Letters to the Editor
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Threat
The problem is, the threat to America is not going to expire in February
Exactly, it won't expire until noon on January 20, 2009.
And then W and his ilk should be going to the Hague, but sadly his replacement won't have the courage to do that.
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About Condi
I just saw a mag that said Condi gave some encouragement to Donna Brazil, who was hospitalized for some tests. I was shocked. I generally think Condi is worthless (or worse), but in this case I give her credit for being a decent human being. Good for you, Condi.
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Keep her!
I think she should keep her job. Do we want someone representing this corrupt administration who is adept at lying? NO! She is helping to expose them. She is also pretty hilarious. Who can forget her comments about protesters in Burma! Good times, good times:
Q: And the protests, themselves, seem to have been stilled. What do you make of that?
MS. PERINO: Well, unfortunately, intimidation and force can chill peaceful demonstrations. And reports about very innocent people being thrown into detention, where they could be held for years without any representation or charges, is distressing; and we understand that some of the monasteries have been sealed. Now, obviously, this has, again, a chilling effect on protestors, but we would ask that everyone show restraint and allow those who want to express themselves to be able to do so in Burma.
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Perino as a deliberate choice
The choice of Perino could be a deliberate calculation. The administration isn't concerned any longer with public opinion, and has no desire to communicate information other than empty spin. The value of Perino is two-fold; her incompetence is an easy excuse for why she isn't conveying good information, and her gender makes her harder to attack because people will to some extent handle her with kid gloves. If she were to ever accidentally reveal something she shouldn't have, she can credibly claim to have misspoke. However, the administration probably keeps her mostly in the dark just to be safe.
I reckon she has the job because the press corps wouldn't accept the first choice of the administration, which was a cardboard cutout of somebody with a repeating tape recorder playing behind it.
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Perino should show more conviction when she denies
As a self-proclaimed glutton for punishment, I read the daily press briefing transcripts at whitehouse.gov. I almost feel bad for Dana Perino. She seems out of her league, and unable to deny and deflect and defend like that smooth-talker, Tony Snow. She is clearly out of her (Bush)league. My lord in heaven, I can't wait until these people are gone.
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It's Only A Matter Of Time Before We Hear Bush Say This:
"You're doing a heckuva job, Perino-ie." When you hear that, she'll be gone the next day.
Since Bush and his minions have gone out of their way over the last seven years to make so many people throughout the country (and the world) uncomfortable, I must confess to a sense of schadenfreude every time I see that Ditz up there desperately trying to look like she's not lying.
She fails miserably, of course, owing perhaps to the welcome notion that not everyone in this administration is without a conscience.
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Let's hope Dana Perino keeps her job...
I would rather DP kept her job, thus increasingly the likelihood of her making a blunder that might actually lead to some sort of national outrage over the, well, hundreds of things we should be outraged about. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, her obvious discomfort, and obvious lying, might actually convince more people to demand more honesty than anything she actually says. If, in President Bush, we have unforutnately elected the President we deserve, at least his administration has the deer-in-the-headlights face it deserves. I would hate to have them replace her with another smooth liar like Ari Fleischer or Toni Snow.
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White House Spinmeister
I think the White House should offer the press secretary job to Dennis Miller. He'll smile and lie but at least he will keep the press corps laughing and distracted, Isn't that the goal of the administration?
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What does one do in that situation?
Ms. Walsh, I'm guessing that perhaps you could intellectually put yourself in Perino's place, and you ask yourself, what would you do? If it were you really, I'd bet that you would tell the truth, and then promptly get fired. And on top of that, you'd get all of Bush-loving wingnuttia coming down on your head. No right-wing welfare spot at the Heritage Institute for you, I'm afraid.
Assuming that Ms. Perino isn't independently wealthy, I'd surmise that she, knowing full well the wrath she'd face doing the honorable thing, chose to lie. "Got to put food on our children" is the operative phrase in the West Wing. Except she's not a good liar. I'm not either; many folks are not. So when it comes out, there are inconsistencies, sweat on the brow, etc. You'd never see that with Tony Snow.
Undercover police officers are superb liars (it's their job). Same for CIA operatives. So all the White house needs to do is borrow some of these and train them the technical aspects of Press Secretary, and voila!
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Bush is lame like a Fox.
You do realize that falling into the mindest of Bush being a lame duck is playing right into everything he ever wanted, don't you? As Colbert so pointedly pointed out last night, the media is so busy covering every idiotic move and poll related to the 2008 presidential election, that Bush is able to stealth along doing whatever he wants to whomever he wants.
This is too much reminding me of all the interest in Monica Lewinsky while terrorists plotted to blow us up. It's a lot, a lot like it. And it doesn't matter which Bush spokesmannequin is up there, because our press is the lame duck here.
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Another Perino-ism
Dana Perino, on a Democratic proposal to pay for the Iraq war with a new tax:
"We've always known that Democrats seem to revert to type, and they are willing to raise taxes on just about anything."
Yeah, even to pay for a war.
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What Scares Me ....
... is that the Kyl-Lieberman resolution sounds like a Congressional authorization for Bush to start a war with Iran.
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When Did?
Perino take over for Petraeus? I missed it.