Again with the electricity talk?

July 8, 2006

What’s with the fascination among Republican leaders about electricity in Baghdad? Yesterday, during his Chicago press conference, Bush said:

“We occasionally are able to pop in with great success, like Zarqawi or 12 million people voting. But increasing electricity in Baghdad is not the kind of thing that tends to get on the news.”

It’s a mystery why Bush would want to draw attention to “electricity in Baghdad.” It’s an even bigger mystery why House Speaker Dennis Hastert and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow have been emphasizing the exact same point recently.

Look, supporters of the war don’t have a lot of success stories to choose from; I get that. But this talk about electricity in Baghdad is misguided — as recently as April, Baghdad residents received an average of four hours of electricity per day, compared to pre-war levels of 16-24 hours per day.

This might help explain why it’s “not the kind of thing that tends to get on the news.”

It does not explain why Democrats do not bring it up constantly.

Electricity is key. What kind of economy can Iraq have, without electricity 24/7?

The U.S. spent many billions on electrical generation and distribution, and the money was, evidently, wasted, and Bush feels no need to correct the situation.

Democrats do not see the need to point out the connection between the deteriorating situation in Iraq and the failure of Bush and his corrupt friends at Bechtel to do the necessary reconstruction work, and to do it well. Why is that?

  • Another matter that doesn’t get on the news is Karen Hughes’ fantastic success in her efforts to convince the Middle East to love America. Where is she, by the way?

  • How does it look from the Iraqi people’s point of view when the “Great White Father” seems more concerned about extolling the miniscule successes of his “liberation”, than about reporting on civilians getting ripped to shreds?

  • This is the same argument being made about oil production. You start at a level of say 4 mill bpd before the war, or 16-24 hrs a day of electricity. Then you bring on a disaster yourself, reducing the figures to 1.8 mill bpd and 4 hours a day. Then you waste billions and billions of dollars trying to fix what you just broke, and make a miniscule improvement to 2 mill bpd and 4-6 hours and you claim progress. This is the joke that is Iraq.

  • The great news about the electricity is just the start. Now that power is back on line, the irrigation pumps are humming! Rice and cotton production are expected to be real money earners this year and some Florida sugar cane farmers are heading over to consult with a group of disaffected insurgents who want to start growing the stuff on a commercial scale.

    And how about the steel mill that is being shipped in from Russia so Iraq can start making car frames for the new car being built by Martin Bricklin in China? I think it’s called a Cherry. That rocks! And to cut down on emissions from Hummers, the pentagon is sending over a batch of E-Hummers that can just be plugged in at night to both improve air quality and increase the stealth capability of the troops. That’s a lifestyle win/win for everybody. They’re very quiet, (the Hummer’s that is). Since the power fluctuations on the grid have been smoothed out, there are extra 750 lb. battery packs that can be charging while the Hummers are out running on the charge from the night before. The batteries are modular so they can be replaced in just a few minutes with a forklift. It’s a whole new faux war!

    Hell, some power meters have been seen spinning in reverse. The excess is being sold to Turkey at a premium because of the especially high quality of the electricty being produced in Iraq. It’s so pure. Pure something anyway.

    It’s a miracle. Truly.

  • If the headlines say “Electricity increased in Bagdad” .. 1st, the American public thinks all of Iraq has more electricity and they proceed to the funnies.
    If the headlines say “121,000 jobs created in June”, the American people think Jorge’s economy is humming … and they proceed to the sports pages.
    The majority doesn’t have a clue!

  • “Karen Hughes has probably been beheaded by your beloved terrorists.”

    And you call yourself a moron.

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