The new way of going to war apparently includes stating as fact what you may have reason to believe is untrue, and then altering the rationale for your actions post facto as needed. Via WaPo: President Revises Rationale For War – Bush, Cheney Stress Iraq’s Capabilities. Via NYTimes: In Rare Talk Show Interview, Bush Defends Decision on War. So we’ve gone from assertions that Hussein had WMD that could be put into use within 45 minutes to assertions that it was his capacity to create WMD (within what amount of time…?) that was the reason for going to war. There’s a movie to be made here somewhere.
By the way, given this ad campaign, is anyone up for staring a meme on cronyism?
For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to watch “Meet the Press” this morning. As I watched Bush spin faster and faster, I began to think that he might actually drill a hole in the Oval Office.
The more that I think about it, “Fog” had several other pointed comments on the war, including a shot of a series of dominoes falling across southeast Asia, which I took to be an implicit critique of our current domino theory of democracy in the middle east.
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
CBS won’t show this advertisement because it’s an “advocacy ad,” even though it accurately reflects the long-term effect of Bush’s economic plan. But a certain oil company with strong ties to the vice president, one that overcharged the American taxpay…
Via Bob Mould: Here is a transcript of the interview with Tim Russert.
Here’s the most striking part.
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RUSSERT: Prime Minister Blair has set up a similar commission [to look into “intelligence failures”] in Great Britain.
BUSH: Yeah.
RUSSERT: His is going to report back in July. Ours is not going to be until March of 2005, five months after the presidential election.
BUSH: Yeah.
RUSSERT: Shouldn’t the American people have the benefit of the commission before the election?
BUSH: Well, the reason why we gave it time is because we didn’t want it to be hurried … Now, look, we are in a political season. I fully understand people saying he’s trying to avoid responsibility. There is going to be ample time for the American people to assess whether or not I made good calls, whether or not I used good judgement, whether or not I made the right decision in removing Saddam Hussein from power, and I look forward to that debate, and I look forward to talking to the American people about why I made the decisions I made…
I’m a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind. Again, I wish it wasn’t true, but it is true…
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Yes, Mr. President, I also wish it wasn’t true. That’s why many of us are hoping that our next president will not be one who makes decisions in foreign policy matters with war on his mind.
“The only clarity in the president’s vision appears to be his own perfect sense of self-justification.”
NYTimes editorial
Bush: “the reason why we gave it time is because we didn’t want it to be hurried”
Oh, unlike his previous position on the 9/11 commission, to which he refused to grant more time to do a complete and thorough job until just recently?
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/04/911.commission/