Hinderaker shows us the central defect in the mindset of Bush followers

[phantom power]

According to the AP, the military claims that Hussein has a "close relationship" with insurgents and is "afforded access to insurgent activities outside the normal scope afforded to journalists conducting legitimate activities."

But the military has brought no charges of any kind against Hussein and refuses to have any public hearing. Instead, it is doing to Hussein what the Bush administration did in the U.S. to American citizens Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi -- imprisoning him based solely on the unreviewable and unchallengeable say-so of the administration that he is guilty, while refusing to bring charges. As Sargent reports, AP has protested this state of affairs by insisting: "'We want the rule of law to prevail. He either needs to be charged or released. Indefinite detention is not acceptable,' said Tom Curley, AP's president and chief executive officer."

But when Hinderaker "reported" these events to his readers, he falsely claimed that "the Associated Press, rather than expressing any embarrassment that it has been publishing propaganda photos taken by an apparent associate of al Qaeda in Iraq, is campaigning for Hussein's release." As Sargent points out, AP is not campaigning for his release, but is insisting that he either be charged with a crime or released.

(...)

This principle is just axiomatic -- the fact that someone is accused by the Bush administration of being a terrorist or suspected by the administration of working with terrorists does not, in fact, mean that they are a "terrorist." There is a distinction between (a) being accused or suspected by the Bush administration of working with Al Qaeda and (b) actually being in cahoots with Al Qaeda and being a "terrorist."

But Bush followers simply do not recognize any such distinction. They literally operate from the premise of Presidential Infallibility. Thus, to them, if the Bush administration suspects that someone is a terrorist, then it means that they are a terrorist. To Hinderaker, the AP photographer is a terrorist because the Bush administration says he is. Hence, Hinderaker complains that AP is not "expressing any embarrassment that it has been publishing propaganda photos taken by an apparent associate of al Qaeda in Iraq".

(... more good stuff ...)
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/09/hinderaker-shows-us-central-defect-in.html