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

Pundit Pap
for October 26, 2003
Another Bad News QWagmire
by JJ Balzer

Oct. 26, 2003 -- NEW YORK (apj.us) -- It's funny how some news stories break at absolutely the worst possible time for former Texas governor George W. Bush, who has been spending the last few weeks trying to convince an increasingly skeptical public that all of the bad news they are hearing about Iraq is the fault of the press.

The big, breaking news of this Sunday morning was a huge missile attack on Baghdad's Al Rashid Hotel -- rumored to be the headquarters for US intelligence, known to be the temporary residence for many members of the American and international press corps, and, as it would happen, the place where Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was trying to catch a little sleep. The hotel was struck by around eight missiles which had been concealed in a trailer that appeared to contain a generator parked not far from the hotel. Late reports indicate that a US Colonel was killed in the attack.

Among the "indignitaries" scheduled to make the rounds of the Sunday pundit carnival were Secretary of State Colin Powell and the man with perhaps the most unenviable job in government today, US Civil Administrator Paul Bremer.

Here's the quick rundown of what we saw:

This Week
Missile attack rocks "good news 'n' progress" offensive
Players: host George Stephanopoulos, national security authority Richard Clarke, presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), Episcopal bishop-elect Rev. V. Gene Robinson, and Bremer.

This Sunday's This Week began, as did the other three network political chatfests, with an update on the Al Rashid Hotel missile attack. Steph also made prominent upfront mention of the WaPo article detailing evidence that Iraq had no nuclear weapons program after 1991.

Steph cut to a taped interview with Bremer. Steph said the security situation is evidently worse -- and Bremer stayed on the "it's getting better... we must defeat these terrorists" script he finds himself having to parrot in every media appearance he must deal with -- only to see Steph use Gen. Sanchez's observation from earlier in the week that the number of attacks by Iraqi insurgents against Americans, military and otherwise, is increasing. Bremer was duty-bound not to make the situation look as dire as it is -- and went about as far as to acknowledge that "roadside attacks" are a danger. How are insurgents getting advance knowledge of American officials' whereabouts? Bremer tried to write off the missile attack on the Al Rashid as coincidence, and in response to a question from George Will admitted there's a possibility that Iraqi resistance forces knew Wolfie would be cribbin' at the Al Rashid.

Bremer, grasping at the first talking point to come to mind (let's just say that Bremer looked even more like the proverbial deer in the headlights than even Condolleeza Rice has since the Smirk-Saddam feud went south), non-sequitured about Saddam releasing "hardened criminals... murderers, rapists..." and said that the curfew was lifted at the prompting of -- this had us laughing out loud -- restaurateurs!

Will lit into Bremer on the nonsensical mention of "criminals" when in fact it's clear that attacks on Americans are coming from guerillas -- which forced Bremer to admit there's a difference. Bremer was accurate when he said that the so-called "Sunni triangle" remains a hotbed of resistance, but offered no information on exactly how the Defense and State Departments plan to defuse that particular tinderbox.. Are the guerillas multiplying faster than we can neutralize them? Bremer said no -- then admitted both that anti-US forces are "pouring in" from other countries and that the US is unable to control the borders (well, well -- that sounds like a big fat emphatic "Yes, the guerillas are multiplying faster than Texas cockroaches" to us). Bremer admitted that the matter of Turkish troops was still being negotiated (read -- Turkey is going to back off big time, and once again Shrub and the PNAC-le club are hoist on their own petard).

Then Steph played the notorious John Edwards TV spot that blasts Little George's Iraq mess. Bremer, once again looking like he was about to sweat bullets, responded with handy-dandy bullet points, including the hilarious " hundreds of companies are in Iraq helping rebuild the country," which is somehow proof that "we're not going it alone." Bremer claimed that restoring "prewar [electrical] power" was a great achievement (when in fact a well-planned Iraq campaign would have restored power to prewar levels in a matter of days or a couple weeks, not months). Bremer said he would "take responsibility" for the new money that Congress is voting on (which, in Röve-speak, probably means that if anything goes wrong, he will either blame someone on Rumsfeld's bad side or, if all else fails, claim it was all the fault of the Clinton Administration). Bremer promised that contracts would be competitive from now on (a tacit admission that Qrony Qapitalism has run rampant in the so-called "rebuilding of Iraq).

Steph cited a news report that states that the cost of occupation will top $130 billion within months. Bremer made the requisite "We have to pay for rebuilding and security" excuse (translation: we failed to secure a real coalition to spread the security and rebuilding expenses equitably).

Then Steph welcomed Edwards -- and started by claiming that Bremer answered all of Edwards' objections! Edwards smiled and corrected Steph, saying that there is in fact not any international effort to rebuild Iraq. When Steph tried to prove Edwards wrong by mentioning a UN resolution and loan conference, Edwards said that the facts remain that Americans are bearing the burden and running the operation -- and it must become an international effort before Iraqis will show "full cooperation". ("Full"? We doubt it. There are too many crazies that hate America and Americans in the Islamic world due to decades of neglect -- due in part to a quiet undercurrent of prejudice against Muslims).

Steph then quoted Sen. Joe Biden's ridiculous claim that Democratic presidential candidates are not being "coherent" or supporting a "coherent policy." Edwards said that the effort in Iraq would be judged by the nation and world over a period of years -- and while Saddam's ouster is a good thing, Edwards will continue to say no to a failed policy, and the attack on the Al Rashid Hotel is an example of the Iraq failure.

Will asked Edwards about his objection to the PATRIOT Act. Edwards was specific in saying that said he objects to powers given to the Attorney General (read: a zealot like John Ashcroft) to get records from libraries and stores on books people are buying or checking out. Edwards said that there are no safeguards to protect the privacy and liberty of citizens -- and that we must win the war on terrorists, and we can do so without limiting citizens' rights. Will tried to frame the issue as checking on people studying the structure of the Hoover Dam or researching chemicals -- but Edwards said that the problem is that there is no due process (i.e. Ass-KKKroft gets too much discretion). Will claimed there were enough checks and balances -- but Edwards, in an effort to pound the principle into Will's mind, said there is too much discretion given to the AG and not enough for the judicial branch. Edwards also said he has grave concerns about indefinitely detaining those labeled "enemy combatants."

(The exchange was telling. Edwards is trying to position himself as tough on real terrorist criminals with an animus against innocent Americans. The problem is that he runs a big risk of alienating many Democrats, including those who feel that there should be more tools available to law enforcement, who feel that the entire PATRIOT Act is an abomination.)

Then Steph said that Edwards is in eighth place in one poll. How can he win the nomination? Edwards said he is in the top four in Iowa, and he just won the Teamsters' endorsement in South Carolina (in other words, he's far from the handful of top contenders, let alone the front of the pack). The intense portion of the nomination campaign is on now, he said, and it's now a battle of ideas. Naturally, Edwards found that opening to rattle off his litany of pet issues, and predicted he would win the South Carolina primary and the nomination. (Translation: "I'll be out by Super Tuesday, George -- I'm toast, but I'll stick it out because it gets me better name recognition.")

After the break came a guest not listed in this morning's WaPo: Dick Clarke, who appeared under the guise of discussing Rumsfeld's memo on the Iraq quagmire. Clarke first scathed Rummy's original military planning for Iraq and Chimpy's call to "bring 'em on" -- which is, he said, exactly what enemies of America did! Clarke also made the point that both Rummy and Smirk seemed to "confuse" Osama with Saddam (translation: it was a conscious attempt to fool the public). Clarke also said that Rummy's "Pentagon-centric" view of the war against terrorist criminal shows that his view is that he should be doing the job of other departments and nations -- and the memo shows that what he says publicly is 180 degrees from what he says in private.

Clarke, it should be noted, worked in the Bush Daddy, Clinton, and George the Lesser administrations. It's a shame he's gone -- his presence alone would have lowered the "National Security Bozo Quotient" by a significant margin.

Steph then ran a focused on the appointment of Rev. Gene Robinson as the Episcopal Church's first gay bishop (that's openly gay, Steph) -- and the threat of some Episcopal leaders to break from their church over the appointment. Robinson admitted it has troubled him personally, but he feels it is the right thing to do, a risk comparable to that of the Episcopal Church embracing the civil rights movement. Steph pressed him time and time again on how he could be "responsible" by declining the appointment, Robinson said that the EC has no control over who stays and goes, and his responsibility is to "discern God's voice." He admitted he is not even sure -- and, in a telling comment that he emphasized, to beware those who claim they know God's voice. (Was this a swipe at non-Episcopals who have used their mighty Wurlitzers to denounce Robinson -- people like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell? You can bank on it.) Why not go the extra mile and say, "No thanks"? Robinson slapped down Steph by explaining how he has gone the extra mile for years, as have other gay members of the Episcopal Church. But Steph, by now clearly acting as a surrogate for gay-hating "moralists", kept laying into Robinson, attacking him in effect by saying that the EC is officially against homosexual sex, and that the office of Bishop is only open to those who heel to EC doctrine. Robinson made theological points in response to Steph's inexplicably hostile questions, and said that chaos and confusion are often the path to unity.

Steph's attack stance was troubling. He repeatedly cited "critics" but failed to specify who they are -- and, more importantly, failed to link some of the most vocal critics to a money trail coming from proto-fascist paranoid billionaire Richard Scaife and neo-Taliban "Christian Reconstructionist" extremist multimillionaire Howard Ahmanson.

It's called external pressure, George Stephanopoulos -- and shame on you for not delving into this story's real background!

McLaugh-In!
Tony Blankley has been brainwashed and Pamela Hess is in love!
Players: John McLaughlin, Pat Buchanan, Tony Blankley, Pamela Hess and Eleanor Clift

It's been a long while since we've checked in on America's most entertaining Home for the Politically Insane. And this weekend's McLaugh-In failed to disappoint.

John's first issue: the Rumsfeld "Memo from Hell," which the Pope of Punditry dissected in excruciating detail -- and concluded put Rummy at odds with the White House and even previous statements made by the beloved Secretary of War, in effect dynamiting his own "rosy scenario" (a favorite phrase of the Bishop of Bellowing Bloviation). John made much of Rummy's conclusion that we are in for a "long slog" -- even playing old footage of Junior's assertion that combat operations were over in Iraq.

And the panel, naturally, opined (here are their abbreviated prognostications)...
Pat: the memo was meant to be "leaked" so that Rummy could assume a sort of Vice Presidency for War -- but it also proves that the Administration failed to prepare for postwar Iraq.
Eleanor: he committed the truth! This is a "mini-Pentagon-Papers" that contradicts the "happy talk" emanating from the White House. "C-Y-A won't work."
Tony (breathlessly): Rummy knew there'd be problems! He's out to create a sense of urgency! He's... CHURCHILLIAN! He's a critical thinker!
John: He's another Churchill?
Tony: He's the closest thing we have! A couple senior editors of the Moonie Times and I met with him a few days ago! It was so cool, John!
John: Hmmm... you think you were BRAINWASHED?
Tony: No, no, no, no, no...

(We almost blew latté we were sipping out of our nose, we started laughing so hard! Keep in mind that Tony Blankley is a right-wing propagandist employed by Rev. Moon, who knows a thing or two about brainwashing. That may have been the best ironic "dis" we've heard all year -- and the sort of lunacy you can only get from McLaugh-In!)

Pamela Hess: Yes, this is a quagmire, and Rummy should be proud of using the more correct "slog." There was nothing surprising in the memo. Rummy's just so "disciplined verbally." (She all but said "I'm tellin' you, John, I'm smitten with that man! A girl can't help it.")

Shortly thereafter, Eleanor broke through the mandatory weekly bout of someone trying to shout her down and said that Rummy, the "filter himself," has destroyed Smirk's argument about the "media filter."

Later, John himself proclaimed that the government knows where Osama is, and Pamela and John argued whether the matter of "getting" Osama requires a new "finding" (authorization of covert action) from Junior.

(Now THAT is an interesting and newsworthy revelation -- you'd half expect Lying Son to hold off on offing Osama until election season -- it would be good for a few points in the polls.)

John also set up a little bluster over the CIA being at odds with the Administration, complete with a video clip of Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) blasting the administration, who he said were trying to blame the CIA for the "Iraq fiasco."

Note those two words. Mister Blustering Conservative himself is pushing the fact that Iraq has become a "fiasco" -- not to mention his questions about how this might affect 2004 elections (as in adversely) and acknowledgment that Röve must circle the wagons and proclaim Smirk the "security" president.

(Since McLaugh-In is shot on Friday and Wolfowitz was shot at on Sunday, you can bet that both the GOP and the Dems are recalculating the political math of "security" when Paul Wolfowitz is nearly done in by a rocket attacks. And if John can insinuate that the Texas Dauphin and his retinue of recycled reactionaries has turned what was supposed to be the centerpiece of their PNAC-inspired "foreign policy" into a "fiasco", that's a sure sign that John's prime sponsors, GE and Verizon, are ready to cut bait and send a "failed just like his daddy" back to Texas.)

John spent most of the second half of the show bellowing about the failure in Iraq.

Is the memo bad news? Pat didn't say yes but came close, saying it kills Iraq "happy talk." Eleanor said yes. Tony said it was truthful and realistic, and that's good for the country. Pamela said it's bad for the White House and good for Rummy.

John said it's very bad for the Bush boy and the public reaction is that it indicates an administration adrift.

Ouch.

Meet the Press
Players: Tim Russert, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Rockefeller and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE).

"In lives and dollars the cost continues to mount... who will be blamed for the intelligence failures?"

Wow. Even Tim is down on the Iraq mess. Watch out, Tim -- the Chimp might think you're "filtering."

Tim turned immediately to NBC correspondent Jim Mikaleszewski, who was at the Al Rashid Hotel when the attacks occurred. Mikaleszewski said that Wolfowitz was shaken by the attacks, and according to another NBC reported made it out by the skin of his teeth. The attack came from a sophisticated device designed to look like a portable generator but containing about 20 missiles -- Mikaleszewski reported that 11 didn't fire. Mikaleszewski made his best effort to say that Wolfowitz has been "warmly greeted" while admitting that Iraqis were hammering him on the lack of help for the nation.

Tim turned to Powell for his reaction -- which was the standard "We regret the loss of life" followed by Powell going into "good news" mode about how the Iraqis just love that Wolfowitz. (It was just too over the top for words -- the administration will try to spin any little detail to somehow "prove" that the US is making "tremendous progress" -- but toward what? Making Iraq the 51st state?) Powell also gushed about America "moving forward" on the matter of security in Iraq. Tim hit back, citing Sanchez's comments early in the week and the mounting body count. Powell said the conflict continues -- but these aren't "major battles."

(Yeah, right -- missiles kill an American Colonel and nearly take out the number two man at the Defense Department. Nothing major about that. No, all is well. Not!)

Tim didn't challenge Powell's point, instead returning to the specifics of Sanchez's comments on organized resistance in Iraq as "here we are in October." Powell said that is why there is a large American force in Iraq and cited some "progress" in building the Iraqi security force. People are glad Saddam is gone, said Powell, and we are rebuilding Iraq and establishing democracy.

Tim again failed to challenge Powell's assertion, but did cite Powell's latest failure -- he sought to raise $56 billion from other nation sand and only got about $13 billion in promises. Powell tried to claim that his going hat in hand to the world was not... well, going hat in hand to the world, and then tried to made the debunked claim that Iraq's oil will finance rebuilding after 2005. "This conference was very successful." (Right -- successful in giving Röve more failures to spin into "progress.")

Powell looked testy as he was forced to sit through a series of questions from Tim about the CIA's intelligence -- but lightened up when Tim gave him a chance to suggest that the agency's "assessments were wrong." (We're sure that intelligence professionals who were warning you and Smirky not to spin or exaggerate evidence are real happy to hear you say that.)

Tim then turned to the matter of that little memo from Rumsfeld on the "long, hard slog" against terrorist thugs. Tim characterized the assessment as "different" from that of Little George's inner circle. So naturally, Powell avoided these niggling, Grand-Canyon-sized discrepancies and said that his boss had made it clear there'd be a long "war" against terrorists -- for example, we are rolling up many elements of Al Qaeda, and they are still recruiting. (This was all but an admission of the former Texas governor's failure to capture or kill Osama bin Forgotten and completely dismantle Al Qaeda).

Again, no follow-through from Tim. Instead, he asked how the US can trust the North Koreans if a deal over their nuclear weapons program is hammered out. Powell didn't answer, only citing progress toward a deal and "positive" developments. He characterized North Korea's changed stance as a good sign, but in this case refused to engage in hyperbole while calling it "very positive." (Translation -- Powell is still working out the details with North Korea and other nations in the region, and he's not going to put the kibosh on a complicated process involving a paranoid dictator -- we mean Kim Jong-Il, in this case)

Tim then detailed Gen. William Boykin's imbecilic religious outbursts, including his calling the war against terrorists a religious wars. Powell stood by the Röve talking points that Boykin is a man of faith and we are not in a religious war. He would not comment on calls for Boykin's resignation. (Unbelievable. Powell is heeling to the evangelical crazies with which Smirk has cozied up to in an unholy alliance.)

When it came to Tim and Powell, the questions only sounded like typical Russert attack points. Tim pulled his punches, though, repeatedly refusing to challenge Powell's spin.

Tim then welcomed John "Rocky" Rockefeller IV and Chuck and Hagel. Rocky said we won the war easily -- but we're "not doing particularly well" to oppose the "insurgency' because the wrong kind of troops were there and we're not getting the right kind of intelligence. Where do we get the troops? "I don't know."(Translation; "Smirk should've thought of that, don'tcha think, Tim?" Rocky should have jumped all over Junior's failure when he had the chance.) Tim asked Hagel about how many American soldiers had been killed in Iraq, and Hagel said that he had requested numbers from Rummy and got a total of some 900 maimed in the last months. The sooner the Iraqi standard army is back in business, the sooner we can get out -- and "we're kidding ourselves if we don't have that as the focus."

(Hagel was visibly angry about the number of our kids coming back in body bags, and it seemed to us he was doing all he could to prevent himself from going verbally Medieval on the entire executive branch. Hagel is beginning to distinguish himself as one of the most sane Republicans on The Hill.)

Tim turned to Hagel's comment that the White House is treating Congress as a "nuisance." Hagel reflected on the failure of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution (an example of Congress being used) and the need for Congress to "stand by our country" and start "asking the tough questions." (Translation: the Bush wrecking crew have let the nation down.) Hagel castigated Congress for not getting solid answers before the military went into Iraq. (Wow. Tom DeLay and Bill Frist are not going to like that.) Does Hagel regret his vote to go to war? No -- in fact, the resolution he voted on was different than what the White House asked. Rocky said that based on what he now knows, had he known all of it before the war he would have voted no -- and cited information from Rummy, Wolfie and "that group" now seeming to conflict with data from the CIA.(You could hear the contempt in Rocky's voice as he said the words, "That group.") The truth is, said Rocky, we don't know whether it was wise to go to war -- and based on what we know today, it was not.

Tim cited Dana Priest's WaPo story that reported that the Senate Intelligence Committee is going to "blame" the CIA for hyped intelligence. Rocky said that three retired CIA officials had felt they were "intimidated" into using hyped intelligence. (Well, gee Tim, doesn't that put the blame on the West wing?) Tenet asked both Roberts and himself to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee -- but the questions remain, especially how the CIA could go in seeing Saddam as not being a threat to being a threat. Rocky said that there is a dust-up behind the scenes between supporters of the CIA and the White House (which means that there is an outright war between the CIA and the White House -- and even given the most politically "disciplined" operation to control of the Executive Branch in history, the CIA can be a formidable opponent).

Tim asked Rocky about the possibility that Tom Kean's 9/11 committee may subpoena the White House. Rocky said they'd had the same problem with getting information from the White House -- he has asked for information and data that supported assertions in no less than nine speeches as well as the reason George Tenet was physically "backing up" Colin Powell during one speech. Hagel said he has questions too. Tim then showed Hagel's comment about not a day going by when Sen. John McCain doesn't think he could do a better job than the present squatter. Hagel tried to evade Tim's point about Hagel thinking the same thing, but Hagel did admit he was a McCain man. (Heck, who could blame McCain for thinking he could do a better job than the former Texas governor? Almost anyone with an eighth-grade reading ability could do a better job than the Boy King.)

Rocky was allowed to end the segment by pressing his point: was the decision to go to war against Iraq predetermined -- no matter what the intelligence community said?

You can only hope that the press starts asking that question. We're not holding our breath, though.