| |
|
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
|
|
Iraq, North Korea and the Budget
This Iraqi Nukes thing isn't going away, and it shouldn't. All one has to do is look at the various statements and timelines on what was known, when, to see that the Bush Administration has been playing fast and loose with selective intelligence and scare tactics. Fortunately, the Washington Post has compiled just such an analysis.
I think there are few things people in this country have a hard time with. One is the perception of a lack of accountability. I think it is an inherent trait in Americans, probably people in general, that they appreciate Harry Truman's idea that the Buck Stops Here. Hearing Bush so quickly blame the CIA smacks of passing the buck. Even though George Tenet quickly accepted the blame, I still have to believe that there are people who view that as transparent.
Another thing that people don't like is the law. Meaning, legalistic and technical variations on the law as a means of getting themselves out of trouble. Although Clinton may or may not have saved his Presidency with his legal maneuvering about what "is" is, I think that left a much worse taste in people's mouths than just coming out and speaking plainly, even if it meant accepting more responsibility.
So what do Rummy and Condi Rice do on Sunday on the national talk shows? First, they assert that the general public doesn't care about this and that they have moved on. Then, seeming to counter their own assertion, they both advance, on seperate shows, the identical message: that legally, the Bush statement was correct, because it said that the British have said that Iraq tried to get material from Africa. And, of course, they did, and still continue to say that.
Bush's approval ratings are down 10% in the last couple of weeks. Coincidence?
Finally, it appears that the lines being drawn between Iraq and North Korea are cutting a little too close to this Administration. Check out Nicholas Kristof's column in the New York Times on July 15, regarding this Administration's selective use of intelligence data to support their political goals. I'll reprint the North Korea section specifically below:
While the scandal has so far focused on Iraq, the manipulations appear to be global. For example, one person from the intelligence community recalls an administration hard-liner's urging the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research to state that Cuba has a biological weapons program. The spooks refused, and Colin Powell backed them.
Then there's North Korea. The C.I.A.'s assessments on North Korea's nuclear weaponry were suddenly juiced up beginning in December 2001. The alarmist assessments (based on no new evidence) continued until January of this year, when the White House wanted to play down the Korean crisis. Then assessments abruptly restored the less ominous language of the 1990's.
The latest issue of the Naval War College Review describes the ambiguities of the North Korean uranium program and argues that U.S. officials "opted to exploit the intelligence for political purposes."
"Is there a parallel with what is now going on, after the fact, in estimates about Iraq?" asked the article's author, Jonathan Pollack, chairman of the Strategic Research Department of the Naval War College, in an interview. "I think there may be."
The tide is turning. More people are dead in Iraq this morning after another attack. People are speaking out about Korea. And the ratings have started to slide.
How are they going to fix this? Three weeks ago, I would have thought Syria or Iran were in line for an invasion. But I'm getting the sense that ain't gonna fly right now, as Rummy talks about more troops for Iraq, North Korea heats up, and people start to ask some tough questions that don't appear to have ready answers.
Meanwhile, the deficit numbers just released indicate that our budget is completely out of whack. But not to worry, according to Bush budget director Joshua Bolten, because a deficit of this magnitude is "manageable if we continue pro-growth economic policies and exercise serious spending discipline."
In other words, continue cutting taxes for the very, very wealthy, and constrict spending on everything but Iraq. Right, Mr. Bolten?
"You can be sure that the president will ask Congress to spend whatever is necessary to protect our troops," Mr. Bolten said.
So far, the military campaign in Iraq has cost $48 billion, Dov Zakheim, the Pentagon comptroller, told The Associated Press today.
Great. And that was just the cost to tear down the regime and occupy the land. We haven't even begun the bulk of rebuilding a country the size of California from the ground up.
For that matter, have we even dismantled the regime yet?
11:03:57 AM 
|
|
In Other News...
Thanks For The Memories, Phoebe.
Phoebe Cates turns 40 today. I heard that on the radio. I'm not sure if this is really applicable to girls, or what the equivalent would be for them, but as a boy, there is a certain point in your life where you are going to movies, and those movies will have nudity in them, and it is absolutely the most kick-ass thing in the world at the time. Every generation has their "nudity icon", that small sliver of time when you're just old enough to get into a movie that has nudity, but still young enough for it to be a real charge of excitement.
I was 13 in 1982, when Fast Times At Ridgemont High came out. I had to wait till it was on HBO to watch it (at a friend's house, even). I loved the entire movie then, and love it even more today. But when Phoebe Cates gets out of that swimming pool in slow motion, and the Cars' "Moving In Stereo" is playing in the background...I just don't think it gets any better than that for a 13 year old boy. I don't know what that moment is in movies of the '90s, or movies for current 13 year olds. Hell, they probably now have that moment when they're 10. Maybe those moments don't even exist anymore.
But I can tell you that a lot of guys I know in my own peer group who are reading this have that song and that scene playing through their heads right now.
Phoebe Cates was good in Gremlins, too, despite the lack of nudity.
In Timberwolves news...
Talk about a huge save. Rasho Nesterovich's departure yesterday to the Spurs, as pedestrian and unspectacular as Rasho has been, was a total buzzkill for any momentum this team had in town. Talk radio was like a morgue yesterday, not only because Rasho was leaving (to the freakin' Spurs, no less), but because of the persistent buzz around town that Kevin Garnett isn't being helpful in the recruiting process. Is that because he can't tell people 100% he will be here in two years? Who knows? Who even knows if it's true. I'm not going to think about that today.
All I know is, getting Michael Olowokandi in here is such a huge thing right now. He's still young (28), he's big, and he has improved a great deal in the last year and a half. He's certainly more athletic than Rasho, and I think his ceiling is higher, too. That they got him at a cheap price, ahead of clubs like the Knicks and Dallas who had the same money to offer, speaks to the fact that Kandiman apparently wanted to play alongside Garnett. Too bad we couldn't get Juwan Howard, but this is still something to build on.
This move inspired some poetry among some of my Wolves fan friends. Pipeline reader Cliff P. penned this in a moment of quiet solitude:
The candyman makes the Wolves so much more satisfying and delicious
And though he may not have been among my top player wishes
Every night he'll come to play
And if Garnett will stay
We'll still never get out of the fuckin' first round anyway
Said only the way a Wolves fan could say it.
And so, Pipeline will be in our Nation's capital for the next few days, working closely with the staff of Hyperbole to bring you new features, new stories, and new items from the gift shops at various Smithsonian museums.
See you on Monday.
10:17:34 AM
|
|
DC
Linus and I are flying to DC this afternoon. We are both really stoked about it. For Linus' part, he is ready to: ride an airplane, ride a subway, see the Washington Monument, go to the Aerospace Museum, go to the Zoo, go to the Natural History Museum and see dinosaurs.
For my part, I'm ready to: do all of those things with Linus, see my friends Jim and Melissa and their kids, as well as some other friends.
This trip means a lot to me, for a couple of reasons. First, I get to see Jim, who I haven't seen in about a year, and most likely won't see for another two, unless I win some tickets to Dubai in a Coke bottlecap promotion or something. And, I get to see Jim's daughters. They will be so different the next time I see them.
Second, this is the kind of trip you dream about when you think about being a parent. It'll just be me and the boy. It's not perfect, really, because I would prefer that the whole family could go. But that's not possible, and so I am going to treasure this time of bonding with Linus. I'll be the parent, the friend, the playmate, the tour guide, the disciplinarian, the nutritionist and whatever else is necessary. It's a big job, no doubt.
I'm sure we'll both be missing Linus' mommy within 24 hours. I really look forward to the time when the kids are old enough that we can all go on a family vacation. We'll have to drive, though. Plane fare for four? Ugh.
9:48:46 AM
|
|
|
© Copyright 2003 Doug Hennessee.
Last update: 8/1/2003; 1:13:19 PM.
|
|
|
