Digby's Hullabaloo Posts

Myth Takes

On TAPPED today, Matt talks about Victor Davis Hansen’s lame assertion that left wing arguments about the war are “myths.” In his usual convincing fashion, Matt demolishes Hansen’s tired wingnut defense that while the WMD issue was put forth perhaps “erroneously” it doesn’t matter because there were other good reasons for invading. And anyway, when everything comes up roses it won’t matter why we did it. Matt gets to the meat of the matter and brings up the related fact that the repeated assertions of “grave and gathering” danger made majorities of the public believe until this day in what has been proven to be a complete falsehood about Saddam’s WMD and ties to terrorists. He says:

I’ve written previously, these false beliefs correlate highly with support for the war. Now there’s a case to be made that the president’s done the right thing here. I can imagine an argument that the American people are just too unsophisticated to grasp the needs of American grand strategy and that, therefore, they need to be tricked into doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. But if that’s the case you want to make, you need to produce an argument. Just deriding liberal arguments as myths when they are, in fact, perfectly accurate doesn’t cut it.

I can imagine that argument, too, particularly coming from a bunch of phony Straussians. But it would be more than a little bit contrary to Crusader Codpiece’s happy talk about liberating the Iraqi people and in total contradiction to the self-righteous Republican oratory about their commitment to freedom and democracy. Let’s be clear about the real “myths” at play here.

If you look closely at the last few years you have no choice but to believe that Republicans think democracy itself is a myth. For instance, there was that little matter of impeachment over a private sexual matter — a manipulation of the constitution to overturn the public will, to which the public, thankfully, registered its displeasure in midterm elections and polls. Not two years later there was the bizarre sight of Republicans in Florida professing that arbitrary deadlines and the mere possibility of human error were more important than the principle of making sure that all votes were duly counted — even by judges who are charged with matters of life and death every day. Now we see Republicans slyly admitting that the public needs to be tricked into doing the right thing rather than being told the truth and being allowed to make their wishes known. It’s been clear for quite a while to anyone paying attention that the GOP “reverence” for the principles of freedom and democracy is strictly a marketing device.

And this may present a little problem for Junior’s Freedom Crusade because even though some Americans may be, shall we say, “biased” enough to believe that all Arab bad guys must be in cahoots and trying to kill us, I doubt that either Americans or Iraqis are gullible enough to believe that “freedom and democracy” can possibly mean this:

The Bush administration’s plans for a new caretaker government in Iraq would place severe limits on its sovereignty, including only partial command over its armed forces and no authority to enact new laws, administration officials said Thursday.

[…]

The arrangement would be, I think as we are doing today, that we would do our very best to consult with that interim government and take their views into account,” said Marc Grossman, under secretary of state for political affairs. But he added that American commanders will “have the right, and the power, and the obligation” to decide.

Sure, you can call a foreign military occupation “freedom” and you can say that “democracy” is a caretaker government or a handpicked governing council, but that doesn’t make it so. What it does do is make a mockery of the very values we are supposedly trying to impart. A good number of Americans see it, most of the rest of the world sees it and the Iraqi people definitely see it. At this point it might be better part to have Junior just shut the hell up. His mindless blathering just draws attention to our government’s rank hypocrisy.

The Enemy Within

History is going to show that a nutcase by the name of Laurie Mylroie and a group of equally nutty followers, including the Vice President and the Deputy Secretary of Defense, led the United States into a war on the basis of a daffy conspiracy theory.

The proposal, pressed by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, called for President George W. Bush to declare Ramzi Yousef, the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as an enemy combatant in the war on terror. This would have allowed Yousef to be transferred from his cell at the U.S. Bureau of Prison’s “supermax” penitentiary in Florence, Colo., to a U.S. military installation.

Wolfowitz contended that U.S. military interrogators—unencumbered by the presence of Yousef’s defense lawyer—might be able to get the inmate to confess what he and the lawyer have steadfastly denied: that he was actually an Iraqi intelligence agent dispatched by Saddam to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993 as revenge for the first Persian Gulf War.

The previously unreported Wolfowitz proposal—and the high-level consideration it got within the Justice Department—sheds new light on the Bush administration’s willingness to expand its use of enemy-combatant declarations inside the United States beyond the three alleged terrorists, two of them American citizens, who have already been designated by the White House.

Actually believing this nonsensical conspiracy theory about Ramsi Youssef, and attempting to change 200 years of legal precedent in order to prove it, would be the equivalent of Bill Clinton using Oliver Stone’s JFK as the basis for prosecuting the remaining members of the Johnson administration for the assassination of Kennedy.

There is no greater reason to get rid of Bush than to put this little Mylroie/Wolfowitz freakshow back in its little Lyndon Larouche conspiracy corner.

RIP

The Memory Hole Photos of Military Coffins (Casualties From Iraq) at Dover Air Force Base

While the Republicans are trying to distract everyone with spooky tales of the boogey man, we all must remember that Americans are already dying every single day in a useless, goddamned war. Again.

They’re Comin’ Ta Git Yah!

House OKs Speedy Elections if Attacked

Get out your gas masks. And I don’t mean because of an impending bio weapon attack. I’m talking about the impending Republican gasbag attack.

The Mighty Wurlitzer is pumping up the volume and I’m sure the media are panting and groaning with anticipation of another RNC generated spin cycle.

Critics of the 45-day election plan said it was both too short a time for some states to prepare for elections and too long to leave Congress in a paralyzed state. Several warned of a martial law condition, with the executive branch taking over legislative authorities such as declaring war during the 45 days that Congress is unable to function.

“A catastrophe that could prevent whole states from being represented for 45 days is at the heart of the concern,” said Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., another backer of amending the Constitution.

Run for your lives!

Hearings were also scheduled on the issue of incapacitation, or how to define when a member who is still alive is unable to carry out his congressional duties, possibly because of a biological or chemical attack.

As our Dear Leader once sagely inquired, “what’s the difference?”

Truth “Available Soon”

Susan reports the shocking news that the Bush administration lies about absolutely everything.

Six months have passed since the Phoenix reported that the US Census Bureau’s latest income and poverty reports contained significant errors (see “The Politics of Poverty,” News and Features, October 10, 2003). The reworked numbers, which will show that median after-tax household income declined far more in 2002 than the bureau reported, have been ready since January, according to sources in the agency. All that remained was to work out a “release strategy,” according to one manager in the Housing and Household Economics Statistics Division. A follow-up call in March to find out when the new numbers would be made public yielded this information from Dan Weinberg, chief of the division: the bureau still needs to establish a “release strategy.” It’s starting to look an awful lot like the “release strategy” is to not release the new numbers at all.

As first reported by the Phoenix last fall, the bureau used erroneous marginal tax rates in calculating 2001 data. As a result, the reports released last September falsely claimed that median after-tax household income remained stable in 2002, when in fact it dropped significantly — probably about 1.5 percent. The Census Bureau conceded the error and promised to redo the figures.

Since then, the words “Available Soon!” have adorned the Web page where the after-tax figures should be (ferret.bls.census.gov/macro/032003/rdcall/toc.htm). Meanwhile, the original report, containing incorrect data, is still available from the bureau’s main page — as are the September press release and briefing documents that tout the false numbers as evidence that things are not so bad. The bureau has known that this is not true for six months, and has had the corrected data in hand for at least three.

This would hardly be the first time that, given a choice between an upbeat falsehood and a dour truth, the Bush administration embraced the comfortable lie.

In other news, George W. Bush won the Nobel Peace Prize for smiting evil doers everywhere and bringing freedom to the world. You can look it up.

Another Whiff ‘o Freedom

Via Kelley Kramer:

A military contractor has fired Tami Silicio, a Kuwait-based cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers was published in Sunday’s edition of The Seattle Times.

Silicio was let go yesterday for violating U.S. government and company regulations, said William Silva, president of Maytag Aircraft, the contractor that employed Silicio at Kuwait International Airport.

[…]

Pentagon officials yesterday said the government’s policy defers to the sensitivities of bereaved families. “We’ve made sure that all of the installations who are involved with the transfer of remains were aware that we do not allow any media coverage of any of the stops until (the casket) reaches its final destination,” said Cynthia Colin, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Maytag also fired David Landry, a co-worker who recently wed Silicio.

Silicio said she never sought to put herself in the public spotlight. Instead, she said, she hoped the publication of the photo would help families of fallen soldiers understand the care and devotion that civilians and military crews dedicate to the task of returning the soldiers home.

Freedom of the press is the cornerstone of democracy. I love democracy, don’t you?

Framing Fear

Bush warned the editors that the United States “is a battlefield in the war on terror” and said he can understand public fears of a terrorist attack before the November election. “This is a hard country to defend,” he said. “Our intelligence is good. It’s just never perfect, is the problem. We are disrupting some cells here in America. We’re chasing people down. But it is a — we’ve got a big country.”

On Tuesday evening, Bush told Republican congressional leaders during a meeting at the White House that it was all but certain that terrorists would attempt a major attack on the United States before the election, according to a congressional aide. The leaders were struck by Bush’s definitiveness and gravity, the aide said.

Still, Bush told the editors, the administration is “making good progress in the defense of America.”

Condi said similar things the other day, as well. So, what’s the deal? Are they hearing some of that famous “chatter” or is this some kind of election year gambit?

Since they lie by reflex, it’s hard to tell, and while I am this close to believing the absolute worst about these people, I haven’t yet concluded that they are capable of controlling a massive enough conspiracy to actively allow another terrorist attack for political purposes. So, I expect that this is just Framing The WOT for Dummies.

First and foremost they want to ratchet up the fear level so that everyone will gather around their hero Boy George. For whatever reason they believe that people trust him to keep the babies safe. I doubt that, but I agree that it is a default position for those who aren’t paying much attention or are not very bright. Terrorist-attack-scary-president-bullhorn-bombs-safe.

Secondly, this frames the election in case there actually is an escalation of terrorism and I don’t think it matters all that much if it’s on American soil. After their blatently phony partisan reading of the Spanish election it’s clear that the Republicans are going to say that voting for anyone other than George W. Bush is rewarding terrorism. Osama hates Bush, therefore we must love Bush or be accused of appeasing Osama. Nice and Neat. And if Kerry allows any daylight between himself and Bush on national security, he’s “cutting and running,” and appeasing the terrorists, too.

But, I think this fear mongering is an opportunity. I say go right in his face and hammer him for saying that the mighty USA can’t protect itself from a bunch of pissant terrorists. (It’s logical, of course, that we can’t protect ourselves against all possibilities, but since the Republicans successfully tossed logic down the garbage disposal for the last four years, I see no reason why we should allow them to dredge it out now.) Our purpose is to get this dangerous incompetent out of the White House.

If we do get hit before the election, we’ve been innoculated because we said he wasn’t adequately protecting America. Time for a change. If we don’t get hit, Bush doesn’t get the credit because he’s already admitted that he doesn’t think the country can be protected. Its dumb luck.

“This is a hard country to defend?” That’s defeatist talk, boy. But it’s no wonder, coming from the man who vacationed through the month of August before the first terrorist attacks while the entire intelligence community was running around with its hair on fire. Looks like you still haven’t learned from from your mistakes. You’ve had almost three years to shore up our defenses, the treasury is almost bankrupted and now you whine to us that the country is a battlefield but it’s really big so you can’t protect it?

You refused to figure out what went wrong the first time until the widows of the dead insisted; you wasted months before you agreed to a new department of Homeland Security and you still haven’t funded it; you decided to fight a foreign war based on bad intelligence and phony claims of grave danger, tying down our troops in Iraq when they could be catching the terrorists overseas and protecting us here at home. (In case you forgot, that’s what the National Guard is supposed to do, flyboy.)

Now you tell us the terrorists are planning to attack us again and there’s not much you can do about it?

It’s time for a new president who’ll put the safety of the American people first.

Compare and Contrast

Intelligent, mature and rich in educational backround and experience.

vs

major strength is his ability to work with others. He makes a welcome addition to any group or team effort.

—

He utilizes the English language expertly, both orally and in writing. He is an alert and active original thinker with great potential…

vs.

a good representative of the military … in the business world.

—

[He] constantly reviewed tactics and lessons learned in…operations and applied his experience at every opportunity

vs

I have personally observed his participation and without exception, his performance has been noteworthy.

—

The detachment of this officer will be a definite loss to the service. He is the dedicated type that we should retain and it is hoped that he will be of further perhaps earlier greater service to his country, which is his aim in life at this time

vs

[This officer] has not been observed at this unit during the period of report.

Read the whole thing at The American Street

Who’s On First?

Pressed on how Iraq would assume sovereignty amid weeks of spiraling violence, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called June 30th “just one step in a process,” and not “a magical date” in which the U.S.-led occupation will shift responsibilities to a new Iraqi government.

But at a news conference last Friday with British prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush said of the June 30 handover:

“One of the essential commitments we’ve made to the Iraqi people is this: They will control their own country. No citizen of America or Britain would want the government of their nation in the hands of others and neither do the Iraqis. This is why the June 30th date for the transfer of sovereignty will be kept.”

Crisco Drippings

This is obviously one of those days designed to make me feel like I’m not completely going crazy. (I’m grateful for this because I have a terrible cold and I feel like driving my car into a guard rail to end the misery.) But, glory of all glories, the Washington Post has published an editorial taking Attorney General Ashcroft to task for his disgraceful testimony last week.

IN HIS TESTIMONY last week before the Sept. 11 commission, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft loosed a remarkable attack on Jamie S. Gorelick, a commission member who served as deputy attorney general during part of the Clinton administration. The “single greatest structural cause for the September 11th problem,” Ashcroft said, “was the wall that segregated or separated criminal investigators and intelligence agents,” and the “basic architecture for the wall . . . was contained in a classified memorandum” from 1995 — which Mr. Ashcroft had conveniently declassified for the hearing. “Full disclosure,” he said, “compels me to inform you that the author of this memorandum is a member of the commission” — that is, Ms. Gorelick. Mr. Ashcroft’s allegations, which triggered criticism and demands for her resignation from prominent Republicans, are grossly unfair.

[…]

Pretending that such a deep-seated institutional problem was Ms. Gorelick’s single-handed creation should have been beneath the attorney general.

It wasn’t all that much commented upon as far as I can tell, but it truly was one of the most shocking performances by an Attorney General I have ever seen. As I wrote in my mildmannered piece entitled Consummate Prick:

Has there ever been a more blatantly partisan Attorney General than the Crisco Kid? This testimony today was contemptuous, dishonest and disturbingly inappropriate.

I also haven’t heard anything from Senator Kill Bill yet about citing Thomas Pickard for perjury:

BEN-VENISTE: And you told the staff according to this statement that Mr. Ashcroft told you that he did not want to hear about this [terrorism] anymore. Is that correct?

PICKARD: That is correct.

Ashcroft denied he ever said that. Somebody’s lyin’ under oath.