Bush To Ignore Protests; Also To Ignore Historical Truth Of Protests
George Bush has declared that the magnitude of recent protests will not deter him from the Administration's chosen course of action. Personally, I don't think that's a surprise, and I also don't really blame him. I mean, I blame him for the current course of action, but right or wrong, a President sometimes has to do what it thinks is right, even if it's wrong.
But clearly, the protests have the White House on the defensive. This is an Administration most identifiable by its willingness to forge ahead and pretend nothing is wrong. So it was a shock that Ari Fleischer began his latest press conference with a statement about the historic role of protests. Again, this was an opening statement, and not a response to a question. To quote the AP:
The global anti-war protests have put the White House on the defensive. Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer began his daily briefing by reading newspaper clips about demonstrations against the staging of missiles in Germany in the early 1980s, and said, "This is not the first time there have been mass protests and in a previous instance America stood on principle ... and as a result the Berlin Wall came down."
He also told reporters that former President Franklin Roosevelt overcame protests from isolationists to lead American into World War II.
"Often the message of protesters is contradicted by history," he said.
Oh, thanks for the selective history lesson, Ari. First of all, I think Ari Fleischer would have a REAL hard time drawing a causal link between those missles being deployed in Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Yes, it was those German missles that destroyed the Russian economy, led to Gorbachev's rise, and so on. And yes, those protests over German missles and the isolationist protests of the early '40's were exactly the same as the protests the world has seen in the last month, with literally millions of people, many of whom are highly educated about their government's policies and how they impact a global community. There's no difference at all. And to oppose going after Saddam would be tantamount to opposing Hitler in WWII, naturally.
I'm sure it was just an oversight on Ari's part that he forgot to mention this country's most famous examples of social protest, like protesting the Viet Nam involvement that Robert McNamara himself said was a mistake. He also said the protesters were right, and had an impact on the exit happening when it did.
Even the Fox News correspondent in the White House Press Room rolled their eyes at these ignorant, self-serving examples. Who do they think is going to buy this?
Well, you know what Desperate Times call for. These are not the actions of an Administration that is brimming with confidence or direction.
10:47:21 AM 
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