8.21.2004

Captain Codpiece Indeed

From the Valley Advocate:

Earlier this year Bibles were sent to all U.S. soldiers in the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. The soldiers had repeatedly requested more and better equipment. The shielding on their Humvees was so thin, for example, that they'd taken to rimming them with sandbags. Instead, they were equipped with Bibles, inside of which was a form letter encouraging them to pray for Pres. Bush. Not only that, the letter asked that they send Bush a note (on their own dime, no less!) telling him they were praying for him.

Though I would wager most of those soldiers did indeed direct some righteous oaths and epithets in the general direction of the White House, Bush will be needing the prayers of someone, anyone, real soon. Not only will he be out of a job by November, time will weigh heavy on the hands of ex-president No. 43. He's a relatively young man, certainly young enough to get a sense of how history will treat him.

Historians will be unkind to Captain Codpiece. The staggering excesses of his four miserable years -- not just blackly comic twists like the Bibles with the pray-for-me notes (a scene that could be seamlessly inserted into Catch-22 ) but all the other, more serious crimes committed on his watch -- will come to light pronto. As soon as next January, the Kerry team will be able to assess the damage done by Bush's piratical regime to the good ship USA.
Catch-22 (and 43) are alive and well during the Bush Administration.