My head is spinning...Rumsfeld 101

[Not_Giving_Up]

I've just watched Rumsfeld on the Sunday morning shows. Late Edition is on now, and they'll have him too, so I'm sure there will be more to make my head spin.

When asked about the "You go to war with the army you have..." statement, he says that it was taken out of context. Really? Even when you listen to the whole thing, he basically said that we went to war with what we had, and are still playing catch up.

He also talked about how the other side isn't playing fair...they aren't wearing uniforms and acting like an army. Did anyone think that they would? I was out of a job when the Iraq invasion started. I sat up all night watching the embedded reporters on CNN. I remember distinctly watching Walt (is it Rogers??) ride with the tanks across the desert on the road to Baghdad. Along the side of the road were men with guns, acting thrilled to see American troops, cheering them on. My thought was "Yeah, and when the troops pass, they close in behind them". Why is it that I could see this, but the paid intelligence professionals in the government couldn't?

When asked about Iran, he tapped danced all over the place. George S. asked him point blank if there are military operations going on in Iran right now. His response was "Not to my knowledge". George S. said "Wouldn't you, off all people know?", and his response was "Yes, but thre aren't any to my knowledge". This translates into "Yeah, we're in there, but I can't/won't talk about it. I won't give you a point blank 'no' because later you'll call me a liar."

Both shows asked him about his attempted resignations during the Abu Grahib (sp?) mess. He says he was willing to resign, but * wouldn't hear of it. He said that there was no way he could control what was going on way over there. Why offer to resign then? Because he didn't know if he could be effective in his position. Translation - The public was calling for his head, and he wasn't sure if he was about to be fired, so he offered to quit first.

He's on with Wolf Blitzer now, but I'll admit I'm only half listening to him as I type. Why is he on nearly every show? Are we supposed to be satisified that Iran is not the next Iraq just because he says so? Are we supposed to feel better because * expressed confidence in him by not accepting his resignation? If that was the intention, sorry media spinners, it just didn't work!!!

[indigonation]

1. Any theories on why Rummy's doing the talk show circuit...

obviously it ain't for the PR - he's doing a good job butchering that.

[kaitykaity]

2. FTN -- Friedman lobbing softball after softball after softball.

"So do you think there needs to be leadership change in
Tehran?"

"What did you think you had done that was so wrong that
you offered to resign over it?"


Gaack. Now I remember why I stopped watching these waste
of time shows.

:puke:

[Not_Giving_Up]

3. If you don't watch the shows, then you don't know what

is being said. You can't develop counter-measures for what you don't know about. I watch them all. I catch Meet the Press on the night time run on MSNBC.

Why do they feel the need to hit EVERY show? Last week it was Condi, this week it's Rummy. Isn't one show enough????

[kaitykaity]

4. Why should I do it when you guys do it for me?

:evilgrin:

[Not_Giving_Up]

5. True, but I would rather hear the whole thing...

not snippets fed to me by someone else.

[kaitykaity]

8. Gee, get insulting now.

I didn't want to go into the whole spiel about why
I stopped, and I don't intend to start now.

But I'll tell you I was joking and you slapped at
me, and that's RUDE.

So go ************....

[Not_Giving_Up]

10. I wasn't trying to be rude

Really, I wasn't. I was just saying that's why I watch them. Good grief, calm down!!!

[kaitykaity]

14. Well, for not trying you sure were successful.

I'd love to the the damage when you're trying.

The polite way to respond is to apologize for your
rudeness and to end the conversation.

Oh, but no, then you have to be insulting again by
telling me to "calm down" -- implying that there's
something wrong with my reaction to your rudeness.

Gee, you're really on a roll with this one.

[Not_Giving_Up]

16. I sincerely apologize for posting words that could be misunderstood

I am sorry that I have offended you, that was not my intent at all. I did not mean to insult you by asking you to calm down, I was trying to smooth things over by letting you know that my intentions were harmless.

[indigonation]

7. I get why Condi was making the rounds after her SS appointment

what I don't get is why Rummy's crawling out from under his rock. Does he really think he can improve his image by gloating about the elections? I think he's making it worse.

[Edgewater_Joe]

6. How Many Of You Saw Rummy Flip Out On MTP?

Russert ran a clip of the soldier asking him about the lack of armor in Humvees, followed by his vile "You go to war with the army you have" quote, and when they came back Rummy had three pieces of paper folded out over the desk. Rummy then proceeded to filibuster MTP for five minutes INSISTING that he was misquoted and that the clip was an ambush on him. He was screeching and pouting and stammering "THAT WAS UNFAIR!" over and over - and Russert just let him. It was one of the few moments where Russert kept his mouth shut and just let the ol' bag make an absolute fool out of himself.

Catch the rerun on CNBC if you missed it. It's worth it.

[indigonation]

9. I did - Bob Shieffer and that other guy grilled him good. n/t

[CWebster]

11. Like us invading them is playing by the rules.

So, if a rich and powerful country with an array of hi-tech military toys, attacks a poor country that has already been weakened by years of war and sanctions- we have the right to torture them because they don't have proper uniforms? Uniforms were the way white Europeans distinguished themselves to avoid killing each other on the battlefield.

Why is it these criminals are allowed to dessiminate lies already de-bunked, without challenge? Rumsfeld claimed the Insurgents are Baathists, foreigners and criminals, but that has been revealed to be spin--there are very few foreigners, for example.

What the US wants is Saddam and his iron fist, but more receptive and compliant to US "interests".

[Not_Giving_Up]

12. Exactly

I don't understand how they can come up now and say that they didn't know how the other side would fight if we went in there. Did they expect everything to play by their rules??

Put money on this one - When the election results don't put the candidate that * wants in office, there will be claims that Iran tampered with the election, and that will be the reason why American troops get sent in there.

[Sparkly]

13. "not to my knowledge"

I hate it when he plays dumb.

"Sir, at yesterday's White House briefing..."
"I didn't hear that."

"Sir, the article in the Washington Post this morning..."
"I haven't seen that."

"Sir, the statement of the Department of Defense..."
"I'm not familiar with that."
"Sir, it's from your office."
"Well golly, leave us a copy and I'll get back to you."

[Not_Giving_Up]

15. If he really doesn't know what's going on,

why is he in the position that he holds? Isn't it his job to know? of course he KNOWS, he's just not telling. So, if you're not going to tell us anything, why go on all of these shows?????????????????