Sunday, September 03, 2006
Lies, Damned Lies and the Bush Administration Opening Its Mouth
Spinning information is almost integral to politics today. Politicians always give positive and hopeful names and frames to their programs. Opponent's programs, not so much. The amazing thing about the Bush administration is that they don't just spin, they lie. They lie a lot. They lie so often it's astonishing to me when they actually tell the truth in public forums. I figure in those instances, there was some screwup and the person didn't get the talking points in time. Or the spokesperson was confused or perhaps seriously ill.
The most recent Mother Jones mag (Sept./Oct. 2006) has an excellent Flash timeline about the Iraq war. It has a nifty little legend categorizing many of the items with labels like False Intel, Civil Liberties Eroded, Torture and others. They plan on continuing to update it as new information comes to light.
The overall gist is not surprising or new to me but the details are fascinating. It couldn't be clearer exactly how much the administration people knew privately yet publicly claimed exactly the opposite in order to promote and market the war against Iraq. Again, not really new but the scale and breadth of the "on-message" lies is monumental.
On a slightly different note, I'm now convinced that this administration (and probably subsequent ones, Dem or Repub) will not withdraw from Iraq no matter the cost. I had heard about the huge US "embassy" being built in Iraq but the scale takes my breath away. The print version of "The Hightower Lowdown" (Sept. 2006) details some of the costs and specs. (Online version here but I don't think the following info is available there even for subscribers.)
This "embassy" (and I think the word deserves quotes) will cover 104 acres. It's being build by an affiliate of Halliburton at a current cost of $500 million. 8,000 people will work there. It is a self-contained city with its own power plant, water system and 600 apartments for inhabitants. And just to make sure the Iraqi government doesn't miss the message, it overlooks the chambers housing the Iraqi government.
The US is not an occupying force. Right. Wait, where are all those flying monkeys coming from?
The most recent Mother Jones mag (Sept./Oct. 2006) has an excellent Flash timeline about the Iraq war. It has a nifty little legend categorizing many of the items with labels like False Intel, Civil Liberties Eroded, Torture and others. They plan on continuing to update it as new information comes to light.
The overall gist is not surprising or new to me but the details are fascinating. It couldn't be clearer exactly how much the administration people knew privately yet publicly claimed exactly the opposite in order to promote and market the war against Iraq. Again, not really new but the scale and breadth of the "on-message" lies is monumental.
On a slightly different note, I'm now convinced that this administration (and probably subsequent ones, Dem or Repub) will not withdraw from Iraq no matter the cost. I had heard about the huge US "embassy" being built in Iraq but the scale takes my breath away. The print version of "The Hightower Lowdown" (Sept. 2006) details some of the costs and specs. (Online version here but I don't think the following info is available there even for subscribers.)
This "embassy" (and I think the word deserves quotes) will cover 104 acres. It's being build by an affiliate of Halliburton at a current cost of $500 million. 8,000 people will work there. It is a self-contained city with its own power plant, water system and 600 apartments for inhabitants. And just to make sure the Iraqi government doesn't miss the message, it overlooks the chambers housing the Iraqi government.
The US is not an occupying force. Right. Wait, where are all those flying monkeys coming from?
The CR FAQ - An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism
