“As long as Mr. Bush’s fantasies, self-delusions, false optimism and surrealistic take on the world are passed along with little or no correction by the mainstream media, a passable base of public support for the war can remain and Americans will continue dying in a hopeless cause. It’s that fact behind the missing analysis that is critical.”
One thought on “The Media Are Complicit in Bush’s Misleading”
That’s almost exactly what Ronald Brownstein, the L.A. Times said:
Serious debate about the war has practically vanished in Washington. It’s difficult to find many people outside the administration who are satisfied with either the costs (in American lives) or the benefits (the progress toward establishing a secure, pro-Western Iraqi state) of current policies. It is even more difficult to find any major figure willing to publicly offer a significant alternative.
This amounts to a political dereliction of duty…
But most Republicans have chosen to fall in line behind the White House.
It isn’t hard to see why: Although support for the war has collapsed among Democrats and skidded among independents, it remains remarkably solid among rank-and-file Republicans.
In an early August Gallup survey, 80% of Republicans said they believed “the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over,” compared with 36% of independents and 12% of Democrats. In that environment, questioning the president isn’t easy.
Democrats face a different problem. Their core supporters have hardened against the war: In the Gallup poll, 85 percent of Democrats said the war was a mistake. But many in the party, although much of the left insists otherwise, fear that challenging Bush too aggressively on Iraq will open Democrats to charges of weakness on defense.
Another political calculation has encouraged Democrats to stay low. Strategists on both sides generally believe the absence of a clear Democratic alternative has hurt Bush in the near term. By staying off stage, Democrats have kept the focus on whether Bush’s strategy is working, not whether anyone else has a better idea. Instead of debating Democrats on Iraq, Bush is debating events. And as his sinking poll results show, he’s losing the debate.
Kevin McCarthy is a sad spineless clown,
Who’s letting the wingnuts kick him around.
The House right-wingers
Are just performative whingers
Who’re pushing the country toward a government shutdown.
“House Republicans are gleefully letting Donald Trump function as their chief political strategist at the expense of American families. Trump’s behavior is shameful, but unsurprising from someone who has demonstrated he couldn’t care less about the American people.”
— A spokesman for President Biden’s campaign hit House Republicans for heeding Donald Trump’s calls to dig in on a government shutdown if they don’t get “everything,” The Hill reports.
“This is not conservative Republicanism. This is stupidity. The idea that we’re going to shut the government down when we don’t control the Senate, we don’t control the White House. These people can’t define a win. They don’t know how to take yes for an answer. It’s a clown show. You keep running lunatics. You’re going to be in this position.”
“Interviews with nearly two dozen lobbyists, political consultants and lawmakers revealed that DeSantis’ struggles as a presidential candidate have already eroded his influence in Florida. There is a widespread expectation that his candidacy will end in failure. His standing at home may depend on how long he slogs forward in the presidential campaign — and how he will manage his exit from the race if he eventually drops out.”
“Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress, or from anyone else, about who or what to criminally investigate. I am not the president’s lawyer. I will add I am not Congress’s prosecutor. The Justice Department works for the American people.We will not be intimidated. We will do our jobs free from outside influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracy.”
— Attorney General Merrick Garland, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee/Inquisition.
A new Pew Research poll finds that 65% of Americans “say the way the president is elected should be changed so that the winner of the popular vote nationwide wins the presidency. …. A third favor keeping the current Electoral College system.”
A new Saint Anselm Poll in New Hampshire finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 45%, followed by Nikki Haley at 15%, Ron DeSantis at 11%, Chris Christie at 10%, Vivek Ramaswamy at 6% and Tim Scott at 3%.
A new Insider Advantage poll in New Hampshire finds Donald Trump leading the GOP primary field with 42%, followed by Nikki Haley at 14%, Chris Christie at 10%, Ron DeSantis at 8%, Vivek Ramaswamy at 5%, Tim Scott at 5% and Doug Burgum at 4%.
Rock and roll legend Eric Clapton raised $2.2 million for Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., at a recent campaign event, Fox News reports.
“Almost 42 million Americans – over one-eighth of the US population – are estimated to have lived within one mile of a mass shooting since 2014,” CNN reports.
That’s almost exactly what Ronald Brownstein, the L.A. Times said:
Serious debate about the war has practically vanished in Washington. It’s difficult to find many people outside the administration who are satisfied with either the costs (in American lives) or the benefits (the progress toward establishing a secure, pro-Western Iraqi state) of current policies. It is even more difficult to find any major figure willing to publicly offer a significant alternative.
This amounts to a political dereliction of duty…
But most Republicans have chosen to fall in line behind the White House.
It isn’t hard to see why: Although support for the war has collapsed among Democrats and skidded among independents, it remains remarkably solid among rank-and-file Republicans.
In an early August Gallup survey, 80% of Republicans said they believed “the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over,” compared with 36% of independents and 12% of Democrats. In that environment, questioning the president isn’t easy.
Democrats face a different problem. Their core supporters have hardened against the war: In the Gallup poll, 85 percent of Democrats said the war was a mistake. But many in the party, although much of the left insists otherwise, fear that challenging Bush too aggressively on Iraq will open Democrats to charges of weakness on defense.
Another political calculation has encouraged Democrats to stay low. Strategists on both sides generally believe the absence of a clear Democratic alternative has hurt Bush in the near term. By staying off stage, Democrats have kept the focus on whether Bush’s strategy is working, not whether anyone else has a better idea. Instead of debating Democrats on Iraq, Bush is debating events. And as his sinking poll results show, he’s losing the debate.