Posted to commemorate three years of US occupation in Iraq

They pray four times a day,
They pray five
Who ways are strange when it's time to survive
Some will go of their own free will to die
Others take them with you when they blow sky high
What's the difference?
All you get is lost children

While the bosses sit up behind a desk
It cost billions to blast humans in half
Into calves and arms
Only one side is allowed to have bombs
That's like making a soldier drop his weapon,
Shooting him, and telling him to get to steppin'
Obviously, they came to portion up his fortune
Sounds to me like that old robbery extortion
Same game
You can't reform 'em

- from "Strangeways" by MADVILLAIN, "Madvillainy", Stones Throw Records, 2004 [MF Doom (MC) produced by Madlib]

From The New Yorker's most obtuse review in music criticism history:

But “Madvillainy” is hardly a difficult record. MF (which stands for Metal Face, among other things) Doom, who appears on the cover masked, looking like an extra from “Alexander Nevsky,” takes a deep pleasure in words: alliteration, internal rhymes, and pure sound. The point of “Madvillainy” is largely poetic—celebrating the language of music and the music of language. It’s not hard to quote Doom.
...
Most of Madlib’s beats are made from samples of records, though it is hard to say which ones, even in a general way. Is the lovely, decaying piano figure in “All Caps” from a jazz record? An English skiffle record? A documentary about whales?
...
For most of us, this is poppycock, but Doom and Madlib succeed in translating the heightened physical sensitivity and associative facility of the stoned mind into concrete sound. Madlib, especially, seems able to hide music inside other music. His samples lie on each other like double exposures, or like a cassette tape that allows the previous recording to bleed through the new one. “Strange Ways” sounds like several songs constantly competing to achieve dominance. Doom, happily, is undisturbed. The narcissism of the stoned can be a gift.

Ain't that the truth.

The truth, as Jack Murtha demonstrated today, is simple. Going into Iraq was a horrible mistake, we're there for all the wrong reasons and we need to get the fuck out. I think MF Doom and a lot of people around the country have figured that out.

But it seems to me that sophisticated voters often miss the obvious because they fall for sophisticated excuses which are designed especially for them.

Consider, for a minute, that the following are nothing but copouts from Beltway Democrats who genuinely do not intend to do anything about the Iraq situation:

"There are no good options"

"We can't leave or there will be a bloody civil war"

"Iraq is too complicated for us to propose a plan to fix it"

Jack Murtha has a plan. It's specific and practical: withdraw to the periphery so our soldiers stop getting killed and so we can jump back in if things get out of hand. Let the Iraqis resolve their differences. Oh yeah, and fire everyone who is responsible for this bloody mess (Kung-Fu Grip Rummy, Big Dick Cheney and on down the line). Now that's a plan worthy of Hannibal Hayes.

Yet the Democratic Party treats Murtha like a leper.

Why do Democrats not get it? Are these accomplished people dumb? Are they so gullible as to blindly believe what their loser consultants tell them?

The Democrats don't want to get it.

Because they don't have to. They know that sophisticated liberal voters are locked into the "whole shit sandwich vs. half shit sandwich" meme. They know sophisticated liberals will vote for them no matter what they do or fail to prevent.

Let's rule out third parties. Which are the key to the appeal of this meme: "What are you going to do? Vote for Nader? That is illogical. [/spock] This would only help the Republicans".

I find it amazing that so many lefty bloggers (yes, you too Lambert) who are so skilled in deconstructing Republican memes fail to examine a Democrat meme that they seem to have absorbed.

Consider that a "whole shit sandwich" and a "half shit sandwich" might not be your only options. Again, for the sake of argument, ruling out third parties.

What if, with only two vedors possible, you asked the Half Shit Sandwich Vendor:

You: "I think you would sell a lot more sandwiches if you put less shit on them, or none at all"

HSSV: "Nah, Americans love to eat shit. Look at all the business the other guy is getting".

You: "But it doesn't make any sense. Eating shit isn't good for you. I'm an American and I don't like to eat shit."

HSSV: "You have no choice, chump. Eat shit or die."

You: "I'm going to only buy sandwhiches from the other employee who works at your stand, he puts less shit on his."

HSSV: "I'm going yank him from the primaries by steering donations away from his campaign".

You: "I'm going to tell everyone I know how much your sandwiches suck unless you change your policies."

HSSV: "Whatever. Who's going to listen to you? You're a freak and a peon, and I'll make sure everyone knows that."

You: "I'm shockingly influential, you have no idea."

There is nothing wrong with saying that Dems are Republican-Lite when they act like it. Vote for them anyway in November, but in the meantime, why avoid calling them on their bullshit? Or is that giving aid and comfort to the enemy?

The goal should not be "Democratic Victory at All Costs", which the Sandwich Meme encourages. The should be "Progressive Policies that Benefit All Americans". What if Democrats retake Congress but continue to embrace (or fail to effectively oppose) Bush's policies on Iraq, Katrina reconstruction, the environment, civil liberties and the War on Terra? Is that progress?

Unless Progressives disabuse themselves completely of the Shit Sandwich meme, they will really never have the leverage to get Democrats to support progressive policy. And without progressive policies enacted by the US government, things will just continue to get worse for Humans in America and around the World.