September 2, 2009 6:31 AM

Revisionist History 101...or Lies, Damn Lies, and Tom Ridge

When I look at your record, I feel like you didn't slip in a reference to the president and a reference to Iraq once in this mention in 2004. You were a crucial, authoritative part of making what turned out to be a false case to the American people abut Iraq being a threat and us needing to attack them.... Maddow then quoted back Ridge a statement of his from 2003, a month before the invasion of Iraq began, in which he stated that he agreed with Bush that Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, and is trying to develop nuclear ones, and has the "means of delivery." She asked Ridge if looking back, he regretted that statement. Ridge answered, "No." Does he still think it's true: "At the time I think it's true, and subsequent to that [Bush's] leadership and the things we've done have kept America safe.".... Ridge insists, to a skeptical Maddow, that Iraq was an intelligence failure and not a politicized decision.

The Soviets may have given the concept of revisionist history it's cachet, but it's taken former Bushies to bring it to a full and glorious flowering. Ari Fleischer has thus far been the self-appointed High Priest of massaging the history of BushWorld, but other former Administration lackeys have contributed mightily to The Way Things Ought To Be ©. Last night, it was former Homeland (in)Security Czar Tom Ridge not only defending the Bush Administration, but also peddling the canard that America was made safer by the decisive actions and inspired leadership of President Bush. Last week, it seemed as if he was calling out Bushies for politicizing terror alerts. Now Ridge now appears thoroughly chastened and safely back in the realm of those determined to paint George W. Bush as the patron saint of American safety and security.

I'll begin by saying that I understand the intelligence gathering and interpretation can be equal part art, science, and crap shoot. Hindsight being what it is, being wrong- horribly, irretrievably wrong- is a very real possibility. What I'm talking about here isn't merely about intelligence being misinterpreted. I'm talking about lies, damn lies, and the willful manipulation of information and intelligence in order to achieve a desired end- in this case, the war in Iraq that neoConservatives so desperately wanted.

Ridge's interview on The Rachel Maddow Show was nothing if not yet another attempt by a former Bushie to massage history and frame the discussion and place his patron saint in the most favorable light possible. If that was as far as it went, it would be bad enough, but more than 4,000 young American lives have been thrown away in pursuit of a war that has done nothing to make this country safer. If anything, the war in Iraq has made America a LESS safe and secure place. We've certainly become a more paranoid, skittish, and easily suggestible place. That Ridge isn't falling on his sword while begging the American people for forgiveness is nothing if not an exercise in chutzpah. That the run-up to the war in Iraq was an exercise in lies, propaganda, and fear-mongering is at this point essentially an accepted fact. That Ridge would continue to push the propaganda and expect Americans to swallow it unquestioningly is laughable. Then again, if the fiasco during town hall season has shown me anything, it's that it would be difficult to overstate the willingness of Americans to unquestioningly swallow Right-wing propaganda.

Personally, I'm insulted that Ridge could sit across from Maddow (who did a commendable job of keeping her powder dry) and, with a straight face, parrot all the tired old talking points. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a threat. Yes, George W. Bush's inspired and insightful leadership kept this country safe. Yes, the world is a nasty place and we did the best we could with what we had. Whatever....

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 young American lives have been casually and thoughtlessly wasted in Iraq, as if they were chips in a geopolitical poker game. No one has been (or likely ever will be) held accountable for the lies and propaganda employed to sell the war in Iraq to an unquestioning, easily cowed, and highly suggestible American public. Almost as bad, the war in Iraq has done nothing to protect and advance American interests. If anyone thinks they can make a coherent argument for why war in Iraq has been a good thing for this country, I'm willing to listen...but I'm not about to hold my breath.

If our new President and his Attorney General had any courage at all, most of the neoCons responsible for lying and propagandizing their way into the war they so desperately wanted would be on trial for their lives. That will never happen, of course, and these criminals will continue pushing the Big Lie that the war in Iraq made America a safer place. It would be nice to think that the Obama Administration would have the courage to pursue justice for those brave Americans murdered by the Bush Administration. Justice demands it, but eight months in, I've yet to see anything that would indicate that anyone in the Obama Administration has the stomach and the desire to do the right thing.

WE DESERVE BETTER...and we'll keep on waiting.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on September 2, 2009 6:31 AM.

OH. MY. GOD.... And these people are allowed to vote? was the previous entry in this blog.

It's football season, but is our children learning? Eh, apparently not so much. is the next entry in this blog.

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