Rumsfeld, confronted with own words, does the ol' shuck 'n jive
Early reports are describing the incident as Rumsfeld being 'heckled.' A journalistic euphemism if I've ever heard one.
An ex-CIA analyst quoted Rumsfeld's statements that he knew just where the WMDs were located prior to the invasion. Rumsfeld started with denials, then began hemming and hawing. He finally settled on a patently absurd dodge-- that our troops must've believed there were WMDs, too, because they were decked out in biohazard gear.
As Rummy's interlocutor points out, few of us are dumb enough to believe that soldiers make their own wardrobe decisions. (Apparently that doesn't include the audience members who tried to shout down the questioner, perhaps tried to forcibly eject him, and loudly laughed and cheered at Rumsfeld's every word.) But the whole thing is a classic example of the Bushies selling their doublespeak by talking as though the other guy is mentally retarded.
Simply put, it goes like this. "You claimed explicit knowledge of the locations of weapon caches, and there weren't any weapons there. Explain." I don't expect the press to pay much attention, though, and the right-wing shills will undoubtedly talk about radical conspiracists and the tragic lowering of political discourse. And if you've been following the news today, you'll have noticed that they have a new excuse to start screaming 'Chappaquiddick!' all over again.
Of course, the issue that's going to be burning up the blogosphere is this: now that a soldier, a CIA analyst and eight generals have called Rummy on his lies, why is the press still unwilling to do the same?
Follow the link for a transcript and video. Here's a taste:
I think that's about as clear-cut as it gets.
An ex-CIA analyst quoted Rumsfeld's statements that he knew just where the WMDs were located prior to the invasion. Rumsfeld started with denials, then began hemming and hawing. He finally settled on a patently absurd dodge-- that our troops must've believed there were WMDs, too, because they were decked out in biohazard gear.
As Rummy's interlocutor points out, few of us are dumb enough to believe that soldiers make their own wardrobe decisions. (Apparently that doesn't include the audience members who tried to shout down the questioner, perhaps tried to forcibly eject him, and loudly laughed and cheered at Rumsfeld's every word.) But the whole thing is a classic example of the Bushies selling their doublespeak by talking as though the other guy is mentally retarded.
Simply put, it goes like this. "You claimed explicit knowledge of the locations of weapon caches, and there weren't any weapons there. Explain." I don't expect the press to pay much attention, though, and the right-wing shills will undoubtedly talk about radical conspiracists and the tragic lowering of political discourse. And if you've been following the news today, you'll have noticed that they have a new excuse to start screaming 'Chappaquiddick!' all over again.
Of course, the issue that's going to be burning up the blogosphere is this: now that a soldier, a CIA analyst and eight generals have called Rummy on his lies, why is the press still unwilling to do the same?
Follow the link for a transcript and video. Here's a taste:
McGovern: You said you knew where they were.
Rumsfeld: I did not. I said I knew where suspect sites were and...
McGovern: You said you knew where they were. Tikrit, Baghdad, northeast, south, west of there. Those are your words.
Rumsfeld to George Stephanopolous, way back when: "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."I think that's about as clear-cut as it gets.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 6:18 PM
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