“Leaders of the United States, Britain and Spain will hold an emergency summit on Sunday in a last-gasp diplomatic effort to bridge deep divisions in the U.N. Security Council over their troubled resolution authorizing war on Iraq. President Bush will travel to Portugal’s windswept Azores islands, 900 miles west of the European mainland, to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar…”
- from Reuters

“Why?” you ask. “Why, after ignoring the opportunity to make diplomatic excursions to the nations that genuinely needed convincing, is our President heading to the Azores to talk to two guys who are already with us? Haven’t we also already made it clear that we don’t even need their help in planning this war? Why, then? Why?”

I’m afraid that the answer, dear readers, is so maddeningly simple, cynical, and trite that it almost defies belief. But here it is, in all its numbingly manipulative glory:


[Photo: Three important guys talking about fighting evil and stuff.]

“No!” you cry, “It can’t be. Bush wouldn’t be heading to a summit on an island off the European coast just to echo Yalta, would he?” Yeah, he would. And here’s a scary thought - it may just be for the photo-up. This isn’t merely a self-conscious echo of the past; it’s straight-up, baldfaced historical plagiarism. Within the next 24 hours, expect to see a picture of Blair, Bush, and Aznar side by side. They may even be sitting. Outside. With Bush in the middle.

Hell, they might even force Aznar to wear a silly hat.