Look! Over Here! Shiny Keys!
After months of headlines about lying a country into war (Iraq), about cronyism leading to tragedy (Katrina, the West Virginia mining accident), about corruption in the Republican ranks in Congress (DeLay) and in the White House (Savafian), about outing a CIA agent in an act of political revenge (the Plame Affair), about illegal governmental spying on American citizens (NSA), the Emperor in Chief responded in his usual fashion: distraction.
On Thursday, Mr. Bush called various prior Secretaries of State and Defense to a meeting in the White House to discuss future actions in Iraq. For one hour. The Washington Post has the story.
President Bush summoned most of the living former secretaries of state and defense to the White House yesterday for what participants described as a cordial but pointed discussion about the future of Iraq.
The bipartisan advice-seeking was virtually unprecedented for this White House, which has drawn criticism even from Republicans for being insular in its deliberations and dismissive of dissenters.
The session in the Roosevelt Room came complete with a photo opportunity and presidential statement after Bush spent an hour with such prominent foreign policy voices as Robert S. McNamara, a Democratic secretary of defense during the Vietnam era 40 years ago, and James A. Baker III, the secretary of state for Bush's father during the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s.
...White House aides believed they accomplished their twin goals of portraying a more solicitous president and underscoring the broad bipartisan agreement that a speedy withdrawal from Iraq would be unwise and potentially devastating to U.S. interests.
...Albright, who advised Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry in 2004, said a few participants complained that it took Bush five years to bring together Democratic and Republican foreign policy luminaries. "This all should have happened a lot earlier," Albright said in an interview. [Emphasis added]
If Mr. Bush had called on these representatives of two generations of foreign policy experts and actually listened to them three years ago, it would have saved thousands of deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars that might have been spent on true emergency preparedness. Of course, that wouldn't have suited an emperor bent on going to war come hell or high water. Better late than never? Hardly.
And it's not like he was actually listening to them this time. He spent one hour with the policy experts of presidents going back to Jimmy Carter. While the WaPo article didn't go into detail, it's possible that the photo op and presidential summary took at least that long after the meeting. No, this was just a dog and pony show meant to distract the public from the burgeoning bad news for the White House.
What's next? A red alert?
Moron.
On Thursday, Mr. Bush called various prior Secretaries of State and Defense to a meeting in the White House to discuss future actions in Iraq. For one hour. The Washington Post has the story.
President Bush summoned most of the living former secretaries of state and defense to the White House yesterday for what participants described as a cordial but pointed discussion about the future of Iraq.
The bipartisan advice-seeking was virtually unprecedented for this White House, which has drawn criticism even from Republicans for being insular in its deliberations and dismissive of dissenters.
The session in the Roosevelt Room came complete with a photo opportunity and presidential statement after Bush spent an hour with such prominent foreign policy voices as Robert S. McNamara, a Democratic secretary of defense during the Vietnam era 40 years ago, and James A. Baker III, the secretary of state for Bush's father during the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s.
...White House aides believed they accomplished their twin goals of portraying a more solicitous president and underscoring the broad bipartisan agreement that a speedy withdrawal from Iraq would be unwise and potentially devastating to U.S. interests.
...Albright, who advised Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry in 2004, said a few participants complained that it took Bush five years to bring together Democratic and Republican foreign policy luminaries. "This all should have happened a lot earlier," Albright said in an interview. [Emphasis added]
If Mr. Bush had called on these representatives of two generations of foreign policy experts and actually listened to them three years ago, it would have saved thousands of deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars that might have been spent on true emergency preparedness. Of course, that wouldn't have suited an emperor bent on going to war come hell or high water. Better late than never? Hardly.
And it's not like he was actually listening to them this time. He spent one hour with the policy experts of presidents going back to Jimmy Carter. While the WaPo article didn't go into detail, it's possible that the photo op and presidential summary took at least that long after the meeting. No, this was just a dog and pony show meant to distract the public from the burgeoning bad news for the White House.
What's next? A red alert?
Moron.
posted by Diane at 4:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home