I like Glenn Reynolds, but I'm sick of seeing this daft Lil' Red Hen metaphor:
"Years ago I compared the international community's behavior to The Little Red Hen. It's a comparison that just keeps working."
Reynolds uses the metaphor to comment on international response to Hussein's capture, but I've more often seen it used to justify divvying up the spoils in Iraq.
So, other than the fact that the Lil' Red Hen sounded like a self-righteous lil' bitch (and an Ayn Rand wet dream), here's the problem I have with that metaphor: She was creating and maintaining assets, cooking up a nice loaf of bread for herself, right? Well, I thought the US presence in Iraq was about liberation, not asset accumulation. The metaphor rots to high heaven in this context, my friend.
Furthermore, when folks apply the The Lil' Red Hen metaphor to who gets what contracts in Iraq, they insinuate that the United States should get the spoils (which the war wasn't supposed to be about), since the United States did all the work. Well, the people of Iraq should have some say in the matter shouldn't they? Otherwise, the Bush administration's desire to mandate and regulate every facet of Iraq's reconstruction smacks greatly of the very neo-imperialism so many of us have been decrying.
I hope Reynold's isn't applying the metaphor in this context; he does say the comparison "keeps working." It doesn't work, man, so quit it. All ya'll.
Thank god Saddam's gone. Thank god the people of Iraq are free. Pray to god this country doesn't continue down this same swaggering, self-righteous path again anytime soon.
