Pundit Pap
for January 12, 2003
They're taking the Korea crisis... er, controversy seriously!
by the Pundit Pap Team
Jan. 12, 2003, 1:45 PM -- NEW YORK (APJP) -- North Korea was at the top of most of the Sunday political spin shows -- except FAUX News Sunday, who decided to make issue one their infomercial for supply-side economics.
The good news: Chimpy W. Bushling's latest gaffe, the renomination of segregationist Judge Charles Pickering to a southern appeals court, is keeping the issue of Republican racism alive. The problem is, it's taking the focus off the other nominees -- many of whom embrace the "Federalist" doctrine of so-called "states' rights' and selling out the courts to corporate interests while diminishing the rights of individuals to justice. But at least the Pickering brouhaha is keeping the focus on an issue that the Democrats can fight with -- and this morning, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle sounded sort of like the leader as he threw down the gauntlet over the back-from-the-dead Pickering nomination.
The other good news: Smirk's dreams of a family feud rematch with ol' Saddam in the form of Operation Desert Storm II: The Sequel® was low on the pundits' talking points agenda.
Here's a little of the fun and games from this morning:
ABC This Weak
Steph interviews an actual world-class diplomat
Players:
George "Steph" Stephanopoulos, boyish host
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, de facto ambassador to North Korea
Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. "Pink Tutu Tom" Daschle (D-SD)
Senator John "Smarter than Smirk, Meaner than Rove" McCain (R-AZ)
The bookers at ABC scored a coup this week -- they were the only show to book Bill Richardson, now the United States' accidental ambassador to North Korea.
Richardson started by saying he disagrees with the administration's view on North Korea -- and pointed out that there are always two North Korea positions, their private position and their usually more bellicose public position. In private, North Korea's emissaries told Gov. Richardson that they are not going to build nukes and are open to inspections and improving relations with the US -- their claims of a "holy war" are a public posture. Richardson also said that the North Koreans are ready to accept compromise on the issue of uranium enrichment and are prepared to allow IAEA inspectors back into North Korea. It is time, said Richardson, for talks to resume at the low diplomatic level (i.e. UN ambassadors) -- but it is also important that the US hold off on direct talks. And Steph even dared say that the Smirk Junta's isolation policy is a failure -- putting Richardson in the position of defending not only the Misadministration but diplomatic moves to ease tensions (read: Powell's efforts to actually do his job without Simian Shrubya's doctrine-driven minions interfering). Richardson was insistent that talks resume with the immediate goal of keeping Asia stable, particularly in light of the possibility of war in Iraq and the continuing effort to root out Al Qaeda. Richardson also forecast UN-level talks leading to high-level talks -- and said that he believes that his talks helped ease tensions, and some in the Administration (read: Colin Powell and his allies) deserve credit for this effort to reach out.
Steph asked Richardson to "flesh out the nuances" of the talks. Richardson said that he had worked with Ambassador Han during his years in the Clinton Administration, and Han had to work from the aggressive Pyongyang script, there had been bellicose talk coming out of Pyongyang,
Notably, Richardson criticized Smirk's "axis of evil" mantra as a huge diplomatic gaffe. Steph, not wishing to displease Karl Rove and damage his access to the present occupants of the White House, immediately changed the subject, steering Richardson back to the possibility that North Korea wants a nuclear deterrent. Richardson said they need food and international aid, their only card is their nuclear card, and they want respect. Nevertheless, we should not give them what they demand -- but treating them seriously and getting back to direct talks will defuse the crisis.
Richardson also said he was not an envoy, and that Junior and his retinue deserved credit for reaching out to a Democrat -- and it is notable that Richardson also mentioned Powell at least four or five times in the context of making a serious effort to resolve the crisis in a diplomatic manner -- as well as Sen. McCain, who wants UN intervention, a position with which he is not in agreement, in an effort to show that there is division on how the crisis should be handled (particularly among Republicans).
Does Richardson support tax cuts in exchange for aid to the states? Richardson said he wants a focus on tax cuts for middle-income Americans and no unfunded mandates (i.e. efforts to reverse unemployment, finance public education and help finance local police on law enforcement and antiterrorist security).
Steph then welcomed Sen. John McCain, whose reaction to the present Korea flap was that "facts are stubborn things" -- partly placing the blame on a "bad" agreement made during the Clinton years in 1994, but also blasting the bellicose talk and action coming out of North Korea.
We were sort of surprised that McCain was keeping his powder dry this early on and not blasting Happycrack Georgie and his cohorts for bungling on the global stage.
Steph asked if McCain would support military action against North Korea of they reprocess spent fuel into plutonium, and McCain said that we need to go to both the UN and to China to isolate them ,and crack down with sanctions> McCain made a point he has been pushing throughout the present mess: we've given North Korea food and oil, and Kim has starved 2 million people. McCain called Kim a "psychopath," flogged the threat of a North Korea "nuclear inventory," and called the Kim Regime "Orwellian." Steph reminded McCain that he had written in National Review that the Smirk Regime had bungled the North Korea flap and even called them "Clintonian" in embracing a diplomatic solution; McCain said that he is concerned that we may be facing military action in both the Middle East and East Asia.
After the break, Steph welcomed Daschle. Daschle said it is time for direct talks with North Korea. What about some sort of security guarantee/ Daschle said that we must consult with our allies in the region -- and "dismantle their nuclear assembly line."
Steph then turned to Cheney's claims at a recent appearance in support of the Paybacker-in-Chief's "more givebacks for the rich" tax cut scheme. Daschle blasted it as "a stimulus for the rich and a sedative for the rest" then slammed the failure of the plan to actually create jobs. "It's reckless -- very reckless -- we're going to borrow every dollar" as we prepare for war. Steph had the nerve to call Daschle's comments "rhetoric," then played Evan Bayh's seeming support for the Smirk tax cuts. Daschle gave a typically not-strong-enough comeback that failed to respond to Steph's assertion that Daschle is engaging in insubstantial rhetoric -- claiming he's confident that Dems understand that a "mistake was made" by many of them in supporting the original tax cut -- and this time, the Democrats can put forth a plan that gives an immediate stimulus.
Steph: "But you haven't done that!"
Daschle, suddenly growing a spine: "Oh, yes, we have!" Daschle then gave some details of the Baucus plan that focuses on the middle class, citing as examples child care credits and an end to the "marriage penalty," adding that the Smirk plan is a giveaway to millionaires in the likely scenario of impending sacrifice for so many people (i.e. Smirk's feud with Saddam).
Will you filibuster Judge Charles Pickering, who has been nominated by the Bogus POTUS to an appeals court? Daschle said the Pickering nomination "exposes the [Smirk team's] Southern strategy" and he will do "everything" to stop it -- including filibusters.
That's one of the big headlines from this Pundit Sunday: Daschle will block Pickering, or at least make an effort to do so. Our only complaint is that Daschle did not seem prepared to really unleash a blistering attack on Pickering for his apparent commission of multiple perjuries -- and the fact that there's a huge semantic difference between a President giving truthful deceptions to corrupt prosecutors out to trap him and a crooked judge lying under oath to the Senate about his real views on segregation, race and civil rights.
Steph read from GOP bullet points about Pickering's supposed "fairness"as we laughed out loud. Daschle said that Pickering is "averse to racial fairness" and Democrats will fight his nomination tooth and nail.
Steph then brought up Daschle's having pulled the plug on a 2004 presidential run at the last minute before it had been thought he'd be announcing it, implying that he made the decision abruptly after putting the pieces into place. Daschle gave a disappointing non-answer, saying his passions were elsewhere.
But here's the truth: Daschle knows that many Democrats are fed up with his failure to stand up to the GOP -- and he'd never fare better than, say, seventh place come primary time.
We skipped most of the dull-as-usual round table -- until, during some predictable pap about Charles Pickering, guest talking head Todd Gitlin turned to the topic of Pickering and did what Daschle should've done: explained Pickering having lied outright to the Senate about his involvement with the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, a secret police apparatus set up to stop civil rights enforcement in the state. He pointed out that the documents that prove Pickering a liar have turned up on the Internet.
Our sources tell us copies have turned up in the office of every Democratic senator -- and a few GOP senate offices.
-- JJ Balzer
FAUX News Spin Day!
What Korea crisis? Our first priority: tax cuts for the rich!
The players:
Tony "Baloney" Snow, arch-propagandist but still the host with the best hair on Sunday political TV
Senate Majority Leader Bill "PhRMA Boy" Frist (R-TN)
We caught the first half hour of FNS.
Tony's top stories: North Korea threatens WWIII! Blix finds no smoking gun in Iraq -- but Saddam ain't helping! And, most importantly, "You NEED a tax cut!" (This last and most important point was punctuated and reinforced by a video clip of Smirk shilling for this giveaway to the rich.)
Darn right, Tony -- but we all know we'll get next to none, while the rich will get another payoff from El Shrubbo!
Tony welcomed Sen. Bill Frist -- and the first mission for the two was (you guessed it) to defuse predictions of red ink and maintain the phony supply-side argument that a tax cut will grow the economy and cure all that ails the nation. The only thing missing was the laugh track.
But what surprised us about the segment is that usually Tony is able to maintain an illusion of spontaneity -- but the sense of unrehearsed interview went out the window as Tony and Frist rattled off bullet points that sounded like the ones from either the Heritage Foundation or the Manhattan Institute that were circulating late last week among GOPers and their press surrogates about why the Dems are "wrong" on their version of a short-term tax cut.
Tony, Bill, what ever happened to subtlety?
Frist did say that the Shrub will actually have to "sell" this tax cut -- an admission that people following the issue are skeptical that a tax cut is going to do anything close helping the economy, let alone working families. Also notable is that Frist is trying to sell a "tax cut and jobs package" -- trying to link the two in a false cause-and-effect meme.
Tony practically shouted, "Daschle has called this OBSCENE!!" Oh, the horror, Tony! We feel your pain! Frist repeated his earlier promise that middle-class families are going to be handed a check for $1,000 (yeah, sure...) and also pushed "re-employment accounts" -- but gave nothing in the way as to what the details are.
Tony then turned to the impossible task of defusing criticism of Smirk's appeals court nominee Charles "White Sheet" Pickering -- this time, trying to turn Sen. Chuck Schumer's on-target comments about the still-living "Southern strategy" into Dems somehow playing the race card. Frist insisted that Pickering had been "treated unfairly" by the Senate Judiciary Committee -- a claim he also made on Meet the Press.
Frist is no doubt referring, without mentioning specifics, to Sen. Dick Durbin having forced Pickering to essentially admit that he lied under oath.
Ah, we understand -- when you try to put a twice-elected President -- one who brought the nation eight years of prosperity, peace, and international esteem -- in a perjury trap, that's okay. But when you even suggest that a judge is trying to hide his support for segregation -- why, that's... that's... that's unfair, I tell you, just plain unfair!
Tony and Frist avoided the real "race card" -- Pickering's involvement in the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission. Frist said he'd never met Pickering (another point he made over on NBC -- don't want any of Pickering's stain of bigotry rubbing off on you, Bill?), but claimed wrongly that Pickering is some sort of "champion of race relations" (an examination of the public record proves this to be an outright lie) and that the ABA has deemed him qualified (the ABA is in fact right-of center but is easy for Federalist fascists to bash as "liberal" when they don't conveniently try to exploit its more boneheaded findings). Frist said that the Senate would "consider" Judge Ronnie White if Chimp-boy were to renominate him (read: the GOP will oppose and malign the guy).
Frist must have said that he wants a "dialogue on race relations" about three or four times -- but this turns out to be a groveling, de facto acknowledgment that the GOP is the party of White Rights, a weak attempt to defuse the Pickering nomination, and more than a hint that Republicans are out sabotage affirmative action ("positive dialogue" = "we will positively destroy affirmative action"). Frist also said he was "offended" that there is a notion that all blacks are Democrats -- and had us laughing when he claimed that "the Republican party is more in sync with black Americans."
... as long as their names are Ward Connerly and Clarence Thomas, Billy-Bob. You are fooling nobody -- especially black and Hispanic citizens.
Readers, take note -- this is the launch of the Republican Party's latest campaign by the to fool minority citizens into believing that these conservative greed-heads actually give a rat's ass all about people who are not white, rich, male, and convinced that they are victims of excessive taxation. Remember, this is the same party that recently put out feelers on promoting the idiotic notion that poor families, most of whom are not Euro in their ancestry, are just barely able to cover their day-to-day expenses are "lucky duckies" out to "duck" paying taxes by being poor (a variation on that well-known Mighty Wurlitzer hit of the 1990s, "Cadillac-driving Welfare Queen")!
Billy-Bob's hypocrisy and arrogance in trying to depict the GOP as the "real" friends of minority citizens on a Cecil B. DeMille scale are just plain embarrassing. He's no Trent Lott -- at least Lott was an honest bigot.
But where are the Democrats on this -- save Schumer and John Lewis? It is time for them to lose the ballet tutus and speak out about Republican class and race warfare.
Following the break, Frist mixed wonkspeak and ambiguity to claim that he is going to drive prescription drug "reform" (read: payoffs for pharmaceutical companies and laws shielding them from negligence lawsuits) through the Senate. Frist did issue a surprising idea: tax credits for people paying insurance premiums. Of course, this is a sop to the insurance industry to stimulate business while throwing a few bucks at taxpayers. Tony talked about "taking on trial lawyers" so "doctors won't go on strike" -- and Frist said he will "get the support of the American people" by spinning this as an issue of access to emergency and trauma care!
Well, there you have it -- an admission that Frist intends to use scare tactics to preserve the profits of insurers and strip citizens of their recourse to the civil courts. Dems on the Hill had best wake up and start speaking up.
Frist said he opposes human cloning (which is good news -- it means the Bush Crime Family won't be cloned), but he also opposes cloning of human tissue because there's no evidence that there's been success yet. (Oh, so we shouldn't at least try? Enough with kowtowing to superstitious Evangelical Luddites!). Tony also brought "partial birth abortion," allowing Frist to say he wants to stop them altogether.
Well, Billy-Bob, "partial birth abortion" is not a medically recognized procedure. So now you want to legislate medicine? Prevent women from access to emergency surgery, practically guaranteeing that they will die along with the fetus?
When talk turned to international crises, Frist also claimed that "we are perfectly capable of addressing two wars" (i.e. Iraq and North Korea).
And that's true -- but are we capable of addressing hundreds of thousands of casualties, or a limited nuclear exchange with a dictator who reminds us of Mao-meets-Jim-Jones?
Frist did not impress us in the least. He came across as doctrinaire and out of his depth, only able to rattle off the various talking points he has been fed by his real bosses, Prince George and Rasputin Rove. This is the GOP's idea of "fresh leadership"? We've said it before, we'll say it again: Frist is Lott Lite. At least Helmet Hair Trent didn't murder kittens...
We'll still give you this about FAUX News Sunday: nobody, but nobody, packs as many questions and ideas into an hour -- let alone a half-hour -- as Tony Snow and his merrie band of True Conservative Believers. Now, if only he'd do something about these regressive ideas of his...
-- JJ Balzer
Meet the Frist
Would you buy a used supply side tax scam from this man?
The Wonder Boy of the right makes an inauspicious debut
Players:
Tim Russert, Immoderator of Meet the Frist and inveterate Democrat-basher
Sen. Bill Frist (R-Kitten Kevorkian), newly anointed Senate Majority Leader
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From: Kenneth M. Sen. Frist told Tim Russert that he had hundreds of thousands of hours of surgery experience! Even if it were only 2 "hundreds" of thousands of hours, that would be nearly 23 years nonstop. Pretty neat trick for a guy who, according to his own bio, started surgical training in 1978. I think this guy's facts will need to be checked even closer than Rush or (oh, really?) O'Reilly. |
Jan. 12, 2002 -- Chicago (APJP) -- Bill Frist made his first appearances on the major Sunday talk shows as new Senate Majority Leader this morning.
He came across as flummoxed and pretty incoherent -- but then it's tough to sound like you make sense when you're charged with pushing Bush policy.
Timmy opened up with a comment about the stench of racism still clinging to the Republicans. Russert wanted to know whether the Republican's traditional racist stance would change under Frist. The good doctor stammered through some platitudes about "establishing dialog" and worthless proposals for people to, say, talk about race at their dinner tables.
Boy, that should surely satisfy civil rights leaders! What a joke. Obviously, the major racist component of the hard right is still firmly in power at the national level, so much so that Frist is careful not to propose anything remotely serious about dealing with race.
What about Bush's in-yo'-face re-nomination of the racist Judge Pickering? Timmy read some quote about how the arrogant twits in the White House thought they'd piled up so much political capital by having the Chimp read a statement from a 3x5 card which - surprise! -- said that racism is bad and Trent Lott said a bad thing, and that they could in effect re-nominate a racist judge almost immediately and not be touched.
Incredible.
Frist sounded like Orrin Hatch (R-BMI/ASCAP) on crack with his answer, and rambled and spluttered a bunch of crap which left us scratching our heads. Having been so obviously over prepped, Frist sounded as if he was reciting a few words from each of 25 talking points in no particular order. The result: he simply made no sense. He then said he'd received the nomination and it would go through channels, and then recited the "history" of Pickering in the judiciary committee, and then after going on about how he didn't know Pickering, wasn't familiar with Pickering, didn't know anything about his record, and otherwise trying his level best to completely disassociate himself with the guy [NOTE FROM THE EDITORS: it was a truly weird string of "I dunnos" -- we were practically expecting him to also say he knew nothing about the mass arrests, $250,000 in unmarked bills on his chief of staff's desk, or the four dead guys in Memphis], Frist finally said that there were those who suggested that Pickering wasn't treated fairly the first time around.
So far, "Mr. Clean" is sure trying like hell to stop any mud from sticking to him.
Timmy then read the sordid tale about how Pickering had moved heaven and earth to try to reduce a 7 year sentence for a 20-year-old who had, along with two other men, burned a cross in the yard of a mixed race couple and fired shots into their house, narrowly missing their baby. Pickering threatened prosecutors and even went to the Justice Department to try to get them to intervene.
Frist completely ducked this and tried to bring up how Pickering was a good guy because in 1967, Pickering testified against the Grand Poobah of the KKK.
Wow! Well, that's good enough for me! Why does the public still support these morons? They obviously think we're all drooling idiots if they expect us to swallow this crap.
Frist continued to suggest that if "the President" likes him, then he should get a chance.
Next, Timmy turned to the NAACP report card on Frist. For the last 4 sessions of congress got a straight 1.0 GPA - nothin' but F's.
While looking down at his notes to help him, he sputtered out a laundry list of why he's not a racist, which consisted of factoids such as a trip to Africa once a year and helping out with medical projects, and his support of an African-American judge in Tennessee.
Again, how could anyone accuse him of not doing a thing to help blacks and minorities in this country? Because he hasn't! Helping out some people in Africa is laudable, and supporting a judge that happened to be black... well, what's that prove? Only that he's not so blatantly racist that he'd refuse to support a right wing judge solely because he was black.
But then he got goofy by saying that he is someone who "cares PASSIONATELY, PASSSSSSHIONATEY about racial reconciliation diversity, and helping the disadvantaged people of this country who are disproportionately of color." therefore, he suggests, those NAACP ratings shouldn't be paid attention to.
Excuse us if we aren't convinced, Bill.
Then on the issue of affirmative action, he came out and said that no, they won't be doing anything about it. He palmed it off on Congress, saying it was up to the members. He then endorsed the right wing spin that he's all right with affirmative action as long as it doesn't involve "quotas".
This is a typically weasely way of saying that he is against affirmative action, as any program or policy that tries to be more inclusive to minorities can be accused of using "quotas" if you twist it enough.
Frist is against taking people off death row, as Governor George Ryan of Illinois courageously did yesterday -- but then, killing a few totally innocent blacks has always had a lot of Republican support.
Timbo then recited a list of Republicans who realize that Bush's stupid and disingenuous "economic stimulus" plan is so bad that even they can't support it.
Frist got excited and started saying that it really is a "jobs" program, and an economic stimulus package, even though nearly unanimous opinion is that it's neither.
He managed to get in the mandatory "class warfare" bullshit, the right's attempt to pre-empt the obvious: that this is indeed class warfare, but of the very wealthy against the poor and middle-class. He then simply went into a torrent of meaningless spin.
Then he got super-silly. Tim put up statistics and statements saying that more than 50% the dividends paid out each year don't even go to individuals, but rather pension funds and the like. Frist started reeling off statistics and numbers and then without a pause for breath went into some absolutely goofy story about Dick Bailey (more about him later). Bear in mind that this is the new leader of the Senate Republicans making the case for Bush's reckless "jobs and growth" plan.
Frist asked us to believe that he was out buying a used car "the other day" and started discussing this economic plan with good old Dick Bailey, who I guess was the owner of the lot. Frist, apparently clueless and unable to judge it on his own, asked this shyster what he thought about it. Surprise. The used car dealer liked the idea. Frist then managed to shoehorn in the Republican spin point that the break on dividend taxes will benefit a large number of senior citizens (proving that the whole yarn was made-up). According to the doctor, the car man said that this plan was just the greatest. Clueless, Frist asked him why. The car salesman supposedly told Frist that his "typical customers" were, get this, "a 65 year old couple, getting two incomes from pensions" and that if the government eliminated the dividend tax, all these seniors who will get this benefit (in a year or two, though this was not mentioned) will run out and spend it, "the next day" (yes, that's what Frist said) supposedly on the lemons this guy is pushing.
Not only that, but, according to Frist, the salesman also told him that if a stock pays dividends and they're not taxed, he'll be more likely to buy more stock.
Wow! Imagine that! Bill ran into a car salesman while out buying a used car (give us a break -- a scion of a family who headed a multi-billion dollar HMO is out buying a used car? ), and this car salesman just happened to tell him EVERY SINGLE SPIN POINT that the Republican's have put out about this plan.
Boy, talk about luck.
This, ladies and gentleman, is Frist's proof that this "jobs and growth" hokum is really just the ticket to stop the slide into the toilet that Bush has put us on. Not only is this tale clearly a lie -- made up entirely or at least in large part -- but does he REALLY think we're going to buy this dumb plan because some USED CAR DEALER tells him it's a good idea? This is Frist's strongest argument? Not an auspicious debut.
And by the way, someone has to track down this "Dick Bailey" and see if he exists, and if so, what his account of this encounter is. Bet it's not anything like Frist's recollection. If the Dems were half as bright as the Republicans at this sort of thing, they'd be grilling Dick Bailey before Meet the Press went off the air.
Frist really fell apart when he then tried to say it was a "moral issue" because taxing dividends supposedly is taxing income twice.
Timmy, to his credit, then said, "Well, sales tax, payroll tax, those are taxing people twice. How about eliminating those?"
He said something about having to eliminate Social Security if you eliminated payroll taxes, and when pressed on sales tax, said that could be on the table, but it's not part of Chimpy's package.
The deficit. Tim put up the ugly truth about Bush running us into the biggest deficit IN HISTORY.
Frist's feeble reply was to blame it on the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and corporate malfeasance. He said there was no doubt that the deficit is going to increase. Of course, he had to say it all began under Clinton -- but who in their right mind believes that? (Yes, there are people that do, but I said people "in their right mind.")
Of course, as with all disastrous Republican attempts to transfer more money into the pockets of the very wealthy disguised as something that's going to help everyone, this load of crap is based on blind faith. This Frist addressed by trying to tell us that all these measures that take money OUT of the system, would magically cause the economy to grow so much that it would far outweigh its costs.
Hey! Haven't we been down this road once before with Reagan/Bush? Didn't it lead to the worst deficits in history that time? Now we already have one again, despite Bush being handed a huge surplus, and now their best idea to fix it is to employ these same failed and doomed measures?
Insane is not too strong a word to describe this.
Bush and his multi-millionaire and billionaire backers don't give a rat's ass about the people of this country, other than keeping them from rising up and changing things. They are truly immune from war, hunger, want, and need. They can get anything they want, and any economic downturn won't faze them. So why not propose measures to increase their own wealth even in the face of economic disaster and war? That's just what they're doing.
Prescription drug plan? Well, Frist admitted it wasn't his first priority, but yes, he'd "try".
Abortion? Frist brought up so-called "partial birth abortion", and said that as someone who has spent "thousands of hours in the operating room" that it offends him.
Hmmm... he's never performed an abortion. He's not an OB/GYN, yet because he's spent a lot of time tinkering with people's hearts, this somehow puts him in a better position to judge whether so-called "partial birth abortions" should be outlawed.
I've never drunk a Pink Squirrel, but I've spent hundreds of hours in saloons. Does that make me more qualified to say that no one should be allowed to drink one?
On the subject of Iraq, Frist first heaved a heavy sigh, then said Hussein had a decision to disarm or face the consequences. He said that the arrogant thug in the White House has been given the power to use "whatever means necessary" to affect this.
Then Frist said that we had to be clear that Iraq possessed no "weapons of mass destruction" (could a phrase get any more worn out?) and then made the idiotic point of noting that Hussein had used biological weapons on "his own people" and killed 20,000 Kurds.
First of all, the U.S. provided Hussein with the means to produce this "weapon of mass destruction", secondly, we knew very well what he was doing with them at the time and didn't say a word to object or protest, and thirdly, WHILE this "evil one" was gassing his political enemies, good old Don Rumsfeld was in Iraq shaking hands with Saddam as an envoy from Bush, the older!
And on top of that, there's never any mention of how, during the Gulf War, we made it clear to the Kurds that we'd back them to the hilt if they'd just rise up and fight to topple Hussein. We convinced them that it was OK to wage open warfare against Hussein, and then, after we pulled out and went home, we didn't lift a finger to defend them or evacuate them as Saddam slaughtered them in reprisal.
Nice, huh?
It's amazing how often that they use this phony excuse as if it somehow justifies going in there and killing thousands of innocent men, women, and children and stealing their oil. It makes me wanna scream.
Should we invade even if the U.N. inspectors find nothing?
Again, Frist heaved a heavy sigh before beginning his views. Frist said that at the end of the day, if Chimpy, with the support of the congress (duh, like a Republican majority won't support whatever mad thing he wants to do) isn't convince that Hussein has "disarmed from weapons of mass destruction", then he thinks we should invade.
What this means is that all they have to do is say that there might be a stray beaker of nerve gas in someone's basement and that's enough to start a potential World War III.
How about Korea? Oh, that's "entirely, entirely different, an entirely different situation" according to Frist. He said that Iraq was a "geopolitical region" where we have a "strategic interest", which means it's "entirely different" because they have some oil we want to steal by force.
Korea, on the other hand, according to Dr. Frist, is different because we've operated from a policy of containment. Just like we've done for years with Iraq? Guess not. He also said we have strong support in the region from China, Japan, and South Korea (not true).
The Rev. Al Sharpton was up next, causing me to wonder what a mess this country is in when you have people like Frist and Reverend Al on a political talk show and the Rev. by far the lesser evil!
Tim tried to rattle Al, but Al didn't take the bait and remained even and calm throughout the interview -- and did a much better job than Frist. Russert tried to dredge up the Tawana Brawley fiasco and Sharpton defended himself by stating that he simply believed Brawley. A disturbing poll was thrown up showing that among black Democrats, Lieberman came in slightly ahead of Sharpton. This isn't disturbing in the respect that Sharpton didn't come out on top, but rather that Lieberman, stealth Republican that he is, did.
Sharpton did a good job overall, but in this climate, he won't get the voice he should have in the political arena. In the interest of space, I won't detail the interview, but the transcript should be available from MSNBC in a day or so.
-- Dash Riprock
JJ Balzer is a former television news producer. He lives in New York City.
Dash Riprock is a free-lance smart aleck based in Moline, IL whose current projects include building the world's most expensive pinewood derby car. Comments, brickbats, screeds, humiliation, opprobrium, praise, and/or pity should be directed to him at dashriprockapj@hotmail.com <mailto:dashriprockapj@hotmail.com>