http://www.progressivedailybeacon.com/more.php?page=opinion&id=1462Bush and Republicans: Making America Hell, Convincing us it is Eden
A. Alexander, March 2nd, 2007
Say what you will about the Bush crowd they do dishonest, disingenuous, and despicable better than most and they do media manipulation better than anybody. And when the one set of characteristics meets the other, the American people are left thoroughly confused and conned.
Only days ago, Condi Rice announced that the United States would be meeting with Iran and Syria in Iraq. It was billed as a neighborly discussion of sorts...the Bush administration finally attempting their hand at foreign policy that didn't involve a threat, an invasion, or a bomb.
That was the dishonest, disingenuous, and despicable part of the ploy. As the week wore on, the administration got what they wanted. Media outlets from television network news to the Los Angeles Times and local papers all across America, hailed the administration's sudden willingness for face-to-face talks with Iran.
By Thursday, long after the op-ed pages finished praising the President's newfound love of making nice and chit-chatting with his enemies; the Bush administration leaked, very quietly, the fact that they really didn't intend to meet face-to-face with Iran or Syria.
That was the media manipulation aspect of the ploy.
more...