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March 31, 2004
Koppel Lays It Out

Ted Koppel neatly sums things up in his opening remarks tonight. Unfortunately I can't find a transcript or a video or anything, but here's what he said:

The truth is already out there for anyone to see. It's been dribbling out in bits and pieces for months. It's not that president Bush and his top advisors didn't take the threat of terrorism seriously before 9/11, they were just obsessed with Iraq. Their own people have been testifying to that reality for months.

[lists those people -- O'Neill, Beers, Clarke]

You couldn't get the Bush administration to focus on terrorism before 9/11 because it was determined to make the case for war against Iraq.

And after 9/11?

Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction were presented as if it would become the supply depot for terrorists around the world.

The thing is, it wasn't a matter of deception. There are members of the Bush administration who still believe all of that to this very day. But the issue is doomed to remain a political football.

I basically agree with Ted here, though I'm not quite as sure it wasn't a matter of deception. I agree that some of those people did, and still do, believe what they were saying, but some of them knew better and on the whole, there was some deception going on. At the very least the deception of omission.

The story then shifted to Condi and her new found desire -- I'm sorry, her authorization -- to testify under oath. A brilliant little segment showed her giving her talking points last week, cutting between at least 5 different TV appearances, without even the slightest break in her sentence. How can we possibly trust people who just go around and say the same thing, word for word to everyone, no matter what the question? It's like being governed by robots. (Again, I'm looking for a clip of this)

The whole show was good, if nothing new. The sad thing continues to be that this administration maintains any popularity at all. The list of things they've said -- serious, important things -- that have turned out to be completely false is staggering, and yet many Americans just don't seem to care. The partisan rancor has gotten so fierce that everything is dismissed by the average person, even the truth. And they keep the same position they had yesterday. Or worse, their resolve is strengthened because they feel like their side is being accused of terrible things.

The problem is that they've actually done terrible things.

Posted by ahecht at March 31, 2004 2:04 AM
Comments

Previous Comments

I just stopped by through your ad on Haloscan. Thought I'd let you know. I like your page, this post being my favorite.

The partisanship is frustrating, but equally frustrating is the legitimacy that each side feels. I personally am inclined to think that you'd have to be crazy to believe the rhetoric flying "In That Corner," but that must be because I'm pretty embedded on the other side of the ring. That's why I like that you acknowledge that "some of these people did, and still do, believe what they were saying."

When we don't at least credit them for that, we become like conspiracy theorists, and I don't believe that the Bush administration is sending us to hell-on-earth for No Reason.

Posted by: Adam Robinson at March 31, 2004 2:51 AM