Revisionism Ricochet

Brother Ray, my Republican buddy, forwarded Glenn Reynolds' bloggage on the BA's characterization of the Democrats revising history before I came down with pneumonia and didn't have time to respond. I had time to read it and wondered: what is this crap? The BA, man, they speak with forked tongue... They suppress information that makes their medicare act look better... they deny global warming... they hire propogandists with government money to talk up their programs on talk radio... they send out propoganda meant to look like newscasts to further their interests.

Reynolds writes: "What I've been pointing out is that Democratic leaders have been, well, lying about the war — or, more specifically, about the intelligence that led to the war...So why are the Democrats peddling this line? Because, as I've noted, Democratic politicians voted for the war, but their activist donor base opposes it. They're boxed in, and claiming that they were misled seems like a way for them to explain away the contradiction while going on the offensive against Bush...There are only two problems with this approach. First, as McCain notes, it's a lie. Second, it's a lie that's damaging to the country."

There're a couple of issues here: 1) the Democrats behavior 2) the BA's lies. 3) The Rove Strategy.

Inasmuch as the Democrats were and have been a bunch of nutless hosebags when it came to the war, he's right. Do they realize they backed the wrong horse? Are they trying to wriggle out of it? Yes. Are they trying to rewrite history? Not any more than the average politician and a helluva a lot less than the BA.

Did they have they have the same dope the BA had? Party line: The Dems had access to the same info as the WH. The most secretive administration in history. A President who received daily briefings by the head of the CIA for the President. Same info. He got to watch (maybe even play) the game, the Dems got to read the box scores.

Even if they received the same intelligence, it was crap, not due to CIA failure, but due to the BA's rape and pillage of the Agency. The "bi-partisan" Robb-Silverman Committee is alleged to have found no evidence for WH pressure to sex up intelligence on Iraq. In the true spirit of cooperation, bi-partisanship can neutralize ideological differences; without cooperation, bi-partisanship can neutralize issues inimical to one side's interests. That's why independent commissions are set up. That's why the BA and the Repugs don't want an independent commission. Meanwhile, the Repugs will stand on the findings of Robb-Silverman. There are plenty of reports and people who have come out to describe how the BA pressured the CIA.

Accentuate the negative, eliminate the positive. Kerry was a genuine war hero; dirty his war record. Kill your opponent's advantages, work over his weaknesses, and get the edge. You can only get so far attacking the negatives; without the positives, he doesn't have a leg to stand on. The Democrats have an advantage right now in that they are able to come closer to speaking the truth. The Rove Solution: Call their truth lies.

I Have Seen the Enemy and He is Us. You're guilty of something? Accuse your enemy of it. The BA's grip is so ideological and self-interested it's almost inherently dishonest. The truth is what they can get away with. Bush pulled a bait-and-switch on the reason for war, brought the nation in on WMD's, and closed the deal on democracy and conquering evil. That's not a lie? That's not revisionism? Accuse the Democrats of it.

Mb

Indictments

Blogging buddy Kim wonders about my reaction to the indictment of Lewis aka "Scooter" Libby. She got me thinking: the only thing remarkable about indictments: Patrick Fitzgerald: everything the BA isn't: meticuluous, non-ideological, clean-cut.

Fitzgerald made only one mis-step, though I think for the best intentions, when he made the following statement: "This indictment is not about the war. This indictment's not about the propriety of the war. And people who believe fervently in the war effort, people who oppose it, people who have mixed feelings about it should not look to this indictment for any resolution of how they feel or any vindication of how they feel." The man is trying to tell us that he didn't investigate the war; it's not within the scope of his investigation. He's right. He didn't explore the issue, and, consequently, should not comment on it. His comments, however, contradict his intentions, I think. The indictments against Libby, which point to both a vicious whisper campaign and a cover-up, are strong circumstantial evidence that the BA was lying about the reasons to go to war. For those of us not in the legal world, not needing to make a legal case, this evidence is major and is a vindication.

He's wrong, however, in presuming that we shouldn't find vindication for the view that the BA over-sold the war. If his investigation didn't cover pre-war intelligence, etc., i.e., he doesn't know anymore than the average person about


had hit the fan about the same time grade were due and mid-term

Pneumonia Ain't Rockin!

I've been down and out for the last week with pneumonia in my right lung.
I've been in worse pain and it beats throwing up, but I've never felt so run down, and I don't like missing work.
It started with a cold a couple of weeks ago. Then a week of feeling fine.
Monday I went to work. No UMass last Monday, so I went to the Y and worked out (Nautilus and x-trainer, for anyone who cares), came home, showered, ate dinner, and an hour later had a heavy chest and real fatigue. I felt feverish and went to be early (a few minutes before nine). I woke up later Sharon took my temp, and it was almost 102.
I was out of school all week. I've been feeling better slowly, even managed to eat lunch with my parents and take my car for an oil change.

The only time I logged on to my computer was email my lesson plans and one of my students about informing his classmates about me having pneumonia. If I'm not on 5 or 10 days, man, you know something's going on.

Hats Off to Patrick!

Pat,

Thanks for giving it a try! It's hell to keep up (witness my latest lapse) and you have to wonder if it's worth it.

Mark

An End to My Blogging

I've decided to end my blogging tenure. It's been fun and thank you to Mark for giving me the opportunity. Best wishes on the future of this blog!