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Too Many Stories, Not Enough Brain Cells

“There was nothing in there [the Aug. 6 PDB] that said, you know, there's an imminent attack.” -- George W. Bush, Crawford, TX, 4/12/2004 (source)

If this quote had been made before September 11th, I might believe it. But when Bush said this a few days ago he forgot to put on his “post-9/11” hat. You know, the one that says he can attack anyone anywhere because they might do something later even if we’re not sure what that might be?

“Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? … Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is … not an option.” -- George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, 1/28/2003 (source)

Here we see that Bush remembered that hat. He is clearly using the administration’s failure to act before 9/11 as justification for a war with Iraq. He gathers support by inciting fear in the unknown, but gathering threat.

But while vacationing in Texas the other day, he forgot which way he’s supposed to view the world now. Looking back at the August 6th PDB in the present time (i.e. post-9/11) he should certainly see that document differently. It should scream “imminent threat!” “Must go to war!” “War footing!” “Osama, threat!” “Preemptive attack!” If he were being consistent with his own thoughts, he should have said “The August 6th PDB contained all the evidence we needed of an imminent threat that warranted military engagement with Afghanistan and al Qaeda, but we just didn’t see it as imminent at that time.”

Instead, he’s consumed with covering his mistakes, and forgets which ‘era’ he’s living in now. Is it the ‘post-9/11 kill everything that moves’ worldview, or the ‘pre-9/11 sure there’s a threat but I’d rather go on vacation for a month’ worldview? He’s so afraid that someone might blame him for 9/11 that he can’t even remember his own ideology. One has to wonder if there’s something else he’s scared might come out, or if he just doesn’t have enough brain cells to keep it all straight.

Or both.

Posted on April 14, 2004 07:36 PM

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