The Post about the People's Choice and WMD January 13th

Yeah, sure, the Left doesn't get to celebrate that whole 'inauguration' thing next week (unless you count protests - and I for one think the whole Not One Dime Day will rock the world, brother!) but that doesn't mean they don't have things to crow about.

To wit: Michael Moore won Favorite Movie for Fahrenheit 9/11 at the ever prestigious People's Choice Awards, the search for WMD's in Iraq has officially been abandoned, and all that was Good and Noble in the world died with the Viking's playoff win against the Packers on Sunday.

(okay, maybe that last one doesn't belong on the list, but think about it: Walter Mondale was from Minnesota, and I'm too old to believe in coincidence.)

I realize that as a Republican and card carrying Bushie I should be irate at Moore's win, but try as I might I can't manage more than a smirk. If he wins an Oscar, that's one thing. But a People's Choice Award?

The show had not one, but three distinct categories for Best Reality Show. It had awards for "Fans Favorite Smile", "Fans Favorite Hair", "Favorite On-Screen Chemistry", "Cover Girls Fans Favorite Look", and my personal favorite "Favorite Combined Forces". I thought for a minute that meant the coalition in Iraq would take the gold, but nope; Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris got the honors.

Sour grapes on my part? Not this time.

Barring Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle getting the attention it deserves, I'll be pulling for Passion of the Christ at Oscar time. Yet when Passion won for Favorite Drama Sunday I thought Mel Gibson's acceptance speech was hooey. The award "means a lot more to me this time than anything before," he said.

I'll believe that when he returns the Oscars for Braveheart.

Even if you toss out Moore's moment in the sun, the Left can brag about the news that the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has been abandoned without discovering a single stockpile.

The argument from the Left has been that the absence of such weapons proves the war was fought on Bush's whim without valid cause. I disagree with the premise itself, but I find it hard to respect those that sincerely believe in it and are basking in the news. By the logic of their own argument, they are cheering the news that over a thousand U.S. servicemen have died in vain.

That turns my stomach.

Please don’t rationalize it by saying that the only thing they're cheering is the news that the administration has been 'outed' to the public. I don't think you could fill a phone booth in the last six months with people who expected to find WMD's in Iraq. It's been clear for a year that the weapons were either a bluff by Hussein or shipped across the border before the war. The announcement only confirms what the American people already knew.

While we're on the subject, let me get something off my chest that seems stunningly obvious: Suppose Bush did rig the WWD argument to launch a war. If he was that evil and devious, don't you think he would have arranged for some 'evidence' to be discovered? Why let his whole deception fall apart and risk a public backlash when one phoney news report would have won the day?

In the end, we all take our victories when and where we can. The Left has an awards show and a well-worn conspiracy tale, and the GOP has an inauguration to celebrate.

I think we got the better end of the deal.