Back on this post, we went on a digression that led bud to write:
Brad, of course you will never see Bush as having lied to the public (about Iraq) even though the evidence is crystal clear, completely unambigious and totally certain that that’s exactly what he did. His motives for going into Iraq were all flawed, the intelligence incomplete at best and contrary to his public statements at worst. He lied, period. End of story.
Which got me to thinking whether there was anything in the wide world about which I could honestly say, “the evidence is crystal clear, completely unambigious and totally certain that that’s exactly…” I usually have at least a scintilla of skepticism, which may be a character flaw; I don’t know.
Here’s a question that occurs to me, which I shared back on that post, but which I’d like to raise now in a more prominent position to broaden the conversation.
It’s a question for those who are 100 percent, absolutely, indubitably, completely, etc., convinced that Bush lied. It goes like this:
Why would ANY politician, however nefarious, expose himself thus to being exposed as so wrong about something that important?
Think about it. Please. If you believe absolutely that Bush knew good and well that there were no WMD, for instance, why would he have gone ahead with the invasion knowing (and if he were lying, that would mean he knew), that no WMD would be found?
Think. Do so objectively and pragmatically. And then tell me about your absolute certainty…
Plenty of reasons why he would lie :
Ego
Profit
Payback to political allies
Stupidity
But even if the Bush admitted he lied, what difference would it make to you? You have made it abundantly clear that you wanted the U.S. To go to war anyway.
…because Dick told him to.
I cannot swear he lied, but the evidence is pretty strong that he chose to believe that there were “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq,even though the evidence for such WMDs was far too thin to justify invading a foreign country. He may well have deluded himself. I don’t think that he was so stupid that VP Cheney led him by the nose, so to speak (although some would make that argument). But consider, there is evidence that he wanted, and was planning on invading Iraq well before he began talking about it. After all, Saddam Hussein had tried to have his father killed. In addition, his father had invaded Iraq and won quickly. Perhaps he anticipated a quick, almost bloodless (from our point of view) victory. I suspect that he had visions of being welcomed as liberator, and of being able to raise a democratic state in the middle east, while getting a more stable source of oil. Certainly, his administration’s failure to consider what would be necessary to support such a state, and it’s failure to adequately consider the problems inherent when trying to democratize the Iraqi culture suggests that he thought it would be simple and easy. If he had won as easily as he had thought to, no one would have noticed or cared about the WMD’s. Liar or self deceiver? We will never know. Maybe a touch of paranoia as well? Either way, the results were, and still are disasterous and tragic.
The assumption, or course, is that Bush cares whether he was caught lying. In a week when Giuliani claims there were zero domestic terrorism incidents under Bush/Cheney (9/11? What’s that?) one has to wonder if these guys can be embarrassed at all.
Also, let’s consider some other politicians:
Clinton lied to cover up his affair.
Nixon lied to cover up his dirty tricks.
Sanford lied about going to Argentina.
Many others have had affairs, used drugs illegally, stolen money… what makes Bush less susceptible to being a flawed human?
Clinton, Nixon, and Sanford lied AFTER their transgressions, not before or leading up to it. Bush never lied or ran away from the fact that WMDs were never found in the form the ENTIRE WORLD was led to believe existed by Saddam Hussein. I suppose none of you ever thought Saddam was lying either or did your prism of truth reveal his lies and you just never shared?
Burl, Guiliani clarified his statement later. He meant there were no terrorist attacks AFTER 9/11.
I’m not a great Bush fan and found him to be lacking in many areas. However, just as with Clinton and Obama, most of the far right rhetoric and baseless allegations against them don’t sit well with me either just as this far left idiocy does against Bush.
And I thought Rosie O’Donnell was the only one wearing the tin foil hat.
Doug, what profit are you talking about? And, how stupid can one be if he succeeds in serving two terms as President?
Brad, sheesh, they don’t care. Pols think the general public is ignorant and they know we are powerless.
They all lie.
Anything you hear proposed today was done 5 to 10 years ago. You just don’t know it yet because no one has lied.
Best/Worst Government money can buy
Bart,
Bush serving two terms only speaks to the stupidity of the American public, the quality of his competition, and the ability of Karl Rove to manipulate and cheat his way to victory.
And if two terms means a President is should be held in high esteem, I assume you have similar respect for Bill Clinton?
I must have missed the part where Bush said, “You know all those WMD’s that I said were the reason we went to war? I was 100% wrong. So we went to war for no good reason.” Please provide a reference.
There were no WMD in Iraq. The invasion was moved forward so the inspectors could not verify that WMD were not in Iraq. Bush thought the war would be easy and any lies would be quickly forgotten. Frankly the burden of proof is on those who believe he did NOT lie. It’s sort of like having an argument about the existence of Santa Claus. Since the overwhelming evidence indicates Santa does not exist (just as the evidence indicates Bush lied) shouldn’t the pro-Claus folks have the burden of proof? But this isn’t Miracle on 34th Street now is it?
After leaving office, Bush was asked if his administration had made any mistakes. The only one he could think of was the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banner — and he said that was the Navy’s fault.
I’m glad Giuliani “clarified” his remarks after being caught lying by everyone who can remember back eight years.
Burl, that’s truly a pity.