THOMAS OLIPHANT A credibility chasm

[jbfam4]

THOMAS OLIPHANT
A credibility chasm

WASHINGTON
FOUR SPEECHES.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/12/15/a_credibility_chasm/
Wow.

The latest cycle of orations from President Bush has produced a bump in his job approval ratings for handling the war in Iraq -- from about 35 percent to about 39 percent -- a bump so tiny that it may not have occurred at all, given the margins of statistical error in opinion polls.


The baloney from our government and president celebrated democracy and consensus across the regions and sects. The reality was division, actually enshrined in the constitution under which Iraqis will vote this week. Rather than heal the society, the constitution cemented its divisions in place. One of the dirty little secrets that his advisers leak to the press all the time, a secret Bush seems incapable of acknowledging, is that there is nothing to prevent virtual independence in the Kurdish North and virtual theocracy in the South --a recipe for chaos in and around Baghdad. The other dirty little secret is that the first task of whatever government is formed will be to figure out a way to change this wretched constitution so there remains at least a dim possibility of allowing freedom to exist under its amended provisions.

The president has also continued to be dishonest about what is about to happen in Iraq in terms of the American armed forces. The truth is that after a brief interval, the more than 20,000 extra troops brought in for the run-up to the elections will be withdrawn.

In other words, though Bush would insist that everything depends on how the war is going, the United States has plans to remove about one-third of its forces over the next three or four months. Just for the record, that is not any different from what the supposedly antiwar Democratic congressman, Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania, has said should happen over basically the same period.


And that's why his poll numbers hardly budge. We can hear him, but most of us have learned not to believe him.

[Ready4Change]

1. Odd.

I don't recall major news reports of Bushs ratings being around 35%. Little hidden, tucked into the back pages reports yes. But major news stories were quoting polls of 39 and 40%.

Yet, now that Bush has "bounced back" to those same 39 and 40 results, major news stories claim that's up from the under-reported 35's.

I call BS. Maybe his speeches created a momentary lull in his drop, but there IS NO BOUNCE.

[thefloyd]

2. Good Article by Oliphant

Why more reporters do not mention gas prices as the sole reason for a bump in approval ratings is beyond me. I don't believe I heard one credible person mention gas prices!!! Our press has sold out for access to power and to keep corporate masters pleased. Sick I say just sick!!!