I love a good anniversary party

No, it wasn't a St. Patrick's hangover that kept me on the sidelines. I've actually been just too darn busy celebrating the progress we've seen in Iraq over the past three years. Think about that. It's already been three years of tollin' the bell of freedom for our brothers and sisters in Baghdad. Why, it seems as if it were just yesterday that Donnie Rumsfeld was telling us,

"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." (Feb. 7, 2003)

Yet here we are, thirty-six months of progress later. Those magnificent folks at Think Progress--there's that magical word again--were kind enough to sum up those years with the headlines about El Presidente's reactions to the ever-improving situation in the Gulf:

"Bush Goes on Offensive To Explain War Strategy: Speeches to Combat Public Pessimism [Washington Post,03/11/06]

“Bush supporters cite Iraq speeches as start of rebound” [AP, 12/13/05]

“Bush vows victory, not retreat; Speech gives strategy for winning Iraq war, rejects exit timetable” [Toledo Blade, 12/1/05]

“Bush Goes on the Offensive Against Critics of War in Iraq” [Los Angeles Times, 11/12/05]

“In Speech, Bush To Get Specific On Iraq Strategy” [Boston Globe, 6/28/05]

“President spotlights Iraq war successes; Bush plans summer offensive to tout progress against insurgency” [Fresno Bee, 6/19/05]

“Bush to define Iraq strategy in major speeches” [Washington Times, 5/22/04]

In what must be a world record for amount of polish applied to a turd, never has so much definition, specification, and explanation amounted to so pathetically little. For all the (relentlessly redundant) speechifying, our soldiers are still dying, their civilians are still dying, we're no closer to leaving, and the American people are less convinced than ever. And Dear Leader still thinks the real problem lies in how he's saying it. Once again, it seems, we're left with a familiar choice: doltish ignorance or utter insanity.

Can we really sleep better either way?