Good Colum by Frank Rich

[dtotire]

IF, as J.F.K. had it, victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan, the defeat in Iraq is the most pitiful orphan imaginable. Its parents have not only tossed it to the wolves but are also trying to pin its mutant DNA on any patsy they can find.

George Tenet is just the latest to join this blame game, which began more than three years ago when his fellow Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Tommy Franks told Bob Woodward that Douglas Feith, the Pentagon’s intelligence bozo, was the “stupidest guy on the face of the earth” (that’s the expurgated version). Last fall, Kenneth Adelman, the neocon cheerleader who foresaw a “cakewalk” in Iraq, told Vanity Fair that Mr. Tenet, General Franks and Paul Bremer were “three of the most incompetent people who’ve ever served in such key spots.” Richard Perle chimed in that the “huge mistakes” were “not made by neoconservatives” and instead took a shot at President Bush. Ahmad Chalabi, the neocons’ former darling, told Dexter Filkins of The Times “the real culprit in all this is Wolfowitz.”

And of course nearly everyone blames Rumsfeld.

This would be a Three Stooges routine were there only three stooges. The good news is that Mr. Tenet’s book rollout may be the last gasp of this farcical round robin of recrimination. Republicans and Democrats have at last found some common ground by condemning his effort to position himself as the war’s innocent scapegoat. Some former C.I.A. colleagues are rougher still. Michael Scheuer, who ran the agency’s bin Laden unit, has accused Mr. Tenet of lacking “the moral courage to resign and speak out publicly to try to stop our country from striding into what he knew would be an abyss.” Even after Mr. Tenet did leave office, he maintained a Robert McNamara silence until he cashed in.

Read the rest:

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/opinion/06rich.html?hp

[PCIntern]

1. I agre!

(sic)

:rofl:

[saltpoint]

2. Don't sugar-coat it for us, Frank. We can take it, can't we, DU?

Wow.

Frank Rich is always excellent. This morning he's quite a bit better.

If someone wrote that about my presidency, I'd skip the red tape of a formal resignation and just blow my brains out.

[rodeodance]

3. Is Condi Hiding the Smoking Gun?

OP-ED COLUMNIST
TimesSelect Is Condi Hiding the Smoking Gun?
By FRANK RICH
As long as American troops are dying in Iraq, the secretary of state has an obligation to answer questions about how they got there and why they stay.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

4. I don't get NY Select. Mind if I cheat and read over someone's shoulder?

I'll gladly pay you Tuesday...:)

[Preening Fop]

6. Truthout.Org's Op-Editorial Column is an Excellent Information source..!

Well written Op-Editorials are often available
via Truthout.org.
(Krugman, Dowd, Rich....)

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Link to blog with full article

http://freedemocracy.blogspot.com/2007/05/frank-rich-is-condi-hiding-smoking-gun.html

Via discussion of this in the Editorials Forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x279856

[tinfoilinfor2005]

10. As the French say,

Mercy Bo-Koo! :)

[pretzel4gore]

5. the three stooges were...heroic

in terms of their stupidity, and lovable cuz they were always their own victims (and their schemes never held water anyway) while these jackasses at the 'Crookery on Pennsylvania Ave' love it when dewy eyed soldiers, hapless farmers and sweet little kittens pay for theirs!

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. I love this last paragraph!

No wonder the most galling part of Ms. Rice’s Sunday spin was her aside to Wolf Blitzer that she would get around to reflecting on these issues “when I have a chance to write my book.” Another book! As long as American troops are dying in Iraq, the secretary of state has an obligation to answer questions about how they got there and why they stay. If accountability is ever to begin, it would be best if those questions are answered not on “60 Minutes” but under oath.

[blueworld]

9. Frank Rich is one of my heroes

Buzzflash.com has this link to a free online copy:

http://welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com/2007/05/frank-rich-is-condi-hiding-smoking-gun.html

[Blackhatjack]

11. THis is the kind of truth the MSM cannot bring itself to face.... n/t

[Gus Gusterson]

12. The MSM KNOWS the entire sordid story..

We are living in a time of unparalleled propaganda, co-opted journalists and obscured information. I will never believe that the MSM is that stupid.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

13. I had one of my friends, who is recently enlightened, tell me, "I try to know what's happening,

but watching the news drives me crazy."

I told her, "Of course it does, because you know you're not getting the full truth. Your bullshit detector is going crazy, not you." I then gave her my suggestions for accessing truth. (one of our local stations is very, very good)

We have a large number of national "media" folks, who are very, very, very vested in not exposing their possibly criminal culpability.


Among this detritus of empty souls, exists a few who speak out. I've steered friends and family to Olbermann, Maher and of course Stewart and Colbert. For radio listening, Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, Jay Marvin, Stephanie Miller, Mike Malloy, Rachel Maddow, are all "personalities" that speak truth, each in their own way.

It's scary indeed. NGU. :toast: MKJ

edit for spelling