thepete.com
OK, this is getting seriously out of control.
BUSH is scolding CONGRESS about Iraq???
HOLEEE Moley.
This isn’t America, it’s BIZARRO AMERICA. After the incredible mess Bush, himself, has caused in that country, he has the GALL to scold CONGRESS?
It would be one thing if he were saying something like: "Why did you guys vote to give me the power to go to war? Don’t tell me you didn’t think I’d screw it all to hell, now! We had African tribesman yet undiscovered by modern society sending emails to the White House telling me not to invade, but you guys let me do it anyway!"
However, here’s what a March 27, 2008 article from http://AP.org/ and http://MyWay.com/ (here: http://apnews.myway.com/…RRLO0.html ) reported Bush saying:
Bush derided calls from Congress for troop withdrawals or deadlines so that the military could focus more on the anti-terror battle elsewhere. "This argument makes no sense," he said.
…
Bush suggested that Iraqi officials were able to make more progress than the U.S. Congress.
"They got their budget passed," the president said. "Sometimes it takes our Congress awhile to get its budget passed.
"Nevertheless some members of Congress decided the best way to encourage progress in Baghdad was to criticize and threaten Iraq’s leaders while they’re trying to work out their differences," Bush said.
…
"They’re trying to build a modern democracy on the rubble of three decades of tyranny, in a region of the world that has been hostile to freedom. And they’re doing it while under assault from one of history’s most brutal terrorist networks," Bush said. "When it takes time for Iraqis to reach agreement, it is not foot-dragging, as one senator described it during Congress’ two-week Easter recess. It is a revolutionary undertaking that requires great courage."
…
But, he countered, "If America’s strategic interests are not in Iraq, the convergence point for the twin threats of al-Qaida and Iran, the nation Osama bin Laden’s deputy has called the place for the greatest battle, the country at the heart of the most volatile region on earth, then where are they?"
Yeeeeah.
That last part is what you call a "straw man argument" and the Bush Administration uses them all the time. It’s like using "rape" or "Hitler" in your argument–it’s a fairly sure sign you *have* no argument. In case you’re not familiar, a straw man argument is when you rephrase the issue in a way that makes it easier for you to beat.
For instance, Bush is waging a war on a concept (terrorism) where our enemy is a few-thousand strong (which got that strong thanks to his foreign policy). So, rather than admit that Al Qeada is a tiny, minuscule threat to America (especially when compared to something like cancer, AIDS or even car accidents) he says something like "Don’t you want to protect America against the people who hate our way of life?"
How can you say "no" to that?
He sets up the straw man and then knocks it over–paraphrasing Shakespeare:
…it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.
Of course, what’s really disgusting, to me at this point, is the way Congress is behaving through all of this. It’s bad enough Bush has lied and bullshit his way into wars that are making his friends filthy rich(er), but Congress has the Constitutional authority and obligation to stop him. Yet, they’ve instead acted like a bunch of sheep, allowing themselves to be herded around by the good shepherd George.
I hope we all vote against our incumbent senators and congresspeople the next chance we get because every single one of them has let us down. Sure, some have tried, but none have stopped Bush from continuing this mess.
The whole thing makes me laugh like Chuck Heston in "Planet of the Apes."
Mobile post sent by thepete using Utterz. Replies.
