Flush twice... it's a long way to Sally Quinn's place!

Pundit Pap
for October 12, 2003
The Spin Isn't Taking
Punditocracy clearly does not believe things are getting better in Iraq
by JJ Balzer

Oct. 12, 2003 -- NEW YORK (apj.us) -- Many viewers had expected the Sunday pundit broadcasts to be beside themselves with glee over the recall of California governor Gray Davis and the victory of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Heck, the GOP is spinning it as a big victory -- and it would have made a great diversion from the ongoing disaster that is our occupation of Iraq.

We were not surprised, however, to see Arnie's ascent take a major back seat to the "qWagmire." Reason number one: more than a few of the press mandarins find themselves in uncomfortable agreement with Democrat spin doctors in that Arnie's victory does not bode well for incumbents (read: former Texas governors who never had a mandate anyway). Reason number two: the press is widely resisting Karl Röve's talking points about America's many so-called "achievements" in the former playground of the Hussein family.

And that latter point was driven home with explosive force by the detonation of a car bomb outside a hotel reputed to be the headquarters of America's intelligence presence in Iraq, one which appears to have been planned to yield similar results to the attack on the UN's Baghdad headquarters. And, in typical cynical fashion, GOP apologists were declaring the prevention of a larger catastrophe a "victory."

Yeah, right -- six Iraqis dead and dozens injured. That's real cause for celebration.

Some bad news: Leak-gate -- the scandal surrounding the outing of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife as a covert CIA operative -- seems to be off the Sunday pundits' radar.

Here's what we saw on a somewhat shorthanded Sunday morning:

This Week
All over the place
Players: host George Stephanopoulos, perennial conservative scold George Will, Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry (D-MA), former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev

After a quick preview of a myriad of segments to come, Steph turned to an ABC correspondent on the scene of the massive blast in Baghdad -- his report suggested a larger number of wounded than being officially reported (6 dead, 10 injured). Steph said that Bremer had released a statement saying that the terrorists "would not succeed" -- then turned to reports in today's New York Times and on PBS Frontline that suggest that a so-called Al Qaeda "terrorist cell" arrested in upstate New York had turned out to be a lot less than advertised by Injustice Minister John "Crisco for Jaay-zus" Ashcroft.

Steph welcomed Kerry and asked about whether the US should get out of Iraq. Kerry slapped Cheney's speech before the right-wing Heritage Foundation: "He should have been apologizing instead of complaining" -- and then said it's time to go before the UN with some humility (right, John -- like the Texas Dauphin would ever consider such a thing). Steph, sounding faux-outraged, asked "What apology?" -- and Kerry said Dick should apologize for misleading America and for rushing to war when diplomacy should be used, and for having no plan (you'd think that Kerry was directly blaming Cheney himself for our failures in Iraq -- but then, it's a sure bet that Cheney had a helluvalot more to do with the planning than Little Smirky the Fake Rancher).

Steph said National security Amateur Condi Rice and The Shrub were both using the Kay report to defend their war -- and this gave Kerry a wide-open opportunity to slap down the very idea that the Kay Report is useful as a defense of the Bush-Hussein Feud by reminding Steph that the Misadministration rushed into war and the Kay Report indicated that we really should have still been inspecting Iraq under international auspices right now rather than having undertaken unilateralist action. Kerry said the nation was overextending it military and that troops are in fact less safe because Smirk failed to build an international coalition rather than "rush to war." George Will chimed in with the perfectly idiotic claim that "the rush to war was 12 years" -- and Kerry interrupted, "No, it wasn't." Kerry said that there are enormous opportunities to build a coalition at the UN -- and in fact it looks as if WMDs were destroyed, and while Iraq did indeed stonewall and deceive, there was still no excuse to rush to war and endanger national security and our troops. Kerry also chastised Will for his spin by pointing out that the Smirk Team made up their mind and went ahead.

Will then tried to dismiss Ted Kennedy's claim that Simian Boy's case for war was a fraud, and kept asking if it was a fraud. Kerry said that there were plenty of claims made by Smirk that were not true -- and the issue is how we went to war and the truthfulness of the reasons to go. "This president fails that test in Iraq." (And note the present test -- is a key talking point of all the Democrats seeking the white House is that Junior is a miserable failure. Nothing could be more true.) Kerry said he would not say that Smirk had "defrauded America" (though we wish he would, as he can be sure that he'd not only find most Democrats but many fence-sitters agree) -- but "this president" (we're hearing a lot of that term "this president" from many Dems these days, usually followed by such phrases as "miserable failure," "clueless," "incompetent," and "dude, where's my national security?") has put together a "fraudulent 'coalition,' a few people here, a few people there" -- and now the US is stuck with troops in harm's way and an $87 billion tab.

Steph asked how Kerry would vote on approving the money -- and Kerry said that it's time for the most well-off to pull their weight with respect to paying their part of the war tab. Kerry pointed out that Little George wasn't man enough to ask the rich to pitch in. (Heh-heh.)

Will put up graphs somehow "proving" that the stock market went up because of tax cuts (cue laugh track). Kerry said that half a million people stopped looking for work, and only 50,000 new jobs cropped up in around the same time. Unemployment is the problem, said Kerry, and it is a factor that is often not reflected in the stock market. Kerry claimed that Gephardt and Dean want to raise taxes on the middle class. Are you conceding, asked will, that the middle class tax cut was valid? Yes.

Steph brought up what he called Kerry's "least favorite subject," Dean -- is he the front-runner, citing Dean's reputed lead in Iowa and New Hampshire polls. Kerry said he is happy with where his campaign is at -- and Dean's antiwar message resonates, but people are asking who he is. Kerry said he has experience in military, security and international issues. Might your vote in favor of the war cost you the nomination? No, but war should have been a last resort.

Following the break, there was a segment on the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's election, featuring a multitude of guests (including the boring Lindy Boggs, former ambassador to the Holy See, and her unctuous daughter, broadcasting has-been Cokie Roberts). The most interesting was former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, whose comments were intercut with footage of the Pope and comments by others. Gorbachev recounted his meeting with the Pope. They conversed in Russian for ten minutes, and Gorby thought he was showing respect for Russian and the Soviet Union. And Gorby praised John Paul as "a great man." The Pope criticized communism, yes, but he also spoke of many issues that helped pave the way for perestroika.

It was pretty clear that Gorby not only admires the Pope but likes him and genuinely enjoyed meeting him.

A short segment about Rush Limbaugh's admission that he is a junkie featured footage of El Pigbo 'fessing up and calls to other talk shows. There were plenty of schadenfreude-inspired chuckles to be had -- including one caller skewering conservatives for their "newfound compassion."

In a segment toward the end of the show, Steph talked to Lowell Bergman about his NYT story on the alleged Al Qaeda "Lackawanna Six" cell. Bergman said that it was likely that the government knew they weren't that dangerous in that they have been allowed to go public. Steph played a segment from Frontline in which a DoJ official calls them a threat -- but one of the six, serving time behind bars, scoffs at the assertion. Steph asked if the cell was in fact a danger; Bergman said they had been to an Al Qaeda training camp and had ties to the group, but investigators have found nothing truly substantial that points to their having been a threat.

FAUX News Spin Day
Helping Smirk's PR campaign -- what a surprise (not)
Players: host Tony Snow, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Cheerleader for Röve)

What great timing! Tony was going to have a segment in which hard-right Senator and Cabbage Patch Doll look-alike Mitch McConnell was going to tell us how great things are these days in Iraq -- but instead poor Tony had to go to some hapless FAUX correspondent who reported on the latest attack on US interests. Their spin: yeah, six people are dead as a result of the great job Iraqi forces have done putting security measures into place. The correspondent also talked about the "bustling" business scene in Baghdad. (The chuckles just didn't stop. FAUX is absolutely "on message" when it comes to the Occupied White House spin on Iraq.)

Tony then welcomed Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) -- how are things going in Iraq, given that the Administration says there have been such tremendous strides forward in that country. Rockefeller said that we went to war over the imminent threat of WMDs, not to democratize Iraq, and the irony is that despite the great work done by our forces we are in fact in greater peril now than we were before the war. Tony rattled off a list of "progress" points, but while Rockefeller said he would not deny there has been progress, the problem is that when you go to war, how long will it take to stabilize and how long will our troops be stuck there? By those standards, said Rockefeller, we have made little progress. Rockefeller also said that the war had in fact made Al Qaeda a bigger threat.

Tony played old footage of Smirk saying that we should act -- then parsed about Smirk having not said there was an imminent threat. Rockefeller said that Smirk was playing up the "danger of attack" -- which is pretty much the same thing.

Then Tony pulled a "Russert," quoting a speech made Oct. 2, 2002 by Rockefeller saying that the US might take another hit from terrorists and expressing support for action against Iraq. Rockefeller said that he had said that based on the faulty intelligence provided by the executive branch -- and now David Kay has said that inspectors have found bubkis! Tony continued with Rockefeller's speech, citing "drones" that could be weaponized with chemicals and claiming that's what David Kay found. Rockefeller said that was not the case -- and in fact his speech was based on bad data from the Smirk Junta. Tony sounded hot under the collar as he attacked the UN for not acting despite a series of resolutions. Rockefeller said he's not saying the UN has been as helpful as they could -- but the Texas Twit failed to make a real effort to get the UN behind a real coalition to disarm Saddam. Tony tried to make it sound like Rockefeller had said that Iraq could have attacked the US -- but Rockefeller undid Tony's attempt to put words in his mouth by pointing out that intelligence did not think it could happen and yet Li'l George was trying to push that very point. Rockefeller also took a swipe at the Bush Boy's saber-rattling against Cuba while we haven't made much progress in Iraq -- and in fact turned it into a bigger danger than it was before. So was it a mistake to go after Saddam? Rockefeller said the question is moot -- and we need time now to fix the situation. Rockefeller also said that David Kay has admitted that Saddam probably destroyed all of his WMDs after the Gulf War.

We caught a few minutes of the always (unintentionally) entertaining McConnell, who first said incorrectly that our soldiers are not at more risk than they were when Saddam was still in power. Mitchy was evasive when Tony prodded him about "dead enders" becoming more of a threat according to our own military leaders; he also tried to push the failed "flypaper" theory.

Problem is, we had to cut out to catch...

Meet the Press
Support is fading... and Tim knows it
Players: Tim Russert, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN)

Before going to the red-meat guests, Tim turned to Tom Aspell in Baghdad who was reporting on the suicide bombing in Baghdad. He said the body count was way higher than FAUX was reporting: 15 dead, many injured. How sophisticated is the resistance? Aspell said that sophisticated explosives are a growing danger; many are remotely detonated. This time, though, concrete barriers did play a role in lowering the fatalities. Aspell said that radical Shi'a Muslims are getting angrier, and radical clerics are stepping up the rhetoric.

Tim then welcomed Lugar and Biden. Lugar, who has always been one of the more sane-sounding Republicans on the Sunday pundit circuit, said that while it looks as if we're making progress in Iraq, there is also a sense that we're bungling through. Lugar cited a report he had seen that laid out the progress that is supposed to be made. Biden said that the bad news continues because of a lack of progress and a lack of service -- the Administration and local authorities have failed to spell out what is going on and what is to come,and there's a growing sense in Iraq that US forces are occupiers, not liberators. Biden emphasized the utter failure of Dumb-yuh to get Europe to provide greater aid and assistance.

Tim then cited Gen. Sanchez's comments on attacks becoming far more sophisticated -- is Iraq becoming a bigger haven for terrorism? Lugar said that events in Iraq attracted terrorists with a beef against America -- and played up the "this is a war on terrorism" message straight out of the latest Karl Röve memo. Biden attacked the Administration's failure to articulate the plan -- and said that the US has failed to secure ammo dumps, and what does that say about security? (Ouch!)

Note that Tim asked his questions in such a way as to be as neutral as possible. It's pretty obvious that Tim does not buy the White House line that the situation in Iraq is improving at all. And if Bush and Friends have lost NBC (and therefore GE)... do the math.

On the matter of what the Iraq mess will cost the US, Lugar said that China and Russia "owe us" for trying to bring stability (and on that matter Lugar is correct.). Tim said that Biden supports suspending the tax cuts for the wealthy -- and Lugar said he understands Biden's reasoning and commends him for putting it out front, but he wants an economic recovery.

What would Biden tell Smirk? Take charge and settle the feud between Rummy and Condi, and tell the American people your detailed plan and what it will cost -- when the people are in the loop, they will support the effort (translation: Biden knows full well that Chimpy has no plan -- and with Rummy, Condi and Tenet feuding, he won't have a workable or coherent plan terribly soon). Lugar said it's good advice -- we got four speeches this week from key players and the tone in each was distinctly different, and Condi cannot carry the Iraq burden alone (translation: Condi's as dismal a failure as Rummy). Tim played a clip of Cheney trying to spin the threat Saddam posed, and Biden blasted Cheney as essentially a liar about the threat Iraq posed -- where is the imminent threat? Not even David Kay saw one. Biden blasted unilateralist "ideological rhetoric" and is bothered by the fact that the Secretary of State is trying to secure more foreign help in Iraq as Cheney touts unilateralist "preemptive" doctrine.

Tim turned to the niggling question of whether the world will take Smirk seriously if he says Iran or North Korea has nukes now that his Iraq claims have been derailed. Lugar sounded irritated, and fell back on UN resolutions that the administration loves to claim were never given teeth or enforced -- but admitted that the nation needs far better intelligence (translation: Little George and Ambassador Negroponte will be laughed out of the UN).

Tim then cited Bob Herbert's column in which he said that George the Lesser's attitude toward the rest of the world hurts the strength and influence of America. Biden said that Herbert is right -- and we run the risk of getting a less secure world than when we went into Iraq. Lugar said Congress has legitimate reasons to ask questions about what exactly Smirk plans to do with the $87 billion.

Tim tried to attack Biden for voting for "preemptive doctrine," using part of a Howard Dean speech.

Now that was telling -- Tim did it in such a way as to imply that he no longer buys the doctrine of preemption.

Biden said that he had supported the war resolution -- the real issue is the doctrine of preemption and the failure to plan an exit strategy. Biden stood his ground that he voted correctly, and is appalled at the Administration's "incompetence."

Now that's the way to end a segment -- we're sure Röve and Cheney have doubled up on the blood pressure medication.