It was Coke's answer to Pepsi's Mountain Dew. It was simply too similar to Mello Yellow's and Cactus Coolers' of the soda-sphere and as a result, it came and went rather quickly and with little lasting effect. It left us in more or less the same soft drink universe we were in before it came along. Coca-Cola was (and still is) the most popular soft drink, Pepsi was (and still is) looking for a way to crack the hearts of the public to embrace it and Mountain Dew further, and Dr. Pepper was (and still is) over in the root beer corner looking dapper as ever.
Well, now we will see a Surge! in troops to Iraq (not unlike the Cactus Cooler-Mello Yellow increases in troop levels we've seen in the recent past), but I predict it will come and go with not much happening. Coke (aka the republicans) will still be the most popular drink, Pepsi (the dems) and Mountain Dew (which we'll call a surrogate for...ummm...the Iraq Study Group report) will still be looking to connect with middle america and Dr. Pepper (let's say Stephen Colbert and Keith Olbermann) will still be looking cool as can be over in their own corner, ready to be consumed by all those who are tired of the garden-variety colas (read: politicians, pundits, and bloggers).
All that said (and with apologies for a sloppy analogy), I really hope something positive comes out of this "new" plan Bush is putting in motion, because that would be the first step toward bringing home the troops. If it does not work, he is not going to pull out, he is entrenched in this imbroglio, so it will require another several months of planning and a new plan will be put forth, all the while national and (perhaps more importantly) military morale will continue to dwindle. So for the sake of every man or woman in uniform as well as every innocent, non-combative Iraqi civilian, I hope this thing works.
Also, I hope the Democrats fund it properly. To say "we're only going to fund the troops currently on the ground, but not this "surge" is to in effect 1) undermine the office of the president, he is commander-in-chief and like it or not he has the final say in combat related matters, and 2) adopt a stay the course policy against which they have railed.
Look at it this way, 20,000 more troops are going to be on the ground, no matter how many polls show Americans are against it and no matter how many Congressmen/Congresswomen decry it as a policy blunder. They are going. The question now is, when they get on the ground in Baghdad will they have any funds appropriated so they can attempt to complete this mission, or will they be hamstrung by partisan politics back home while the amply-funded likes of Moqtada al-Sadr & Ayman Al-Zawahiri and others gun them down like sitting ducks.
In other news, Mary Sanchez of the Kansas City Star is becoming one of my favorite columnists. I've probably said it before, but I am saying it now just in case I haven't previously.
And finally, Jim Emerson's excellent movie blog, scanners, has been on fire since the start of the new year.
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