Peace on Earth
Today, the planets must have been perfectly
aligned for the day's momentous events to have
taken place. In the span of 24 hours, the tone of
the twenty-first century has changed from gloomy
pessimism to glowing hope. With the confirmed news
out of Baghdad that Saddam Hussein was indeed
killed during that first "decapitation attack," the
Iraqi resistance crumbled like a sand castle, and
coalition forces took the capital city late today
without firing a shot. A British special forces
unit took control of a bunker in southern Baghdad
without incident; inside, they discovered 4,000
gallons of VX nerve gas, as well as an unspecified
amount of anthrax. Iraqi people across the city
paraded through the streets, cheering and setting
fire to portraits of Saddam Hussein at the news of
the dictator's demise.
International reaction to the sudden turn of
events has also been swift and positive. U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised coalition
forces for their efficiency and thanked them for
bringing the matter to a quick and decisive
conclusion. Dominique de Villepin, France's foreign
minister, echoed the Secretary-General's
sentiments. "With the discovery of weapons of mass
destruction hidden in Baghdad, France now concedes
that it misjudged the regime of Saddam Hussein. We
regret any inconvenience we may have caused," he
continued, "and promise to be more polite to
American tourists in the future." In Pyongyang,
North Korea quietly allowed an international team
of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy
Agency to visit its nuclear facilities, perhaps
cowed by the overwhelming military success in Iraq.
And perhaps least significantly, Hollywood
celebrities Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Alec
Baldwin, Martin Sheen and Sean Penn called a press
conference to apologize for their previous
criticism of the Bush administration. Quipped
Moore, "We now agree with our colleague William
Goldman: In Hollywood, nobody knows anything." Sean
Penn added, "Please come see our movies."
In a related development that will surely signal
President Bush's reelection next year, the stock
market soared on the news out of Iraq. The Dow
shattered all records by closing over 10,000 for
the first time since 2001, recording an
unbelievable 2,158-point one-day gain. Senator Tom
Daschle (D-SD), perhaps trying to salvage any shred
of hope for his party in 2004, congratulated the
Bush administration and promised to support the
president's tax cut proposals. And on the personal
economic front, I received a job offer today to
head the online division of a major San Diego-based
publisher at an annual salary of $90,000.
It's hard to fathom how the events of a single
day could so completely alter the course of current
events. Even if tomorrow's news is more mundane,
surely we'll have good times—no, great
times—ahead. If nothing else, all I can say
is, "April Fool's"!
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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What is "The Daily Strick"?
I have long called
myself a writer, but too often I don't do
what a writer must do daily: write. So
you, dear reader, are the beneficiary of
my resolution to make a positive change in
at least one area of my life. Every single
day of this new year, I will write
something, anything, and post it here. It
is my intention to use this daily exercise
to jump-start my too-long-dormant creative
energies, and perhaps generate some
worthwhile material this year. Hopefully
you will find at least an occasional
amusement or insight in my daily
musings.
Today's
Column
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Previously...
3/31:
Anti-Americans
3/30:
The
Next 9/11?
3/29:
Tomorrow's
Gonna Suck
3/28:
Willing
to Change
3/27:
Tropical
Memories
3/26:
Regurgitation
3/25:
Piece
of the Puzzle
3/24:
Echoes
in Eternity
3/23:
Booing
for Columbine
3/22:
Not
Recommending Diving
3/21:
Works
in Progress
3/20:
Three
Rings of Shock & Awe
3/19:
Paris—A
Beautiful Blur
3/18:
Ignorant
Idiot Man
3/17:
The
Pirate Queen
3/16:
To
War or Not to War
3/15:
So
Long, Seau
3/14:
Telemarketing
Pays
3/13:
Free,
For Now
3/12:
Chicken
Little Gets Respect
3/11:
Axis
of Evil
3/10:
Writing
Kept Me From Writing
3/9:
King
Arthur
3/8:
The
Women are Smarter
3/7:
Salt
on Old Wounds
3/6:
3/3/03,
3:33 p.m.
3/5:
Beer
Day
3/4:
Pulling
the Trigger
3/3:
Make
'Em Laugh
3/2:
Whither
Iraq?
3/1:
Strickland
Cellars
Previous months in
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Archive
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