Robert Parry - Bush: Deceptive or Delusional?

[Dudley_DUright]

George W. Bush still can’t – or won’t – get his brain around some central facts that bear on his decision to invade Iraq in 2003. He falsified that history again during the Sept. 30 presidential debate.

Before a national audience, Bush misrepresented what should now be uncontested facts: that Iraq possessed no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction; that international sanctions did work; that the inability of U.N. inspectors to find WMDs in Iraq was not because they were incompetent but because there was nothing to find.

Bush’s inability – or unwillingness – to frankly acknowledge these realities remains one of the most troubling aspects in his bid for a second White House term. Either he’s living in a fantasy world where facts are whatever he thinks they are or he has concluded that most American voters are very stupid and will believe whatever he tells them.

During the debate with Sen. John Kerry in Coral Gables, Fla., Bush continued to present a version of reality that has long been discredited.

more...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/100204.html

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Bush: Deceptive, Delusional or DEMENTED?

I think there is some dementia at work here....

[indepat]

2. Bingo: his true trifecta?

[Nancy Waterman]

3. I agree with this analysis: delusional or deceptive

Either way, the answer is not satisfactory for a president.

[Brotherjohn]

15. I have been saying since WAY before Iraq: Lying or incompetence.

Take your pick.

Basically the same as "deceptive or delusional". Delusional to the point of incompetence (or vice versa).

The actions and words of the Bush administration, on issue after issue (but especially Iraq and their arguments for war), make these two things the only logical explanations

[tom_paine]

4. Excellent article

[grasswire]

5. he also....

...keeps saying that Saddam refused to disarm and that he threw the inspectors out.

Clearly demented.

He just DOESN'T KNOW rudimentary facts.

[Brotherjohn]

16. Yes. I think Kerry did great, but I wish he had said "But he DID DISARM!"

It would have been equivalent to the "Saddam didn't attack us" line.

They are refutations of the two most obvious and blatant Bush lies from Day One, and Kerry ought to call Bush on them at every single opportunity.

That being said, however, I think Bush's own comments do almost as much damage to him. It has resulted in the ever-growing sentiment that he is dovorced from reality.

It's not just the fact that he keeps saying everything's going great in Iraq. It's that when he says things like "Saddam didn't disarm", every independent thinker in the country goes "Wait, didn't both the U.N. Weapons Inspectors and our own troops and investigators show that he DID disarm?"

It's like Bob Herbert says in the NYT today, reality is Bush's Achilles heel. Even though the press or Kerry might not always call explicit attention to it, everyone KNOWS that we went to war because Iraq allegedly had WMDs, and everyone KNOWS now that they did not.

You can't suffer a "miscalculation" on that scale and not pay the price for it.

[myopic4141]

6. Beyond the reason for war

This also flies in the face of those who promote that Saddam Hussein would still be in power if we had not invaded. One of the beliefs that prevented his being overthrown was the fear he had WMD. Once the fact that no WMD existed, then Saddam's time in power would have been severely limited. Those who opposed him would have been less fearful and Saddam would have been overthrown with a military and police structure still intact. The only question would have been, "was the replacement regime better than the replaced regime". Only time would have told.

[Dudley_DUright]

10. Excellent point

but one you will never see in the mainstream media.

[myopic4141]

13. Not in major media

This does not appear in major media because no one brings it up in response to the accusation. If supporters would reply as such, then the point would appear quite regularly. Additionally, one could make comments on how wrong the predictions have been about Iraq if the possibility is questioned. Predicted WMD, no WMD; predicted being greeted as heros, not greeted; and etc.

[Skittles]

7. he is deceptive AND delusional

that's why he is so f***ing dangerous

[Maeve]

8. Another time where the choice is "all of the above"

Deceptive, delusional, disingenuous, demented....

[jasongleed]

9. Clueless

He has no independent thought process. He is just the poster boy. They are a collective brain. They move and breathe as one, which is what makes them so dangerous. I don't think Bush has any idea as to what he is REALLY doing to the world.

[realFedUp]

11. Welcome jasongleed to DU

:hi:

[highnooner]

12. both

[PATRICK]

14. Agrre after watching W under pressure

at the debate, his sincerity over the indefensible and his genuine glee for some extremist buzz issues makes himn a more lightwieght Nixon meltdown in progress. The shame of it is that there is so little there at all, whatever the cunning fraud he holds to his vest.

My God, what we saw is what we got.