"Power is only as good as the perception of power"

Baby contemplates his next move atop the soon-to-be-decorated Easter table down Goomp's, where he and his sister can come and go at will untethered. We temporarily forgot that we always feature the green-foiled faux chocolate bunny in a nest of excelsior surrounded with colored eggs and went ahead and ordered the awesome Park Florist centerpiece, above. An abundance of riches.

"Awake, thou wintry earth. Cast off thy sadness." If only. Even as the snows of early spring desert Goomp's fields and rocky outcrops Down East this clear-skied Easter morning -- and the robins, bluebirds, cardinals, crows, sparrows and all of God's creatures bright and beautiful who make it their business to continue the bloodline in these parts start selecting mates and nest sites and gathering leaves and feathers for their nests -- the same old, same old forces of darkness and/or benightedness keep on keeping on. Yes, you, Nancy Pelosi, among so many others. Plus one beacon of light in Vatican City who disappointed us big time this morning. First the same old, same old:

1. Same old, same old, Part a. "There are two Iraq wars being waged, according to military officers on the ground and defense experts: the one fought in the streets of Baghdad, and the war as it is perceived in Washington," writes WaPo staff writer Thomas E. Ricks, summarizing most expertly what a lot of us out here have known in our bones for some time:

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who took over as the top U.S. commander in Iraq in February, cited the disparity last week. "The Washington clock is moving more rapidly than the Baghdad clock," he said in a television interview. "So we're obviously trying to speed up the Baghdad clock a bit and to produce some progress on the ground that can, perhaps . . . put a little more time on the Washington clock" . . .

An official in Iraq warned that executing the new approach will take time -- perhaps more than Washington is willing to give. "Early signs are very encouraging -- huge drop in sectarian killings in Baghdad, return of thousands of refugee families," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity so that he could be candid. "But there is no way we can defeat this insurgency by summer. I believe we can begin to turn the tide by then, and have an idea if we are doing it. To defeat it completely is a five-to-10-year project, minimum -- and rushing it along to meet a D.C. timeline is rushing to failure."

Same old, same old, Part b. "Even if it were true (which it's not) that Valerie Plame's crack commando units are rappelling down the walls of every presidential palace from Sudan to North Korea, in a media age what matters is not only what's going on behind the scenes but the scenes themselves," writes Mark Steyn:

And scenes of British servicemen fawning on Ahmadinejad along with scenes of a headscarved Nancy Pelosi doing the same to Bashir Assad project a consistent message.

Even if there is more going on than meets the eye, what meets the eye is so profoundly damaging to the credibility of great nations that no amount of lethal special ops could compensate for it. Power is only as great as the perception of power.

2. Beacon of light blinks. "Nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees," said Papa Ratzi during his otherwise inspiring "Urbi et Orbi" Easter message "to the city and to the world" in St. Peter's Square this morning -- we caught it, as usual, live early morning on EWTN -- breaking our heart in two as he seemed to draw moral equivalency between what we consider a "just war" in Iraq vs. the everyday tribalist sandbox wars of the third world from Darfur on down/up. We can only assume the Holy Father hasn't been keeping up with his reading of Iraq the Model, Michael Yon, General Petraeus and others on the ground who keep on keeping on even as Pelosi & Company try to put out the homefires.

Comments

[Teresa]

Sorry, I know how much you like this Pope, but he's staying true to his predecessors.

We had John Paul, who met with and shook the hand of one of Sadam's top government officials before the start of the war, commiserating with him over the harsh tactics of the American bully. Or how about when Pope Pius refused to speak out against the Holocaust... Just 2 small examples of a heinous disregard for the plight of those who are under such rule.

Why the long line of Popes seem to think that there is nothing wrong with dictators and tyrants who kill millions, has left me puzzled as to what gives them any moral authority. *sigh* As far as I'm concerned, once you ignore or agree with dictators and their cronies - you lose all credibility.

[hnav]

such a great photo...

i know this Green Foiled Bunny from Easters Past at the mighty SISU.

in my interpretation, i felt this fine Pope was referencing the monstrous terrorists, not necessarily the Allies led by the USA, trying to help the young Democracy in Iraq.

but then again, i am forced to rely on reports from a very biased press...

either way, i see even more progress in Iraq, which is most important.

looking for Democrats to step up efforts to undermine the admirable mission, because of growing positives...