I'm fond of a metaphor. They are never perfect, and often take one in a unforseen direction. But I like them because they help my limited mammilian brain to understand things. I can't think about the history of the earth without picturing my intro geology prof creating the geologic time scale using all four walls of the classroom. It helps. Like understanding how close the 2000 Flordia election was: If you lined up 6 inch ballots end to end, the votes for Bush and the votes for Gore would form two lines from Miami to Tampa, and the difference between the two would be a city block.

Okay, enough preamble. I just read this on Juan Cole's site, Informed Comment. I found it interesting, with the caveat stated above. Here's a bit to get you started:

President Bush said Tuesday that the Iraqis are refuting the pessimists and implied that things are improving in that country.

What would America look like if it were in Iraq's current situation? The population of the US is over 11 times that of Iraq, so a lot of statistics would have to be multiplied by that number.

Thus, violence killed 300 Iraqis last week, the equivalent proportionately of 3,300 Americans. What if 3,300 Americans had died in car bombings, grenade and rocket attacks, machine gun spray, and aerial bombardment in the last week? That is a number greater than the deaths on September 11, and if America were Iraq, it would be an ongoing, weekly or monthly toll.

And what if those deaths occurred all over the country, including in the capital of Washington, DC, but mainly above the Mason Dixon line, in Boston, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco?

What if the grounds of the White House and the government buildings near the Mall were constantly taking mortar fire? What if almost nobody in the State Department at Foggy Bottom, the White House, or the Pentagon dared venture out of their buildings, and considered it dangerous to go over to Crystal City or Alexandria?