Got this from Bob, who doesn’t have a web site or anything, so I’m just gonna have to say it came from Bob.

I have to not read crooksandliars.com, it angries up the blood too much. But on the plus side, my brain-fuzzing sleepiness of this morning is gone now. On the minus side, the toxic rage going through my head is at dangerously low pH levels, so it’s a tradeoff.

Think Progress » Kristol Suggests People of Iran Would Embrace U.S. Attack, Triggering Regime Change

That’s Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard. Bob said the “liberators” line, and I said oh no he di-in’t. I went to the article, searched for “liberators”, and the word wasn’t in the article–okay, whew, Bob was joking. But on further reading, there’s the quote:

…the Iranian people dislike their regime. I think they would be – the right use of targeted military force — but especially if political pressure before we use military force – could cause them to reconsider whether they really want to have this regime in power. There are even moderates – they are not wonderful people — but people in the government itself who are probably nervous about Ahmadinejad’s recklessness.

Even moderates? Goddamit Kristol you tell me what moderates of any country are going to be happy about your rolling tanks into their capitol. That’s like saying you think people are unhappy with the way your local county commissioner has been running the budget, so they’ll be happy that you hired a militia group to go shoot up the offices and liberate your neighborhood from fiscal oppression.

What gets me is that these people think the US can kick the world’s ass. We can’t even handle Iraq for chrissakes. If we had the awesome might and intellect that Kristol thought, why is Iraq a problem? If we had 20 times more resources to throw at it, we could get it worked our pretty easily. But we don’t. So how the hell are we gonna take on Iran?

Man do I dig the irony of Kristol’s dismissive opinion of Iran’s capabilities, and his complete inability to see how it applies much closer to home. Fun game to play: change place names and people names to “country” and “political group”, and then fill them in with more familiar versions, imagining the quote is by someone in a country that is not the US:

This is why standing up to Iran right now is so important. They’re overreached. They and Hezbollah have recklessly overreached. They got cocky. This is the moment to set them back. I think a setback to Hezbollah could trigger changes in Iran. People can say, wait a second, what is Ahmadinejad doing to us. We’re alone. The Arab world is even against us. The Muslim world is against us. Let’s reconsider this reckless path that we’re on.