Critics have long charged that the Bush administration misled the public in making its case for war in Iraq. Now its own former spokesman is making the same allegation.
In his new book, “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception,” former White House press secretary Scott McClellan says that the administration sold the war using sophisticated “political propaganda campaign” and “downplaying the major reason for going to war,” the Washington Post reported.
“Over that summer of 2002,” McClellan wrote, “top Bush aides had outlined a strategy for carefully orchestrating the coming campaign to aggressively sell the war. . . . In the permanent campaign era, it was all about manipulating sources of public opinion to the president’s advantage.”
Looking back on it now, what does McClellan think about the decision to go to war? “War should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary,” he wrote.
“If there’s one issue that epitomizes the culture wars that have so deeply divided American politics over the last eight years, it’s abortion. That’s why those who benefited most from those wars are desperate to revive abortion’s single-issue virulence in this presidential cycle,” Los Angeles Times columnist Tim Rutten wrote in response to Robert Novak’s recent column claiming that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is a “pro-choice poster girl.” Rutten called Novak a “redoubtable right-wing hit man” who gets his dubious allegations from the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue. But, Rutten argued, the public is rejecting this divisive agenda. “One of the salutary characteristics of this election cycle,” he wrote, “is the way in which voters concerned with war and a failing economy have rejected single-issue appeals for the traditional American ‘politics of remedy.’”
When it comes to energy and gas prices, writes Robert Bryce in this interesting piece in Slate, Americans are living in a fantasyland.
Even at $4 a gallon, our gas prices are dirt-cheap compared with most developed countries. In England, motorists pay more than $8 per gallon of gas. In Norway, it’s $8.73 — and they’re an oil exporter.
Supply trends suggest it’s not going to get any cheaper.
“The simple truth is that Americans are going to have to get used to more expensive gasoline,†Bryce concludes.
The next few days will test whether President Bush can be of fundraising service to John McCain, despite a presidential approval rating that just fell to a record low 23 percent in a Reuters/Zogby poll. Bush will raise money for the nominee-to-be at three events in Arizona and Utah this week. McCain certainly needs help of some kind, having raised $18.5 million in April as the Democratic rivals raised a combined $51.7 million. Bush also will pay a visit to Kansas Thursday to raise money for state Sen. Nick Jordan’s challenge of Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Lenexa.
Officially, John McCain’s GOP gathering at his Sedona, Ariz., ranch over the weekend was social rather than political. “He barbecued ribs all night,†Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.†But the event must have seemed like a weird version of “The Bachelor,†given that so many of the 20 or so guests are known to be contenders for the vice presidential spot, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Kansas’ Sen. Sam Brownback, as well as Graham. McCain is said to be a gas griller who keeps his baby-back pork ribs moist by brushing on lemon juice.
Critics have long charged that the Bush administration misled the public in making its case for war in Iraq. Now its own former spokesman is making the same allegation.
