This is a few days old, but it’s bugging me.  

    More
than two years after the scandal, with the damage to our national reputation
compounded by new killings at Haditha, and now standing
on a world stage, knowing full well that the entire Arab media is
watching. . . Chimpus Maximus still can’t bother to even try to
pronounce the word for the torture place?  (See
the 51:07 mark of his stand-up with Tony Blair. Transcript here.)

   
Now, granted, I only speak like eleven words of Arabic, and maybe I’m
wrong or missing Bush’s subtle mastery of the Iraqi dialect or
something.  I ain’t no dang linguist.  Not pretending to be.  And granted, the phrase

may not immediately come tripping off your lips, particularly when
you’re trying to look tough by pushing your Texas accent forward.

    
But here: just say the word “Paris,” but with a broad, goofy, mock French
accent, using a gutteral, back-of-the-throat “r” that almost makes a “g” in the process, a noise so French
that Ann Coulter would just pee if she heard it.  Bingo.  That’s
decently close to the sound at the beginning of “Ghraib.”   Not
perfect, but easy.  Takes like two minutes to learn.  Close enough for horseshoes and global war on
terror.  Particularly when you know the whole world is listening, and
your international reputation depends on showing that you actually give
the slightest damn about the Arabic world, despite Gitmo and the
torture and the killings and the cover-ups, and your war isn’t just
about politics and power.

    But Bush just can’t be bothered, I guess.  So, “Abu Guh-REB“ it is.

    So imagine a Saudi dictator expressing his deep, abiding
compassion for Katrina victims in the city of New Vuhr-LANE.  His own
people might not catch it, but you’d sniff right away that he wasn’t
really sincere.

    Now imagine that the guy’s army had actually tortured innocent people there.  Would you be impressed with how much he cares?

    You get the same impression by reading the full transcript, too.  Bush’s “bring it on,” for example, was
“misinterpreted.”  The press fussed like this was some sort of apology, but come on

    This is a few days old, but it’s bugging me.  

    More
than two years after the scandal, with the damage to our national reputation
compounded by new killings at Haditha, and now standing
on a world stage, knowing full well that the entire Arab media is
watching. . . Chimpus Maximus still can’t bother to even try to
pronounce the word for the torture place?  (See
the 51:07 mark of his stand-up with Tony Blair. Transcript here.)

   
Now, granted, I only speak like eleven words of Arabic, and maybe I’m
wrong or missing Bush’s subtle mastery of the Iraqi dialect or
something.  I ain’t no dang linguist.  Not pretending to be.  And granted, the phrase

may not immediately come tripping off your lips, particularly when
you’re trying to look tough by pushing your Texas accent forward.

    
But here: just say the word “Paris,” but with a broad, goofy, mock French
accent, using a gutteral, back-of-the-throat “r” that almost makes a “g” in the process, a noise so French
that Ann Coulter would just pee if she heard it.  Bingo.  That’s
decently close to the sound at the beginning of “Ghraib.”   Not
perfect, but easy.  Takes like two minutes to learn.  Close enough for horseshoes and global war on
terror.  Particularly when you know the whole world is listening, and
your international reputation depends on showing that you actually give
the slightest damn about the Arabic world, despite Gitmo and the
torture and the killings and the cover-ups, and your war isn’t just
about politics and power.

    But Bush just can’t be bothered, I guess.  So, “Abu Guh-REB“ it is.

    So imagine a Saudi dictator expressing his deep, abiding
compassion for Katrina victims in the city of New Vuhr-LANE.  His own
people might not catch it, but you’d sniff right away that he wasn’t
really sincere.

    Now imagine that the guy’s army had actually tortured innocent people there.  Would you be impressed with how much he cares?

    You get the same impression by reading the full transcript, too.  Bush’s “bring it on,” for example, was
“misinterpreted.”  The press fussed like this was some sort of apology, but come on