You know... just a thought here. and I like to play devil's advocate

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

But it seems to me all this "revelation" (which of course we know it is not new, as most everyone here has known about it for 4 years now) in the press....

it is peaking too early.

Hell, it is not even March yet. November is a long way away to keep people like average voters remembering things like this. Especaially when trump cards can be played, like oh, capturing Osama, turning over Iraq to the UN, bringing troops home, starting a bigger war with someone else, invading Haiti to promote peace there

Know what I mean?

I am concerned about this.

[imax2268]

1. which "revalation" are you referring to...?

there are so many I have lost track...

[Insider]

2. anytime things change so quickly

it is suspect to me. why would the media get balls overnight? are we being thrown a bone here?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. Yeah, that might sum it up

I think this will all be forgotten by summer, and then when they bring it up on the campaign trail in the fall, the networks can dismiss it as "oh, that? that is yesterday's news"

[Insider]

8. and it's also time to read pages 2 thru 17

they start the 3-ring circus when something serious is going on. they smother the real meat with BS gravy. ;-)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

11. Like bird flu?

[Ripley]

3. The game is accumulation.

Yes, dummies in America will say "huh? what's that all about?" in reference to one or two or three items. But when it gets too heavy, the water breaks.

[maggrwaggr]

5. actually the timing couldn't be any better

if it happened any closer to the election people would smell a rat.

As it is, right after no weapons were found, people are hit with this, well, it's perfect. Everybody's now realizing that this guy is a lying sack of shit who has duped everyone his entire life. (well not everyone but enough to become president of the freaking United States).

They won't forget this, even if it's just in the back of their minds.

My only problem with it now is that it's distracting from the more pressing crime, the fact that he LIED to take the country to WAR against a country that had never attacked us.

That still just blows my mind and I almost blow a gasket when I really think about it.

He made us the Japs in WWII. He made us the bad guys.

[Kazak]

19. Yeah, and all this...

after having stolen the election!!! After have usurped power!!!

[calimary]

20. True. When the LA Times finally gathered enough reliable info to go with

the story about Schwarzengroper REALLY close to the election - like one week or so, it backfired. People thought it was just playing politics against poor widdle Arnold. It looked suspicious, regardless of the fact that the LA Times said it had been researching and doublechecking the allegations and interviewing dozens of people about it before they felt they had enough to go with. And their credibility was still called into question.

It IS actually better to have all this break earlier. Yes, it's WAY early, true. But critical mass is achieved via such as this. There's this, there's the 9/11 commission, there's the Plame affair, there's the continuing Democratic primaries - more exposure for the Democratic side of things, there's the book John Dean's supposed to be ready to release (April, I think) called either "Worse than Watergate" or "Worse than Nixon" (about - guess who?), there's Michael Moore's movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11" - coming out this summer, there's the WMD mess that will NOT go away, and now includes the White House, AND next week, supposedly, Jeff Skilling of Enron is expected to be indicted! So there's just a whole bunch of stuff that's gonna be rolling out, one after another. PLUS, the Democrats apparently have started getting comfortable with their new backbones. CSPAN broadcast a hearing of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee - into Halliburton price-gouging in Iraq. It was GREAT. Dick Durbin and Byron Dorgan were righteous! And the witnesses really sang beautifully. AND as I said, the whole hearing was covered by CSPAN. So if this starts to go away, well, thereya go. But there's something else coming straight away on its heels.

And then...

There's always our group, here, and other interested activists who care to call Congress, TOLL FREE, to urge our good guys onward. The number is 1 (800) 839 - 5276. They'll transfer you to anybody's office in the House and/or Senate, just for the asking. So you can call, free of charge, and provide calcium supplements to their spines.

[ChompySnack]

6. Fraidy*

Give me a break. They are their own worst enemies, and thank god for that. They have really never had to deal with something like this have they? Of course they have.

The press actually are not accepting their lies as they usually do, just like they did with all the other scandals. I expect this to die down sometime next week, on schedule, just as they have for his entire "presidency."

I got so worked up about his foreknowledge about 9/11, Harken, Niger, Plame and all the other stuff that I just can't belive that something this petty compared to those would stick.

I guess there is evidence (and lack thereof) in this scandal, it touches on his truthfulness and his "macho" image and best of all shows him unfit to be a leader. Elections are coming up and people are sick of being pushed around and are sick of his administration.

Maybe I should get excited.

I would love it if it would come out with the fact that he is afraid of riding a horse. That would just be icing on the cake. The 'fraidy' cowboy!

My new name for him is Fraidy*

[Vickers]

7. No, yer looking at this all wrong

You use all of these early-year revelations as springboards for some real whoppers later on in the year. Let me give a couple of examples:

See, folks will already have some inkling of a Bush-Alabama-National Guard connection...they just won't remember the specifics. So, in October you casually say in group of people discussing the upcoming election, "It's a damn shame he accidentally beheaded that baby while pulling Guard duty in Alabama."

Or, look at the Cheney-Halliburton-contracts connection: folks won't really remember the specifics, so you just work something like "I wonder if Halliburton's Ricin factory up in the Catskills is at full capacity yet?"

Use yer imagination!

[WatchWhatISay]

17. Or you could just tie some of the real scandals to this

Who needs creativity when reality is more than sufficient?

[Skip Intro]

9. And repubs are giving ground here and there without a fight

The Senate investigation into pre-invasion intel now to examine bushco's role.

The WH releasing, or giving the impression of releasing, "all" docs re: bush.

There are others where it seems repubs are just giving in, to an extent - which is way different from their previous tactics. I can only assume they are just buying time until - well, until something like what you suggest. I get the feeling they know something big is coming, the really big ace in the hole, and are just finding ways to postpone any real responsibility until that distraction is ready or timely. Clearly, to me, something is planned to happen, and they are just biding their time.

I don't think it'll be another war/invasion. I'm doubting it'll be another "attack" on the US. I'm leaning really heavily toward the "finding osama" scenario. That would, in their p.o.v., and maybe in reality - tho I doubt it, make any current revelations about the moron and his gang of thugs irelevent and forgotten. They just need to get from Mid-Feb. to October (or just before their convention).

Yeah, I sense something is up. I think they're down to their last big card to play. I think it'll be osama on a stick. And I think they have a 50/50 chance of pulling it off. Remeber rove's goal - just raise bush's approval/support by a tick or two just before voting occurs, just enough to push the moron over the top on election day.

Can't play it too soon, even with the repub voting machines in place.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. At this point in time, "finding Osama" will gain them nothing...

...just as "finding" Saddam did very little if anything toward giving the NeoCons a boost.

Junior is going to need quite a bit more than a "tick or two" to pull out a victory in November.

That's assuming, of course, that we'll actually have elections.

[LoZoccolo]

10. I can see where you're coming from...

...but if his credibility is chipped away by several consecutive things in a row all the way up to October, then any attempted October surprise will seriously backfire and look more like a plot to more people. Last year he was looking on top of everything, and it kind of took about six months from the Niger uranium story until now to bring his approval down to around 50%. It could take a long time to keep chipping away at his record, a long sustained effort that would stretch back pretty far.

[Leilani]

12. There have been so many crimes committed

in this administration, & for 3 years the press has played lapdog. I think those days are over. We still have ahead of us:

Indictments in Pflame leak

9/11 Commission Report

Continuing search for WMDs

Misuse of Iraq intelligence

Halliburton contracts

Deficit continuing to soar & cost of Iraq

No jobs being created

G.I.s still dying

And more

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. It's a game of cumulative damage...

...there are so many balls in the air right now that the NeoCons will never keep one or more from hitting the ground.

1. Junior and his AWOL/desertion status with the ANG;

2. The GOP spy case in Congress;

3. The Iraqi WMD investigation;

4. The Valerie Plame case;

5. The poor economy and lack of jobs;

6. The ongoing wars in the Middle East;

7. The backlash against the Patriot Act;

8. Dissension within the GOP ranks;

Etc.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

14. Well, my hope is that the media all have the real story

and just are waiting to trap the WH in denying it... the Cocaine arrest and the community service

They sure are acting like they have something more.

I think if they could document a drug charge against * it would pretty much force him to resign.

[BillZBubb]

16. We're just starting to scratch off the gilding

Pretty soon, people will start to see the rot underneath. But, this is a cumulative, long term project. We can't undo years of uncritical adulation in one fell swoop or with one particular item.

We have to be persistent and point out the many lies and deceptions of BushCo in a steady, continual stream. Not all at once, or we'll lose the public. Eventually, they'll see what we already know.

You've got to remember, Shrub has had the press on their heels ever since 9-11. With his popularity so high, they didn't have the courage to take him on. The only way they could go after him was if a powerful Democrat made a charge and stuck to it.

Now the Democratic candidates and McAuliff are attacking and the press is actually following up. It's amazing. First it's AWOLgate, next maybe Plamegate, then maybe CIA-WMDgate, etc.

This early start is a good thing, since we have plenty of solid ammunition to use up until November.

[William Seger]

18. You have to play the hand you're dealt

People have been talking about AWOL since 2000. The fact that it finally took hold now in the media is a good sign of bigger things: It means that the media is now aware that * has credibility problems with a significant number of people -- too many to be ignored any more -- and it means that they now know he's not invulnerable, and it means that * is losing his ability to intimidate the media into silence. Considering all the other shit that needs to be dealt with, this is a relatively minor thing, anyway, and people on both sides will continue to believe what they want to about it unless some irrefutable evidence surfaces, so I think it's good thing to get it out of the way now. Best to leave it floating out there now, for what it's worth, not dwell on it, and refocus on the really important stuff.