Ex-Press Aide Writes That Bush Misled U.S. on Iraq

[caesu]

Ex-Press Aide Writes That Bush Misled U.S. on Iraq

By Michael D. Shear

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 28, 2008; A01

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" led by President Bush and aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" and "downplaying the major reason for going to war."

McClellan includes the charges in a 341-page book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," that delivers a harsh look at the White House and the man he served for close to a decade. He describes Bush as demonstrating a "lack of inquisitiveness," says the White House operated in "permanent campaign" mode, and admits to having been deceived by some in the president's inner circle about the leak of a CIA operative's name.

The book, coming from a man who was a tight-lipped defender of administration aides and policy, is certain to give fuel to critics of the administration, and McClellan has harsh words for many of his past colleagues. He accuses former White House adviser Karl Rove of misleading him about his role in the CIA case. He describes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as being deft at deflecting blame, and he calls Vice President Cheney "the magic man" who steered policy behind the scenes while leaving no fingerprints.

McClellan stops short of saying that Bush purposely lied about his reasons for invading Iraq, writing that he and his subordinates were not "employing out-and-out deception" to make their case for war in 2002.

But in a chapter titled "Selling the War," he alleges that the administration repeatedly shaded the truth and that Bush "managed the crisis in a way that almost guaranteed that the use of force would become the only feasible option."

"Over that summer of 2002," he writes, "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."

McClellan, once a staunch defender of the war from the podium, comes to a stark conclusion, writing, "What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary."

McClellan resigned from the White House on April 19, 2006, after nearly three years as Bush's press secretary. The departure was part of a shake-up engineered by new Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten that also resulted in Rove surrendering his policy-management duties.

A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on the book, some contents of which were first disclosed by Politico.com. The Washington Post acquired a copy of the book yesterday, in advance of its official release Monday.

Responding to a request for comment, McClellan wrote in an e-mail: "Like many Americans, I am concerned about the poisonous atmosphere in Washington. I wanted to take readers inside the White House and provide them an open and honest look at how things went off course and what can be learned from it. Hopefully in some small way it will contribute to changing Washington for the better and move us beyond the hyper-partisan environment that has permeated Washington over the past 15 years."

The criticism of Bush in the book is striking, given that it comes from a man who followed him to Washington from Texas.

Bush is depicted as an out-of-touch leader, operating in a political bubble, who has stubbornly refused to admit mistakes. McClellan defends the president's intellect -- "Bush is plenty smart enough to be president," he writes -- but casts him as unwilling or unable to be reflective about his job.

"A more self-confident executive would be willing to acknowledge failure, to trust people's ability to forgive those who seek redemption for mistakes and show a readiness to change," he writes.

In another section, McClellan describes Bush as able to convince himself of his own spin and relates a phone call he overheard Bush having during the 2000 campaign, in which he said he could not remember whether he had used cocaine. "I remember thinking to myself, 'How can that be?' " he writes.

The former aide describes Bush as a willing participant in treating his presidency as a permanent political campaign, run in large part by his top political adviser, Rove.

"The president had promised himself that he would accomplish what his father had failed to do by winning a second term in office," he writes. "And that meant operating continually in campaign mode: never explaining, never apologizing, never retreating. Unfortunately, that strategy also had less justifiable repercussions: never reflecting, never reconsidering, never compromising. Especially not where Iraq was concerned."

McClellan has some kind words for Bush, calling him "a man of personal charm, wit and enormous political skill." He writes that the president "did not consciously set out to engage in these destructive practices. But like others before him, he chose to play the Washington game the way he found it, rather than changing the culture as he vowed to do at the outset of his campaign for the presidency."

McClellan charges that the campaign-style focus affected Bush's entire presidency. The ill-fated Air Force One flyover of New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina struck the city, was conceived of by Rove, who was "thinking about the political perceptions" but ended up making Bush look "out of touch," he writes.

He says the White House's reaction to Katrina was more than just a public relations disaster, calling it "a failure of imagination and initiative" and the result of an administration that "let events control us." He adds: "It was a costly blunder."

McClellan admits to letting himself be deceived about the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, which resulted in his relentless pounding by the White House press corps over the activities of Rove and of Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the matter.

"I could feel something fall out of me into the abyss as each reporter took a turn whacking me," he writes of the withering criticism he received as the story played out. "It was my reputation crumbling away, bit by bit." He also suggests that Rove and Libby may have worked behind closed doors to coordinate their stories about the Plame leak. Late last year, McClellan's publisher released an excerpt of the book that suggested Bush had knowledge of the leak, something that won McClellan no friends in the administration.

As McClellan departed the White House, he said: "Change can be helpful, and this is a good time and good position to help bring about change. I am ready to move on."

He choked up as he told Bush on the South Lawn, "I have given it my all, sir, and I have given you my all."

Bush responded at the time: "He handled his assignments with class, integrity. He really represents the best of his family, our state and our country. It's going to be hard to replace Scott."

Staff writer Michael Abramowitz contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052703679_pf.html

if only McClellan would have spoken out earlier. preferably before the 2004 election.
could have saved some many lives.

but then he was selling a war, now he is selling a book...

[Kermit]

Bush Began to Plan War Three Months After 9/11
Book Says President Called Secrecy Vital

By William Hamilton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 17, 2004; Page A01

Beginning in late December 2001, President Bush met repeatedly with Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks and his war cabinet to plan the U.S. attack on Iraq even as he and administration spokesmen insisted they were pursuing a diplomatic solution, according to a new book on the origins of the war.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17347-2004Apr16.html




U.S. Sets Late January Decision on Iraq War
by Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung
Published on Thursday, December 19, 2002 by the Washington Post
The Bush administration has set the last week in January as the make-or-break point in the long standoff with Iraq, and is increasingly confident that by then it will have marshaled the evidence to convince the U.N. Security Council that Iraq is in violation of a U.N. resolution passed last month and to call for the use of force, officials said yesterday.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1219-03.htm




McCAIN says SUCCESS IN IRAQ

"when he goes he will then change his position on the conflict in Iraq because he will see the success that has been achieved on the ground.”
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/29/mccain-says-obamas-iraq-trip-would-convince-him-of-success/

[Tamikosmom]

This captal "C" Conserviative wannabe detective ... who has a lot of issue with President Bushes policies ... is very suspicious of the timing of Scott's pang of conscience.

Janet

++++++

Karl Rove Denies Allegations Made Against Him in Scott McClellan's New Book
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

HANNITY: ...if he really felt this way, why didn't he leave earlier?

ROVE: Well, two things. First of all, this doesn't sound like Scott. It really doesn't. Not the Scott McClellan I've known for a long time.  Second it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger. Second of all, you're right. If he had these moral qualms, he should have spoken up about them.

And frankly, I don't remember him speaking up about these things. I don't remember a single world.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,359023,00.html

[Tylergal]

SPECIAL REPORT: Iran Supports Iraq Terror
By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)
Published: June 11, 2008
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards head General Muhammad Ali Jaafari in Tehran, shown here in 2005. (ABACAPRESS.COM via Newscom)
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Secret details of the production of a new type of explosively formed penetrator, or EFP in military jargon, is being produced by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF), according to sources in the Iranian resistance.

The information was revealed at a Parliamentary press conference held in London Tuesday by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a group opposed to the rule of the mullahs.

The NCRI revealed precise details of 51 weapons smuggling networks operating between Iran and Iraq. The group outlined the methods used to smuggle the EFPs and exposed the Iranian-backed terrorist militias operating in Iraq.

The information presented to the media was backed up by satellite images obtained by the NCRI depicting a number of what was described as "secret sites."

"Based on the information obtained by the network of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran [PMOI – also known as MeK, Mujahedin-e-Khalq], the Qods Force is responsible for providing more than 80 percent of the arms, ammunition and bombs being used across Iraq," said Hossein Abedini, member of the NCRI's Foreign Affairs Committee.

Production and Testing of the New Models of EFPs

Parchin

"Sector Five" of the Parchin Industry is where new deadlier models of EFPs are manufactured southeast of Tehran.

Moham Research Center

Several teams are engaged in this center in the development of advanced EFPs.

Research in Sayyad Shirazi Industries

Engineer Shahriar Moqadam, an expert on materials and metallurgy, works on armor-piercing projects in Sayyad Shirazi Industries, which is a series of factories of arms production industries.

Tir Square in Hesar-e Amir

Tests on newer models of EFPs are carried out at Tir Square in Hesar-e Amir in the Parchin industry unit. This area which is located in the vicinity of Parchin is specifically set up for the testing of new weaponry, including EFPs. The work undertaken there is considered top secret.

Smuggling of EFPs to Iraq

Currently the Qods Force uses parties and groups with ties to the IRGC as well as local smugglers in the border regions to smuggle bomb packages, rockets and other weaponry via the border posts in the provinces of Khuzestan, Ilam, Kermanshah and Kurdistan. The PMOI has uncovered 51 major weapons smuggling networks operating between Iran and Iraq.

"I have no doubt that the Iranian regime has been emboldened in their ambitions for the Middle East by the policy pursued by our [British] government and others of engaging with the Iranian regime and holding constructive dialogue with them," said Lord Waddington.

"Years into this policy, it is clear that there has been nothing constructive about this policy. Instead, we have witnessed the coming to power of the most extreme Islamic fundamentalist regime, one that has consistently violated international law and international human rights law, has aggressively pursued a nuclear weapons program and has persistently interfered in the internal affairs of Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, hellbent on exporting terror and corrupting these fragile states," the English lord said.

[caesu]

SPECIAL REPORT: Iran Supports Iraq Terror
By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)
Published: June 11, 2008
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards head General Muhammad Ali Jaafari in Tehran, shown here in 2005. (ABACAPRESS.COM via Newscom)
TOOLBAR
Print Story
Add Comments
Secret details of the production of a new type of explosively formed penetrator, or EFP in military jargon, is being produced by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF), according to sources in the Iranian resistance.

The information was revealed at a Parliamentary press conference held in London Tuesday by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a group opposed to the rule of the mullahs.

The NCRI revealed precise details of 51 weapons smuggling networks operating between Iran and Iraq. The group outlined the methods used to smuggle the EFPs and exposed the Iranian-backed terrorist militias operating in Iraq.

The information presented to the media was backed up by satellite images obtained by the NCRI depicting a number of what was described as "secret sites."

"Based on the information obtained by the network of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran [PMOI – also known as MeK, Mujahedin-e-Khalq], the Qods Force is responsible for providing more than 80 percent of the arms, ammunition and bombs being used across Iraq," said Hossein Abedini, member of the NCRI's Foreign Affairs Committee.

Production and Testing of the New Models of EFPs

Parchin

"Sector Five" of the Parchin Industry is where new deadlier models of EFPs are manufactured southeast of Tehran.

Moham Research Center

Several teams are engaged in this center in the development of advanced EFPs.

Research in Sayyad Shirazi Industries

Engineer Shahriar Moqadam, an expert on materials and metallurgy, works on armor-piercing projects in Sayyad Shirazi Industries, which is a series of factories of arms production industries.

Tir Square in Hesar-e Amir

Tests on newer models of EFPs are carried out at Tir Square in Hesar-e Amir in the Parchin industry unit. This area which is located in the vicinity of Parchin is specifically set up for the testing of new weaponry, including EFPs. The work undertaken there is considered top secret.

Smuggling of EFPs to Iraq

Currently the Qods Force uses parties and groups with ties to the IRGC as well as local smugglers in the border regions to smuggle bomb packages, rockets and other weaponry via the border posts in the provinces of Khuzestan, Ilam, Kermanshah and Kurdistan. The PMOI has uncovered 51 major weapons smuggling networks operating between Iran and Iraq.

"I have no doubt that the Iranian regime has been emboldened in their ambitions for the Middle East by the policy pursued by our [British] government and others of engaging with the Iranian regime and holding constructive dialogue with them," said Lord Waddington.

"Years into this policy, it is clear that there has been nothing constructive about this policy. Instead, we have witnessed the coming to power of the most extreme Islamic fundamentalist regime, one that has consistently violated international law and international human rights law, has aggressively pursued a nuclear weapons program and has persistently interfered in the internal affairs of Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, hellbent on exporting terror and corrupting these fragile states," the English lord said.

that's right. Iran is very thankfull of the USA that they removed their arch-enemy Saddam.
now Iran has more influence in Iraq than even the Iraqi government itself.
and everytime you pay at the pump the money goes to Saud-Arabia and Iran who in turn send it to the Iraqi insurgents, Sunni militias or Shia militias or Hamas/Hezbollah.
the war (costing 2.5 billion a week), pays for itself - just like Cheney said.

[Tylergal]

Oh, go ahead and talk that talk.  We get 60% of our oil from Canada, New Mexico and were getting a large amount of it from Venezuela until the Marxist came to power.  Do you realize that the price of the war is miniscule compared to what we give to your country and our other enemies to bash us all the time.  Do you realize without my tax dollars and my GIs defending you, you would be under Marxist control or worse yet, Sharia. 

We have enough oil here in our own country, in 2.5 square miles of ANWAR and North Dakota, of the vast thousands of miles of this country, to provide for our country for 200 years but it is because of the lies of the global warming fanatics and tree-huggers that we cannot drill on our own soil to provide oil for our aged freezing and lower income and middle income to provide gasoline for their cars to get them to and from work, energy for the generators for our hospitals and medical facilities who do the bulk of enterprising medical treatment in the world and it is our evil drug companies that have extended the lives of the Americans and others around the world, and it is our evil President Bush, who did more for AIDS in third-world countries than all the European panhandling vagabonds put together.  Only because we have nitwits picking nits and sucking their capped teeth to impress radicals are we not providing more. 

[caesu]

Oh, go ahead and talk that talk.  We get 60% of our oil from Canada, New Mexico and were getting a large amount of it from Venezuela until the Marxist came to power.  Do you realize that the price of the war is miniscule compared to what we give to your country and our other enemies to bash us all the time.  Do you realize without my tax dollars and my GIs defending you, you would be under Marxist control or worse yet, Sharia. 

We have enough oil here in our own country, in 2.5 square miles of ANWAR and North Dakota, of the vast thousands of miles of this country, to provide for our country for 200 years but it is because of the lies of the global warming fanatics and tree-huggers that we cannot drill on our own soil to provide oil for our aged freezing and lower income and middle income to provide gasoline for their cars to get them to and from work, energy for the generators for our hospitals and medical facilities who do the bulk of enterprising medical treatment in the world and it is our evil drug companies that have extended the lives of the Americans and others around the world, and it is our evil President Bush, who did more for AIDS in third-world countries than all the European panhandling vagabonds put together.  Only because we have nitwits picking nits and sucking their capped teeth to impress radicals are we not providing more. 

the Bush administration has been a great help for islamist sharia powers.
they installed puppet sharia regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
under Saddam Iraq was secular.
and Iran has risen to a superpower in the region thanks to the raping of Iraq.
1.2 million, mainly civilians dead - in comparison to the population size, that would be 12 million Americans dead.
don't you think Americans would be a little angered if their country would be invaded and occupied under false pretenses?
without doubt they would fight the occupiers.
and the Bush family is madly in love with another sharia islamist power: Saudi-Arabia.

all these regimes thanks to the oil money, give support to groups and militias fighting American soldiers in Iraq and building up Hamas and Hezbollah.

so the Bush administration indeed helped greatly in the rise of islamist powers.
and that's a problem for Europa. the Iranian rockets can reach for a great distance into Europa.
if only Bush could have spelled a little better and instead of Iraq, he would have confronted Iran.
Iran always has been a much greater threat.

and about that oil:
no surprise that it's is going to cost something if all those obese want to drive around in airconditioned SUVs.
supply / demand. cut down on that ridiculous demand. price maybe won't go down - but energy bill will.
Bush might loose his oil sheikhs friends.
better add some taxes to the gas prices. maybe that will stop the oil addiction a bit.
with the tax revenue those crumbling bridges and neglected roads can get fixed.
i was amazed to see in what bad shape the american road network is. unlike any other western country.

[Tamikosmom]

I question the character or ... motives of Scott McClellan.  If McClellan words have foundation in truth then ... the American people should have been warned about the deceit which was taking place within the Bush Administration regarding the Iraq War at the getgo.  McCellan waited until 4000 American soldiers had been killed and ... he was no longer on the payroll.

GMAB!!

Janet

++++++++

Karl Rove Denies Allegations Made Against Him in Scott McClellan's New Book
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

HANNITY: ...if he really felt this way, why didn't he leave earlier?

ROVE: Well, two things. First of all, this doesn't sound like Scott. It really doesn't. Not the Scott McClellan I've known for a long time.  Second it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger. Second of all, you're right. If he had these moral qualms, he should have spoken up about them.

And frankly, I don't remember him speaking up about these things. I don't remember a single world.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,359023,00.html

[Kermit]

I question the character or ... motives of Scott McClellan.  If McClellan words have foundation in truth then ... the American people should have been warned about the deceit which was taking place within the Bush Administration regarding the Iraq War at the getgo.  McCellan waited until 4000 American soldiers had been killed and ... he was no longer on the payroll.

GMAB!!

Janet

++++++++

Karl Rove Denies Allegations Made Against Him in Scott McClellan's New Book
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

HANNITY: ...if he really felt this way, why didn't he leave earlier?

ROVE: Well, two things. First of all, this doesn't sound like Scott. It really doesn't. Not the Scott McClellan I've known for a long time.  Second it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger. Second of all, you're right. If he had these moral qualms, he should have spoken up about them.

And frankly, I don't remember him speaking up about these things. I don't remember a single world.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,359023,00.html

A lot goes on in the gov't that the public doesn't know about until - later on.
Senator Jay Bradford drafted the standards Act for no public disclosure for Hilary in 1988

[caesu]

of course i don't know this.

but i wouldn't be surprised at all if this year and especially after the Bush administration ends a lot more of Bush aides will come forward and speak out.

but by then when Bush isn't president anymore it won't have much consequences anymore.
and by then there are other current events that will dictate the news cycle.

already now Bush isn't really relevant anymore.
Supreme Court is going against him.
he held a speech in the Israeli Knesset and the next day the Israeli government reveals that they are doing the exact opposite (talking with Hamas/Hezbollah/Syria).
and McCain is trying frantically to distance himself from Bush.
even if Bush would make the most outrageous statement of his presidency tomorrow, it won't make much news anymore.

only thing that could happen if more aides will speak out after his administration ends is that the inevitable iraq war crimes tribunal will summon him to appear for that tribunal.

but i doubt any further president, even obama, would extradite him.
maybe rumsfeld, but he is quite old - and will likely play the ill-health card. and so will cheney with his heart.

[Tylergal]

No, Caseu, you are the one who is no longer relevant.  Bush will be redeemed in the history books just as Harry Truman was.  No doubt, John Kennedy might have been the worst president we ever had and his poll numbers were so low (although I loved Kennedy at the time, make no mistake) that he went to Texas to try to get southern and western voters to vote for him, where he was assassinated.  History will not remember either you or me at all, but I was there in some of the areas where policy was being made for many years, something I am neither proud of or ashamed of but just happened to be there, and have lived a lot of history and know how the history books work as a result.

[Tylergal]

Oh, yes, Caseu, my family was there making history from the 17th century, among the first Brits who came here to make history here.  Of my family tree, we can boast 7 US presidents.  My husband's great uncle who was a Dutch orphan, donated more to universities throughout this country and gave more to this world than I can even begin to write about, so my children have a legacy and we don't have to make one by posting vile screeds on political forums. 

My family can boast the origins of the Democrat party in our state and my great grandfather a US President, my grandfather the first editor/owner of the capital city newspaper in our area and Humble Oil in my husband's (orphan great uncle) legacy with Texas A&M and SMU endowments that rival the Clinton's now wealth.

[Tylergal]

American Politics Through a Glass, Darkly
By Suzanne Fields

BERLIN -- An American won't easily recognize politics at home as seen from Europe. Even our British cousins often look through a glass, darkly. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, distilled to their essence, were easier to understand. Liked him, didn't trust her. But the unfolding of the American presidential campaign is understood mostly through stereotypes. This sometimes makes meaningful conversations difficult.

How wonderful, Europeans typically exclaim, that a black man in the land that fought a war over slavery (to reduce a complicated story to an easily understood stereotype) gets to be president only 150 years later (the actual election is usually understood as only a ratifying formality). Curiously, Hillary as the first serious woman candidate seems hardly to have resonated among the frauleins. After the election of first Margaret Thatcher and then Angela Merkel, a leader's sex seems no big deal in Europe.

 
Europeans sneer at George W. Bush for many reasons, including his openness in talking about his religious faith, but he's having a good time on his current tour of Germany, France and Italy, whose chiefs of state actually like him. They're not even put off by his religious earnestness.

The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran has put the fear of God even into many European atheists. Israel's concern is becoming their worry, too. It's beginning to register with the most thoughtful Europeans that, as George W. Bush reminded them this week, his successor -- whoever he is -- will stick to his policy of dealing with Iran because presidents have to deal with the real world, not a world as they would like it to be.

Obama, who once said he would negotiate with Iran without preconditions, sounds more like a president as he learns, painfully, to bear a greater responsibility for pretty words. "Let me be clear. Israel's security is sacrosanct ... nonnegotiable," he told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention in Washington. "And there is no greater threat to Israel or to the peace and stability of the region than Iran."

Germans aren't entertained by sexual politics like we are, or as the British or the French and the Italians. They perceived Hillary as continuing her husband's cynicism of "politics as usual." They're thrilled by the surge of "Obamamania," though few expect it to last. They like John McCain as the maverick, replacing the cowboy from Prairie Chapel Ranch, and like his harsh denunciation of perceived torture of prisoners at Guantanamo.

They don't see much difference between the two surviving candidates on Israel, as almost anyone who heard or read their remarks to the AIPAC session could concur. But there's little passion for an American-like friendship with Israel.

A "special relationship" between Germany and Israel was forged after World War II, encouraging the memory and memorialization of the Holocaust, but lingering guilt and reparations for Jews who survived German cruelty have taken a toll on the collective psyche.

Nearly half of the Germans polled by the Bertelsmann Foundation last year said Jews exploit the legacy of the Third Reich. You don't have to be a disciple of Sigmund Freud to see that many Germans take a psychological glee, or at least satisfaction, in accusing Israelis of using Nazi tactics against Palestinian terrorists.

The Judeo-Christian tradition that is so much a part of American culture, fusing Biblical history with Western democratic traditions, inevitably leads to strong support of Israel. We see a separate church and state, but the Founding Fathers didn't separate the law of Moses from the inspiration that guided the writing of our Constitution. The Judeo-Christian heritage is one pillar of government, just as Greek and Roman philosophy is another. Such thinking is largely absent in post-Christian Europe, diminishing appreciation of Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East.

Jews, who contributed mightily to German society in the decades leading to World War II, were nevertheless perceived as "visitors" here, stereotyped as "different." An exhibition at Berlin's Jewish Museum drives this attitude home. It's called "Typical Cliches About Jews and Others." A bitter joke introduces the exhibition: "I've nothing against foreigners. Some of my best friends are foreigners. But these foreigners aren't from here."

Merkel tried to get a reference to the Judeo-Christian origins of government into the constitution of the European Union, but couldn't. Saying almost anything positive about religious faith is verboten in most of Western Europe -- something more to make meaningful conversation about America difficult.

[caesu]

Oh, yes, Caseu, my family was there making history from the 17th century, among the first Brits who came here to make history here.  Of my family tree, we can boast 7 US presidents.  My husband's great uncle who was a Dutch orphan, donated more to universities throughout this country and gave more to this world than I can even begin to write about, so my children have a legacy and we don't have to make one by posting vile screeds on political forums. 

My family can boast the origins of the Democrat party in our state and my great grandfather a US President, my grandfather the first editor/owner of the capital city newspaper in our area and Humble Oil in my husband's (orphan great uncle) legacy with Texas A&M and SMU endowments that rival the Clinton's now wealth.

i don't see what that elitists boasting has got to do with anything.
don't know what you are trying to prove there.

regardless my points is still there that the current president has made himself irrelevant.
did you know he is touring europe now? it hardly gets any coverage on the news anymore.
event his most stupid remarks are not getting noticed anymore.

[Tylergal]

Oh, I was not referring to you, Caseu, as an elitist and I was quite sure the post would go right over your head.  Tell me why I am not shocked.

[Tylergal]

Oh, yes, Caseu, my family was there making history from the 17th century, among the first Brits who came here to make history here.  Of my family tree, we can boast 7 US presidents.  My husband's great uncle who was a Dutch orphan, donated more to universities throughout this country and gave more to this world than I can even begin to write about, so my children have a legacy and we don't have to make one by posting vile screeds on political forums. 

My family can boast the origins of the Democrat party in our state and my great grandfather a US President, my grandfather the first editor/owner of the capital city newspaper in our area and Humble Oil in my husband's (orphan great uncle) legacy with Texas A&M and SMU endowments that rival the Clinton's now wealth.

i don't see what that elitists boasting has got to do with anything.
don't know what you are trying to prove there.

regardless my points is still there that the current president has made himself irrelevant.
did you know he is touring europe now? it hardly gets any coverage on the news anymore.
event his most stupid remarks are not getting noticed anymore.

Unfortunately, you buy into everything the Euro press tells you.  Our president just met with the Pope, with all the leaders of Euro who are quite smitten with him despite his religious leanings and the European landscape has changed since President Bush has been in office and all countries are beginning to elect leaders who are more of his leaning than of the former leftist-leaning leaders.  Even Europe is pining for Maggie Thatcher.  Oh, yes, but so are we.   She would have told Bush not to take back the cowboy rhetoric and "don't go shaky and weak, Bushie."  Just like she did with his father before the Gulf War.

[Dihannah1]

Oh, yes, Caseu, my family was there making history from the 17th century, among the first Brits who came here to make history here.  Of my family tree, we can boast 7 US presidents.  My husband's great uncle who was a Dutch orphan, donated more to universities throughout this country and gave more to this world than I can even begin to write about, so my children have a legacy and we don't have to make one by posting vile screeds on political forums. 

My family can boast the origins of the Democrat party in our state and my great grandfather a US President, my grandfather the first editor/owner of the capital city newspaper in our area and Humble Oil in my husband's (orphan great uncle) legacy with Texas A&M and SMU endowments that rival the Clinton's now wealth.

With this fact of your family history,  I would say that makes you more qualified than most here to opine with some knowledge and experience.  Even if I was pro-Obama,  I would take stock in the intillect you posess,  which makes me stop and think of your position, regardless of what aisle one stands.   

As much as I appreciate CAESU for bringing her Dutch knowledge and what she brings to the Holloway case,  and even the research on our politics,    I don't find her as a qualified contributor, bringing there own Dutch motives.  Unlike the rest of us who are directly affected, whether the rest of the world is or not.   They don't have our national and domestic interests in mind either!

[caesu]

Oh, yes, Caseu, my family was there making history from the 17th century, among the first Brits who came here to make history here.  Of my family tree, we can boast 7 US presidents.  My husband's great uncle who was a Dutch orphan, donated more to universities throughout this country and gave more to this world than I can even begin to write about, so my children have a legacy and we don't have to make one by posting vile screeds on political forums. 

My family can boast the origins of the Democrat party in our state and my great grandfather a US President, my grandfather the first editor/owner of the capital city newspaper in our area and Humble Oil in my husband's (orphan great uncle) legacy with Texas A&M and SMU endowments that rival the Clinton's now wealth.

With this fact of your family history,  I would say that makes you more qualified than most here to opine with some knowledge and experience.  Even if I was pro-Obama,  I would take stock in the intillect you posess,  which makes me stop and think of your position, regardless of what aisle one stands.   

As much as I appreciate CAESU for bringing her Dutch knowledge and what she brings to the Holloway case,  and even the research on our politics,    I don't find her as a qualified contributor, bringing there own Dutch motives.  Unlike the rest of us who are directly affected, whether the rest of the world is or not.   They don't have our national and domestic interests in mind either!

what does a family tree have to do with being qualified?

now you bring up the holloway case:
i am amazed by the double standards here.
for years all of you have been fighting the horrible smears against beth by aruba.

but now with these smears against obama: no questions asked - most of you swallow all these as truths without independly double checking.

i find this very curious.

for example, every now and again someone (including Tylergal) starts bringing up al kinds of non-existing or mixed up quotes. directly copied from smear-sites.
when i read then, that Tylergal supposedly is knowledgable and experienced.
well... maybe you've been fooled all along. i don't know.
posting a smear again and again doesn't make it a bit less false each time.