Tuesday, September 26, 2006
The Bush Propaganda Machine
It's amazing how fast this group operates. Over the week-end parts of the current National Intelligent Estimate (NIE) were leaked and printed in several metropolitan daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. This report, or at least the part that was published, states that the Administration's adventure in Iraq has increased, rather than decreased the danger this nation faces from terrorists. Last night on the TV program The News Hour with Jim Lehrer a former CIA official agreed with the part of the NIE that had been published. A contrary view was presented by the President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani. He echoed Mr. Bush's assertion that the terrorists were now busy in Iraq and haven't had time to work up terrible deeds to do in the United States.
The Bush propaganda machine (BPM) has had two responses: (1) the allegation published in the newspapers isn't so; (2) actually, it's all the fault of Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton. An example of response #2 is presented in today's issue of the LA Times by writer Andrew Klavan.
Even before the current buzz over the NIE the BPM has been busy diverting the public interest in the bungling in Iraq and Afghanistan by telling stories about how President Clinton had several chances to capture or eliminate Bin Laden and failed to act. Not only Mr. Clinton himself but many of his associates and partisans, and, in fact, most Democrats have been outraged by the lies or selected truths of these stories. Mr. Clinton finally decided to express his own denial and outrage about these false and unfair allegations in a medium where he could speak to the largest number of Bush sympathizers and sycophants: Fox News. Mr. Klavan reports on the interview between Mr. Clinton and Chris Wallace. He writes:
If you're still wondering if Mr. Klavan himself has any political bias, he writes in the same article that Ronald Reagan was "the greatest President of the century's second half" and that Jimmy Carter's administration was a catastrophe. He also laments about how biased the "liberal media" were in the days before Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and how CBS and the rest criticized Mr. Reagan.
I suggest that you read the article for yourself. Here is a link: Clinton Doth Protest Too Much
The Bush propaganda machine (BPM) has had two responses: (1) the allegation published in the newspapers isn't so; (2) actually, it's all the fault of Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton. An example of response #2 is presented in today's issue of the LA Times by writer Andrew Klavan.
Even before the current buzz over the NIE the BPM has been busy diverting the public interest in the bungling in Iraq and Afghanistan by telling stories about how President Clinton had several chances to capture or eliminate Bin Laden and failed to act. Not only Mr. Clinton himself but many of his associates and partisans, and, in fact, most Democrats have been outraged by the lies or selected truths of these stories. Mr. Clinton finally decided to express his own denial and outrage about these false and unfair allegations in a medium where he could speak to the largest number of Bush sympathizers and sycophants: Fox News. Mr. Klavan reports on the interview between Mr. Clinton and Chris Wallace. He writes:
Questioned mildly on his anti-terrorism record by Fox's Chris Wallace on Sunday, President Me went absolutely medieval on the newsman, leaning forward threateningly, rapping his fingers against Wallace's notes and proceeding to, well, lie — and in a very angry voice too!
"And you got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever," Clinton told Wallace, sounding for all the world like a 6-year-old girl scolding her playground rival. He then proceeded to try to rewrite his coulda-woulda-shoulda presidency by claiming to have had a much more focused and hard-lined approach to terrorism than any reading of his administration can support.
If you're still wondering if Mr. Klavan himself has any political bias, he writes in the same article that Ronald Reagan was "the greatest President of the century's second half" and that Jimmy Carter's administration was a catastrophe. He also laments about how biased the "liberal media" were in the days before Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and how CBS and the rest criticized Mr. Reagan.
I suggest that you read the article for yourself. Here is a link: Clinton Doth Protest Too Much
