Ari Fleischer Flogging “Stay the Course”
I saw former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer on Hardball yesterday, fronting for the new $15,000,000 pro-war ad campaign sponsored by the White House, er, I mean some group called Freedom’s Watch. The group is targeting Republicans (and a few Democrats) who are wavering in their support for Bush’s never-ending war in Iraq, and it doesn’t hesitate to twist the truth to whip them back in line.
Guest host Mike Barnicle started the interview by showing one of the ads, which features an amputee veteran who says he re-enlisted after 9/11 because “they attacked us, and they will again; they won’t stop in Iraq”, with the obligatory shot of the burning twin towers in the background — just in case anyone missed the verbal attempt to blame Iraq for 9/11. He tells us we’re making good progress on the ground and that this is no time for politics. Yeah, right. Because there’s nothing political whatsoever about these ads.
Barnicle challenged Fleischer, asking him how many of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq (the answer is none, in case you didn’t already know). Fleischer came back with some crap about how this isn’t about the 2002 debate anymore but about dealing with terrorists in Iraq now. See, pointing out the ads’ false connection between Iraq and 9/11 means Barnicle is stuck in the stale 2001-2002 debate over Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction. I guess Ari’s hoping we’ve forgotten how he assured us back in 2003 that the administration had “evidence and information” of Saddam’s WMDs.
“There is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly.”
When Barnicle asked him about the decimation of our military and whether an ongoing war would necessitate a draft, Fleischer tried to equate the mess in Iraq with World War II. Barnicle countered by pointing out that Franklin Roosevelt had asked the country to sacrifice during WWII, while Bush had only asked us to shop. Ari said we all sacrifice each time a soldier dies, which is true in a metaphysical sense, but it certainly doesn’t address the cut-taxes-for-the-wealthy, borrow-and-spend policies that are turning our country into a wholly-owned subsidiary of China.
Asked for a definition of “winning”, Fleischer said we will have won when the military tells us it’s time to come home. Does it have to be unanimous? Because the neocons will always be able to find one ”commander on the ground” who will toe the party line.
Freedom’s Watch certainly picked a great spinner, er, spokesman in Ari Fleischer. He’s just the person I would trust to tell the truth about the situation in Iraq. (That’s sarcasm, btw.)
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Here’s an interesting side note: The Freedom’s Watch ads include a toll-free number and encourage constituents to contact their representatives in Congress. When blogger Taylor Marsh called, she discovered that there’s a screening process in place and only those who support the Iraq war are actually connected. What a surprise.
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:33 am
Yes, America, “they won’t stop in Iraq!!”
Doonesbury’s riff this week on the terrorists who will “follow us home” is hysterical.
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:34 pm
When was it exactly when anyone in our government stopped the Bush Administration from doing whatever the hell they wanted in Iraq? They started it, funded it, surged it… and in the meantime short-changed our wounded and other veterans. Ari Flusher can go suck an IED. Jerk!
August 23rd, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Fleischer,Murdoch,Bloomberg and the Oil Lobby
Sad to see President Bush relying on Ari “Genocide” Fleischer and
his secretly financed Freedom Watch ( it’s just
Murdoch,Bloomberg,Netanyahu,the neocon Hedge Funds ,the Private
Contractors and Oil Lobby’s and their goons ) ,a neocon like
Fleischer that tried to take control of the White House in 2001
totally and had to be “reset” by Sr. and others, and then pushing
to attack Iraq using the same line as Libby the day after 9/11 :
Iraq will pay for this , because it was a fix already ! ,what a
shame !
Ari Fleischer never went to war,he just wants Americans to go die in
Iran ,the next stop of the FREAK TRAIN , after all,they just want
the oil pipeline to go from Iraq to Haiffa,that’s all !
we are going to see a Bloomberg/Feingold/Schumer/Emanuel push on any
ticket, Rep. or Dem. with the temptation of 300 million, later the
fool ( Hillary or Rudy) gets a “terrible accident” and the neocons
get the Oval Office, its a done deal !
in the meantime Tobacco gets a free ride, junk food is king and
Hedge Funds don’t pay taxes and many Homeland Security contracts
go “no-bid” to friends ! Washington Post, Aug,22,07: ” Federal No-
Bid Contracts on Rise ” ,were even narcotic-office work go to no-bid
contracts, what a shame !
and notice how the 190.000 AK-47’s and Glock’s LOST IN IRAQ are just
a blip, no scandal,after all,it was on General Petreus watch, so
nothing to worry about ! if it was you ,me or any other
taxpayer,jail would be a done deal,but hey ! the Office which
controls this stuff is the Edelman -Whitman in the Pentagon and
Kaplan in State with Bolten-Kellner-Wurmser in White-House’s
domain,so no scandal ! isn’t great to be a neocon ? incompetent and
criminal neocon ? ….very sad to see the President of the United
States siding with these characters.
Fleischer with Wolfowitz,Perle,Zakheim the Pentagon
Comptroller,Wurmser,Feith,Libby,Edelman,Abrams,Rosen,etc.,and the
Silverstein-Goldman-Murdoch-Netanyahu WTC team must get the RULE OF
LAW ,America must make sure !…and the same applies to the Saudis
who helped all the above on the 9/11 “deal”, they must pay for the
crime and the intent against America !
all these neocons are creating INTERNAL PROBLEMS, America must decide how to deal with them ,right away !
August 23rd, 2007 at 3:52 pm
“wholly owned subsidiary of China” PRICELESS! Will you marry me?
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
“Ari Flusher”
I like it! Del, I saw one of the Doonesbury series; I’ll have to check out the rest. spourgoohay2007, that’s some scary stuff.
Bill, yes, I believe I will.
August 25th, 2007 at 12:37 am
It was bizarre that he was not more prepared by, at the very least, knowing the amputee veteran’s (in the ad) name. I love it when they shoot themselves in the foot. Yes, we do wish they would aim a little higher. LOL
August 25th, 2007 at 10:34 am
PTSD Mom, it really bothered me when he didn’t know the soldier’s name. At first, because I hadn’t been watching closely, I thought the group might have used ringers in the ads. Looking back over the video, I realized Fleischer just couldn’t be bothered to care about the damaged man who spoke but only about his propaganda value.
August 26th, 2007 at 1:45 am
Ditto. It was sickening. They appear to be heartless robots.