Monday, June 22, 2009
Politics D for Denial
Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Poor Rummy. The world has done him wrong.
Rumsfeld has ascribed much of the negative perception of him and the Bush administration to distorted media coverage. "The intellectual dishonesty on the part of the press is serious," he asserted. He groused about "a strong incentive to be negative and dramatic" that had infused much of the coverage. "It's a formula that works. It gets Pulitzers; it gets promotions; it gets name identification on the front page above the fold."Part of the formula, Rumsfeld added, involved pillorying him along with Bush and Cheney but sparing Powell and Rice. As an example, he noted accusations that Bush and Cheney had lied about Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction in making the case for the invasion of Iraq. "They never say Colin Powell lied," Rumsfeld asserted. "They don't say Condi lied."
If politics is too mean for you, consider a career in philosophy.
But remember to include unknown knowns.
1
People give him shit for it all the time, but Rumsfeld's remarks about known unknowns and unknown unknowns is probably the smartest thing he's ever said. He should still be in prison, but credit where credit's due.
2
Please note he blames others for his own failures just like the regime in Iran. The media gave him and his boss a free pass on everything from WMD to his failure to capture Bin Laden, but when he's finally held accountable for the failures in Iraq, it's all the media's fault.
3
Talk about revisionist history. Sheesh.
There should be a special place reserved for him at Gitmo. Fucking war criminal.
There should be a special place reserved for him at Gitmo. Fucking war criminal.
4
Just for the record:
Powell lied.
Condi lied.
There? Satisfied? Enjoy your historical status as the last Republican Secretary of War. Ever.
Powell lied.
Condi lied.
There? Satisfied? Enjoy your historical status as the last Republican Secretary of War. Ever.
5
Whine whine whine whine WHINE
Republicans = overgrown toddlers
"They never say Colin Powell lied," Rumsfeld asserted. "They don't say Condi lied."
Whine whine whine whine WHINE
Republicans = overgrown toddlers
6
@4 I was gonna say, I always thought that Condi lied, and I've heard people say that. Powell seems to have not been dragged through the mud nearly as much as the other four.
7
And I'm sure that had nothing to do with the fact that, unlike the rest of them, Powell actually had some fucking integrity.
8
Pretty funny coming from one of the most Machiavellian operators to ever come out of the Nixon administration.
9
Slavoj Zizek has an excellent meditation on that moment, noting that Rumsfeld neglected to account for "unknown knowns" (i.e., things one "knows" without knowing one knows them). The inability to recognize ideological preconceptions was at the core of the Bush-era foreign policy mistakes and continues to mark neoconservative foreign policy commentary.
11
"They never say Colin Powell lied..."
That's because Powell himself is contrite when it comes to his role in the run-up to war. He knows he fucked up.
That's because Powell himself is contrite when it comes to his role in the run-up to war. He knows he fucked up.
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