This morning I turned on the TV and see Bob Woodward is on,  so I watch.  I usually try to keep my attention focused on church issues and read my theological friend’s blogs via my RSS list,  but today this jumped out at me when I was looking for what might be on the news this morning.

David Brooks, commenting on his article about Bush’s “unwavering certainty”,  just said “Bob would call it a ‘State of Denial'”, nodding toward Bob Woodward seated next to him. (Transcript of Meet The Press |  Video ) The related point in Brooks’ article:

All this will be taken as evidence by many that Bush is delusional. He’s living in a cocoon. He doesn’t see or can’t face how badly the war is going and how awfully he has performed.

But Bush is not blind to the realities in Iraq. After all, he lives through the events we’re not supposed to report on: the trips to Walter Reed, the hours and hours spent weeping with or being rebuffed by the families of the dead.

Rather, his self-confidence survives because it flows from two sources.

• The first is his unconquerable faith in the rightness of his Big Idea….
• Second, Bush remains energized by the power of the presidency.

I immediately notice how neither of the two has anything to do with information “on the ground”.  Brooks seems to prove Woodward’s “State of Denial” assessment correct.  He goes on to say how Bush is “listening” to his generals:

If Gen. David Petraeus comes back and says he needs more troops and more time, Bush will scrounge up the troops. If GeneralPetraeus says he can get by with fewer, Bush will support that, too.

But later in the article Brooks writes:

When Bush is asked about military strategy, he talks about the leadership qualities of his top generals. Before, it was Generals Abizaid and Casey. Now, it’s Generals Petraeus and Odierno.

The problem (or the revelation) is in the “before, it was……Now,  it’s”…..How many sets of accounts is Bush going to sludge through before he hits on the one with the reports that “fit”?  More evidence that the “facts” must fit the administration’s delusional ideology. 

Other items on Meet The Press: People are backing off talk of “censure” and much less “impeachment” for the sake of “bipartisan” efforts;  ie.  Brooks says that there are 30 Republicans distancing themselves from the President,  and that this move spearheaded by Feingold (the censure resolution) will do damage to “bipartisan” resistance.(see Video at about 34:51) 

But this is where the “political process” based on “strong bipartisan support” is ultimately morally useless.  When great wrong is happening,  backing away from “reprimand” (ala “censure”)  is just another sign that the presidency is “off limits” as far as being accountable to the checks and balances.  The careful calculation of political fallout will only enable the worst offenders of blind, greedy ideology to maintain their hold.  With Hitler,  only after he was enabled to begin carrying out his delusional plan did the effects and the ensuing chaos show themselves sufficiently.  It seems that our “process” is unwilling to name or recognize evil.  Of course,  this is not surprising.  They are not working from a theology¹ that recognizes “the world” as such;  theirs is one which proceeds on the assumption that there is only one world,  and that our “constitutional process” can only be improved or “restored” via what ultimately seems like a mathematical formula, guided by polls and political expediency.   So evil is not confronted,  because evil is not a politically correct concept.  Al Gore’s appeals to “the supremacy of reason” are seen as purely ideological and intellectual differences by his opponents. 

‘Al-Qaeda in Iraq’  is the Bush administration’s big PR push now,  and Josh Marshall, Juan Cole,  and others in the media are revealing what BS this is.  (they simply point out the flawed association of ‘Al-Qaeda in Iraq’  with ‘Al-Qaeda as in Osama’.  ‘Al-Qaeda in Iraq’  is simply a group in Iraq that has “taken the name”,  and is NOT even close to being ‘a force’ in Iraq.  ‘Yet another “phase” of ratcheting up the fear factor. 

Juan Cole needs to be listened to.  He needs to be held up and highlighted by the mainstream media in order to get some actual intelligence into our so-called “intelligence” ;  particularly those presently being trumpeted by the administration

“A major enemy in Iraq is the same enemy”.  Lies that depend upon ignorance for their cover.  NOT the “same enemy”.  It’s like saying two guys named John Smith are the same person. The above video is from Josh Marshall’s site,  analyzing the manipulation at work in the latest Bush Bamboozle.