That used to be Ari Fleischer's job, actually... - David
Angel Stewart wrote: > "July 15, 2003 | A "darn good" quote that almost nobody quoted > "We gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let > them in." > George W. Bush uttered that amazing sentence yesterday to justify the > war in Iraq, according to the Washington Post. > > What? Yes, I promise that's what the man said. (And by "him," the > president clearly meant Saddam Hussein -- not Kim Jong Il, who actually > has refused to let international inspectors into North Korea.) > > Now a presidential statement so frontally at variance with the > universally acknowledged facts obviously presents a problem for the > White House press corps. He wasn't joking, and he didn't sound > disoriented or unwell. Although Dana Priest and Dana Milbank wrote the > story as delicately as they possibly could, they couldn't make it seem > less weird: > > "The president's assertion that the war began because Iraq did not admit > inspectors appeared to contradict the events leading up to war this > spring: Hussein had, in fact, admitted the inspectors and Bush had > opposed extending their work because he did not believe them effective." > > Appeared to contradict the events leading up to war? Indeed, that's an > exceedingly mild description of what Bush said. There's no plausible > explanation, unless the president suddenly flashed back to his Yale > sophomore philosophy seminar, grappling with the argument that > everything we perceive is mere illusion. > > For the moment, however, let's just assume reality does exist. What > possessed the president to make an assertion that everyone on the planet > knows to be untrue? And who is going to take the responsibility for this > one? Did George Tenet vet Bush's statement? Do the British have a secret > dossier proving that Saddam never actually admitted Hans Blix and the > UNMOVIC teams? Will Condi Rice or Donald Rumsfeld show up on Fox News > next weekend to explain why Bush's statement is "technically accurate," > even though he shouldn't have said it? > > As hard to explain as what Bush said is the press corps' failure to > report his stunning gaffe. The sentence quoted above doesn't appear in > today's New York Times report, for example. Yet there is no question > about what he said -- undoubtedly to the amazement of both Kofi Annan, > who was sitting beside him at the time, and the dozens of reporters who > were present during their brief joint press conference. > > Anyone who doesn't believe me (or the Post) can watch Bush say the exact > words quoted above here, toward the end of the White House's own > videotape of his remarks, under the headline "President Reaffirms Strong > Position on Liberia." > > Another recent president once said something that was blatantly untrue, > if fairly trivial, and the videotape of his statement was replayed > again, and again, and again, and again ... > > -Joe Conason" > > -Gel > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Your ad could be here. Monies from ads go to support these lists and provide more resources for the community. http://www.fusionauthority.com/ads.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
