Fisking the Gorebot: Part 1

All right, this is going to be quite a daunting task (how often do you see that phrase online?), but I am determined to fisk every last sentence of Al Gore's deranged MoveOn speech. I'll have to do it in several parts. I haven't figured out how many. In any case, I'll put the whole thing in the extended entry, as I usually do with huge posts.

Enough introductions. I'm just going to dive right in and see what happens:

George W. Bush promised us a foreign policy with humility. Instead, he has brought us humiliation in the eyes of the world.

If you liberal idiots really cared about our international reputation, you wouldn't be bending over backwards to make it look like the Abu Ghraib abuses represent our entire military.

He promised to "restore honor and integrity to the White House." Instead, he has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable reputation as the most dishonest President since Richard Nixon.

"Bush lied! Bush lied!" Even the former vice president is parroting this pathetic smear now. I love how they can NEVER PROVIDE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES. We just have to trust them, since everyone knows that Republicans are liars. After all, if they were honest, they wouldn't agree with the eeeeeeevil right wing agenda.

Honor? He decided not to honor the Geneva Convention.

Yeah, because he ordered those poor, innocent guards to stack prisoners naked and take photos. And by the way, THE GENEVA CONVENTION ONLY APPLIES TO SOLDIERS IN UNIFORM! Terrorists disguised as civilians have no rights.

Just as he would not honor the United Nations, international treaties, the opinions of our allies, the role of Congress and the courts...

I find it interesting that all those groups agreed that Saddam needed to be taken out. But I guess they were just lied to by the horrible Bush Regime.

...or what Jefferson described as "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind."

Well, I believe that about 70% of Americans were for the war. And I'm sure the Iraqis really loved Saddam more than freedom.

He did not honor the advice, experience and judgment of our military leaders in designing his invasion of Iraq.

Could've fooled me.

And now he will not honor our fallen dead by attending any funerals or even by permitting photos of their flag-draped coffins.

Attending funerals would dishonor the dead, because it would take attention away from them and their accomplishments, as well as depriving the family of an opportunity to pay their last respects. And you sick freaks are obsessed with photos of flag-draped coffins because you know that people will have an emotional reaction to them and might not be as supportive of the war. Which puts our troops in more danger, and creates even more coffins. They're soldiers, not pawns.

How did we get from September 12th , 2001, when a leading French newspaper ran a giant headline with the words "We Are All Americans Now" and when we had the good will and empathy of all the world -- to the horror that we all felt in witnessing the pictures of torture in Abu Ghraib.

The horror! The horror!!! How about the horror that we felt in witnessing the 9/11 attacks? Do you really believe that those poor, mistreated prisoners wouldn't have flown those planes themselves if given the chance? We treated them better than they deserve.

To begin with, from its earliest days in power, this administration sought to radically destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided America since the end of World War II.

From its earliest days in power? What the f**k were they doing before 9/11 that was so horrible for us?

The long successful strategy of containment was abandoned in favor of the new strategy of "preemption."

That's because the strategy of containment resulted in crooked deals with European countries, violations of cease-fire agreements, development of illegal weapons, and mass graves, you droning douche.

And what they meant by preemption was not the inherent right of any nation to act preemptively against an imminent threat to its national security...

Did you miss the part where Bush said that we must act before the threat is imminent?

...but rather an exotic new approach that asserted a unique and unilateral...

"Because it's not a coalition without France and Germany!"

...U.S. right to ignore international law wherever it wished to do so...

Yeah, too bad it was in response to violations of international law by SADDAM HUSSEIN.

...and take military action against any nation, even in circumstances where there was no imminent threat.

You f**king moron, that's exactly the point. If he was already an imminent threat, it would be even more risky to take him on, because he might be able to friggin' nuke us. You just don't get it, do you?

All that is required, in the view of Bush's team is the mere assertion of a possible, future threat - and the assertion need be made by only one person, the President.

Yeah, I remember that whole "rush to war," where Bush forced us to go to Iraq based on his assertions alone. In fact, here's one of the more forceful quotations from that period:

"Iraq does pose a serious threat to the stability of the Persian Gulf and we should organize an international coalition to eliminate his access to weapons of mass destruction. Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."

Now, who could've said such a horribly dishonest thing? Oh, now I remember: YOU!

More disturbing still was their frequent use of the word "dominance" to describe their strategic goal, because an American policy of dominance is as repugnant to the rest of the world as the ugly dominance of the helpless, naked Iraqi prisoners has been to the American people. Dominance is as dominance does.

Well, thanks for the enlightenment, Forrest. I'm so glad that you can compare mistreatment of a couple dozen prisoners to the liberation of 25 million people.

Dominance is not really a strategic policy or political philosophy at all. It is a seductive illusion that tempts the powerful to satiate their hunger for more power still by striking a Faustian bargain.

I think we're taking a ride into the imperialism zone. Scary.

And as always happens - sooner or later - to those who shake hands with the devil, they find out too late that what they have given up in the bargain is their soul.

I think that translates to "Bush is evil." How original.

One of the clearest indications of the impending loss of intimacy with one's soul...

When did you decide that you're an expert on metaphysics, you idiot?

...is the failure to recognize the existence of a soul in those over whom power is exercised, especially if the helpless come to be treated as animals, and degraded.

*cough* PLASTIC SHREDDERS *cough cough*

We also know - and not just from De Sade and Freud - the psychological proximity between sexual depravity and other people's pain.

If he starts talking about weird S&M fantasies, I'm leaving.

It has been especially shocking and awful to see these paired evils perpetrated so crudely and cruelly in the name of America.

By a whole 7 people.

Those pictures of torture and sexual abuse came to us embedded in a wave of news about escalating casualties and growing chaos enveloping our entire policy in Iraq.

You've been watching too much CNN.

But in order understand the failure of our overall policy, it is important to focus specifically on what happened in the Abu Ghraib prison...

"...because that's the only ammunition we've got left!"

...and ask whether or not those actions were representative of who we are as Americans? Obviously the quick answer is no, but unfortunately it's more complicated than that.

I'm surprised he didn't say "nuanced."

There is good and evil in every person. And what makes the United States special in the history of nations is our commitment to the rule of law and our carefully constructed system of checks and balances. Our natural distrust of concentrated power and our devotion to openness and democracy are what have lead us as a people to consistently choose good over evil in our collective aspirations more than the people any other nation.

Okay, now you're just trying to throw off people who want to question your patriotism.

Our founders were insightful students of human nature. They feared the abuse of power because they understood that every human being has not only "better angels" in his nature, but also an innate vulnerability to temptation - especially the temptation to abuse power over others.

Our founders understood full well that a system of checks and balances is needed in our constitution because every human being lives with an internal system of checks and balances that cannot be relied upon to produce virtue if they are allowed to attain an unhealthy degree of power over their fellow citizens.

You really could've found a way to say that in less time.

Listen then to the balance of internal impulses described by specialist Charles Graner when confronted by one of his colleagues, Specialist Joseph M. Darby, who later became a courageous whistleblower.

*GASP!* You mean another soldier reported the abuse, not the heroic American media?! I am shocked, SHOCKED! to hear that! He must be the exception, not the rule!!!!

When Darby asked him to explain his actions documented in the photos, Graner replied: "The Christian in me says it's wrong, but the Corrections Officer says, 'I love to make a groan man piss on himself."

What the crap is a "groan man?"

What happened at the prison, it is now clear, was not the result of random acts by "a few bad apples," it was the natural consequence of the Bush Administration policy that has dismantled those wise constraints and has made war on America's checks and balances.

Since your previous statements about individual temptations actually refute the last one, shouldn't they cancel each other out and create a wormhole or something?

The abuse of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib flowed directly from the abuse of the truth that characterized the Administration's march to war and the abuse of the trust that had been placed in President Bush by the American people in the aftermath of September 11th.

"Bush equivocated, prisoners masturbated!"

There was then, there is now and there would have been regardless of what Bush did, a threat of terrorism that we would have to deal with.

Oh no! We're doooooooooomed!!!!!!

But instead of making it better, he has made it infinitely worse.

Worse for terrorists, not us.

We are less safe because of his policies.

Oh, is that why terrorism is at a 30 year low?

He has created more anger and righteous indignation against us as Americans than any leader of our country in the 228 years of our existence as a nation -- because of his attitude of contempt for any person, institution or nation who disagrees with him.

Pot, meet kettle, etc. etc.

He has exposed Americans abroad and Americans in every U.S. town and city to a greater danger of attack by terrorists because of his arrogance, willfulness, and bungling at stirring up hornet's nests that pose no threat whatsoever to us.

Another contradiction! First, he says that there will always be a threat of terror, then he says that there's only a threat because Bush went to war. PICK ONE!

And by then insulting the religion and culture and tradition of people in other countries.

"Islam is a religion of peace...we worship the same God...this is a war against a political ideology, not a religion..." Yeah, nice try, but I actually listen to the president when he opens his mouth.

And by pursuing policies that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children, all of it done in our name.

"Bush murders brown people!"

President Bush said in his speech Monday night that the war in Iraq is "the central front in the war on terror." It's not the central front in the war on terror, but it has unfortunately become the central recruiting office for terrorists.

Did it ever occur to you that the terrorists were already recruited, and now they're just lining up to be killed for Allah?

[Dick Cheney said, "This war may last the rest of our lives.]

You just said that a few paragraphs ago, so I don't know why you brought it up.

The unpleasant truth is that President Bush's utter incompetence has made the world a far more dangerous place and dramatically increased the threat of terrorism against the United States.

I guess you take that "lies, damned lies, and statistics" quote to heart.

Just yesterday, the International Institute of Strategic Studies reported that the Iraq conflict " has arguable focused the energies and resources of Al Qaeda and its followers while diluting those of the global counterterrorism coalition."

And when Al Qaeda sees how hopeless it is to f**k with the United States, they'll back down like the little b**ches they are.

The ISS said that in the wake of the war in Iraq Al Qaeda now has more than 18,000 potential terrorists scattered around the world and the war in Iraq is swelling its ranks.

I seem to remember seeing somewhere that that number was just randomly chosen.

The war plan was incompetent in its rejection of the advice from military professionals and the analysis of the intelligence was incompetent in its conclusion that our soldiers would be welcomed with garlands of flowers and cheering crowds.

Never mind the fact that that actually happened.

Thus we would not need to respect the so-called Powell doctrine of overwhelming force.

My brain hurts. Now you're in favor of overwhelming force? STOP GETTING YOUR LOGIC WIRES CROSSED!

There was also in Rumsfeld's planning a failure to provide security for nuclear materials, and to prevent widespread lawlessness and looting.

And now he's also in favor of attacking civilians. Brilliant.

Luckily, there was a high level of competence on the part of our soldiers even though they were denied the tools and the numbers they needed for their mission. What a disgrace that their families have to hold bake sales to buy discarded Kevlar vests to stuff into the floorboards of the Humvees! Bake sales for body armor.

Wasn't it your buddy Bubba who destroyed the military's capability, specifically because he "loathes" them?

And the worst still lies ahead. General Joseph Hoar, the former head of the Marine Corps, said "I believe we are absolutely on the brink of failure. We are looking into the abyss."

And so am I, because that's just a small part of the speech. I'll continue this a little later.

Posted by CD on May 27, 2004 05:45 PM
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