Wednesday, October 15, 2003

How many bogus propaganda letters? Try 500   And those are only the admitted ones that have been tracked down to one officer.   Are there others?   I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me.   This stuff is called Astroturf -- fake grass roots public relations. Josh Marshall covers the bases here. 6:43:18 PM

So how IS the war on terror going? Remember that?   Somehow, Bush’s Iraq war was supposed to have made the world safer.   Has it?   Iraq War Swells Al Qaeda's Ranks, Report Says LONDON (Reuters) - War in Iraq has swollen the ranks of al Qaeda and galvanized the Islamic militant group's will, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Wednesday in its annual report.   The 2003-2004 edition of the British-based think-tank's annual bible for defense analysts, The Military Balance, said Washington's assertions after the Iraq conflict that it had turned the corner in the war on terror were "over-confident."   Overconfident? Ya think so?   Read more comment here.   Remember, this is the assessment of defense professionals, who have credibility and hence their careers on the line, not ideologically driven wingnuts who will always find a home at the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, or Stanford’s Hoover Institution (among many others). 6:23:22 PM

These are the people… …who guide and shape discourse in our country.   Read this and ask yourself if it is any wonder civic discourse has reached such a nadir. 6:05:13 PM

Here’s one for all you fans of Colin Powell Colin Powell gets a free ride from most critics of the Bushies. Just because he is not as unhinged as Rumsfeld, he’s depicted as somehow more principled.   In reality, Powell is just as unprincipled; in fact, one could argue that he is even less principled, since he apparently understands at some level how destructive some of the Bush policies are and yet plays along.   Why?   The answer may just be the simplest: because he is an ambitious, ruthless, ideological politico (everything Karl Rove wants you to believe about Wes Clark), just like the rest of the Bushies. He didn’t get invited to the table just because he’s nice and a member of the same country clubs.   Here’s an example that illustrates how “principled” Powell is (Condi too, but then she really doesn’t matter, not even to others in the admin):   2001: Powell & Rice Declare Iraq Has No WMD and Is Not a Threat   It’s time to stop giving free rides to ANYONE who lied to get this country into a needless war. 5:52:56 PM