Iraq & the Housing Crash: Totally the Same!
The collapse of the U.S. housing market and the U.S. occupation of Iraqare both total disasters, but did you know they are similar in so many other ways?
* The war boosters keep saying things will get better in six months, which is exactly what the National Association of Realtors keeps saying. Both are full of shit and things are actually getting dramatically worse and will continue to get worse until the respective nations are abandoned, smoldering ruins.
* In each disaster, exactly one high-profile booster was sacrificed to try to calm the public: Donald Rumsfeld lost his job over his Iraq collapse lies, and NAR chief economist David "Baghdad Bob" Lereah lost his job over his housing collapse lies.
* Fed & Treasury chiefs Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson claim the housing collapse isn't leading to an entire economic collapse, even though that's what's actually happening; Robert Gates and Condi Rice keep claim the Iraq collapse isn't leading to an entire Middle East collapse, even though that's what's actually happening.
* In both cases, the people who get destroyed are regular working people.
* Thomas Friedman is an asshole.
The Twin Debacles [Slate]