Driving in to work today I actually found an AM station broadcasting Air America radio. I couldn't listen very long, though.
From the second I began listening, to the second I changed the dial, it was all about conspiracy, propaganda, corruption, scandal, etc. The guys talking might as well have been fire and brimstone preachers up on a pulpit telling us all of the evils of Satan and calling us to repentance.
Apparently, what Democrats do in Washington as a regular practice, smearing political opponents, is a deadly mortal sin for Republicans. And, also apparently, the Bush Administration duped the entire country into war in Iraq.
Hmm... I wonder about all those Democrats who, even as late as 2003 were insisting that WMDs were a real threat...
Here's what I think happened with respect to Democrats who insisted that we confront Saddam after 9/11. Kerry, Kennedy, Clinton, et. al. all got on the bandwagon, touting the intelligence on WMDs, criticizing the President for not acting quickly enough, etc. In other words, they got in line with the President on both Iraq and WMDs.
After we took Saddam's regime down and we began looking for WMDs, finding only a "fast ready" capability in Iraq, Democrats who were in line with the President and other Republicans, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them so as to look like they were strong on national defense, took a collective step backward.
Have you ever seen that kind of thing? If you've ever seen, perhaps, a comedy spoof of a military movie, where the drill Sergeant asks for a volunteer and the whole line of soldiers takes a step back, making it look as if one person has stepped forward?
It's basically a collective act of cowardice... A refusal to admit that, "yes, I too believed there were WMDs and that it was right to go after Saddam."
But the President is not going to turn around and question the decision he made. We made it with the best intelligence we had. A Democratic president would have done the exact same thing or they would have lost their second-term election. We all know that.
Article comments
1 - PoliticalTruths
I love Air America Radio. In fact I listen to it as well as to Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Michael Savage. I like to get all view points and come to rational conclusions. I am a liberal and not evil as the Right would like to imply. I believe there are good and bad points on all sides and that when parsed intelligently, the better ideas can emerge.
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Truth in Politics
http://www.PoliticalTruths.info
2 - David Flanagan
I agree with. The conversation on Imus' show this morning was reasonable. You could debate that person and have a good discussion, but what I heard on Air America this morning was almost what I would call a kind of verbal flailing.
The guys on Air America would rather shout you down than speak with you in any intelligent way, which makes them useless in my book. One guy even went from commenting on how much he is looking forward to seeing Delay doing the "perp walk" to how he would love to see God doing the "perp walk." He went from bashing Delay to bashing God.
That's when I learned that these guys just like to hear themselves talk and turned them off.
Just so you know, Hannity has the shouting-down habit too, and I've posted on this critiquing him in particular for this style.
I don't like the "lets-see-who-can-shout-the-loudest" type of conversation. It's not worth my time.
Thanks,
David
3 - Nancy
But y'know, ALL these commentators love to hear themselves talk; they AREN'T interested in debate - they're just posturing for the admiration of (they hope) their "audience". Doesn't matter WHAT party they belong to, Dem or Pub. You did the best thing you could do: turned it off. Same goes for Limbaugh or any other pontificating ball of hot air & gases.
4 - The Fifth Dentist
"In their dreams, these folks see Iraq as Viet Nam ..."
Iraq is actually going much worse than Vietnam. Vietnam looks like a well-planned enterprise compared to the current clusterfuck.
5 - LegendaryMonkey
Any "scandals" that will pop up from this, tragically, will be too much for the average person to handle.
There should already BE scandals... half of Congress should be ousted (from both parties) for lying and sticking their heads under the sand, but things go ignored. Most people don't understand what's going on with Rove et al., the Downing Street Memo never made big news here, and with the news pushing the OMG SUPPORT THE TROOPS OR YOU ARE EVIL! crap through most of the fighting (as though not wanting US military personnel to be at needless risk isn't support?), then why should anyone expect anything different to happen?
And people just ignore Bush. It's accepted that he's bungled everything. Me, I think that attitude is unacceptable, but people are happy with their water cooler jokes and they just change the channel to sports or sitcoms instead.
So no, nothing will happen. And it's sad.
6 - Dave Nalle
Sounds like you were listening to Mike Malloy. Did the phrase 'bush crime family' come up every few sentences?
I enjoy Air America. But then I also like reading Science Fiction.
Dave
7 - steve
Condi would be a great president. 'nuff said.
8 - Nancy
Depends. President of what? If the USA, I decline the offer of Condi as Fearless Leader, thanks anyway.
9 - gregrocker
OK, right wing nut. THE LIES STOP HERE. You cannot continue to buffalo an awakening public with the complete LIE that all Democrats, along with the rest of the world, saw intelligence that Saddam had WMD. This is false on its face. The American public saw nothing because corporate media was worried about not getting waivers to buy extra TV and radio stations in big markets. The rest of the world saw EVERY SINGLE ACCUSATION OF WMD DEBUNKED on a daily basis during the run-up to the war, on the front page of their local newspapers. Like Der Stern's series after Powell's UN testimony documenting how the supposed mobile chem weapons labs were in fact hydrogen generators to inflate weather balloons, recently sold to the Iraqis by a German company. And on and on. NO OTHER SOURCE IN THE WORLD CONFIRMED WMD's. All of it was cooked up by the same Iraqi group that is being picked apart as we speak by Fitzgerald's grand jury. Prove me wrong. You can't. So shut your mouth with your lies or you could find yourself stuck soon.
10 - Nancy
Who are you talking to?
11 - Madame Defarge
Yeah, these ultra rightists have brought nothing but slaughter and misery to the world yet they think they can continue to spread their homocidal lies while propped up on mink pillows in father's mansion. I say let the revolution start now and let's make an example of some of the ugliest wingut fat asses.
12 - Alethinos
First of all - not all Democrats believed the BS about WMDs. Senator Byrd was brave enough to stand before the Senate and proclaim Bush a liar. There were others... And I'm not sure about YOU Flanagan but I felt so embarassed and humiliated on the day that Powell went before the UN with the supposed proof... I felt so sorry for that man. Good Lord that was just sad...
Air America serves a purpose. Unfortunately they are, quite often, just as rabid as the conservative and in truth turn off just as many people...
I wish to God that we'd been able to see through the Founding Father's vision and made sure that PARTIES were never allowed to form...
Alethinos
13 - David Flanagan
Everyone thought that Saddam had WMDs, including even some of his own generals. Tommy Franks wrote that, when he arrived in the Middle East to take command of US operations there, every nation was warning him that Saddam was ready, willing, and able to us WMDs on our troops.
Yes, there certainly was some doubt as to how much, what kind, etc., but everyone's best intelligence said that he had them. And I think the greatest irony here is that Saddam wanted everyone to think that he had loads of WMDs ready to go in order to intimidate them.
He can laugh himself all the way to the gallows.
David
14 - Dave Nalle
Given Saddam's apparent mental state it's possible that even HE thought he had WMDs. His WMD developers and scientists may very well have been telling him he had them when they were actually doing nothing to produce them. There's some evidence to support that theory.
Oh, and Gregrocker and Defarge? Would you be as pissed off if it were Gore heading up the war in Iraq right now? Because it could very well have been him and if it was we'd STILL be there.
Dave
15 - Justin Berry
FYI: President Bush did not invade Iraq without congressional approval.
FYI: Tom Delay was indicted for crimes he didnt commit before they were even crimes.
FYI: Fitzgerald is not investigating he is fishing.
FYI: Saddam had banned weapons. and thumbed his nose at the supposed world watchdogs resolutions enough to at least cause suspicion of WMDs.
16 - Alethinos
Uh, David, half the issue with the Miller issue right NOW is that people in the intelligence community here were saying there WAS NO evidence of Iraq purchasing weapons grade plutonium.
And, again, there was a great DEAL of doubt here and in the UK that there were WMDs. Simply because the generals were all nodding and mumbling under the breath doesn't equate to strong belief on their part.
Alethinos
17 - Dave Nalle
>>Uh, David, half the issue with the Miller issue right NOW is that people in the intelligence community here were saying there WAS NO evidence of Iraq purchasing weapons grade plutonium.<<
Who ever claimed Iraq bought weapons grade plutonium? Niger doesn't even have any, so I don't see how that fits into the Plame business. For weapons grade stuff they'd have had to buy from France or Russia, which they certainly could have done under the table for the right price.
>>And, again, there was a great DEAL of doubt here and in the UK that there were WMDs. Simply because the generals were all nodding and mumbling under the breath doesn't equate to strong belief on their part.<<
Easy to say after the fact. What there was, both in the US and the UK was a general acceptance of the idea that Saddam was the kind of person who would have WMDs if he possibly could - and that's still hard to argue with. And remember, the war was declared not over actual WMDs, but over his unwillingness to let us certify definitively that there were or were not WMDs.
Dave
18 - Nancy
Every single one of them lies, skews or twists facts, or speaks 'from a certain point of view'. It's an entire government - congress, wh, & bureaucracy - of Obi-Wan Kenobis, ferChrissakes. And Olsen wonders where I learned to be cynical?!