Isn't it getting a bit insulting to hear this tripe over and over, practically verbatim, from every slimeball politician, columnist, and commentator under the sun?

Do they realize how pathetic their arguments are?

Don't they realize that after 7 years of such Orwellian, fear-based claptrap, the public is inclined to believe the opposite of what they say?

People like Soderburg and the dying fishwrap that published her don't know when to shut up.

Run that ad, Glenn. I can't wait.

I'm not sure who said it, but it has been paraphrased often enough here and elsewhere, that when an argument must rely on falsehoods to support it, then, well, that argument is undoubtedly horse-puckey.

Why is this so difficult to understand? Mainly, because most people (stupidly, and to their immeasurable detriment) still cling to the naive yet quaintly American belief that, why, if it was in the paper or on TV, it must be true.

Of course, rote repetition of the exact same falsehoods reinforces the effect. And the absurd veneer of all-hallowed "bipartisanship," in a world where facts and lies are judged equal, as long as each have their own spokesmodels, is simply the cherry on top of the bullshit sundae we are about to be served.

What really is remarkable about the debate we are having right now is that it is even occurring, given the debased information stream, secretive and unaccountable government, and widespread ignorance and apathy that have become the hallmark of America today.

I'm giving Actblue another $50.

I'm thanking Glenn, FDL, and any and sundry DFH who has not let this issue die.

And Derbig, for you this ditty I heard somewhere: (sung to any tune you like)

I don't want a pickle

I just wanna ride my motor-sickle

And I don't wanna die.

I just wanna ride my motor-cy...

cle.

My experience is that folks at UT have their flaws, but regularity is not among them.

JohnnyMM... I would heartily recommend John Dean's "Conservatives without Conscience," and extend that recommendation to include his Watergate era works, especially "Blind Ambition" and "Lost Honor." Both you will find disheartening, I'm afraid, because the chief protagonists tend to be an uncompromised media and, get this, a conservative with a conscience. Both today would be fictional and implausible characters.

Have you the time, inclination, and good source for books, Jonathan Schell's "The Time of Illusion" and Anthony Summers' "the Arrogance of Power" would be good, too.

If you're interested in connecting the dots of presidential lawlessness from then till now, Lawrence Walsh's "Firewall" is a demoralizing trip from there to here.

Gee, it's nice to be told by geniuses like Sugarman that since the US has adopted the policy of plundering, dominating, and generally pissing off the whole world, the constitution must now be adjusted to comport with our bloated and absurd pretensions.

I guess "violence begets violence," "do unto others," and "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind" are now "quaint" and "inoperative." And with these homey but sadly outdated notions go the whole damn Constitution.

There isn't enough money, will, or manpower for the US to take over the world, and no amount of police state flailing can change this.

Blame the hippies. Blame the soccer moms. Blame the evildoers. But it ain't gonna happen.

We've lost at least three wars now, each accompanied by shameful waste, violence and atrocity, and each time we get weaker, and our enemies laugh.

Big Brother can't fix the problem... Get it?

Only a return to founding principles, and a renunciation of violence and plunder can.

Before the crackup, bdlamb did post some fairly hilarious ATT ad spoofs, but I guess ran out of meds shortly thereafter.

Ah, well.

This phenomenon is the same one that led so many Americans to believe that Saddam had something to do with Sept. 11, months, years, after it had been thoroughly debunked. At least as important as the rote repetition of such falsehoods is the unanimous, tacit agreement to never, ever correct the record, thereby maintaining the "authority" of delusional blatherers like Kristol, and on and on. That's why the mantra of "going forward" is endlessly repeated; even a glancing look at the past would leave too many reputations in tatters. Thus, Condi Rice can say, "No one could have predicted (insert entirely predictable, warned against, scenario here)"

This bunch repeats the same lies, verbatim, as if following the beads on a BS rosary, seemingly solely to allow themselves to put on pancake and lie to the cameras another day.

There is no past, no future, just an imagined present to be spun before the camera's red light.

Great ad... And I especially like the Nixon angle, since Watergate was the last time a lawless, power-mad administration was even held to account. My, what the Republicans have learned since then. Iran Contra was the first time they succeeded, with a mixture of midnight pardons, a timely death or so, and uber "patriotic" spokesteam, Fawn and Ollie. Notice how most of the criminals involved not only escaped punishment but found lucrative futures, thanks to wingnut welfare, and Poindexter, Abrams, and others landed right back in the White House when George II ascended the throne.

Another important lesson they learned, to deal with the dual predicaments of those pesky tapes and that blabbermouth John Dean, is to routinely destroy all records and ruthlessly toss out any minion who shows the slightest trace of integrity or independence.

Finally, take impeachment "off the table" by pursuing it, scurrilously, against the next Democratic President, whether warranted or not, as both payback for Nixon and as an inoculation against future attempts, once the Republicans have regained "their" White House.

Is our children learning? No, but our Republicans are.