What's Under That Rock?

Will Saletan is as cranky as ever today, falling this short (put your thumb and index finger nanoscopically close for visual effect) of calling Bush and Blair racists:

No wonder Bush gave the Iraqis a pep talk. They’re underprivileged, at-risk, and challenged. They lack self-esteem. They need to be told that they’re capable, despite what others may say. Even Tony Blair is patting them on the back. “You are an inventive, creative people,” he told them in a televised message accompanying Bush’s remarks.

Read the whole thing for Saletan’s full point; I can’t do it justice in an extract. But anyone who thinks that Iraqis haven’t been “underprivileged, at-risk, and challanged,” must have spent the last few years, um, writing for Slate.

NOTE: Saletan’s blog-type thingy doesn’t have permalinks, so scroll down to “The Soft Bigotry of Loose Adulation” if needed.