We can't always win

When it comes to the NCAA tournament, the University of Kentucky can always win, should always win and will always win. I learned this growing up in the Bluegrass. \nWhen it comes to war, the United States can always win, should always win and will always win. I learned this from watching television. \nUnfortunately, both statements are gross exaggerations. It's hard for me to believe. About the basketball, I mean. I was raised to believe that our beloved 'Cats were guided by a divine force that would unfailingly steer them toward victory. I was there for the glory days of Rick Pitino…the glory day of Tubby Smith. But now my Wildcats are on thin ice. You would think that it would be easier to accept after four years of Hoosier education. But once a true blue fan, always a true blue fan. The old instincts are kicking in, and I can feel the self-delusion flooding through my veins. If the tournament is on, you'll find me in the corner, my fingers jammed in my ears.\n"La la la la la! Kentucky's going to win! Kentucky always wins!"\nThere's nothing like a Kentucky fan. She's the kind of woman (and I'm writing about my mom here) who will sit in the Commonwealth Football Stadium on a cold, wet day, watching her team slop around like wet rags in a sink, and mutter to herself, "Just wait until basketball season." It's called blue blindness. \nIn Kentucky and Indiana, we're always waiting for that championship season. \nThe same can be said for this White House administration, except that they're even more impatient than college sports fans. The president's ad men, so eager for victories, have started celebrating hollow successes. \nSix months after Sept. 11, you would think we could have caught a six-foot tall terrorist who keeps sending us annoying video telegrams. Who knew we wouldn't be able to capture a bunch of yahoos who aren't even with it enough to watch "Friends?" It looks like we may not be winning the war after all.\nThat's where Operation Anaconda came in. We needed a victory, and the military cooked one up, Anaconda. Ooh! Doesn't that sound scary? Hiss hiss! What a success, according to the top brass. If only those shifty Afghan fighters on the ground would stop telling MSNBC what a failure the ordeal was. According to commander Abdul Wali Zardan, "Americans don't listen to anyone. They do what they want. Most people escaped. You can't call that a success."\n Hey Abdul, you're a party pooper. We lost a handful of American lives engineering this media coup, and we're not going to let some Afghan so-and-so spoil the victory parade. Get back to searching those caves while we pull out the champagne and start planning the next ground assault. (Pakistan? Yemen? Iraq? So many choices!)\nAbdul isn't suffering from -- I mean, blessed with -- red, white and blue blindness. It's the result of a belief that one's country is guided by a divine force that will insure victory. It helps presidents and little people ignore the realities of war abroad, allowing them to get down to important home front business, like watching "Friends." \n"La la la la la!" That's the president, over there in the corner, his fingers jammed in his ears. "There is no news like good news. Theirs is no news but good news! The U.S. always wins! Right"