TFM ON POWELL
I have yet to say anything about Colin Powell's presentation to the UN.
According to 90% of editorial cartoonists in America, he showed us a smoking gun, or made the indisputable case for military action.
Am I the only one who noticed that essentially not a shred of new information came from his presentation?
So what's going on then?
Simple: People trust Colin Powell. With Bush's approval ratings dropping, and an actual credibility gap starting to form (finally!), the administration realized something, that being if Bush and Powell each make the same empty case for war, the public is much more likely to be persuaded by Powell than by Dubya. But that doesn't change the facts, which are that he didn't say anything new at the UN. Just the usual . . . guy got medical treatment . . . there's a possible terror camp in a part of Iraq not under Saddam's control, but under that of the Kurds, who are supposed to be our friends . . . they have "mobile chemical weapon factories" of some sort, which are probably just ice cream trucks . . . and let's not forget the empty missile casings.
These are all reasons you'll see me in the streets of San Francisco a week from tomorrow.
On a larger note, this is all part of the usual Bush MO. They take issues and policies, and change the way the are presented until they find a way that idiotic middle America bites on. This is why "privatization" became "personal accounts". This is why, in their desire to repeal the estate tax (a very noble cause, remind me why they needed a tax cut before everyone else?), they called it the "death tax". And that's why affirmative action becomes a "quota system", even though that's not even what Michigan's policy is at all. In the case of Iraq, the question to them is the mouthpiece. They can't do anything to bolster their case for war, but what they can do is take what they have and filter it through someone with half a shred of credibility, and somehow they got Powell doing it. Maybe they promised him the vice presidency. Who knows.
(BTW as long as I'm ranting, a thought about the inspections and patterns among the Bushies: Why aren't they sharing useful intelligence with the UN inspectors? Because doing so wouldn't lend anything to the administration's goal, which is to undermine the inspections. This is what Republicans do, they pretend to be for something and then secretly undermine it. We all like the idea of enforcing laws, but in the mid and late 90's the Gingrich congress worked to gut the IRS so they couldn't audit as many Halliburton's and Tyco's. In the last couple years, while claiming to be champions of corporate reform, the Bushies have been trying to financially starve the SEC, as a wink-nudge for the crooked CEO's of America. And the pattern persists with the inspectors. Bush wants his war, for oil/approval ratings/whatever, and helping out the inspectors stands in the way of that.)
UPDATE: Even weapons inspector Hans Blix denies the existence of the mobile weapon factories. (link via a commenter at Kos)
I have yet to say anything about Colin Powell's presentation to the UN.
According to 90% of editorial cartoonists in America, he showed us a smoking gun, or made the indisputable case for military action.
Am I the only one who noticed that essentially not a shred of new information came from his presentation?
So what's going on then?
Simple: People trust Colin Powell. With Bush's approval ratings dropping, and an actual credibility gap starting to form (finally!), the administration realized something, that being if Bush and Powell each make the same empty case for war, the public is much more likely to be persuaded by Powell than by Dubya. But that doesn't change the facts, which are that he didn't say anything new at the UN. Just the usual . . . guy got medical treatment . . . there's a possible terror camp in a part of Iraq not under Saddam's control, but under that of the Kurds, who are supposed to be our friends . . . they have "mobile chemical weapon factories" of some sort, which are probably just ice cream trucks . . . and let's not forget the empty missile casings.
These are all reasons you'll see me in the streets of San Francisco a week from tomorrow.
On a larger note, this is all part of the usual Bush MO. They take issues and policies, and change the way the are presented until they find a way that idiotic middle America bites on. This is why "privatization" became "personal accounts". This is why, in their desire to repeal the estate tax (a very noble cause, remind me why they needed a tax cut before everyone else?), they called it the "death tax". And that's why affirmative action becomes a "quota system", even though that's not even what Michigan's policy is at all. In the case of Iraq, the question to them is the mouthpiece. They can't do anything to bolster their case for war, but what they can do is take what they have and filter it through someone with half a shred of credibility, and somehow they got Powell doing it. Maybe they promised him the vice presidency. Who knows.
(BTW as long as I'm ranting, a thought about the inspections and patterns among the Bushies: Why aren't they sharing useful intelligence with the UN inspectors? Because doing so wouldn't lend anything to the administration's goal, which is to undermine the inspections. This is what Republicans do, they pretend to be for something and then secretly undermine it. We all like the idea of enforcing laws, but in the mid and late 90's the Gingrich congress worked to gut the IRS so they couldn't audit as many Halliburton's and Tyco's. In the last couple years, while claiming to be champions of corporate reform, the Bushies have been trying to financially starve the SEC, as a wink-nudge for the crooked CEO's of America. And the pattern persists with the inspectors. Bush wants his war, for oil/approval ratings/whatever, and helping out the inspectors stands in the way of that.)
UPDATE: Even weapons inspector Hans Blix denies the existence of the mobile weapon factories. (link via a commenter at Kos)
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