The Republican Pushback

[Dinner]

One thing the GOP has is decipline on party messages and they have an excellent organisation for releasing talking points and memos so that everyone from the top down is repeating the same message. Democrats tend to be individualists plus their party is more of a big tent where as the Republicans have settled on the right wing christian vote as the main part of their party. That means it is much more difficult to get Democrats to all agree on one message or on one course of action. The result is Democrats will have several competing plans none of which get the kind of media attention the single large Republican plan will get.

We need to solve this organizational problem if we want to over come the Republican disinformation about "The Democrats never have a plan".

[Berzerker]

Damn those lieing French and Germans!

They never told me repeatedly night after night that Saddam had WMD, in fact, they never told me Saddam had WMD. According to Scott Ritter, the western intel agencies knew virtually all of Saddam's stuff was gone by 95-96 and that the WMD argument was a sham. Soon after the first Gulf War the US said it didn't matter if Saddam disarmed, the sanctions would stay in place as long as he stayed in power. Now, I keep hearing "everyone" knew Saddam had WMD but the only people claiming that here are people who supported the invasion.

Furthermore, Ritter said the CIA was using the UN inspections as cover for snooping around setting up coups and the Iraqis figured it out.

At what point do thousands of falsehoods make a liar?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I didn't support the invasion. I suspected based upon the Hans Blix reports that if we did go in and found no WMDs there would be hell to pay. Yet despite all that I despise the tact taken by the gutless history revisionist Democrats who disavow everything for the purposes of politcal expediency that ultimately cause more harm to the siutation than good.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Bush did not lie. He acted on intel supplied by various international sources, in regard to WOMD.

Lie, no.

See what he wanted to see, and selectively value intel that supported his predetermined course of action, while devaluing intel which contraindicated the need for that course of action, yes.

Hussein, again, was in clear violation on many levels.

So we wrote the world's most expensive traffic ticket to a third world ******* who was about as much of a threat to us as Maurice ****in' Bishop. THAT's a real accomplishment for the "war on terror."

[Barnabas]

didnt blix say there were no weapons?

[MrFun]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat


So we wrote the world's most expensive traffic ticket to a third world ******* who was about as much of a threat to us as Maurice ****in' Bishop. THAT's a real accomplishment for the "war on terror."

I sure felt proud one day, when I killed an ant in my home, thinking that by killing the one ant, it would kill all of the cockroaches that hid behind the walls of my home.

[Arrian]

It's remarkable that Bush is lying in an effort to "push back" on accusations of his being dishonest

No, it's not at all remarkable. It's quite predictable. Honestly wouldn't work.

And what MtG said. Clear & to the point as usual.

This administration has been, in my view, a nearly unmitigated disaster for this country. That the Dems are pathetic in their own way does nothing to change that.

-Arrian

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by Brachy-Pride
didnt blix say there were no weapons?

Yes, and Scott Ritter said the same thing

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Yes, and Scott Ritter said the same thing

He's said so many things though.

Iraq today is not disarmed, and remains an ugly threat to its neighbors and to world peace. Those American who think that this is important and that something should be done about it have to be deeply disappointed in our leadership.- Scott Ritter

[Ted Striker]

Oh no! He violated Reactionary Rule #1 which is -- YOU'RE NEVER ALLOWED TO CHANGE YOUR MIND. EVER. (Even if you are 100% wrong and learn new information to change your opinion).

ZOMG NOT TEH FLIP FLOP!!!!

Exclusive: Scott Ritter in His Own Words

The former weapons inspector explains his switch from getting up Saddam's nose to picking fights with Bush

In 1998, you said Saddam had "not nearly disarmed." Now you say he doesn't have weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Why did you change your mind?

I have never given Iraq a clean bill of health! Never! Never! I've said that no one has backed up any allegations that Iraq has reconstituted WMD capability with anything that remotely resembles substantive fact. To say that Saddam's doing it is in total disregard to the fact that if he gets caught he's a dead man and he knows it. Deterrence has been adequate in the absence of inspectors but this is not a situation that can succeed in the long term. In the long term you have to get inspectors back in.

Nice try though.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,351165,00.html

[Edan]

Woodward also said in interviews this summer and fall that the damage done by Plame's name being revealed in the media was "quite minimal."

"When I think all of the facts come out in this case, it's going to be laughable because the consequences are not that great," he told National Public Radio this summer.

Hmmm...

''What has suffered irreversible damage is the credibility of our case officers when they try to convince an overseas contact that their safety is of primary importance to us," said Jim Marcinkowski, a former CIA case officer.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/07/23/ex_agents_rip_bush_on_cia_leak/

[Ted Striker]

Woodward made a really bad misstep here by saying the damage was minimal.

I think he's only saying that because he knows he's right in the middle of all this mess.

[Boris Godunov]

Exactly. Woodward was practically begging Fitzgerald not to make him a target of the investigation, and now we can see why.

Oh, and the latest rumor is that Woodward's source was National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, who is one of the chief architects of the "pushback."

[Drake Tungsten]

Lie, no.

See what he wanted to see, and selectively value intel that supported his predetermined course of action, while devaluing intel which contraindicated the need for that course of action, yes.

Sounds about right.

[Drake Tungsten]

This isn't a Plame thread, but I'll just say that this revelation from Woodward helps Libby out a great deal. Fitzgerald accused Libby of being the initial Administration source for information on Plame's identity and lying to cover up that fact by saying he heard it from others, including reporters. The fact that Woodward and who knows who else knew about Plame's identity before Libby supposedly leaked it makes Fitzgerald's case rather thin...