[Speed Gibson,
Wednesday July 21, 2004 at 10:58pm]
Anger Management
Fraters Libertas and Shot In The Dark have already commented on the “Iraq, Niger: There was no uranium link” editorial in today’s Star Tribune, so as a rookie blogger, I must be careful. Not that I disagree, mind you. It’s just difficult to find much unsaid.
I was struck by the anger in the piece. Normally, you would first trot out a few facts and make some reasoned judgments from them before pronouncing sentence. Here, the anger is immediate, intense, and unconditional. What follows doesn’t begin to justify it, and in some ways contradicts their assertions – if you can even understand it all, as Mitch Berg notes.
Maybe that’s the problem. After another build-up, they have no substantive case against President Bush – again. We’re smarter than that ignorant cowboy they say to themselves. So why do we keep losing? Well, we’re really going to get him this time! We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!
Remember the National Guard scandal? George Bush was AWOL we were told, and therefore was a liar. But a steady stream of documents and testimony soon satisfied the general public even as Terry McAuliffe kept moving the goal posts. Chiefs 23, Vikings 7.
Then there was Richard Clarke and his much-touted book. Soon, however, Clarke was having to explain his own earlier statements. “Were you lying then or lying now?” asked Congressional investigators. Dolphins 24, Vikings 7.
Bob Woodward was next up on “60 Minutes” with the book that would make Clarke’s book look like the proverbial tea party. Only it didn’t, and Woodward’s answers to press and reviewers’ questions were sometime at odds with his book. Steelers 16, Vikings 6.
Now it’s Joseph Wilson. He has prestige and direct knowledge, having personally investigated the Niger-Iraq uranium question. But his story unraveled even more quickly and totally than those before him. Raiders 32 Vikings 14.
Against the backdrop of the partisan 9/11 Commission hearings, this summer offensive was supposed to put Bush at least 20 points down against Senator John Kerry. But if anything, Kerry is the one stuck in neutral while Bush’s numbers creep up. Kerry isn’t catching on, Edwards helped not at all, and it’s not at all unthinkable to them even now that Bush could win 40 states. No wonder they’re upset.
Last time, it was Falcons 30, Vikings 24 in overtime. If something doesn’t stick to “W” soon, this time it could be Giants 41, Vikings 0.
I was struck by the anger in the piece. Normally, you would first trot out a few facts and make some reasoned judgments from them before pronouncing sentence. Here, the anger is immediate, intense, and unconditional. What follows doesn’t begin to justify it, and in some ways contradicts their assertions – if you can even understand it all, as Mitch Berg notes.
Maybe that’s the problem. After another build-up, they have no substantive case against President Bush – again. We’re smarter than that ignorant cowboy they say to themselves. So why do we keep losing? Well, we’re really going to get him this time! We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!
Remember the National Guard scandal? George Bush was AWOL we were told, and therefore was a liar. But a steady stream of documents and testimony soon satisfied the general public even as Terry McAuliffe kept moving the goal posts. Chiefs 23, Vikings 7.
Then there was Richard Clarke and his much-touted book. Soon, however, Clarke was having to explain his own earlier statements. “Were you lying then or lying now?” asked Congressional investigators. Dolphins 24, Vikings 7.
Bob Woodward was next up on “60 Minutes” with the book that would make Clarke’s book look like the proverbial tea party. Only it didn’t, and Woodward’s answers to press and reviewers’ questions were sometime at odds with his book. Steelers 16, Vikings 6.
Now it’s Joseph Wilson. He has prestige and direct knowledge, having personally investigated the Niger-Iraq uranium question. But his story unraveled even more quickly and totally than those before him. Raiders 32 Vikings 14.
Against the backdrop of the partisan 9/11 Commission hearings, this summer offensive was supposed to put Bush at least 20 points down against Senator John Kerry. But if anything, Kerry is the one stuck in neutral while Bush’s numbers creep up. Kerry isn’t catching on, Edwards helped not at all, and it’s not at all unthinkable to them even now that Bush could win 40 states. No wonder they’re upset.
Last time, it was Falcons 30, Vikings 24 in overtime. If something doesn’t stick to “W” soon, this time it could be Giants 41, Vikings 0.