So, here's the top ten signs conservatives are totally off their rocker when they say retarded shit like Iraq is less dangerous than DC. Besides dividing the death rates from the Baghdad morgues by the population of the entire country to get their figures, they make an argument that is just stupid.

1. In DC, 100,000 people have not had to flee the city due to a religious persecution and sectarian violence as has occurred in Iraq.
   
2. In DC, people are not pulled off of tourist busses, divided by religious affiliation, and assassinated 20 at a time in the street.
   
3. In DC, you are not likely to be blown up by an IED.
   
4. In DC, you are not likely to be killed by suicide bombers.
   
5. In DC, you are not likely to be killed by death squads.
   
6. In DC, it is unlikely that members of the US military will travel house to house killing the occupants.
   
7. In DC, if you are killed violently it is nonrandom, as studies of crime in american cities show people killed in violent crime are usually criminals, usually killed by people they know, and very rarely is violent crime anonymous or random.
   
8. In DC, when people do get killed, 50 other people don't end up in the hospital missing limbs or with shrapnel in their heads.
   
9. The crime rate in DC is disproportionate because it has a relatively low number of residents 550k, even though the city is usually occupied by about 3 million people each day.
   
10. Data from non-retards, like the AP shows the death rate in Baghdad is at least twice as high as in DC as of 2004, and is likely much higher now as most reports indicate accelerating violence.
    
    

    The death toll recorded by the Baghdad morgue was an average of 357 violent deaths each month from May through April [2004]. That contrasts with an average of 14 a month for 2002, Hassan's documents showed.
    
    The toll translates into an annual homicide rate of about 76 killings for every 100,000 people.
    
    By comparison, crime-ridden Bogota, Colombia, reported 39 homicides per 100,000 people in 2002, while New York City had about 7.5 per 100,000 last year. Iraq's neighbor Jordan, a country with a population a little less than Baghdad's, recorded about 2.4 homicides per 100,000 in 2003.
    ...
    Tikrit, a province of 650,000 people 90 miles north of Baghdad, recorded 205 people killed from May through April, or an average of 17 a month, said Najat Khorshid Sa'id, statistics director at the morgue in the provincial capital, Tikrit, which was Saddam's hometown. He said no one died from violence in 2002.
    
    In Kirkuk, a northern province of 1.5 million people, 401 people were killed from May through April, or an average of 34 a month, said Fadhillah Ahmed Rasheed, head of the morgue in the provincial capital, Kirkuk. The province averaged three violent deaths a month in 2002, he said.
    ...
    In Karbala, a province of 1.5 million people 60 miles south of Baghdad, 663 people were killed from May through April, or an average of 55 a month, said Ali Alardawi, deputy administrator of Alhuien Hospital, which runs the morgue in the provincial capital, Karbala. That compares with an average of one violent death a month in 2002, he said.
    

    
    

So, to summarize. These bizarre statements made by rightwingers are based on fudging the data, are just patently absurd to anyone who lives in or around DC, do not take into consideration casualties, and generally indicate a shameless suspension of rational thought. However, they persist in making them. This is why Giving Up is the only true path towards happiness and sanity. There is no rational debate to be had here, nothing will change their minds, only the painful lesson of experience seems to make any dent. You might as well argue with a raving lunatic on a street corner that the FBI doesn't truly have a chip implanted in his brain. There are no winners in such arguments.

Anyway, Jeff pointed me to an article making a similar point in the NYT this weekend. It is hysterical, basically, everyone in Utah loves Bush, but can't name a single policy they agree with. They just like him. It's not rational. And nothing will change it until they feel the negative effects of this presidency on a personal level (as seems to be happening even in Utah).

For instance ponder this statement.

All of the administration's perceived failures, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina and the budget deficit, go through a different filter in these Bush strongholds. Sounding a familiar theme, Mr. Craft said he was distrustful of news media portrayals of Mr. Bush because "they concentrate too much on the negative and certain small things."

Yeah, small things like Iraq, the largest national debt of any country in history, and the loss of an American city to a hurricane. Itsy-bitsy. Apparently just mouthing religious cliches works big time towards forgiveness of pretty big flaws.

Another student at Brigham Young, Danielle Pulsipher, a junior, offered blanket approval of the president. Asked to name which of his actions as president she liked most, she was hard-pressed to answer.

"I'm not sure of anything he's done, but I like that he's religious - that's really important," Ms. Pulsipher said.

Are we starting to see the problem here? The hard-core believers are just that, believers. You are trying to tamper with a religious belief here, that is, that George Bush is their lord and saviour and can do no wrong. He is the leader of a personality cult, he is their "dear leader" and nothing changes the minds of victims of this type of thinking. Just look at the quotes in this article. Katrina, the national debt and Iraq? Little problems. After all, Iraq is safer than DC and Katrina was no one's fault. Who could've known a horse fancier wouldn't make a good FEMA head? The largest national debt of all time is natural in a time of war. Surplus? What surplus? Tax cuts? Sure! They fix everything!

So, give up, protect yourself as best you can, buckle down and ride it out. Nothing else works, and only experience will set the true believers straight. People are starting to feel the pain though. Consider, Bush has lost 15 percentage points in Utah this year. If even the Utards are losing their faith, there is hope.