Making Baghdad Bob Proud and Happy

Those of you with stark memories of the Allied invasion of Iraq will remember a dude named, Mohammad Saeed al-Sahhaf. He was employed by the late, unlamented, Saddam Hussein as a PR rep to the international media. In the United States he earned himself the moniker, Baghdad Bob.

During press briefings he would say things like, hundreds of American soldiers are committing suicide outside of Baghdad and there are no American tanks in the city. At the moment he made that second statement U.S. forces were only a few blocks from where he was standing and people watching the broadcast could hear their guns firing in the background.

He became quite the cult figure in the west for all the wrong reasons if you were a supporter of Hussein, or happened to be Mohammad Saeed al-Sahhaf. Here and in other places, such as Great Britain, where he was dubbed, Comical Ali, people began sporting tee shirts with his image on them. Watching him for those few days he was on the air was like seeing someone on acid telling you the moon is secretly populated by vast numbers of cave dwelling banana people.

When it came down to it, none of us had ever witnessed a more accomplished actor in the theater of the absurd as Baghdad Bob--at least until now.

We were graced with a sip of Bob's magical mushroom soup a few weeks ago when Mike Pence accused Barack Obama of demeaning the political discourse after the president referred to Don Trump as a demagogue. Pence was outraged Obama would stoop to, "name calling," during a presidential campaign.

However, Pence is a rank amateur in these matters when compared to Brother Trump's newest campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. Two days ago, on a Sunday morning talk show, she had this to say about her boss, "He doesn't hurl personal insults."

Yes, and American tanks aren't really rumbling through the broad avenues and back streets of Baghdad as I speak.

Within a scant few hours of Conway's appearance, Donald Trump tweeted, "Tried watching low rated @morning_Joe this morning, unwatchable! @morningmika is off the wall, a neurotic and not very bright mess."

He followed up with, "Some day when things calm down, I'll tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns."

Trump was referring to the hosts of MSNBC's, "Morning Joe," Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. He was responding to their criticism of a speech he made in Virginia, which Brzezinski had described as, "rambling."

We can expect a lot more of this surrealism in the next two plus months thanks to the appointment of not just Ms. Conway, but Stephen Bannon as the campaign's CEO. Bannon's day job is running the Breitbart media site. The blog, which has been called, "Trump's Pravda," made news in March when it threw one of it's own reporters under the bus after she was roughed up by Trump's then campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

For those of you who think this craziness can't get any more wildly outre, last Thursday, Trump spokesperson, Katrina Pierson claimed Hillary Clinton suffers from what is known as dysphasia. It is a condition which is caused by brain trauma and degrades a person's ability to speak and comprehend language.

There are already falsified medical records floating around far right websites bearing the name of Mrs. Clinton's doctor saying the same thing.

Meanwhile, the notorious propagandist, Sean Hannity--who at one point last week said, "I've never claimed to be a journalist"--is on FOX News telling everyone, Secretary Clinton suffers from seizures. He offered up photographic proof to a group of medical professionals. To Hannity's supreme dismay none of them would confirm his diagnosis.

Doctor Lisa Bardack who is Mrs. Clinton's physician has said numerous times the on line reports and Hannity's claims are nothing more than bullshit; that the candidate is perfectly fit to carry out the duties of president. Of course in Bannon's twisted world that makes the good doctor just another part of the vast conspiracy to hide Clinton's true condition.

Hey, sinking poll numbers call for desperate measures and, in the face of them, you have to say something, especially when you know your guy is the one who is actually bat shit crazy.

Indeed. At this point, one has to think Baghdad Bob, where ever he is, has to be not just proud, but happy. After all, as this insanity continues to intensify it will be people like Kellyanne Conway and Stephen Bannon showing up on tee shirts from here to Scotland rather than him.


sic vita est



8-23-16