Anyone else read Fiasco?

[gizmo1979]

It's a very enlightening book about the Iraq debacle.Now I really don't know how these idiots house of cards hasn't fallen apart.Never has a bigger group of idiots gone so far and done so much damage.

[ginnyinWI]

1. I do think that it's mainly a case of bungling, not conspiracy.

I mean they can't be stupid and clever at the same time. It's mainly been a case of simply failing to do their damn jobs because they are damned incompetent, in over their heads and never should have been elected/appointed.

Add to that an ideology that has no relation to reality and only leads us to ruin, and that's the whole package. Incompetent, arrogant, lying, relentlessly bungling ideologues.

edit: I'm going to be buying and reading The Looming Tower--that also looks like a fascinating, can't-put-it-down read.

[TahitiNut]

3. It's tough to be pulled in two directions.

Look, I don't know whether a regime populated with people looking after their own self-interest (come hell or high water) at the same time they're fumbling around with what's "best" can be called a 'conspiracy' but I DO KNOW this: the jobs they're occupying require 110% of the person's attention and a very high degree of expertise (skill and experience) to even come close to doing a "right thing" let alone the "right thing." When people are put in such positions due to their connections (cronyism), their political ideologies, and their "loyalty" (to a boss, not some abstract like 'the people') and their entire professional lives are based on running up to and over the line of legality and ethics for personal advantage ... then We The People get short-changed.

One thing is for sure ... not one of these bastards has gotten poorer during their tenure in a government job with a salary only 1/10th of what they've gotten 'accustomed' to! So, they may be 'bungling' the part of the job We The People want done ... but they sure ain't missing chances to enrich themselves and cronies.

One thing I've noticed in my 30 years in Corporate America (and 45 years working) that's guaranteed - people almost always help create the conditions that they've found most favorable to their 'success' in the past. If they've "succeeded" in chaos, then they help create chaos. If they've "succeeded" in organizations filled with backstabbers and passive-aggressives, then they help populate organizations with backstabbers and passive-aggressives. And if they've "succeeded" in organizations filled with corruption ... well ... same same.

Whatever "works." :shrug:

[ginnyinWI]

6. they got into politics for the wrong reasons

So many of our good and dedicated Dems, when asked, will talk about how JFK inspired them to give something back to their country. To give more back because they had been given more. I don't see that coming from those on the right. When you go into public life with and idea of gaining power, presige and profit, things aren't going to go well for the people they govern.

[turbo_satan]

2. Yes. Infuriating.

Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Bremer should be held criminally liable for their repeated misjudgments. The degree to which they ignored and/or deliberately undermined the expertise of the generals and other serious planners is astonishing. The narrative as presented by Ricks could lead a reasonable person to conclude that the mission was designed to fail. It's beyond tragic that so much has been lost as a consequence.

[RamboLiberal]

4. I'm in the process of reading it - great book

I'm enjoying all the military guys voicing their "true" opinions of the flacks in the * Admin. It's a great reference. I think this should be required reading for all the stupid * voters.

[gizmo1979]

5. That's an excellent idea.

At least required for all freshman in college.