Lately, Western viewers of al-Sahhaf's press briefings have begun to wonder about his grasp on reality. As American forces sped on from the well-secured airport and into the streets of Baghdad, the pompous know-it-all under the black beret was insisting, "We have defeated them, in fact we have crushed them in the place of Saddam International Airport," which by then was no longer even known as Saddam International Airport.
And I do admire the sheer poetry of this line, "As our leader Saddam Hussein said, ‘God is grilling their stomachs in hell.'" Stomach might well be an Iraqi adoption of one of Jacques Chirac's haute cuisine dishes.
Obviously, al-Sahhaf is an intense partisan. His partisanship drives him into fantasy, making him somewhat the joke figure. By now, even the editors of Time must be laughing. As I listened to his poetizing this past week, I thought to myself of who might be the American equivalents of such a man? My candidate is Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
He has said things in public that reveal a certain detachment from terra firma. Just the other day, columnist Lloyd Grove described a Washington party given by Daschle for author David Brock and the paperback edition of his book, Blinded by the Right.
In the book, Brock admits to having lied about people and blackmailed some. Beyond admitting to being a liar, he has been accused of being one, of writing a mendacious book and of betraying confidences. Yet he is a propounder of the theory that a "conspiracy" has laid low the Democratic Party. Thus Daschle co-hosts Brock's party, and at it he said: "I really admire David Brock. ... His book was given to me by President Clinton. He gave me his own copy -- which was underlined, circled,and dog-eared."
Apparently, the Boy President told Daschle, "You have got to read this book." Added Daschle: "It was the best advice he's given me in at least a couple of years. We thank David for his contribution and hope to see more from him."
Equally important, "To any Republicans out there: If you are willing to disavow your past and change your ways, we'll throw a party for you as well." I would have thought that a joke, but the other co-host, Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., chimed in emotively, "David, you've given us inspiration to fight -- and fighting we are. And I think you'll see a new Democratic Party in the future."
So maybe al-Sahhaf can skip a career change back to the United Nations or to Harvard and go directly to the Democratic National Committee, with the like-minded rhetorician Daschle and the aspiring Reid, whom I had once thought sane.
I have for decades wondered what might be the liberal equivalent of the John Birch Society. With Daschle's emotional efflorescence, I have now found it complete with martyred patriot and all-embracing conspiracy. The liberal equivalent of the John Birch Society is Daschle's national Democratic Party, devoted to the resuscitation of Bill Clinton and David Brock. In all of American history, there is no precedent to such lunacy within a national political party.