--- And they say the media's not biased.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush acknowledged a good deal of
introspection after all the questions lately about his government's
actions before the Sept. 11 attacks and in Iraq, but not a whiff of contrition. Bush was asked in his prime-time news conference if he had made any mistakes.
{Emphasis added by moi} What exactly is he supposed to have a "whiff of
contrition" about? 9/11? I hate to tell you this but OSAMA BIN LADEN is
the one who should be apologizing for 9/11. Iraq? We did what needed to
be done there. No apologies or contrition are needed.
It makes no nevermind to the media that if Bush had admitted to making
a mistake, he would have opened himself up to a full scale media
slaughter on his character. Make no mistake about it: that's ALL the
media would be reporting right now. The headline would appear something
like, Bush Admits He's Made Mistakes! then within twenty-four hours it would morph into Bush Admits Makes Mistakes: How Does This Affect The War on Terror? then the opposition would chime in and the next headline would be, Kerry Claims He NEVER Makes Mistakes. Ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
He refused to answer a leading question that he knew he would be twisted by the media and now the media is mad at him for not answering that leading question so they say he hasn't shown a "whiff of contrition.
Well, what the hell does he have to be contrite about? What does he
have to feel remorseful about? He's done the deal the best he could.
And even if he did feel remorseful, well, saying you feel remorseful is
playing into your enemy's hands. And by enemies I don't mean Kerry or
Ted Kennedy. I mean Al-Sadr in Iraq. I mean the mullahs in Iran. I mean
the remnants of Al-Qaeda. I mean Kim Jong-Il. It gets better too. To be sure, Bush acknowledged the difficulties of recent weeks in
Iraq, the horrible scenes of bodies on television and the sense that
the war has dragged on for a long time. ``It's been really tough for
the families,'' he said. ``It's been tough on this administration.''
He said he has asked himself repeatedly whether his administration
could have done anything to stop the Sept. 11
attacks. He did not directly answer his own question, saying only that
if he'd had an inkling about what was to happen, he would have done
anything to head it off.
There wasn't anything the man could do to head off 9/11. I'm sorry to
tell you this, but come on and get real about the situation. We may be
the United States of America, but this does not mean we're
infailliable. We're human. Shit happens. And most assuredly as much as
we wish it were different, shit happened on 9/11. Things were not
copacetic. And people died. It happens, I'm sorry, but it does. But in
this rush to play election year politics with this commission, we seem
to forget who really was responsible for 9/11: those 19 assholes who
thought this was the best way to make America bend to their will.
Bastards. By doubting this, by saying that there should have been more
we could do to stop 9/11, we're playing right into their hands. Their
overlarge game of three card monte is working. I'm tired of it and I
cannot blame Bush for not playing the media's game. As Sands so aptly
said in Once Upon a Time in Mexico "The best way to win the game is to rig it." The game is rigged---and not in Bush's favor.