Tuesday, October 19, 2004
George W. Orwell
Over at Brad Blog, he has found yet another instance in which the White House has revised the official version of history to keep embarrassing comments or deliberate lies out of the purview of the American public.
In the third debate, the President must have been setting it up for the scrubbing. When John Kerry unloaded on the President for claiming he no longer cared about finding Osama bin Laden, the President responded:
Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations.
But he did say it. Or did he? In the President's March 2, 2002 press conference, he said:
"Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. ... And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him."
Yet if you were to look for the audio and video clip of the press conference, which was linked in the White House webpage, you would find that it is no longer available--not all, just for the March 2002 press conference in question.
This has been a pattern in the administration, and one that goes without mention in the press (also, to show you what the press cares about, check out how many stories have been run about John Kerry's remarks about Mary Cheney vs. those holding the President to count for lying about never saying he didn't care if Osama was found or not!).
Brad asks why the White House is removing this information when it is so widely available elsewhere. I think I can answer that for you, Brad.
I think the answer is hidden in Bush's response about distorting Kerry's health care plan, which he is. Kerry claimed that there is not one news organization that has analyzed his plan that has concluded that it is a government run plan. Bush then retorted:
In all due respect, I'm not so sure it's credible to quote leading news organizations about -- oh, nevermind.
If the information is not on the website but rather it is being run on the news, it gives the administration leverage to claim that it is doctored by the liberal press to make it appear that the President actually said it--when in fact he did. Check out Derelection today and look at the number of stories in which the administration is waging war on the press--determined to browbeat them into submission or rid them of credibility.
Despite your political leanings, what makes this country great is having faith in the veracity of the official record. The President is currently undermining democracy and no one seems to give a damn about it.
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In the third debate, the President must have been setting it up for the scrubbing. When John Kerry unloaded on the President for claiming he no longer cared about finding Osama bin Laden, the President responded:
Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations.
But he did say it. Or did he? In the President's March 2, 2002 press conference, he said:
"Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. ... And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him."
Yet if you were to look for the audio and video clip of the press conference, which was linked in the White House webpage, you would find that it is no longer available--not all, just for the March 2002 press conference in question.
This has been a pattern in the administration, and one that goes without mention in the press (also, to show you what the press cares about, check out how many stories have been run about John Kerry's remarks about Mary Cheney vs. those holding the President to count for lying about never saying he didn't care if Osama was found or not!).
Brad asks why the White House is removing this information when it is so widely available elsewhere. I think I can answer that for you, Brad.
I think the answer is hidden in Bush's response about distorting Kerry's health care plan, which he is. Kerry claimed that there is not one news organization that has analyzed his plan that has concluded that it is a government run plan. Bush then retorted:
In all due respect, I'm not so sure it's credible to quote leading news organizations about -- oh, nevermind.
If the information is not on the website but rather it is being run on the news, it gives the administration leverage to claim that it is doctored by the liberal press to make it appear that the President actually said it--when in fact he did. Check out Derelection today and look at the number of stories in which the administration is waging war on the press--determined to browbeat them into submission or rid them of credibility.
Despite your political leanings, what makes this country great is having faith in the veracity of the official record. The President is currently undermining democracy and no one seems to give a damn about it.
