Of course, it was bound to be a tempest in a teapot. Posted on 07/15/2003 9:10:51 PM PDT by section9
Of course, it was bound to be a tempest in a teapot.
The whys and wherefores of the Uranium scam have been covered by other Freepers, but I just thought I'd pass along something that hit me tonight. Has anyone here noticed the similarity between this dustup and the Enron scandal?
Remember back in January of 2002? The story broke that the White House had turned down a request by Ken Lay to bail his pathetic butt out. Instantly, the collapse of Enron was twisted into a scandal by the DNC and its talking point staff. The Media, from Howell Raines at his post in Mt. Olympus all the way down to assorted running dogs such as Perky Katie took the talking points and ran with them.
Except nobody noticed, save us folks here at FR, the staff at The National Review and The Weekly Standard, the Washington Times and FOX News Channel, that there was no there there to these charges.
Enron had some legs, but only for a time, as the President's reputation as a standup guy had been cemented by then. The scandal passed by the summer of last year, as several federal investigations into Enron and other DotCom Bubble© corporations went into the dumper along with Arthur Anderson. The President never took a poll hit.
This "scandal" is even less relevant, as there was no lying or deception involved on the part of anyone at the White House. There was an intellectual dispute over the appropriateness of including Saddam's uranium buys into the SOTU, but the fact that British intelligence vouched for the report (and still does, apparently) swayed the President, Dr. Condi Rice, and Director Tenet. It sure as hell swayed me.
The only thing that's hurting Bush now is the casualties that are being taken in the Iraqi desert, not the ass-clownery that is being peddled by the news media. Saddam is gone, probably for good, and Americans are used to having beginnings and ends to conflicts. Despite being warned by the President that casualties would continue, Americans have assumed that the campaign, and thus the war, is over. They are wrong, of course, but perception dictates politics. So the casualty count of two to three losses per week does take its toll. Bush has to go out and adequately explain, once again, what we are trying to do and why casualties are part of the price of victory.
The uranium scandal is a cheap bit of theater on the part of the DNC and its prison bitch, the major media. It will run its course, as Enron did. Indeed, I fully expect the Democrats to overreach and come out and accuse the President of lying. That will not go over well without proof, and it will certainly land like a lead balloon if Bush has a WMD hole card ready to be played.
I strongly suspect that due to the agressive nature of our sweeping, we are nailing a lot of the bad guys before they can get their act together for an "offensive". Time will tell, of course, but our guys are regular infantry, and I'll choose regulars over terrorists anytime, especially since the popular support for the assorted Fedayeen appears to be limited to Sunni Iraq. However, agressive patrolling invites casualties, just as in Afghanistan. Bush must go back to the country, hammer these points home again and again, and challenge the Democrats on their rampant mendacity and small-mindedness.
One last thing. Terry McAuliffe is supposed to have yelled at Carl Cameron after a FOX interview, "Bush is gone! Bush is gone!" What a cheap empty suit. The last time he opened his piehole, he stated that Jeb Bush was "toast" in the Bush/McBride race of last year here in Florida.
Jeb won by fifteen points. Trust me folks, when McAuliffe makes these types of claims, there usually is a lot less there than meets the eye. McAuliffe's childish enthusiasm for the miasma of scandal means that the entire Democratic activist base, including many of the leading candidates, are hopping on board hoping that this ends up in impeachment, or worse. But of greater import to Freepers is what it should tell you about the Rat-bastard base: they are ready, willing, and able to believe their own lies, their own spin, and their own bullsh*t.
That lack of moderation and descent into extremism will be their undoing. I promise you this.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
BCNU,
Chris
This isn't even a molehill...it's a teensy anthill.
I'm hoping too-- I don't think Blair would be coming over just for a photo-op.
Are the press & the Dems really that stupid? The two leaders who have been called liars for months over WMD are having a meeting. Do they think they'll be discussing the AIDs initiative? The All-Stars game? Beckham's move to Madrid? (maybe if Aznar came :-))
I am taking the additional precaution of calling a few media people and my senators tomorrow. I also think that the Blair/Bush meeting will end most of this.
Good night!
When Blair supports virtually every claim Bush made and then some in an address before the Houses of Congress, the RATS will have little ground to stand upon.
Coke IS it.
You and me both Howlin. I have a feeling we're going to have to wait a bit, but when it comes it's going to be soooooo satisfying.
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