Fresno Bee to Rove: your spin doesn't change the facts

[sabra]

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/04/01/1881125/editorial-roves-spin-doesnt-change.html?pageNum=2&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container


EDITORIAL: Rove's spin doesn't change facts
Intelligence leading up to Iraq war was manipulated.


Before a friendly audience in Fresno, Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, continued his campaign to rewrite history about whether Bush misled the country about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction. Now Rove is claiming Bush led the nation into war on the basis of the same intelligence that Democrats saw when they decided to support the war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

We shouldn't be surprised that Rove, the master of political spin, is using his book tour to confuse the public about what occurred in the Bush White House as operatives ramped up public opinion in favor of invading Iraq seven years ago. Weapons of mass destruction were never found in Iraq, and now Bush loyalists are trying to explain their way out of the administration's decision to lead us into war.

But Rove's utterances shouldn't go unchallenged when they are at odds with the facts. The nation must understand what happened as we charged into war in Iraq, and Rove's revisionism isn't offering clarity to the discussion.

Rove spoke at a fundraiser Tuesday for Fresno County Supervisor Debbie Poochigian and was also touting his book, "Courage and Consequence." In his Fresno speech, Rove said that if Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction, so did Democrats who saw the same intelligence as Bush, and reached the same conclusion. Rove's conclusion is just absurd.

The Democrats -- and the rest of the nation -- saw the intelligence information on Iraq that had been manipulated by the Bush administration. This intelligence didn't stand on its own, but came with the administration's political campaign about WMDs. It had a predetermined goal of invading Iraq.

It would be one thing if the Bush administration had simply offered flawed intelligence, and the nation's leaders then made unwise decisions based on that bad information. But it was much worse than that. The faulty intelligence on Iraq was then whipped up by the Bush White House, especially Vice President Dick Cheney, as a pretense to invade Iraq.

...

Rove has been using much of his book tour to defend the Bush administration's handling of the botched Iraq intelligence. But continuing to say the run-up to the Iraq war was handled properly doesn't make it so. The intent of the administration was to find an excuse to invade Iraq, and Rove's latest spin doesn't change the facts.

[SDuderstadt]

1. Whoa! Way to go, Fresno Bee!

And in Jim Robinson and his goofy Free Republic's backyard, no less!

How does it feel to be a pariah, Rove?

[ET Awful]

2. I was just thinking that. Fresno isn't exactly a liberal stronghold :)

Rimjob is probably having a breakdown over it :).

[SDuderstadt]

4. One can only hope...n/t

[The Wizard]

13. Free Republic

Isn't that also known as the 101st Chairborne?

[PearliePoo2]

3. Gutsy Ed by the Fresno Bee

Rove, DimSon and Darth have blood on their hands and lots of it.
They should all be in leg-irons.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "Sputter. Whine." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[SpiralHawk]

7. "Sneer." - xVP Dickie 'Five Military Deferments" Cheney (R)

[SpiralHawk]

8. "Oh yeah, well I've got lots more lies." - Karl DraftDodger Rove (R)

"And lots more phony propaganda to pimp. Just cuz the Bee won't swallow the kool aid don't mean the republicon-owned corporate FAUX media won't. Grrrr."

- Karl DraftDodger Rove (R - Chickenhawk, of course)

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

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[omega minimo]

9. K/REC

[katandmoon]

10. What does Rove care though? He has the current president of the U.S. covering his criminal ass.

[pundaint]

19. +1

[chill_wind]

11. K & R. n/t

[nilram]

12. ditto

[lunatica]

14. May this book tour be Rove's undoing

He's been hiding himself in his media bubble where there are no consequences to what he says. Before that he was safely snuggled right up in the dark recesses of Bush's anus and out of sight of the public. So far his speaking tours have been in safe conservative bastions where he's been surrounded by his fans. Up to now the only time he needed to fear was during the time it took him to leave a building and get in his car. But no more. He's now in the public, walking and talking among the rabble he so despises. He must have thought he was just too clever to be pinned against the Truth Wall. Aaaah! Karmic adjustment time. May this book tour be Rove's undoing.

[Toots]

15. While I think Rove is a despicable LIAR and Traitor he does make a valid point.

Democrats that voted for the IWR were not just given selective Bush* Administration Intelligence. President Clinton also weighed in and said he had seen intelligence during his Administration that suggested Saddam may be hiding things..But so what? Even if Saddam did have some sort of weapons, what gave us the right to invade Iraq and kill hundreds of thousands of people? Saddam was not a threat to America. If invading a country that had WMDs and an unstable leader that doesn't like America were actually necessary for our survival, you can bet North Korea would have been invaded a long time ago..The entire Premise is false...

[pjt7]

17. They lied & D's that went along with it

should be replaced.

[femrap]

16. Nice to have a

little Truth with my coffee this morning.

[bobthedrummer]

18. K&R

[seaker]

21. Hooray!

What a wonderful surprise and delight to read that closet Democrats of California's Central Valley are coming out of the closet!!!
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Kind of Blue]

22. Excellent read this morning!

Thanks for finding this and posting.
KnR

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. k/r

[Jack Rabbit]

24. A standing O for the Fresno Bee

K/R

[DissedByBush]

25. When can we just forget Rove?

That thing thrives on attention.

Forget about it.

Nobody write about it.

Let it fade into obscurity and die miserable.

[proReality]

27. As much as I agree with wanting to forget about him,

there is no way we should. We need to remember what he and the rest of the Cheney/Bush b*****ds have done so we can tell future generations. Otherwise they'll be successful in rewriting history.

[DissedByBush]

28. I'm just tired of hearing that name

I actually cringe a bit.

Fucking despicable sub-human creature. Apologies to all sub-human creatures.

I'd be seriously considering changing my name if my last name were Rove.

[SDuderstadt]

29. I love to hear his name!

I just wish it was followed by his prisoner number and his penitentiary mailing address.

[valerief]

26. PNAC 1997, PNAC 1997 PNAC 1997 PNAC 1997.

War with Iraq was a given even before Gramm-Leach_Bliley put the final nail in America's coffin.

[roseBudd]

30. Who has a login to comment on FresnoBee? This idiocracy can not go unchallenged...

"dguith wrote on April 2, 11:03 AM:

Sounds like the bee's normal spin: doesn't use facts just emotion, the liberal/progressive alternative to fact!

Even your previous bud wildbill clinton stated iraq had WMD. I realize it is hard for you folks to debate a point without facts so you use names and an imagination-lite rhetoric. You overlook the obvious: the war would have been avoided if Saddam would have let inspectors in. DUH!!

pipj--what were you in the military? Obviously not in any intelligence loo

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[stranger81]

31. The Bee published this on April Fool's day.

Am I reading too much into that, and not giving Fresno enough credit?