Friday Hope Blogging

by CKR

I’ll first note that the title is Phila’s trademark, and I’m stealing it for today only.

But this morning, as I perused the newspapers, it seemed to me that some tiny realization may be emerging that those lovely clothes of the War President are looking a bit skimpy. I can only hope that we’re approaching a point where we can do something about it.

The House Government Reform Committee issued a report that Jack Abramoff, the now-jailed lobbyist, billed his clients for more than 400 contacts with White House officials. There is some wiggle room: Abramoff was not the most honest of people, and he may have overbilled. But I remind you that this is a committee of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

It looks like Bob Woodward has tired of the warm laps of power and is baring his teeth at his former masters. The New York Times and CBS News scooped the Washington Post on Woodward’s new book, State of Denial. The Washington Post has scurried to catch up by publishing what appear to be excerpts of the excerpts they planned to begin running this weekend.

Those articles say what we’ve all suspected: that things are terrible in Iraq, and that intelligent people have to have had reservations and maybe even conniptions about how things have been handled in Iraq. It’s just that this administration has managed to keep that more secret than others have. Could this be the real reason they needed that legislation absolving them of war crimes in using torture? What kinds of “exercise machines” will the next president find in the basement of the White House?

And, naughty, naughty, Bobby Woodward and publisher! Planning to release such an October surprise! Maybe Rove and company can find a way to spin that to get some sympathy.

Then we have Michael Kinsley standing up on his hind legs.

It is wonderful to be so morally pure that you won't allow a single embryo to be destroyed in the quest for medical cures that could save lives by the thousands. You are way beyond Gandhi, sweeping the path ahead to avoid stepping on an insect: Insects have more human characteristics than a six-cell embryo.

And regarding Iraq you are quite the man, aren't you, "making the tough decisions." A regular Harry Truman, consigning thousands to death in order to bring democracy and freedom and peace to millions. But Truman actually produced democracy and freedom and peace, whereas you want credit for your hopes. That's not how it works. If you want to be the hard-ass, you get judged by results. And you can't be Gandhi and Truman at the same time.

E. J. Dionne finally recognizes that there might just have been something, er, unpatriotic about Rush Limbaugh’s almost instant seizing of 9/11 for partisan rants. Did anyone else notice that all this week Dionne and other columnists and chatters felt it necessary to insert a dig or two against those nasty people who actually dare to criticize The Official News? He almost makes up for that with this column.

But back to hope. Daniel Benjamin and Steve Simon comment on what might be called “The Duh Effect.” They point out that the NIE key judgments rapidly declassified this week by President Bush in an effort to show that the New York Times’s story about it was misleading in fact reinforced that story.

As I look at it, much of today’s hope blogging is that way. We thought it must be, and indeed it was. Nobody seems to have asked, yet, what President Bush was thinking when he claimed that the New York Times story was misleading. I heard Seymour Hersh speak on Wednesday night, and he had a clue. He referred to Vice President Cheney’s latest television interview. Tim Russert asks Cheney a question, to which Cheney gives an outrageous answer. Russert then comes back at him with a quote drawn from an official report or other credible source. Cheney just brushes it aside.

They hear only what they want to hear. That could be considered the inverse of The Duh Effect.

Comments

[Phila]

You're welcome to the title whenever you want it...especially this week, when I was in too dour a mood to do a post of my own. The last thing I want to do is make hope blogging proprietary!

Thanks for the encouraging news.

[roger]

came for the friday hope post (from phila's place), stayed for the rest of the meal. nicely done.

[CKR]

Thanks for your generosity, Phila. I thought that this bunch of articles might be starting to show that there's some turnaround in thinking and got kind of a lift from that. Sometimes your Friday Hope posts raise my spirits, so we can take turns.

And welcome, roger!