Gene Lyons on sleepwalking

[mooseandsquirrel]

snip

The other day Bush, sounding like a Valley Girl, told a California audience he’d tried to avoid war with Iraq “diplomatically to the max,” a falsehood so brazen that it’s almost tempting to fear he believes it. Given that British government documents portray Bush discussing with Prime Minister Tony Blair how to justify an attack against Saddam Hussein in early 2003, it’s reasonable to wonder what schemes he’s conjuring now. He also credited “the Almighty” as the inspiration for his foreign policy.

snip

http://moose-and-squirrel.com/gene/gene.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Who can tell if that's what Bush is really like?

"Despite the absurd and offensive posturing of its president ... a demagogic politician playing to his own base, no immediate danger exists."

Lyons is actually refering to the Iranian president here, but we might apply it to Bush as well. We can't tell if he's playing to the Republican base (though we now see that the base isn't big enough to get Republicans elected on its own, judging by the opinion polls), and thinks it will never realise he's lying, or if he really believes the shit he comes out with. As well as enthusing the war-crazy Repulbican voters, he may also be staking out a negotiating position - by appearing hell-bent on war, telling Iran to give up its nuclear power aspirations or it will face sanctions then looks more like a reasonable negotiating position, rather than an imperious demand.

[Demit]

2. That's what I thought in the runup to the Iraq invasion

--that Bush was just posturing and wouldn't go through with it. Ha. He sure showed us.

[bananas]

3. What is there not to know?

Insiders have been telling Seymour Hersh, Larisa Alexandrovna, and Scott Ritter what is planned for Iran.
Bush and the people around him have been public figures for a long time, look at their history - their goals and how they accomplish their goals are a matter of public record.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Until those kind of leaks appear via Fox, we can't tell

Anyone with the integrity to talk to Hersh etc. wouldn't be trusted by Bush and his cabal.