I had long wondered why the very influential Richard Perle, who often acts as spokesman for the administration position both here and abroad, wasn’t brought on in any official capacity. They hired Elliot Abrams, John Negropont, John Poindexter and Otto Reich, so they are certainly not constrained by matters of reputation or even criminality when bringing zealots and crazed ideologues in to the administration. So why not Perle?
Well, it would appear to be the oldest reason in the book. Greed. According to that well known terrorist Sy Hersh, he stands to make a great deal of money with his new company (coincidentally, I’m sure) formed in November 2001 that sells homeland security and defense products.
Of course, the good news is that he still maintains all the influece he could possibly want with Rummy and Wolfie, but he doesn’t have to give up making huge sums of money to do it. In fact, his crazy-assed scheme to remake the world in his own image is finally being implemented and he can make a boatload of money from it at the same time.
Is this a great country or what?
(But, I still don’t think we have the full story on what Bill Clinton knew about that 1985 check they found in the trunk of that rusted out Chevy. Corruption in high places is intolerable.)
What do we do when the war starts? He has a list of possibilities, beginning with the obvious call to arms for regime change at home.
Matt Yglesias has also brought this up a number of times, particularly as it pertains to the anti-war movement shifting its emphasis from stopping the war to re-building Iraq properly.
I have been convinced that the war would happen since last August, barring a miraculous spine transplant from the Democrats or the UK bowing out. Since neither of those things have happened, we’re going, (supposedly on the 17th, although just because this group is so incredibly predictable, it will probably be on the 15th. Hail Caesar.)
Leap-frogging over the horrible carnage we are about to wreak but over which we so clearly have no say, I ask all 12 of my readers to weigh in on this because I’d really like to know. Taking all of Zizka’s points into account, how can we also persuade the Bush administration to deal with post-war Iraq properly?
The most confounding aspect of this Iraq debate is the question of motivation. Why in the world are we really doing this? Clearly, the official explanations don’t make sense, the “case” has been presented over and over again, but it has never been made. We spend hours and days researching the past writings of the advisors, reading 5 pound tomes about the history of the middle east, and desperately scanning the foreign press for hints about what they are really up to. We force ourselves to fight the nausea that listening to the President inevitably brings and make ourselves watch him repeat his bumper stickers mantras over and over again. Oil, Pax Americana, personal revenge, bloodlust, delusions of grandeur, Israel, end-times…it goes on and on.
Oddly, it’s a somewhat serious Maureen Dowd who most accurately answers the question of motivations, and illustrates why the “case” has been so shockingly incoherent:
The president wants to avenge his father, and please his base by changing the historical ellipsis on the Persian Gulf war to a period. Donald Rumsfeld wants to exorcise the post-Vietnam focus on American imperfections and limitations. Dick Cheney wants to establish America’s primacy as the sole superpower. Richard Perle wants to liberate Iraq and remove a mortal threat to Israel. After Desert Storm, Paul Wolfowitz posited that containment is a relic, and that America must aggressively pre-empt nuclear threats.
And in 1997, Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard and Fox News, and other conservatives, published a “statement of principles,” signed by Jeb Bush and future Bush officials — Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Cheney, Mr. Wolfowitz, Scooter Libby and Elliott Abrams. Rejecting 41’s realpolitik and shaping what would become 43’s pre-emption strategy, they exhorted a “Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity,” with America extending its domain by challenging “regimes hostile to our interests and values.”
And then there is Karl, whose influence is easily as great as any of the above and who weighs in with the electoral calculation and the motivation that has to be a primary one in Junior’s mind — not to be booted out of office after having attained it on a technicality, an asterisk forever after his name, less successful even than his wimp of a lip reading Poppy. Bush family honor, sis boom bah.
And, there is the scary question of Bush believing he is anointed by God, as Jack Beatty writes about so vividly in the Atlantic:
Why? The surface explanations—Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, has used them on his neighbors, on his own people, and “could” use them against us—fall short, don’t balance the heaping price Mr. Bush is prepared to pay. To judge by his rhetoric, the President believes God has chosen him to lead the U.S. in a war against “Evil”; beside that eschatological assignment, NATO, the UN, our allies, Arab opinion, world opinion, the war on terror, the budget, are as nothing.
So, the problem isn’t that there is one overarching sinister reason for the insane foreign policy actions we are taking. It’s that every member of the administration has his own overarching reason, and they are all competing and conniving and complimenting to the extent that we are now being pushed by events and nobody knows quite how or why we are doing it.
All of this comes around, once again, to the absolute folly of allowing a callow, gladhanding brand name to assume the office on the assurance that he would be “advised” by a committee of cool hands with limitless expertise. Human nature and history shows that this never works. An ignorant, childlike Dauphin is always spoiled, stubborn and convinced of his own infallability while also being easily manipulated by his Regents. They battle amongst themselves, and with him, until the government becomes nothing more than a game board upon which each faction presses his advantage of the moment, only to be outmaneuvered or overtaken by a rival. The boy-king, meanwhile, is always also held close by some who whisper in his ear that he has been ordained by God to maintain the power of his forebears.
Democracy and an open meritocratic society were supposed to insure that the government was never led again by a silly boy and his unaccountable cabal. Yet here we are, once again.
Right wing talk show hosts have been highly critical of “Hollywood celebrities” like Janeane Garafolo because, while they certainly have a right to speak, they don’t have the expertise or credentials to discuss serious issues of foreign policy and national security. They should not be taken seriously, nor should they be given valuable air time when such grave matters as war and peace are at stake.
I agree. Therefore, I think that such celebrities as Rush Limbaugh (3 semesters at Missouri State before dropping out to become a top 40 radio DJ), Michael Weiner Savage (PhD in ethnobotany) and Sean Hannity (biography only states he was a college radio DJ, no mention of where anywhere) should not be allowed to expound for a combined 40+ hours per week on radio and television stations throughout the country about their political beliefs.
Discussions of national security are much too important to be left to unqualified celebrity dilettantes.
I keep reading about how the public is getting really charged up about this “grassroots” boycott of French products. They are going to give up eating that smelly cheese, and drinking that icky wine and guzzling that fancy water.
But, I would hate for them to miss out on the opportunity to boycott the traitors who help line the pockets of those French batards in Old Europe by continuing to work for the perfidious company known as Universal…oh wait….Vivendi Universal.
We know that good Americans never buy the products of sick and twisted liberals like Sheryl Crow or U2 anyway, but I think they should get out their phones and start dialing radio stations, because they’re going to want to persuade them to stop playing Shania Twain, Hank Williams Jr., Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill, Reba McIntyre, Earl Scruggs, Mark Wills, Tom T. Hall, Lee Ann Womack, and George Straight.
Fortunately, Lee Greenwood has released “God Bless the USA” on virtually every one of his albums since he originally recorded it for Universal MCA in 1985, so when they wear out this years tape they can just be sure to buy it on one of the newer CD’s.
(They should also be prepared to hold the line by not seeing “The Hulk” or “Bruce Almighty” when they come out and I’d hate to be the one who has to break it to the President, but “The Cat In The Hat” is out, too.
No, “Law and Order”, “Blind Date” or “Nashville Star,” either. And, I’m afraid that long held dream of being featured on “Jerry Springer” is just a memory, too.)
It’s a big sacrifice, but good Americans will be more than willing to make it. Surely, they can live without all those Reba and Shania records. And by the time we need ole Hank’s football song, we’ll probably have nuked France back into the stone age!
I’m just sure that Rush and Sean and Neal and Mikey are going to get right on this considering their clout on Clear Channel and Premiere Radio. They should put their foot down and demand that their stations stop playing the entire Vivendi-Universal Music Group roster (the biggest in the world.)
Expecting such consistency from intellectual columnists, however, is another matter–and George Will, as the blogger Atrios (atrios.blogspot.com) has noted, isn’t living up to expectations.
Thanks to Atrios for sending me in the direction of Jonathan Alter’s new piece (web-only, needless to say) headlined “Totally Unconvincing.”
It’s great to see that the somnambulent press corp have started to stir and all, but I am gobsmacked that they are only now bringing attention to something that has been glaringly obvious since Junior was unveiled as the Official Brand Name of the Republican Establishment 2000:
His habit—on display again Thursday night—is to simply assert, assert, assert until the message sinks in. It’s as if war supporters believe that if they repeat the Saddam-Al Qaeda connection enough, people will eventually believe it.
I understand that this works on the sub-rational superstitious types that make up a large part of his base, but why the liberal media haven’t gotten fed up with it by now is truly a mystery to me.
The classic example, of course, is the “Who’s your favorite political philosopher?” question in the primary debate. Everyone remembers that he said, “Christ. He changed mah heart,” after which he smirked, shifted and did his little curt dismisssive nod. But, what is forgotten is that the questioner actuallly followed up and asked if he would elaborate. He replied, “Well, if they don’t know, it’s going to be hard to explain … when you accept Christ as your savior, it changes your heart, it changes your life.”
None of this assertion as argument is new. The following are quotes from the presidential campaign. He’s always done this.
As friends begin to work on my behalf around the country, I hope the people of
America will learn what the people of Texas know: that I base decisions on a
set of core, conservative principles from which I will not waver.
As Governor of this great state, I have proven I know how to lead. I know
that a leader must clearly see a better tomorrow. A leader must make
decisions based on principles. And a leader must be a uniter, not a divider.”
I’ve been underestimated before, and Governor Richards regrets it. (Laughter) I understand labels and how the politics works, and the only thing I know to do is to lay my record out, share my heart as best I can, and in a system that often times gets filtered, I know that. That’s why these town hall meetings are important for me. And you can take a look. You can take a look and… and you can say, I trust him. I trust his judgment. Or, you know, got a nice mother, but maybe he doesn’t hack it. When I first got going, people said he doesn’t want to come to our state that much. But it took a while. I knew it was going to happen. Then they say, he didn’t say anything. And now they’re not saying that. And now they’re saying, you know you know, whatever they said George Bush, you know, he’s not smart enough. Well, as I said, I’d rather be underestimated.”
“I mean, I’m a doer. I’m a problem-solver. I get things done.”
“No, I believe the people are going to elect me president because I’ve got what it takes to be the leader. I’ve got a clear vision. People know that I have a uniter not a divider, that I’ve got a solid record of setting goals and leading people to achieve those goals.
But the point is, my record shows that I’ve been the governor of the second biggest state in the union, and I’m going to talk about that proudly, and I’m going to have Democrats stand by my side and talk about that proudly. But in order to get elected, this country needs somebody to set a positive vision for America. Somebody—people of both parties can understand where I want to lead.”
I’m interested in solving problems. That’s what a leader does.”
As glad as I am that the media has taken its first baby steps to discussing what has been obvious from the beginning, it’s hard not to stand up and shout “Where the hell have you people been!”
He’s always been completely inarticulate, he’s always used circular logic and argument by assertion, and he always repeats his Karen Hughes bumper sticker slogans in a boring matra as an answer to any question no matter how irrelevant. The Emperor has been doing a lap dance on American public but until now, nobody bothered to mention that he was stark raving naked.
Nitpicker expresses what is at the bottom of the burgeoning depression that’s coming over me:
As you’ll notice, I haven’t written in a couple of days. I apologize to my faithful reader. I’m sorry, Mom. However, I just wonder whether it’s worth it at all anymore. Honestly, people, we are currently living in a country where people are recommending pre-emptive nuclear strikes on North Korea, where it is now argued that we may have to go to war with Iraq just because it would make us look bad if we didn’t go ahead and kill a bunch of their people, and guys who probably vote Democrat are saying that we should be allowed to torture people for information.
Good God.
Doesn’t the whole idea of who we are as a nation have to change now? I don’t mean once these things are done, either, but just because there are people in power who aren’t disgusted by these arguments?
Yep. We aren’t even paying lip service to decency anymore.This isn’t the nation I have believed in for my whole life. I feel like I’ve been duped. We’re just another wealthy, conquering military power getting drunk on our own ambition.
Welcome to the Southern Cone – Why shouldn’t we have people like Khaled Sheik Mohammad tortured, even though they are mass-murdering scum? There are various prudential reasons, which I went into last year. Twice. But there’s a more important reason.
Because we’re the fucking United States of America!
I weep to think that we ever took it upon ourselves to criticize Argentina for the “dirty war” of the late 70s. Evil as the junta was, it was at least responding to a concerted campaign of urban guerilla warfare. (“At the time, political kidnappings, violent strikes and bombings had become commonplace,” notes the Christian Science Monitor.) How little it took, really, to bring far too many Americans down to juntahood – a single, terrible, terrible morning. Perhaps al Qaeda already got its weapon of mass destruction, a virus capable of making all infected forget the most basic facts about who they are, or at least who they were supposed to be. We even know when they used it. From here out, we may live or die, may win or lose, but not as Americans.
I just noticed this letter written by one of Andrew Sullivan’s fans. You can hear the heartfelt regret that this Bush worshiper and budding Imperialist feels at the loss of allies that have existed since the dawn of the Republic now that they are with the terrorists.
He just seemed very, very sad that it must come to this. Very sad to have to admit that France and Germany are likely never going to be ‘allies’ of ours again. Forcing the vote will force their hands…they will reveal whether they are with us or the terrorists…then there will be a break. Bush seems full of regret that this break will happen. I think he’s disappointed in Putin, too, whom he trusted. But he didn’t seem defeated to me. Howard Fineman said it best. He was grim, somber, inexorable…he was Shane, the reluctant cowboy, strapping on a gun to protect his family. I didn’t think he looked tired…just terribly regretful and thoughtful.
Brings a tear to the eye doesn’t it?
And they are right about one thing. Sleepy boy woke up all bright eyed and bushy tailed one time during the conference and it was to say:
No matter what the whip count is, we’re calling for the vote. We want to see people stand up and say what their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the utility of the United Nations Security Council. And so, you bet. It’s time for people to show their cards, to let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam.
Yep. With us or agin’ us. Show yer Cards, you lily livered yellow bellies.