OK, Nobody from the US - or anywhere - commented on America Under Siege Week on The History Channel (Brought to You By Jeep!)

Those of you who read this brief post may have wondered what point if any I was making with this short notice. Heck, *I* may have wondered. It was prompted by a paradoxical feeling ....

As I drove home from the airport the other evening (I just went out there to fix a ticket) and drove home along the top level of the Alaska Way Viaduct, I looked out at Elliot Bay and the lights of downtown Seattle twinking in the twilight. I remarked to myself "What a beautiful view. What a peaceful view. I mean, look, my car is running like a top, the tank is 3/4 full, and my last fillup only cost me $2.00 a gallon for 92 octane. It seems that all is right with the world."

But when I got home I picked up the TV remote in an idle moment and found the History Channel trumpeting "America

Under Siege Week!" with different programs on the War of 1812, The Battle of the Alamo, and the Hunt for Osama Bin Laden. And I thought "Whoa, America Under Siege!" A) Who are they appealing to with this particular branding and B) Wow, are they *really* using recent tragedies as a marketing lever? "Get your suicide bombers here! Step right up! Get your suicide bombers here on the Hystery Channel!" Yes, America Under Siege Week, brought to you by that most-American-of-militarily-derived-vehicles, Jeep!

I felt like that was pretty cheap. Under siege? What the hell? Looks like any other nice evening outside. Restaurants doing a good business, everybody driving around in their SUVs. No long lines around the block to get milk or bread at the 7-11. My direct deposit paycheck worked again. UPS showed up with some stuff from NewEgg and my DSL is blinking away. But....

In his book, "Imperial Hubris", the author "Anonymous" (nee Mike Scheuer) decries the US' infatuation with sentimental exaggeration of tragedy -- yellow ribbon syndrome, you might call it -- he's asking "When are we going to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and figure out that we are actually at war?" -- that more sacrifices remain ahead. The paradox, then, is this superficial sense of DSL/SUV normalcy overlaid with heroic History Channel programming for a feel-good evening all the while knowing that things really aren't quite right.

Sad to say, as much as I think Bush deserves to lose, I don't think it is going to matter too much either way. I think the damage has been done. Civil war a-coming in Iraq. A bigger quagmire awaiting in....Pakistan? Go ahead, convince me that the election might matter!

Somewhere in that book, after raking Bush over the coals for this complete cock-up in Iraq and just how much Bush has played into Bin Laden's hands, he mentions the number of suitcase nukes in the former Soviet arsenel that are unnacounted for. The exact number escapes me. 100? 150?

It is a sad, but inescapable thought: will the History Channel do a special if and when we see one of these small guys get lit off here in the US? (Where else would OBL want to light one off? He's made it pretty clear to the rest of the world that his beef is with US.) And should the History Channel make it a 2-hour special, or maybe 3 1-hour episodes?

The Department of Fatherland Security warns against the possibility or really bad things happening that could interfere with the November election. I don't think so. A real evildoer would wait until January. "You see, it doesn't matter who you elect".

Cheers,