Trophy-hunting with the media

an apology from Bush would be mute at this point. Many are dead, needlessly.......... I'm not willing to settle for an apology. What I want is the man and his people out of office......and tried at the Hague, if possible. What he has done is unpardonable. How could an apology ever be enough?

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To state on national television in wartime 'what had gone wrong' would be the worst kind of message for a president to send to a vicious enemy who are trying their damndest to weaken our resolve and bring us down. Maybe it would make some Americans (not Lola Smile

) feel all warm and fuzzy but it would encourage the enemies that the great Bush has been wounded and they are winning.

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for goodness sakes....if he said that they got the Medicare figures wrong, Osama would jump for joy?

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As I recall he wasn't asked about the medicare figures.

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The "great" Bush has never been great and the enemy is winning. Bush has handed it to them on a silver platter. All they have to do is sit back and watch him continue to make it worse. There's no winning this thing. It's a miserable and dispicable mess. I only wish he'd taken Powell's warning with more serious thought. But that's history. If only................ Now we own it. I can only say that my grandson better not be asked to serve. I'll ship him off to Canada in a minute.

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There's going to be more damning news tomorrow::

Quote:

In an unusual move for the organization, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) will release what it promises will be a bombshell article related to the Iraq conflict at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday. It will be made available free of charge for publication on all AAN-member Web sites, as well as for print, and more than 60 members papers have expressed interest in using it, according to Executive Director Richard Karpel.

The 3,000-word story, embargoed until Tuesday but obtained by E&P today, is based on a "closely held" memo purportedly written by a U.S. government official detailed to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). It was provided to writer Jason Vest by "a Western intelligence official." The memo offers a candid assessment of Iraq's bleak future -- as a country trapped in corruption and dysfunction -- and portrays a CPA cut off from the Iraqi people after a "year's worth of serious errors."

The article is titled, "Fables of Reconstruction," with a subhead, "A Coalition memo reveals that even true believers see the seeds of civil war in the occupation of Iraq."

Karpel commented, "We have no question that the memo is authentic."

There'll be more of the Q-word, and the V-word, used in coming days about Iraq.

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Foxfyre wrote:

As I recall he wasn't asked about the medicare figures.

Do you recall that he was asked the general question about ANY mistake?

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Yes I recall he was asked if there he had made any mistakes. It was after most of an hour of constant, badgering, hostile, and baiting questions and he couldn't think of anything on short notice. I would imagine it's like being asked in an interview to name your three greatest strengths and three greatest weaknesses. I don't know one out of a hundred people that could answer that without having time to think about it.

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Well, you may or may not. But I'm going to cease playing this rather silly game with you fox. He was asked that general question, and the answer was he couldn't think of anything.

So he could have said something about those Medicare figures, or about Klamath river salmon, or about a zillion other things quite unrelated to the war. So you argument is totally beside the point, and an avoidance.

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Foxfyre wrote:

Yes I recall he was asked if there he had made any mistakes. It was after most of an hour of constant, badgering, hostile, and baiting questions and he couldn't think of anything on short notice. I would imagine it's like being asked in an interview to name your three greatest strengths and three greatest weaknesses. I don't know one out of a hundred people that could answer that without having time to think about it.

Can you think of ONE instance where this fellow has admitted an error in his presidency? Take your time. Would hate to rush you.

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No, off the top of my head I can't recall a specific instance in which George Bush has mentioned a mistake. Can you recall any admitted by Paul Martin, Gerhard Shroder, Jacques Chiroc, or Tony Blair? Just curious whether Bush is somehow unique in this department.

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Yes, he is.

As to why he is, that's the interesting question. As I said earlier, it is clearly an operating policy of this administration because NO ONE in it is willing to (or allowed to) acknowledge error publicly. Tenet or Powell, perhaps, but in the context of falling on their swords.

So, it may well be Rove who mandates this as operational policy. One can make educated guesses, but they are guesses.

But even if Rove or someone else has set this as policy, it speaks very poorly of the fellow at the top if he cannot step outside that foolish rule and be truthful.

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Um how can you say that he is unique? You didn't address the four other heads of state that I asked about. How do you know they don't have advisers telling them not to admit anything? Or maybe they do admit mistakes. I don't know. It just doesn't strike me as unusual that a head of state wouldn't choose to use national television as his confessional.

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I typed ... chretien "made mistakes" in on google...hit number one was
Re Chretien

Quote:

Chretien, who turns 70 next month and retires Friday morning, said he was proud to be leaving office still riding high in the polls. "I'm not a very good judge of myself," he said during a half-hour scrum with media and staff in the back of the military Airbus. "I did my best. Perhaps my best was good enough for some people. But the results . . . indeed after 10 years as prime minister, 40 years in Parliament (I'm glad) that I quit that way...."I made mistakes, like anybody else. But it's done. On the whole, I'm pretty happy.""

Now, that is close to end of his terms, but he's always spoken in this manner.

or same for Trudeau

Quote:

"He made mistakes and some bad calls but at least he admitted it. Most politicians today just pass the buck," said Stephen Thayer, 45, who lived in Knowlton, Que., when Mr. Trudeau was in power.

from the globe and mail. This was not at all uncommon, in my experience, to hear Trudeau quite openly admit where he got it wrong.

or same for Blair

Quote:

The prime minister has admitted Labour made mistakes over pension rises and the Millennium Dome - but has pledged to make amends.

from BBC

So, yes, the Bush administration is unique.

It isn't a matter of using TV as confessional...it is a matter of being honest with the people who grant a leader his position. He is, after all, their servant. Or he ought to be.

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And I would expect that George W. Bush will recount regrets along with successes when he writes his memoirs. The most he can serve is eight years. Then everything, the good and the bad, goes into his presidential library. He has been in office a little over three years. These other guys. . . . .?

And how hard did you look to find some heads of state who admitted mistakes? Your example said Blair said Labour had made mistakes but we aren't talking about political parties. We are talking about heads of state. I'm not sure how Bush would answer if asked if the Republicans had made any errors.

Of those heads of state currently in office, I haven't heard any use their bully pulpits as a confessional. It sometimes seemed that our previous president apologized for every sin committed in the history of the world to anybody he could find to apologize to--often with a tear in his eye. You might understand that many of us found his apologies more manipulative than genuine. I am most grateful that we now have a president who doesn't play that game.

If I'm wrong, then as I said before, I like my humble pie with ketchup. (And salt.)

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Quote:

Bush has a duty to acknowledge the COST of his war, and I'm sure he never will, which is why I have no respect for the man. Nothing but contempt.

Did Billy ever acknowledge the cost of his mismanagement of Somalia? He showed the world that the US would turn and run at some bad press. And yes, I do mean 9/11.

Quote:

Maybe the media has not reported it because they're so darn liberal, haha, although, in all likelihood and in keeping with his usual MO, I am probably correct. That's an example of basing a supposition on previous experience with his MO, okay? Or is that not okay to do?

Do you mean his mo of this kind of stuff? Lieutenant Colonel Brian Birdwell, an Army officer a few months short of his 40th birthday, was just leaving a Pentagon restroom on the morning of September 11 when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 was slammed into the building by terrorists. Lt. Col. Birdwell was badly injured by the ensuing explosion and fire; fortunately, he collapsed under a hallway sprinkler, which helped douse the flames engulfing his prone body before rescuers pulled him from the collapsed section of the Pentagon. Birdwell ended up in the burn treatment center at Washington Hospital Center with smoke-damaged lungs and burns over nearly half his body. A couple of days later, as reported by several news outlets, Birdwell received an unexpected visit from his commander-in-chief, the President of the United States of America, who offered him the honor of a salute:
Not long after Sept. 11, Birdwell had met the president.
He was awake for President Bush's visit, as it turned out -- and aware enough to strain to return the salute the president had offered. He lifted his badly burned hand toward his injured forehead. When he could not quite reach it, he tried to bend his body toward his hand.
The president's eyes filled with tears.
Bush held firm until the wounded soldier let go.
If you look closely most of the information came from the family, not the Bush.
link

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I think GWB has been quite specific and hasn't sugar coated that the war against terrorism will be tough, difficult, long, and will involve a heavy investment in blood and treasure. At the beginning a large percentage of Americans and allies were with him. It was only when it was obvious that it would be tough, difficult long, and involved a heavy investment in blood and treasure that some, not all, dug in their heels and didn't want to play any more. This is exactly what the terrorists are banking on: that we won't have the guts or will to hang tough.

I hope with all my heart that America will not cut and run this time. I think it would be a disastrous decision for the USA and for the world.

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Yeah, it's just like you said, showboating.
And that was regarding Sept 11, not his war.
"Did Billy ever acknowledge the cost of his mismanagement of Somalia? He showed the world that the US would turn and run at some bad press. And yes, I do mean 9/11."
Clarity, please?

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Foxfire wrote:

Quote:

And I would expect that George W. Bush will recount regrets along with successes when he writes his memoirs.

I wouldn't bet on it, Foxfire. You'll lose your shirt. But I see this differently than Blatham does. I don't think it's a policy or rule, I think it's a character flaw. Those who strive for a sense of safety by the overuse of extreme polarities cannot admit mistakes. The narcissistic wounds are too deep.

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Quote:

"Did Billy ever acknowledge the cost of his mismanagement of Somalia? He showed the world that the US would turn and run at some bad press. And yes, I do mean 9/11."
Clarity, please?

In Somalia the military was quietly doing the mission assigned to them. If asked in early October, most people did not know that there were troops in harms way there. Then a raid went bad, there were 18 US troops dead, 70 some troops injured. The worst was the dead ranger drug through the streets, and shown on CNN. The next day the US military was given orders to withdraw from Somalia. It is believed that the individuals that shot down the Blackhawk helicopters were trained by Al Quida. Even if they were not trained by Al Quida, then Bin Lodden would have herd of what happened.
It was that the president of the US would apparently cave to some bad press, and withdraw the troops that lead to what happened. In the past the military had usually responded to violent action against them with violence, and that is necessary in our would, there are those that do understand anything other than violence. When killing 18 appears to win a war ageist the US, and get us to leave.
Yes I freely admit that there were mistakes made by both the ground commander, and Bush #1. Namely the raid was excited the same way as it had been done before, and Bush denied armor to task force ranger. Neater were of the scale of withdrawing and not completing the mission.

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Trophy-hunting with the media

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