Some analogies really really really limp.

Here's our dear second lady butchering history for the youth of America:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) -- Lynne Cheney had a history lesson for elementary school children Tuesday, likening this week's parliamentary elections in Iraq to
America's own early struggle for democracy.
"Two hundred and seventeen years ago, we held our first vote under our Constitution," Vice President Dick Cheney's wife said. "We started then on the path the Iraqis are walking now."[via CNN]

Brilliant. Now my American history may be a little rusty, since the last course I took in it was high school, but I seem to recall that the colonists threw out the British, whom they viewed as an occupying force and who were basically the superpower of that time. Ms. Cheney apparently believes that the kindly British invaded the 13 original colonies, jailed the country's leader, set up an interim "occupation government," and nudged the colonists on toward writing their constitution. In her world, Ben Franklin was the Ahmad Chalabi of his time.

Tomorrow's lesson plan: how Abu Ghraib is similar to the Alamo.