Quote of the Day~Recruit College Republicans for a Shopping Spree in Iraq

More good news from Iraq, via Americablog, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann has this to say about her trip to one of Saddam Hussein's palaces:

"It's absolutely huge," she said. "I turned to my colleagues and said there's a commonality with the Mall of America, in that it's on that proportion. There's marble everywhere. The other thing I remarked about was there is water everywhere. He had man-made lakes all around his personal palace -- one for fishing, one for boating."

Of course, the stores are a little different over there, so check out the neat little comparison chart at Americablog as you start preparing your next vacation.

I think this bit of remarkable insight into the situation in Iraq could be useful in couple of ways.

First, military recruiters are having an increasingly difficult time reaching their recruitment goals and are having to lower the standards required for military service. And yet, all the while, some of the most staunch supporters of the war in Iraq are to be found among College Republicans. See this post and video, Generation Chickenhawk: The Unauthorized College Republican National Convention Tour. Although College Republicans have a sincere belief that we have to fight the terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them over here and that the war on terrorism is, uh like, our generation's World War II, they have a profound antipathy to actually serving in Iraq and potentially putting themselves in the way of a roadside bomb. I would have thought that lower recruitment requirements would have had a positive impact on the ability/willingness of College Republicans to enlist. For example, while I'm sure that most College Republicans haven't had enough experience this early in their political careers and activism to have acquired a criminal record (just give them time and a little more experience), but even among the prodigies of the movement that may already have been indicted and/or convicted of a crime, the fact that the military can now recruit criminals to serve in Iraq has had little impact on recruitment levels among these military age Republicans. So, perhaps this "Mall of Iraq" angle would provide a little more of incentive if used by military recruiters to get College Republicans to actually follow in the footsteps of The Greatest Generation .

Second, I'm sure that the firm that is handling the "Madison Avenue" marketing techniques recommended in this report ordered by the Pentagon to brush up the Iraq War Brand in an attempt to renew Americans' excitement for the war could use this angle as well.