I know it’s very tempting to grab onto breaking news reports to buttress one’s case around here, but initial reports are quite often spectacularly wrong, as in the recent flap concerning the guys with the vanload of cell phones.
Note that I’m not suggesting that this renders the UK terror plot bogus, simply that this particular case shows to what degree sheer hysteria seems to have taken hold on both sides of the Atlantic.
There is an ongoing pit thread on this. I think its still too early to tell WHAT exactly happened on that plane. Lots of unanswered questions there and conflicting stories.
Why not comment? It’s pretty common in those types of interviews for these guys to take good-natured jabs at their political adversaries. I’ve seen both sides do it a lot, and it seems like harmless fun. I’d say odds are at least even that it was a joke. BFD.
Have to agree with John Mace…sounds like one of those ‘joke’ things. If you give me a few I’ll see if I can find a definition of ‘humor’ for you and maybe post a cite describing it in detail. I’m sure Wiki has SOMETHING on the subject…
unless, of course, they’re enemy combatants/potential terrorists.
You know LonesomePolecat, I’m not a rabid Bush-hater. I actually think he’s brilliant. But he has shortcomings that have caused me to be suspicious of his every intention. Hell, he might one day help a little old lady across the street just to be a good guy, but he’s been so careless with his credibility that I have trouble not looking for ulterior motives in the most benign of his, and by extension his cabinet’s, actions.
The spirit of the OP was directed more at the administration’s manipulation of data and careful press-releases in attempts to gain popular support. Similar, albeit more aggressive, approaches have been used in the past (I declare myself Godwin-free as the thread has already fallen) to great effect. In short, it is hard to accept ANY media release at face value which supports any contentious aspect of the current administration. There is quite clearly disorder in the house, but it only bothers about half of the nation. I happen to be in the half that is bothered by what it thinks it sees. Half of us may be paranoid, sure. Or we may be right. But at the very least, half of us have serious concerns that are completely un addressed by the leadership we failed to vote out of office.
[QUOTE=Inigo MontoyaYou know LonesomePolecat, I’m not a rabid Bush-hater. I actually think he’s brilliant. But he has shortcomings that have caused me to be suspicious of his every intention. Hell, he might one day help a little old lady across the street just to be a good guy, but he’s been so careless with his credibility that I have trouble not looking for ulterior motives in the most benign of his, and by extension his cabinet’s, actions.
The spirit of the OP was directed more at the administration’s manipulation of data and careful press-releases in attempts to gain popular support. Similar, albeit more aggressive, approaches have been used in the past (I declare myself Godwin-free as the thread has already fallen) to great effect. In short, it is hard to accept ANY media release at face value which supports any contentious aspect of the current administration. There is quite clearly disorder in the house, but it only bothers about half of the nation. I happen to be in the half that is bothered by what it thinks it sees. Half of us may be paranoid, sure. Or we may be right. But at the very least, half of us have serious concerns that are completely un addressed by the leadership we failed to vote out of office.[/QUOTE]
Ingo, I don’t have a very high opinion of Bush myself. He seems to me a mediocrity who’s in over his head, a man too small for the job. Moreover, he continually confuses the political and economic interests of his social class with the interests of the country as a whole. He helped to gut the bankruptcy laws, he shifted more of the tax burden towards working people and away from the rich, he has shown utter indifference to illegal immigration – the list just goes on and on. This is why it pisses me off when people like Fear Itself try to dismiss me as someone who brainlessly believes Bush no matter what.
But when people hate and fear Bush so much that they simply refuse to believe anything he says even when the evidence clearly supports him, when they talk about Bush as though he was the greatest figure of evil since Stalin, then I simply can’t see any point in listening them. When lefties see plots or conspiracies in everything the White House says or does, they make it very hard for me to take them seriously. Many on the right showed the same kind of rabid hatred towards Clinton. They did a lot of damage to the country too.
I don’t doubt the White House tried to put a spin on events, but that’s just politics as usual. Anyone sitting in the Oval Office would have tried to do the same. If you think Kerry or Gore wouldn’t have tried to use such a thing for his own political advantage, you’re being more than a little naive. Any media release by any politician should be treated with great caution.
