John excerpted a portion of the Senate Intel report already; here are a few more bits from the executive summary:
* The Secretary of Defense’s statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information.
* The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed.
No wonder Pat Roberts parked his fat ass on this report for four years running. If your only care in the world is how well your party does in the next election, accountability like this means nothing but pain. They lied about f*cking everything. All those cynical advertisements and speeches waving the 9/11 dead like a bloody shirt? They were lying. They were lying in the somber speeches to international bodies. They were lying when they leaned forward on Meet the Press and said “Look, Tim, here’s what we know.” They lied in townhall meetings, in official reports and in anonymous leaks to the press. Judith Miller wasn’t “proved fucking right about everything.” She was lied to. The Iraq Study Group didn’t ‘reinterpret’ existing intelligence, it made up its own conclusions and then hunted around for irrelevant scraps to back them up.
After Bill Clinton got caught lying about blowjob, nobody took his word anymore on the topic of sex. I can’t think of a single Clinton partisan who didn’t acknowledge that his word was pretty much forfeit at least when it came to his unmentionables. The president! What will we tell the children!
So riddle me this. I think a fair case can be made that the Bush crowd lied more often and more meaningfully than about one crappy blowjob. Yet when noise comes out of an administration official concerning national security, some people still listen. This Sunday some Bushie will sit down for a chat show and the host will nod along as the administration has some credibility left.
It’s sad to think that America has fallen so far as a nation that we no longer care when the President lies to our face. Have we really debased ourselves so badly in such a short time, or were rightwing partisans faking their deep concern about the honor of the office? Six of one, half dozen of the other. Either way it’s a depressing spectacle to watch.