We're Not Buying It.

Have you ever noticed how, once out of government, high-ranking officials admit that "mistakes" were made during their incumbency?  Condoleezza Rice is the latest high-powered official that has been "illuminated" by being out of office.  I don't remember her admitting that the U.S. had done anything wrong while she was part of the Bush team.  It's only now, when it doesn't really matter; when it has no consequences for her and her boss at the time, that all that understanding and realization come to her.  Maybe, as Robert McNamara - who really took a long time to admit "mistakes" in the Vietnam war - Rice was enveloped in the "fog of war."

I think that this is cynicism at its worst.  All these people, whom David Halberstam once called "the best and the brightest", who claim to be experts in everything under the sun, justify themselves by saying that they didn't know  or that they miscalculated this or that.  When in power, they never accepted any criticism or expressed any doubt about the policies that they pursued.  Now, ever so "humbly", she says that they should have done many things differently.

Rice, as many before and after her, is lying, pretending to have made honest mistakes, so that history will be kind to her. Not a chance, Condi.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Low, Low Tactic

Here's a significant little item. Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, has announced that it will increase the number of stores in which it will have weapons for sale. Although it had cut back in that department in 2006, slow sales have convinced that selling rifles, shotguns and ammunition in half of its stores is the way to increase profits. So, the next time you, as an American citizen, feel like going on a shooting rampage against family, friends or coworkers, just go to the nearest Wal-Mart, where, for a "low, low everyday price", you'll be able to pick up a nice little arsenal, courtesy of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Happy hunting!
Read more

Don't Know, Don't Care

I's been called "the dumbing down of America", a recognition of the downward spiral of American education. The average person in the U.S. is ill-informed about national and international affairs. Thus, they are easy prey for demagogues who trade in false patriotism, fear and prejudice. A recent study of political views confirms just how ignorant and gullible is the typical U.S. citizen. For democracy to work, there has to be a well-informed citizenry. The men of 1776 knew this, and pinned their hopes on it for their political experiment to succeed. They would be extremely disappointed in 2011. Ironically, with all the freedom of information and multiple outlets to obtain it, the American people have very little political culture and their participation in the democratic processes is far from what it should be in an advanced society.
Read more

Columbus' Curse

Although it wasn't altogether new, the 1992 celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America made it fashionable to malign Columbus big time.  From Indians from all over the Americas, who still hold a  grudge against the Spanish conquistadores , to latter-day revisionist historians, everybody got into the act of pissing on the erstwhile "Grand Admiral."  Year after year we keep hearing the same old story: he wasn't the first to come to America (everybody and his brother had been here before); if he was, it was only because he had some maps given to him by somebody else (or stolen) from somebody else; it was just a fluke, etc. It has become politically correct to badmouth Columbus. I suppose all those purists would have preferred that he stay home, leaving us all in a  perpetual Garden of Eden, untouched by the European culture.  This is nonsense.  No matter if, objectively, he wasn't the first to set foot on this part of the world or whatever adv
Read more