Word Up, Senator

Following George W. Bush's June 28th national pep talk on the subject of the war in Iraq, elements of the GOP Thought Police sprang into action. Among the more interesting decrees were a few nuggets from Sen. John Warner (R-Va).

"We need to knock off this business of quagmires," opined Warner, who seems more than a little worried that use of such words might get back to the soldiers on the ground in Iraq and brings the morale down, as if they don't already know they're fairly well bogged down. That's right, Senator Warner wants to make sure he and his other Congressfolk don't utter any descriptive words that might provide a startling reality check for our brave soldiers who, by and large, are not the idiots he seems to think they are.

But surely the Senator wouldn't want his colleagues to avoid telling the truth in the name of propaganda when so much is at stake, would he?

Let's ask him.

"I think we're going to take it very seriously to watch our rhetoric, those of us in Congress," Warner said, "and also members of the administration in their rhetoric to make certain what we say can not be misconstrued [or] in any way shows a lack of support."

Okay, so maybe Senator John Warner wants to blow rainbow-colored smoke every time he speaks on the subject of the war in Iraq, but hey, big deal. It's not like he's in any particular position of responsibility regarding Iraq. Well, unless you count the fact that he's chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Isn't it nice to know we have real watchdogs in these important government posts? Seriously, folks, this kind of onomatophobia is troubling, to say the least.