Happy Handover!

Sometimes the anticipation of sovereignty is greater than sovereignty itself but I can't help but feel that even the most hardened of Iraqi bah-humbuggers were delighted by yesterday morning's surprise handover. Is there anything better than getting to open your presents two whole days in advance??! I don't think so. And just like on X-Mas, Santa - or in this case, Paul Bremer - flew under the radar and skipped out of town before the elves could stage another insurgency. I'm also glad to see George W. Bush playing to his strengths for once. Whatever else you say about him, he certainly knows how to seize power.

And what a thoughtful gift this was too. Sure, the Iraqis may have asked for something else, like food or electricity, but I have a feeling they're really going to appreciate this one day. I don't believe we're gonna come back to the neighborhood in a few years only to find that shiny new interim government we personally selected is lying in the middle of the street with a couple of pieces missing...ok, that's really where the Christmas analogies should end, I think.

For those of you critics that think my attitude toward the Iraqis is a bit condescending, I suppose you're going to say this souvenir t-shirt I've created is condescending too:



Oh, who's an adorable experiment in Middle-Eastern self-rule? You are! You are! Oh yes, you are!

Of course, this is only the first step. We won't really know that a new way of life has taken hold in Iraq until the torture chambers and labor camps are shut down and reopened under the name "Wal-Mart."