[Outgoing Deputy National Security Advisor Lieutenant General Donald L. Kerrick], who stayed through the first four months of the Bush administration, said, "candidly speaking, I didn’t detect" a strong focus on terrorism. "That’s not being derogatory. It’s just a fact. I didn’t detect any activity but what Dick Clarke and the CSG [the Counterterrorism Strategy Group he chaired] were doing." … Read More
New Rule (with Apologies to Bill Maher)
Politicians cannot engage in political humor, if they don’t know what’s funny. At last night’s Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association 60th annual dinner, Bush presented a series of slides: A recurring joke involved photos of the president in awkward positions — bent over as if he’s looking under a table, leaning to look out a window — accompanied by remarks … Read More
Uh . . . Question?
Fox News in August 2002 had an interview with Richard Clarke (then working for Bush White House). Clarke was on background, which is why Fox had to seek permission from the White House to release the transcript yesterday, identifying Clarke as the source. (The White House, of course, granted permission) Apparently, this is how it is done. I have no … Read More
Powell Failed His Own Challenge To Identify Supporting Nations
"And this particular coalition of the willing now has 47 nations; 47 nations are openly members of the coalition, and have asked to be identified with this effort. And there are many other nations that for a variety of reasons don’t want to be publicly identified, but are also a part of the coalition of the willing". – Colin Powell. … Read More
Law Enforcement & Intelligence vs. Terrorism
Kerry’s still singing that same tune about how law enforcement activities and intelligence activities are going to win the war on terrorism. He said it again yesterday, even though it makes him look "soft" (to some): This is the time to redouble our efforts in every way – law enforcement activities, intelligence activities — and deal with this threat to … Read More
Who’s the Dupe?
Please read this story . It is a story saying that an al Qaeda-linked terrorist group issued a statement saying that it wants Bush to be elected. I assumed it to be a joke, like the recent fake "NY Times" article that got the NYT all worked up. Part of the tip-off for me was the reporter’s name, "Opheera McDoom". … Read More
Bush Embarrassment Watch CLXIII
With all the "One Year Later" retrospectives going around, a reader at Atrios’ site posted Bush’s speech of March 13, 2003 — the start of the war. Many of us thought it was a crock then — and now — with benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it clearly was one. This passage particularly struck me: The terrorist threat to America and … Read More
Gotta Love This Ad
Even if you disagree with the message, I hope you can agree that Moveon.org’s new ad is unique and captivating. It’s powerful in its simplicity. It doesn’t manipulate with music. It doesn’t have commentary and voice-overs. It doesn’t pay actors to pretend to be something they’re not, with scripted words. It doesn’t twist words, or selectively edit. Just 30 seconds … Read More
Pew Research – A Year After Iraq War
Even though the headline is "Mistrust of America in Europe Ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists", there’s tons of other interesting "meat" in this survey — some good and some not-so-good. Personally, I am particularly pleased that Europeans draw a distinction between the American people (who they generally like) and American policies (which they generally dislike and distrust). But in any … Read More
Why They Voted Socialist
Afraid of al Qaeda? It doesn’t look that way . . . But interviews with scores of Spaniards of both parties indicated that a number of things happened after the attacks that shifted the balance to the Socialists. Voters flooded the polls on Sunday in record numbers, especially young people who had not planned to vote. In interviews, they said … Read More
The “Iraq On The Record” Database
The Bush Administration’s deceptions regarding the War on Iraq are so numerous that Rep. Henry Waxman has put them on a searchable database. This Iraq on the Record database contains statements made by the five officials that were misleading at the time they were made. The database does not include statements that appear in hindsight to be erroneous but were … Read More
The War on Terror So Far . . .
Pluses: Saddam Hussein out of power Many dead/captured terrorists or Iraqi resistence Minuses: 550 dead American soldiers 200 dead Spanish citizens Lord knows how many dead innocent Iraqis Lord knows how many wounded No new democracies (just two police states, and a new socialist leader in Spain) Bin Laden still alive al Qaeda still active (obviously) Taliban controls 1/3rd of … Read More
What’s Wrong With The Iraqi “Constitution”
According to the people at Gun Owners of America, the Iraqi interim constitution is flawed because it omits the right to keep and bear arms. Look, I’m more pro-Second Amendment than many of my liberal colleagues, but a bad idea is a bad idea. And freedom to have guns in Iraq is a bad idea. Yes, the report is in … Read More
Bush Weak On Nuclear Terrorism?
This article in Foreign Affairs begins: President George W. Bush has singled out terrorist nuclear attacks on the United States as the defining threat the nation will face in the foreseeable future. In addressing this specter, he has asserted that Americans’ "highest priority is to keep terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction." So far, however, his words have not … Read More
Bush on Letterman
The Bush line — which we have heard often — is that we learned on 9/11 how dangerous the world is. And that was why there was a marked shift in Bush’s foreign policy after 9/11. It holds water, except for one problem: David Letterman. In October 2000, presidential candidate George Bush appeared on Lettermen, where they had (in parts) … Read More