Doug Ross @ Journal

Bitter and Inane is No Way to Go Through Life, Son

The inane and bitter Richard Cohen spewed forth a few days ago and -- shockingly -- he wrote of the Democratic movement rustling through the Mideast:

...something momentous is stirring: democracy, freedom, independence. Something. Or, as an Arab acquaintance just e-mailed me from the region, "I can smell the winds of change in the air wherever I go." ...

A gracious and glowing concession to the Reaganesque moves of the administration? Of course not.

Given what's happening, it's understandable that many eyes have shifted to Washington with a new sense of appreciation. Could it be that the neocons were right and that the invasion of Iraq, the toppling of Hussein and the holding of elections will trigger a political chain reaction throughout the Arab world? It would be the Middle East equivalent of what happened in Eastern Europe when the Soviet Union finally sank to its knees, took one last breath and crumbled. Maybe... some of us may be prematurely celebrating the changes in the Arab world, possibly mistaking them for what has happened in quite different places. No doubt... "something's coming" -- but, believe me, it may not be what we expect.

Ah, there's the Richard Cohen I know! He's back! Willing to spin any good news for the administration -- and, therefore, the United States -- into foreboding visions of disaster.

And not a mention of George W. Bush.

Yes, Richard Cohen's unblemished record of constipated analysis and failed prediction remains intact. Here's a gem from September, 2003, courtesy of American Thinker:

In diplomacy, in foreign affairs, in the waging of war and maybe in protecting America, he [Bush] has made mistake after mistake. Like Henry Ford II, he may never complain and he may never explain. But when you look back, there's still a wreck in the road.

Richard Cohen's predictions contain all the accuracy of Mizz Suzanne's Psychic Hotline, only without the snappy patter nor the Jamaican accent. I think it's high time someone graded Cohen on his litany of failures, although I'm pretty sure the pathetic number of online visits to his column would plainly indicate just how useless he is.

WaPo: The Inane and Bitter Richard Cohen