Fools, again

George Bush, in Las Vegas yesterday (which by the way was a public event to make his trip official and therefore stick the taxpayer with the cost of what was actually a party fundraising trip) --

And so we -- you know, we chart business startups and markets. And all I can tell you is I talk to our ambassador and General Petraeus on a weekly basis, and they report that markets that were once shut down in dismal places as a result of attacks are beginning to come back and flourish, and life is improving dramatically. Baghdad -- the capital of Baghdad is -- which was once subject to unbelievable sectarian violence, is improving, and life is returning -- and that's positive.

And Dick Cheney, sticking to safe audience of suits in Charlotte --

Only a year ago, Iraq was considered by many to be in danger of falling into chaos. Having liberated that country from Saddam Hussein, we have no intention of permitting killers and thugs to destroy the world's newest democracy. So the President sent General Petraeus to carry out a new offensive strategy, backed up by a surge in American forces, to secure that country and to set the conditions for political reconciliation. Now we can see the effects. The new strategy clearly is succeeding. The surge is working. The forces of freedom are winning.

The current toll in the Baghdad market blasts is 68.

Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud