AN ABU GHRAIB OF THE MIND

Lynn Chu, the right-wing literary agent (Michael Savage, John Yoo, Michael Ledeen, Midge Decter, Max Boot), has written a Beat poem of sorts (or maybe it's supposed to be Whitmanesque) entitled "why i continue to believe in the war in iraq." An edited version appears in today's New York Sun; the whole thing (yes, with the title all in lowercase -- groovy!) is on her agency's Web site.

Because to depose a murderous despot is a good thing.
Because the UN resolved to do something a dozen times and didn't.
Because we are the only nation in the world with the decency and strength to do it....

It goes on and on like this.

I can't decide which line is my favorite. Is it "Because other nations, rueing their past glory, are envious"? Or "Because the war and rebuilding can be self-financing with oil"? Or maybe "Because in truth the world respects us for it, however they moan"? No, I think it's this:

Because to them their jihad has only just begun, and crush it we must,
For Osama Bin Laden is not Deng Xiao-Ping.

Uh ... right. That makes a lot of sense.

I've said before that in the fantasyland of Wingnuttia it's always the spring of 2003, with absolute triumph over both terror and liberalism all but achieved. Nevertheless, I can't believe Chu leaves this up on her Web site, and I can't believe that, after Harper's snarkily published the shortened version in its September issue, the right-wing Sun said, "Let's reprint it! We don't think it's funny! In fact, it's still valid! Yes, even the line 'Because we did so with a minimum of human loss'!"

In any case, I really want to hear this poem read aloud in a smoky subterranean club. With bongo drums.