Dateline: MY TELEVISION -- March 11, 2009
Ari Fleischer appeared on "Hardball with Chris Mathews" today to defend former President Bush's legacy.
The shining jewel that Ari kept presenting for 43's crown was that the nation had not been attacked by terrorists since September 11th, 2001; and that this was a mighty feat which deserved high praise and accolades for the 43rd POTUS.
The discussion between Mathews and Fleischer was spirited; to say the least.
There were lots of arguments about the economy and the Iraq War.
I want to note that I applauded Fleischer's honesty in clearly presenting that the justification for taking out Saddam Hussein had been that Hussein was trying to "get" WMD (and I don't mean nuclear); and not that Saddam "had" WMD, or that he was actually "about to get" any.
Although I thought that gem was really interesting, what really struck me the most came in Fleisher's closing statement, wherein he said:
"..after September eleventh, having been hit once, how could we take a chance that Saddam might not strike again.."
The perception of history that Fleischer presents is totally at odds with all known facts.
There has never been any connection shown between Saddam Hussein and the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Nor is there any evidence that Saddam has ever struck the continental United States with any form of attack, ever.
Maybe Fleischer meant to say Bin Forgotten.
Mathews either didn't catch it, or decided to let it slide; maybe so he could end the segment.
As for me, THAT jewel from the crown of myth crafting will stay in my memory for quite a while.
Ari Fleischer is SO fascinating.
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Comments: 49
I've been so amused as I sit back and watch the poor repugs trying to lie their way out of the last eight years of a failed repug administration. The focused way they repeat the same lies is the way they got elected in the first place.
Anyone with any brains and any understanding of the region knew that Saddam was a sworn enemy of bin Forgotton's (love that name Bill, thanks!). Saddam only took up the mantle of a false regliosity about a year before the 9/11 attack, before that he was a leader of the Pan-Arabist movement which was almost at war with the Wahabbi-ist POV that bin Forgotten identitfied with.
These repugs are lying so fast their noses are growing daily!
Remember folks, Shrub and Darth RAN on that! They told us over and over during the campaign that it was gonna happen, and when 9/11 came along, they acted at first as if it was a terrible and unfair distraction from the Iraq war they were well along in cooking up. Then they abruptly decided it was a GREAT excuse, and used it to springboard into Iraq by claiming that Saddam was in cahoots with bin Laden.
-Ari Fleischer
Like: what year the book was written.. how much yellow cake was taken out of Iraq... what was in that weapons bunker... what dozens of trucks; and what was in them??
Seriously, in order to displace information in our heads that you think is bad, you need to provide enough substantial information for us to replace it with; otherwise we feel like there are empty spaces in our knowledge chains.
If we have millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. then obviously almost any terrorist can get into the U.S. If we have tons of illegal drugs entering the U.S. each week then the terrorists can bring weapons into the U.S. In fact, they can buy them here at any gun show. Therefore, if the terrorists had wanted to attack the U.S. they could have done so at any time they wanted.
The terrorists didn't attack in the U.S. because they didn't want to.
By the way, have you stopped by the Boca Balanced Living essay contest to vote for your favorite finalist yet? I am in the running and would appreciate your vote, but please choose the candidate whose article you like the best. It is important to vote even if it isn't for me!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE FUN WITH IT and Thank you! If you have already voted thank you and please encourage your friends and connections to vote!
When I talk about 'empty spaces' I think less of my knowledge chains and more about the void that is to be found in the melons of the Bush Butt Burnishing Brigade.
Talk about stuck on stupid, living in a fantasy land and drinking the Koolade? HAT TRICK!!!!! LOL
This is another example of the nonsence the Right prefers to believe, even lies.
(Things That make You Nuts)
There just is no obvious connection between how the nation's thinking changed -- regarding being attacked on our own soil by terrorists -- and whether or not Saddam Hussein was going to attack one of his neighboring countries.
We evicted Hussein from Kuwait once before, so most of us Americans just assume that we could do it again; with ease.
It is harder to guess what we might have done had Hussein tried to invade Iran. I suppose we probably would let things go on for a little while and then negotiated the kind of peace that was most profitable to us.
But none of that is tied to the terrorists who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks; or to any real American fears of being attacked on our soil. Iraq had no kind of ability to attack us here at home; and it wasn't a supporter of Bin Forgotten.
Because of these commonly understood facts, every time someone says we invaded Iraq because of post 9/11 thinking, it just sounds clunky and disingenuous.
Stirring things up in Iraq might well have pulled Al Queda's attention off our borders for awhile. Yet I can't help but shudder understanding the side effects of what these actions have wrought.
Our war has most certainly increased the number of people that hate us, which thus provides more recruitable material for the terrorists. This is to be expected, of course, because making enemies always happens when you start a war.
At some point in the future, the terrorists will feel strong enough to try something major again. I hope that when that time comes, that when someone tells 44 in his morning briefing that there might be an attempt within our borders in the next few weeks, that 44 will say "Let's get some people right on that." instead of something like: "Yeah. Thanks. You've done your due diligence."
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control Your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be Mastering change rather than allowing it to master you."
Sadam was hung and I mean from a rope, millions of people free in the middle-east-.What a disaster, to neo-liberal Butt-Boy and Butt Girls for their socialist leader.
My, your butt fetish is certainly shining brightly today. Yes, Saddam is dead, but so are hundreds of thousands of his citizens. Free don't mean squat when you're dead, ya know?
I'm not sure if Ari was wrong or just flat out lied on Mathews yesterday, but if you've seen the footage, "Chrissy" ate him alive.
I saw the whole interview, Ari gave as good as he got, Matthews tried his usual interruptions and twisting the words of a guest he hates. Ari, gave it right back and was right when he told anal-liberal boy,Chrissy, you are shameful in your distortions of my words. Thousands and thousands will live donna, because America won the war in Iraq and killed thousands of Al-Qaeda terrorist in the process. I know that pisses liberals like you and Chrissy off, but get over it. God less the greatest nation in the history of the world.---USA!
p.s. Donna, it case you missed it Obama is taking our country in his war on terrorist to the middle-east. Donna, will you liberals be taking the streets chanting--hey-hey-ho- Obama's gotta go, burn some American flags?
and lest Mr. Fleischer forgets....we were attacked on
9!! while Bush read "My Pet Goat'....and we weren't attacked by Saddam....but by Saudi taliiban.
free? to wear burkas and get beheaded. so sad.
Where did I say Hussein was a saint? He was evil incarnate, but he had nothing to do with 9/11, and Fleischer's own words stated: "after September eleventh, having been hit once, how could we take a chance that Saddam might not strike again.."
Matthews twisted his words,huh? Called him out is more accurate.
Louis,
I concur.
Islamic terrorist are all over the world in every country-including Iraq. These savages are all the same, they all have the same goal. The goal is to murder or behead as many people as they can-they show us everyday of their intentions, they strap bombs on their own children that is how insane they are. Danny Pearl reporter beheaded by these scum, why he was a ROTTEN JEW.
I lived in NY City all my life, I lost friends on 9/11,kid's lost a parent. People of all colors, religions were murdered by Islamic religious savages these monsters will kill anyone who is not a believer in Allah-Akbar!! Donna-Louis, please wake-up. America is not the bad guy in this war. God forbid you or I are next to be killed or beheaded- or our kids or grand kids to be machine-gunned down while on a school bus. This is another way these lunatics murder. In ny city on 9/11 it was possible for 10,000 people to be murdered.!!!!!
While I didn't personally lose anyone on 9/11, I have good friends in the city who did, and trying to reach my friends on that day was maddening. One good friend is an accupuncturist who makes "house calls", to clients in the Towers. I am well aware that Islamic extremists were behind the disaster. However, is was NOT Hussein, and it is a proven fact that Al Queda was a non-entity in Iraq until AFTER we had deposed Saddam.
I made no reference to "America" being the villain in this war. That would imply our soldiers are such, they are patriots of the first order. It is Bush and his cronies which are the villains, creating a lie to instill even more fear on an already petrified country, all in the name of the almighty dollar, oil.
Donna, why did al-qaeda come to Iraq?-why would they be willing to have thousands of their terrorist killed?. They wanted Iraq to become a full fledged terrorist nation-thank God they lost. It is time to move on, Donna, Saddam is dead, Iraq has a chance to be the shinning city in the middle of the Middle-East. Donna, Iraq is the country that is no longer petrified. For you to think that there were never anti-American hating terrorist ever in Iraq, during the reign of Saddam-WOW! Donna, these savages are in your state.
Donna, we took no oil from Iraq we pay for it like all other countries. If we wanted too we could have confiscated all their oil wells- we did not.
WHy is it that every time I read a comment of yours I am reminded of an old SNL skit with Jane Curtain and Chevy Chase. Substitute the word "Jane" for "mickey" in that "Weekend Update" skit, and you get how I feel reading your ill informed drivel.
"For you to think that there were never anti-American hating terrorist ever in Iraq,... "
Find me the sentence where I said that, and I'll send you $100. The democrats you list all THOUGHT Saddam had WMD. Luckily, they knew the difference between thinking and knowing, which GWB didn't and still doesn't. The US may not have taken oil, but Halliburton sure is making a killing. Hmmm, whom do we know associated with Haliburton???
Donna liberal democrats voted to send the troops- did you miss that?. But what happened is the democrats did what they do best they decided to surrender when the fight got tough. Plus as usual they decided it was best for our soldiers to be defeated under W. giving them a better chance in an election.
Donna, did you know that billy clinton used "halliburton" during his war in Bosnia.
Donna, the U.S. did not take oil-thank-you! You maybe on the road to re-covery?.
I'll take the Michael Moore comment as a compliment, thank you. You have it so very wrong about the Democrats' reasoning for wanting to leave Iraq. When they realized the actual reasons for the war, which had zero to do with the WMD(non-existant), or Al Queda(not there) they wanted get out to spare the lives of the soldiers we have over there. So sorry our soldiers mean so very little to you right wing whack jobs.
As for Clinton using Halliburton in Bosnia, big deal, Halliburton was a viable company for what needed done. However, his VP wasn't sitting on the board, was he? Nope, and if memory serves, Halliburton received a no-bid contract for their work in Iraq.
Just more Gimmee-Gimmee-Gimmee from the GOP.
Donna, remember a war that was started with a real lie?-Nam. democrat LBJ, sent 60,000-60,000 soldiers to their deaths, on a LIE. Then they did their usual cut and run- surrender act, they cut the funding while our soldiers were still over there, which resulted in the "Killing Fields" where millions of innocent people were slaughtered.
Donna, it's not right wingers who curse returning soldiers, who called them baby killers, and spat on them when they came home-was it??
The real nightmare now is that Obama, a rank amateur rookie is going to send our soldiers into a war.
Donna, i have changed my mind aout Moore, you remind me more of the great liberal icon-Hanoi Jane!!
It's not pork when they feed on it.
Man, you have to go back 40 years to come up with a validation for GWB's fiasco? Pitiful.
"The real nightmare now is that Obama, a rank amateur rookie is going to send our soldiers into a war."
Uh, I think you missed it. We are IN a war. The problem is, the person we are hunting is not in Iraq. If Obama wants to flesh him out be sending more troops, which is what should have been done in lieu of Iraq, I'd say Obama's heading in the right direction.
Peace!!
Jane
This General said that it was dumped in the Ocean and the rest was taken into Syria by way of Damascus....
For some reason you never heard this played up by the news media but then again, only the bad about Bush seems to of made the headlines....
i believe on certain matters people should agree to disagree and get on with life.
forgive
and
possibly
forget