Losing it

I'm sorry, but Richard Perle, chairman of the Pentagon's Policy Advisory Board, is seriously starting to lose all sense of perspective. Exhibit A:

France is no longer an ally of the United States and the NATO alliance "must develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally or we will not be talking about a NATO alliance" the head of the Pentagon's top advisory board said in Washington Tuesday.

Okayyyyyyy. Exhibit B:

"I have long thought that there were forces in France intent on reducing the American role in the world. That is more troubling than the stance of a German chancellor, who has been largely rejected by his own people," Perle said, referring to the sharp electoral defeat suffered by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party in state elections Sunday.

Yes, Mr. Perle, keep talking. Exhibit C:

Perle went on to question whether the United States should ever again seek the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council on a major issue of policy, stressing that "Iraq is going to be liberated, by the United States and whoever wants to join us, whether we get the approbation of the U.N. or any other institution."

"It is now reasonable to ask whether the United States should now or on any other occasion subordinate vital national interests to a show of hands by nations who do not share our interests," he added.

Perle went on to later suggest the recoining of all money, replacing the familiar presidential faces with the new Emperor of America, George W. Bush, and that Thanksgiving shall henceforth be directed, sacrifically of course -- your firstborn will do -- toward our new deity, George W. Bush, and that America should now be referred to as, with a bow, Rome.

Every time I come close to supporting a war in Iraq, some idiocy like this spills out of the administration. The only valid thing he said, and even then only partially, is that Schroeder's party suffered defeat on Sunday. Of course, what he failed to mention was that Germany's economy sucks ass and people are pissed because they're out of work (sounds like some place else, too, huh?); this, not (exclusively, or even primarily) his foreign policy (though this isn't to say that Schroeder's foreign policy isn't possibly related to its domestic policy) is why the Social Democrats did so poorly on Sunday. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see is the impact of a conservative swing in Germany, on both its domestic and foreign policy.

And as for France, well, I won't even get into that just yet. Maybe later tonight.