Personally, I am no longer discussing ‘uranium-gate.’ It is clear the President did not lie, it was only a minor portion of the reason to go to war with Iraq, Tenet has taken responsibility, and the Brist still stand by the info- to me, the issue is dead.
What I am going to do is watch the Democrats try to work on this meme, and I am going to relish watching the left-wing bloggers work themselves into a lather over the issue. Then, when it goes nowhere, I am going to gleeful watch them all implode with rage. I’ve seen this ‘gotcha’ and ‘the Prez is a lair’ behavior before- I was part of it, launching futile and silly attacks at the Clintons- he got re-elected. Surprising how the party of smart people can’t figure this out.
*** Update ***
This is interesting:
The diplomat who set off a political firestorm last week when he told the New York Times that President Bush may have “exaggerated” when he told the nation that Iraq sought nuclear fuel in Africa admitted last October that he believed Saddam Hussein had “an aggressive program to try and get” nuclear weapons.
Though former acting U.S. ambassador to Iraq Joseph C. Wilson’s op-ed in the Times warned that Bush might have led the U.S. to war “under false pretenses” by ginning up a bogus nuclear threat, he was singing a different tune during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes” nine months ago.
Under close questioning by Sean Hannity, Wilson insisted that Saddam “doesn’t have nuclear weapons, to the best of anybody’s knowledge.”
But then, in an admission that contradicts the central point of his Times op-ed, Wilson added, “though he has an aggressive program to try and get them.”
Last week, Wilson cited his inability to confirm an Iraq-Niger nuke connection to conclude in the Times: “Some of the intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the nuclear threat.”
But if, as Wilson told “Hannity & Colmes” in October, he believed Saddam indeed had an “aggressive” nuclear program at the time, his claim that Bush distorted the nuclear threat seems disingenuous at best.
jaboobie
I think I’m going to adopt your position.
Mason
What will be the next attempted-scandal-of-the-week?
Here’s a possibility: If we end up sending troops to Liberia (and I havn’t yet decided if I am for or against that) … it’ll be about oooiiillll.
Barney Gumble
I love your site, John, because it so reliably makes me laugh out loud. Like this howler:
“Personally, I am no longer discussing ‘uranium-gate.'”
(18 lines later)
“*** Update ***”
serenity
Did you see what Stars N Stripes had about this?
the talking dog
A sensible, high percentage position, John (even if I disagree with it). However, I think the Administration may overplay it with its lame attempts at denials, and may end up keeping this one alive a little bit longer than if they had either just come clean or shut up.
Colin and Condi and Rummy haven’t served the boss well on this one, though Ari has just been hilarious (even as we bid him farewell, so he can cash in with the book deal).
Andrew Lazarus
I understand Tenet is also admitting that CIA officials, not the White House, got oral sex from Monica Lewinsky.
Uranium-gate is becoming a symbol for the larger embarrassment: we can’t find any WMD.
David Perron
I understand Tenet is also admitting that CIA officials, not the White House, got oral sex from Monica Lewinsky.
This is about the level of understanding we’ve come to expect from you, Andrew.
John Cole
The post and the update were within 5 minutes of each other, dear Barney.