Appropos of my discussion yesterday of the media and its attitude towards the powerful is this particularly disturbing specimen courtesy of the villager par excellence, David Ignatius. This homage to General David Petraeus just screams out "get a room motherfucker!"
I've seen Petraeus give many briefings over the years, and it's a bit like watching a magician at work. Even though you've seen the trick before, and you know the patter, you still get mesmerized. He has the ability to make people believe the impossible might be doable, after all. He pulled it off in Iraq, and it's just possible he's on his way again in Afghanistan. But this time it will be a stretch.
And more heavy breathing:
Like any war, this one is ultimately about willpower, and America has an advantage in Petraeus, one of the strongest-willed people you could hope to meet.
Really, it's hard to believe that a major American newspaper is publishing this kind of feeble, adolescent claptrap after nearly a decade of war in Afghanistan. And the notion that war is all about our will -- well, let's just say it is sorely tempting me to violate Godwin's law.
Pathetic, really. (h/t to Atrios.)
