Just saw a Newshour this evening (caught the tail end, no transcript) with David Brooks and Tom Oliphant. Brooks, the Slime Monster of American Punditry spent more time running away from his positions than Lance Armstrong pulling away from the pack in a Tour de France. Unbelievable. He managed to paint the entire invasion and indeed the war, as a colossal fuck-up that was all the fault of Bunnypants, Darth You-know-who and Senile Donnie.
When Tom Oliphant tried to bring up the complicity of the press corps in the invasion and war, neither Brooks nor Lehrer were having any of that. So it's still nice to see our liberal media is still in denial. About Everything.
posted by Jo Fish on 03.17.06 at 09:57 PM
Comments:
Brooks was remarkable. He named names and assigned blame. All the while Lehrer kept looking at him as if he were speaking in tongues. I'm sure Lehrer couldn't believe that one of the Administration most loyal "jounalists" had turned so completely. Of course, he never called Brooks on his 180 degree shift or saw fit to remind Brooks that during his 150 previous Newshour appearances since the start of the war, he had supported the Bush Administration 99.9% of the time. I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y.
Wish we could figure out a way to sell tickets to all the bloviators who are going to be taking a cruise up that famous river in Egypt in the months and years ahead.
We'd make a fortune.
posted by: fbg46 on 03.18.06 at 12:27 PM [permalink]
Yes, the great key-board kommando and armchair General Bobo now thinks that everyone should have recognised that the war in Iraq would bedome a "guerilla war" fought by "insurgents", that everything in Iraq would have been in place now--just like Bobo himeself has always maintained, not. Yes, he argues that pundits (like Bobo himself) knew from the beginning of the invasion of Iraq that it would fail, but no-one listened:
"Cobra II" makes Rumsfeld and Franks each seem like Barry Bonds: a formerly intimidating figure who now just seems pathetic. Those two were contemptuous of the armchair generals and the TV kibitzers. But at the crucial moment in their lives, they got things wrong, and the pundits often got things right".
"Somehow, over the next six months, until the Iraqis are capable of their own defense, the Bush administration is going to have to remind us again and again that Iraq is the Battle of Midway in the war on terror, the crucial turning point where either we will crush the terrorists' spirit or they will crush ours.
The president will have to remind us that we live in a fallen world, that we have to take morally hazardous action if we are to defeat the killers who confront us. It is our responsibility to not walk away. It is our responsibility to recognize the dark realities of human nature, while still preserving our idealistic faith in a better Middle East".
He gets partial credit for acknowledging reality, even if he doesn't admit he made a mistake. Let's not discourage people from changing their minds. We want a lot of people to change their minds in November.
posted by: Tony on 03.20.06 at 11:01 AM [permalink]
