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QUOTE (OK, RANT) OF THE DAY::
Bush, incensed over the leak of the classified intelligence report on Iraq (the one that concludes that the war has made us less safe rather than more safe), claimed that any such intelligence leak does harm to our national security. Even, evidently, when what has been leaked is a report saying that our policies are doing harm to our national security. So, again: The leak of a report that tells us that our current policies are doing harm to our national security is bad because it does harm to our national security. Yes, once again: The leak of a report that tells us that our current policies are doing harm to our national security is bad because it does harm to our national security. Yes, much better to keep the report hidden and unread or secretly read and dismissed and to continue with the policies that do harm to our national security.
Because the real harm to our national security comes with the release of the news that our actions are doing harm to our national security.
The mind boggles. The blood boils.
Let me off this maddening rhetorical merry go round of staggering arrogance and deadly denial.
Comic relief. Comic relief.
QUIP OF THE DAY:
-The best thing about Ben Affleck marrying Jennifer Gartner after Jennifer Lopez is that he doesn't even have to change the name he screams during sex.
-You mean Ben?
CONDI VERSUS BILL:
Really a referendum on credibility. It's "I did not have sex with that women, not one time" versus "The air at ground zero is safe" and "We have solid proof of weapons of mass destruction." It's lying about a blow job versus lying about a con job on the whole country that led to lots of people getting blown...to smithereens.
Clinton lied about a victimless crime that was really nobody's business. Condi lied and, as they say, people died.
"Nuff said. Good news for Condi is that soon this will blow over and she'll be able to get back to the vital business of shoe shopping.
POLITICAL COMMENT (RANT) OF THE DAY:
Just saw some footage from this Bush press conference. Peevish little petulant brat who’s gone through life with a princely sense of entitlement: "See no one’s allowed to disagree with me. Or tell me I’m wrong. That’s the way it’s always been. Daddy’s always seen to that. Even when I dissed daddy by replacing him with a new daddy. I surround my people see—I surround mySELF with people see –(Excited jab forward and vague smile to indicate pride at having finally found the right syntactic path through the rudimentary subject, verb object obstacle course) who always agree with me. And always tell me I’m right. And I like that. I’ve always liked that. Disagreers are defeatists. See. If you disagree—you’re gonna get defeated.”
Virtually no intelligent person I know can even listen to him anymore without being reduced to clenching his fists and muttering. The discourse is so convoluted and dishonest in an Orwellian way that the intellect can find no perch, no traction. And so sheer apoplectic rage fills the gap that argument would otherwise attempt to fill.
Let’s take a look at his most recent remarks in a press conference on “terror” today.
He lashed out anew at critics "who make a case that, by fighting the terrorists, we're making our people less secure here at home. This argument buys into the enemy's propaganda that the terrorists attack us because we're provoking them."
Nice misinterpretation of the criticism. It was not against taking the offensive to the terrorists. It was about attacking a country completely unrelated to the terrorists (to wit, for the ten thousandth time, Iraq) and by doing so, CREATING new terrorists (by the perceived aggression and injustice of the attack). Notice, little Bush, no one has ever criticized the idea of fighting the war in Afghanistan.
It is almost impossible to tell if he is being tacticly mendacious or truly moronic in these repeated misinterpretations of the criticism. Whether the absolute disconnect between the criticism and the response is the product of sheer blind stupidity or maddeningly brilliant rhetorical strategy.
Anyhow, utterance number two. In defense of his war efforts, Bush said, “When we see a problem, we adjust, we change." Now that's precisely what they DO NOT do. In any respect. “Staying the course” is NOT adjusting and changing. Repeatedly failing to heed the advice of experts and the unequivocal findings of intelligence reports is NOT adjusting and changing. Continuing to repeat the same errors over and over and over and denying you're doing so is NOT adjusting and changing. Perhaps the brilliant rhetorical twist comes in the “When we see a problem” clause of the claim. They never see a problem because they have their ideological blindfold on.
"You see. When we see a problem, we adjust (lean forward, arm jab), we change (lean forward, arm jab, proud almost startled smile at having completed the utterance without tripping over a comma and taking a syntactic tumble. Mommy. Mommy. Look at the nice firm linguistic turd I just made. He He He. Now wipe me. )
“Thing is…” (now a little swagger..after the successful articulation of the preceding sentence) “I said “when we see a problem”…and see, we DON'T see a problem, you see,,,cause the problem is --the only problem is those people who keep seeing a problem."
QUOTE OF THE DAY: (THAT DOES NOT INSPIRE RAGE AND RANTING):
"Space smells like a burned almond cookie."
-Anousheh Ansari. the first femals space tourist.
Well, now we know.
MEDIA COMMENT (RANT) OF THE DAY:
Love (as in hate) the way the press is trying to keep neutral with respect to the revelation that the administration's war has been judged by intelligence experts as deleterious to the well being of our country. The official journalistic position seems to be that it's not clear what the political meaning of this report is. Does it help the Democrats who have been critical of the war in Iraq or does it help the administration who claims that it's proof that now that we've created a dangerous mess, we have to stay the course and put out the fires we've started. Just brilliant. Fair and balanced ad absurdum.
It's interesting that 2 stories damning to the administration (The subversion of the Constitution via the Presidential Signing Statements and the Downing Street Memo) were spoken about in a few editorials (In the Washington Post, The NYT and the Boston Globe I think) but never reported as news by the papers. Either the undermining of the Constitution and the wholesale deception of the American People are not deemed newsworthy or they are not considered to be in the interests of media corporate profits. Or, because of the latter, the former.
The interests of democracy have been imperilled by the fact that news is now--explicitly, undeniably and unapologetically--a profit center.
SKIT PREMISE OF THE DAY:
The guy who keeps thinking that the explicit thing is the euphemism and vice versa.
WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE CONTENTS OF THE E-MAIL I RECEIVED ENTITLED "HOW TO AVOID INVESTING MISTAKES":
Too late.
FACTOID OF THE DAY:
70% of teenagers think they're going to be famous. And they will be. Collectively. For being the single most clueless generation in human history.
Incidently, only 60% of them think they're going to win the lottery.
RANDOM SINGLE SENTENCE PORTRAIT OF THE DAY:
He’s got all the behavioral liabilities associated with being a rock star without actually being a rock star.
IRAQ GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY:
There is no evidence that 70% of Iraqi teenagers think they're going to be famous. So they've got that going for them.
COMPOSITIONAL REFLECTION OF THE DAY:
Since this has been a ranty rant of a posting, let's end it in a more affirmative and lyrical mode:
SEASONAL OBSERVATION OF THE DAY:
Ah the day "the memo" goes out. Not the day in early spring. The day in early fall. Not the one that says "take the clothing off." The one that says "put the clothing back on." For some reason I've always found the autumnal version much more erotic. Because the beauty is edged with the austerity of imminent darkness and cold. Privation, mortality heighten the senses. The light is sharp enough to pierce the heart. There is more than lust. There is longing.
Anyhow, today was that day.
But it didn't stop me from ranting.
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Posted on 10/2/2006
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