Since the word came down that Bush's next phrase-that-pays will be "sacrifice," I've had the Elton John / Bernie Taupin song of that name stuck in my head. Appropriately enough, the lyrics belie the title:

But it's no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It's no sacrifice at all

As it happens, today's chapter at Bible Study for Atheists is Genesis 22, no doubt a great source of inspiration to Mr. Bush. In it, the hero ties his son to a sacrificial altar and prepares to plunge a knife into his chest.

Our President is that kind of hero. But he loves to surround himself with the other kind, the ones who put themselves on the line, whether it's the lucky firefighters who weren't killed when he ignored the Al-Qaeda hijacking threat or the young men and women who sacrifice life and limb to carry out the Commander-in-Chief's orders, even if that Commander is a total fucktard.

Alas for 3004 Americans and untold Iraqis, their story doesn't have Gen 22's happy ending. Apparently, God has other priorities than serving up some livestock to be sacrificed in their stead. No deus in this machina.

For Bush, of course, it's no sacrifice at all. Those young soldiers are his livestock, his doomed stunt doubles, tied to the altar of his delusional dreams of a history that honors him as a hero among heroes.

So, cowboy up, America! If God wants us to be willing to sacrifice our children, how can we flinch when His Chosen President asks the same?