Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 10 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

George Plays Dumb as Dick Plays Dirty. Welcome Back, Karl!

By       (Page 2 of 2 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   No comments
So ... if George was not a liar, then the only way that he could have misled us into war despite all the warnings from the intelligence community that he was receiving from Washington to Berlin was if he was a ...

Because my momma taught me long ago never to call an idiot a fool, I will simply refer you to the perhaps most publicized image of the president's recent junket to China: You know, the picture where poor ol' George picks the wrong door to get out of the room, away from those naughty ol' reporters hounding him with questions, way off in that foreign land.

Oh, the face that he makes! I haven't laughed so hard since good ol' Inspector Clouseau made the same mistake ("the old closet ploy")! He might have been hapless, but he was harmless. And he always got his man.

Now, I'm not saying that Karl Rove wrote a script a la Blake Edwards (Sometimes a gaffe is just a gaffe); but against the background of the vice president's remarks (repeating what Bush himself had said before he left), it does ironically work to the president's advantage: After the spin cycle (My favorite was David Letterman joking that Bush had no "exit strategy" in China either!), we are left with the impression of a president who is not a liar but just a fool -- not exactly a flattering portrait but the lesser of the two political evils with which he has been most recently and devastatingly tarred.

Likewise, the president's policy in Iraq -- if you can call murder and mayhem intermingled with chaos and corruption, costing tens of thousands of lives and limbs and hundreds of billions of dollars, with no end in sight, a "policy" -- has come to be seen by many not as some sort of Machiavellian intrigue but as a rather Shakespearean tragedy:

"A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
-- Macbeth, Act V, Scene V

Although to be more metaphorically precise, in Iraq we have "a tiger by the tail" -- we're damned if hold on, fomenting insurgency, and we're damned if we let go, having created another Afghanistan, a breeding ground for terrorists, where none existed beforehand ... in truth.

You remember truth, don't you? The first casualty of war. And the last refuge of peace.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Douglas Drenkow Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Doug Drenkow is a writer, editor, webmaster, and producer. A fourth-generation Democrat, Doug has produced the political talk shows "Barry Gordon From Left Field," on radio, and "NewsRap with Barry Gordon," on cable TV, featuring top (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Insurance Companies' "License to Kill": ERISA

"DON'T TREAD ON ME"!

$#@&!

Pres. Obama: An Inspired and Inspiring Nobel Peace Prize Choice

Straight Talk on the Financial Crisis

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend