mecca. I also expect that many of the people who stayed in Iraq are being peaceful out of respect to the Hajj.

The Hajj ends on January 19, and Saddam's still going to be dead by Bush's hand.

[Little Wing]

1. Surely you aren't suggesting that innocent pilgrims with a zest

for stampeding in circles are the violent types

[jmowreader]

3. No, I'm suggesting the violent types have more respect for Islam than Bush does

[Nite Owl]

2. And that's probably around the time of the

SOTU address. Could be interesting, wonder what he will say if things get even worse right before his speech.

[jmowreader]

4. I expect this year's SOTU to follow the Constitution to the letter

The Constitution (Article II, Section 3) requires that the President--or Bush, in this case--"shall from time to time give to the Congress information on the state of the Union."

Please note that the Constitution does not require the president to make shit up, bang the war drums, demand tax cuts, tell stories about how wonderful his bogus educational deform initiatives are...it doesn't even require him to stand in front of Congress. Every president from Thomas Jefferson (who thought it too similar to the Queen's Speech) to Woodrow Wilson delivered the required information to Congress in writing, where it was read by the Clerk of the Senate. According to Wikipedia, Jimmy Carter delivered the 1981 State of the Union to Congress in writing.

I believe that Bush will be told by his handlers to deliver the report in writing. He'll blow them off, of course.

[Ian David]

5. Here are some other reasons

1) Every time Saddam opened his mouth, it made us look worse. Yeah, Saddam was crazy and unhinged, but remember: Saddam "has the receipts."

2) How many judges and lawyers and witnesses associated with Saddam's trial have been assassinated? They were probably running out of lawyers.

3) Bush wanted Saddam executed on the Republickers' watch.

4) Bush knows there is going to be a surge in violence following the execution, and he wants to use it to justify his surge in troops. He's trying to "Immanentize the Tet Offensive."