| You know, sometimes I think that a good measure of our times is the inability of parody to keep up with the shocking ridiculousness of reality: it was less than 48 hours ago that some handsome and witty blogger characterized Chris Shays' fifteen trips to Iraq as "taxpayer-funded vacations," to much laughter and merriment from all present.
And what comes out today? A story in the St. Petersburg Times by reporter Anita Kumar titled "Hot Spot for Junkets? Iraq." And you'll never guess who's the star:
The carefully scripted trips, hosted by the military, give lawmakers a firsthand look - albeit a limited one mostly confined to the fortified Green Zone - and allow them to assess troop morale, observe the rate of rebuilding and get a feel for the constant violence.
Some members use the visits to bolster their argument. Others return with a change of heart.
Most come back with recommendations. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., returned from his third trip in 2005 with a recommendation that "fresh eyes" should look into the U.S. role in Iraq - the basis for the Iraq Study Group.
All of them come back with the political credibility to score points with colleagues on Capitol Hill and voters back home.
"I don't know how you can form judgments about Iraq unless you have been there," said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., who has been a record 15 times. "Seeing the conditions. Smelling the air. You can never see enough."
This spring, Shays hopes to make another trip. So far, though, he hasn't found an opening.
"It's very hard to go now," he said. "Everyone wants to go."
You might want to speculate on what, exactly, Congressman Shays has been smelling in the Baghdad air while you can, because the punchline for the waiting list has already written itself:
Until recently, lawmakers weren't even allowed to sleep in Iraq. Instead, they would spend the night in four-star hotels in Kuwait City or Amman, Jordan, and fly into Baghdad for the day.
Now they usually stay in the Green Zone, sometimes with the military in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.
Of note is the fact that the average member of Congress has been to Iraq 0.97 times, and Kumar usefully breaks down the cost of each stage of an average visit*, so enterprising opponents and data geeks have an opportunity to determine just how much has been spent thus far to sustain Shays' poor judgement and dishonest smearing of war critics.
One thing is clear, however - after 15 trips, Shays has shown that time spent in Iraq is only able to teach him what he already knows. His arguments already have a Through the Looking Glass quality to them, such that he already prefaces his post-Iraq-visit "changes of heart" with a stock disclaimer about his own political cravenness.
And so we're back to our dilemma: we have a Congressman who is a genuine parody of himself already, mocking accountability and responsiveness so openly - and with such deftness - that any constituent that suggests we might deserve better practically walks into Shays' own carefully-laid punchline.
Beyond mere immorality, our last Republican Congressman is engaged in a long-running, monstrously unprincipled performance designed to degrade the very notions of decency and rationality that are our tools of last resort for evicting louts like him from the public debate.
Shays is, in short, is a high-ranking officer in the Shock and Awe assault on the American conscience, and if you thought that the "Abu Ghraib sex ring" or the smearing of military widows was bad – well, just wait until he returns from visits 16 to 20. Shays is doing his part to sustain two wars: our shameful engagement in Iraq, and the War on Empathy here at home. And I, for one, am well beyond hoping that Shays will abandon either fight until every ounce of American moral credibility is exhausted.
* Except for the cost of hosting a Congressman in an Iraqi palace, which the Pentagon declined to disclose, much to my disappointment. |
MLN is powered by