No, they are just lazy, and they figure the great unwashed won't draw this connection (which is likely true.)

The pushback strategy is clear - repeat the crap about Clinton firing 93 USA's endlessly, and ignore anyone who points out the truth. It's a brute force tactic, but it may well work; they own much bigger megaphones than we do.

On the one hand, they say "mistakes were made." On the other hand, they say everybody does it. It doesn't add up. They don't even pretend to try to make sense. They just lie and don't give a damn.

They have really strange conversations in the white house. They like to talk about issues in an abstract vague way so they aren't even sure if they are talking about the same thing. No wonder they suck at implementing stuff.

"I did say to Al last year ... 'Have you heard complaints about [U.S. attorneys? I have.' ... But I never brought up a specific case, nor gave him specific instructions."

Hey, the passive voice is popular in bureaucracies in every place and time; and for good reason.

Mistakes were made responding to Katrina. Mistakes were made hunting Bin Laden. Mistakes were made about WMD's in Iraq. Mistakes were made in saying we would be greeted as liberators.

Can't we just move on and forget who made the mistakes?

The mistakes would have wanted it that way.

toast: "I did say to Al last year ... 'Have you heard complaints about [U.S. attorneys? I have.' ... But I never brought up a specific case, nor gave him specific instructions."

Yeah, all I said was "who will rid me of these troublesome lawyers".

Okay, so I'm a moron. What was the original context for "Mistakes were made"? Vietnam? The Nuremberg Trials? Louis XVI on his way to the guillotine? Nicholas II?

Wait, now we're supposed to believe Bush *didn't* want to have the US Attorneys fired? Is that what he's "not happy" about, or is he just "not happy" he got *caught*?

It's almost as much of a stretch as thinking that the chief of staff to the VP is lying and obstructing justice and the VP himself is utterly in the dark about any of this stuff. How is Cheney's lack of disgust at Libby's actions anything but the dog that doesn't bark, and therefore by silence proves that there was nothing objectionable about which to bark?

What I love is that the WH is now pointing to the Clinton Administration in an effort to deflect criticism. They say "Clinton did it too!", and, even though the comparison is completely inappropriate, it's great that Clinton is now used as the gold standard -- the implication being that, if Clinton did it, it's above reproach. A delicious irony, no?

"Mistakes were made" was Ronnie's excuse regarding the (Israel)-Iran-Contra scandal.

(For those old enough, you may recollect that the scandal name originally included Israel, since they were the conduit via which the arms were passed to Iran.)

Richard Nixon certainly gets credit for the phrase, but a short google search reveals how others have made use of it in more recent decades. But yes, the idea that this administration is willing to dust off Nixon's heritage and reuse it is remarkable in itself.

Specifically, by the American people, on November 7, 2000, and again on November 2, 2004.

I read somewhere Albie G doesn't have a e-address at the dept. of justice. How convenient.

Let's see now. The U.s. Attornies can be fired uat the will of the President. But GW knows nothing about this, did not go through the pro formo of signing off, or knowing anything about it. He leaves it to the discretion of the Attorney General, who has, so far, no fingerprints on this, only "mistakes were made(but not by me)". His chief of staff (anybody closer to the AG?) has his fingerprints all over this, as does the White House counsel; the first resigns as soon as the resignations are disputed, the second is gone also.

And the buck stops where, exactly?

I first remember the phrase "mistakes were made" in regards to Watergate.

It does make it easier to explain, when teaching the passive, why there is a pervasive prejudice against it in expository-writing circles generally, and in journalism in particular.

I have another blackboard full of fresh, new examples for the fall.

I think Cain said it to his father, Adam.

Hey, it worked when the Clinton Administration f*cked up Waco. Their misjudgments led to the horrible burning deaths of innocent women and children.

Janet Reno proclaimed that she took "full responsibility." That comment was the end of any investigation or criticism.

(More precisely it was the end of criticism by the main stream press. Right wingers continued to be bitter.)

Lies were told. Laws were broken.

ex-liberal wants to compare the current scandal to Waco.
Let's see:

Waco = tactical misjudgments when dealing with a horrible situation

US Attorneys fired = politicizing an entire branch responsible for the administration of justice; using Executive power to influence criminal investigations; lying to Congress; lying to the American people; the public smearing of good, competent professionals

Oh yeah, they're comparable. Absolutely.

"Mistakes were made" was made famous by the Reagan Administration's Iran-Contra. Classic use of passive tense, allowing those who made the mistakes to escape blame.

First time as tragedy, second time as farce...

Good to see that faux-lib still supports terrorists who murdered 4 gvmt agents and almost one hundred children.

Do they really have no idea why that phrase is infamous?

Was it part of his father's apology to his mother when ex-liberal was born?

DNS - In Waco a bunch of innocent women and children died horribly by burning to death. In the US attorney case, a handful of Republican prosecutors who served at the pleasure of the President were legally fired by him. They will be replaced by other Republican prosecutors.

No laws were broken. Nobody was injured. Nobody died.

Right wingers continued to be bitter.

Footsoldiers in the Michigan Militia and domestic terrorists continued to be bitter.

Fixed it for ya.

Ah, Kevin.

Waco up in flames. Blow jobs and stained blue dresses. Chappaquidick. Kristnallnacht. The Dreyfuss affair. Whitewater. Travel office firings. France surrendurs. Embarrassment at Suez. Disaster at Sicily, 414BC. Bay of Pigs. Bleeding Kansas. War of Jenkin's Ear. Cannae. "Apres mois, le Deluge." Fall of Kosovo. Divine wind.

See any connections?

When I think of "mistakes were made" I always think of this masterpiece of Matt Groening's.

...(More precisely it was the end of criticism by the main stream press. Right wingers continued to be bitter.)

Posted by: ex-liberal on March 14, 2007 at 9:59 PM | PERMALINK

Good job, never-ever. Now if we can ask you when you were born, we can start narrowing down that infinitessimally small amount of time when you perceived yourself to be a liberal.

You really are a nut job. So the President should have sent his own man to run the FBI re the "seige" and sent his own man-on-the-ground to tell the police/FBI forces on the groud how to run their tactical situation.

As opposed to the Attorney General of the US knowing his hiring and firing policies for the US Attornies as run through his own chief of staff.

You'd crack me up except people like you are dangerous.

Not to confuse real life with TeeVee - but I've watched enough procedurals that when a crowd gets mowed down, my mind goes to "So who was the intended target?"

Now, how can I work "Sacrificial Lam" in here...?

Right wingers continued to be bitter.

Right wingers? Bitter?

Yawn........

Heck, were they given a world in which poverty and sickness vanished, peace broke out and opportunities for fulfilling lives abounded, most right wingers would continue to be bitter. It's what they are. It's more like they actively search out reasons to stoke this bitterness.

(Waco was a screw-up and in a less hyper-partisan environment - the blame for which lies squarely with Republicans - would have gotten a much better looking at. But when you fuckers attack everything no matter, there's no room to give.)

Page unavailable Jay.

Which one was it?

Daryl McCullough: "What was the original context for 'Mistakes were made'? Vietnam? The Nuremberg Trials? Louis XVI on his way to the guillotine? Nicholas II?"

The Chairman of the Board of 20th Century Fox, in trying to explain why they hired then-bombshell Elizabeth Taylor and British he-man Richard Burton for the leads in the studio's 1963 big-budget epic Cleopatra, which proved to be box office poison and nearly sank the studio like one of the title character's royal barges, after the two married stars left their respective spouses and engaged in a very public and tempestuous affair, much to the delight of the tabloids in Hollywood and the consternation of conservative movie-goers everywhere else.

Well, actually, no -- I just made up that plausible-sounding answer out of whole cloth, to show Al, egbert and American Hawk that they can't bullshit a bullshitter.

Anybody else want to guess?

scrambled eggbutt for brains, you are way too deep for me. Kristallnacht, Cannae, "Fall of Kosovo". Yep. Call me stupid, you are just way too deep.

I'm waiting for Tony Snow to tell us which collection of evasions, half-truths, and outright lies is "no longer operative."

ex-liberal clearly doesn't mind seeing the separation of powers, the system of checks and balances, and the non-partisan administration of justice being torn to pieces by this administration -- and then being lied to about it.

But that's probably because he doesn't understand these principles, so seeing them being systematically abused doesn't bother him.

Mistakes were made.

ex-liberal: P.S.
Executive-branch interference in the work of prosecutors is wrong, wrong, wrong, whether the administration is Republican or Democrat. If you can't get your mind around that, you're worse than pathetic.

It's time you became ex-ex-liberal. Come back to the good side.

Page unavailable Jay.

Here is another link to it.

In case bandwidth limits cause this one to go away as well, it is the one where Bongo says "Mistakes were made" to the looming shadow of his father as he is surrounded by a hurricane-aftermath-like mess of his own creation.

Some other interesting facts about Waco: Directors Terence Mallick, Kevin Reynolds and actress Shannon Elizabeth are all from there. Along with the fabulous Simpson sisters.

I had a girlfriend whose aunt went to Baylor.

The magnificent Western White House is just over the hill in Crawford.

Go Waco Wranglers!

Since we're on a tangent about Waco, maybe we should get in a related tangent about Dr Pepper, which was invented in Waco and is much more delicious than David Koresh.

egbert: "Ah, Kevin. Waco up in flames. Blow jobs and stained blue dresses. Chappaquidick. ... See any connections?"

Ah, egbert.

Mark Foley. Newt Gingrich. The Rev. Ted Haggard. Henry Hyde. Bob Livingston. Strom Thurmond. Jim Kolbe. Helen Chenowith. Neil Bush. Bill O'Reilly. Mary Cheney. Lynne Cheney. Jim Gibbons. Rudy Giuliani. Bernie Kerik. Judith Regan. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mary Carey. Jim Dale Guckert, a.k.a. "Jeff Gannon". Matt Sanchez, a.k.a. "Rod Majors".

Recognize any pattern there?

Steve Martin was born in Waco!

D'oh! I have common ground with Jay! Life in Hell rocks!

"Mistakes were made"? Dude---doesn't he know that phrase is no longer operative??

As I recall the media properly made a stink about it the first time the phrase was used. Not any more. See how far we've come!

DNS - there was no infringement of separation of powers. Federal powers are in three branches These attorneys were in the Executive Branch. The President has the right to appoint and to fire these prosecutors.

When Bill Clinton became President, he fired all of them and replaced them with his own people, which was his right.

grape_crush: "Was ['Mistakes were made'] part of his father's apology to his mother when ex-liberal was born?"

No, but there was probably some mumbling about being really drunk at the time and not remembering what happened.

(For those old enough, you may recollect that the scandal name originally included Israel, since they were the conduit via which the arms were passed to Iran.)

No, it didn't. It was never called that.

Waco was a horrible tragedy, for which more people should have been fired than actually were. It was inexcusable. But why does it make it acceptable to use the Justice Department to charge your political opponents with trumped-up, nonexistent charges?

When Bill Clinton became President, he fired all of them and replaced them with his own people, which was his right.

There is a species of lightening bugs (aka fireflies) that automatically synchronize their lighting displays so that they blink on and off in unison.

Those lightening bugs remind me of wingnuts.

ex-liberal --

Clearly you don't know what's at stake.

No, it didn't. It was never called that.

Yes it was, but if you blinked, you would have missed it. Check Nexis.

Waco was planned and carried out by their pedophile leader. They were a Book of Revelations cult. David Koresh took them all out in his home grown version of Armageddon rather than let them surrender.

And only wingnut whackjobs think it was anything else.

what a couple of morons, exactly right.

it really reminds me of when the president tried to pin the tortures at abu ghraib to "a few bad apples" as though they really have no idea how that expression ends (i.e. they spoil the bunch).

ex-liberal
re: the fact that USAs are part of the Justice Department, which is part of the Executive branch -- you're correct in a simplistic way, but, again, you don't understand the principles at work here -- the importance of protecting the USAs from political interference. It is a long-established principle that prosecutors must enjoy virtually total independence in their work -- and this principle is rooted in the separation of powers. To argue "they're part of the Executive Branch" displays an almost pre-adolescent understanding of how this country functions (or i supposed to). Go read some Supreme Court decisions on the issue if you don't believe me.

Can somebody explain to me why the Right has their hankies in such a twist over the fuck-up in Waco? Why do they identify so strongly with a child molesting nutcase and his brainwashed cultists? (No, they didn't deserve to die, but they are no martyrs of freedom either, except maybe for other nutcase cultists.)

Yeah it was a huge fuck-up by FBI and ATF and whoever else was there with their three letter names. Reno had been on the job all of four weeks, and as Abu Gonzales keeps saying, it's hard work out there for an AG.

Clinton and that evil Reno get blamed for Ruby Ridge as well quite often. Who do you think was president in August 1992?

Waco was planned and carried out by their pedophile leader. They were a Book of Revelations cult. David Koresh took them all out in his home grown version of Armageddon rather than let them surrender...And only wingnut whackjobs think it was anything else.

Ladies and gentlemen, mark this date and time in your organizers and check the alignment of the planets...What I am about to say is unprecedented...

Well stated, Orwell. Thank you for that comment.

Bush is Koresh's evil twin. That's why the rightards keep bringing up Waco.

Poor little Bushie - this is so bad that even if he fired Alberto - Bush is still screwed.

What did Broder say about Bush's polls going up?

I guess this is what happens when your a stupid, partisan armchair pundit like Joe Klein.

AND I wonder if Bush popularity is lower then Nixon's impeachment numbers right now?

I recommend that Broder go on Meet the Press and talk about those foul mouth liberal bloggers one more time. Should do worlds of good for Tim Russert's ratings too.

No laws were broken. Nobody was injured. Nobody died.
Yes, conveniently enough, the Republican Congress and the Republican President had recently changed the law. What an amazing coincidence!
And remind me--how many people were injured or killed by Bill Clinton receiving a blow job? Oh, that's right, zero.

Check Nexis.

I don't have access to Nexis, but a Google search returns exactly zero uses of the phrase "Israel-Iran-contra" to refer to that scandal.

I don't have access to Nexis, but a Google search returns exactly zero uses of the phrase "Israel-Iran-contra" to refer to that scandal.

Well, duh, the world wide web wasn't around in 1986.

Orwell was correct. For some people if it isn't in Google's cache, it doesn't exist.

And remind me--how many people were injured or killed by Bill Clinton receiving a blow job? Oh, that's right, zero.

Perhaps. But since the Waco blaze was ignited by Clinton's fire-spitting penis, he is hardly as innocent as you make him out to be.

Clinton's fire-spitting penis

Hey! That's my superpower!

This continues to be a source of great amusement--as the liberal elites work overtime to bring down the Attorney General, one can hear the rumblings of revenge.

I am convinced that there are elements within the White House who, sensing an opportunity, have convinced Attorney General Gonzales that he needs to resign. This is the dog that isn't going to bark--Gonzales will resign, only to be rewarded within the next year with a seat on the Supreme Court. (Justice Stevens cannot live forever, liberals.)

Now, this is the dog that IS going to bark--Senator Rick Santorum, as I pointed out yesterday, will be the next Attorney General of the United States of America.

To that, I say, "hallelujah!" and I continue to marvel at how this White House is able to play the Democratic Party like a fiddle on fire.

wewqeq
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Pentagon Transcripts Show Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Confesses to Sept. 11 Attacks

Ah yes, Norman Rogers. The Black Knight. You lop off his limbs seriatim and he still thinks he's winning the argument.

Have fun, Norman. Self-delusion is an amusement park where all the rides are free!

shorter N. Rogers: Stevenson might die in the next two years, in which case Bush will appoint some right-winger to the Supreme Court.

How devious. No liberal in America would see that one coming.

Poor DNS. If it wasn't for Monty Python you'd be a broken and lonely soul, casting about for insults you couldn't possibly think up on your own.

Senator Santorum will sail through any confirmation hearing--the smartest bet when filling a controversial cabinet seat is to nominate a former Senator who was part of "the club."

With a 51-49 majority, there is no doubt that Santorum would be roughed up a bit. But do any of you liberals really think Nelson of Nebraska, Nelson of Florida, Landrieu of Lousisiana and maybe Joe Lieberman of the Nutmeg State wouldn't consider a vote to placate their constituents and shore up their own base of religious conservatives? Or do Democrats from red states just go about ignoring religious voters. (Lieberman is a man of conscience from the Northeast, yes I know, so his vote would be for doing the correct thing, not so much to placate a constituency that doesn't exist in his state).

Or are we just going to trade insults and praise for dingbats all night long? I'm full of green tea and I'm loaded for bear, liberals.

Stevenson might die in the next two years

Actually, there is no one named "stevenson" on the Supreme Court; it is Justice Stevens and I do not wish him ill.

The fact of the matter is, Democrats and Republicans plan for putting their own on the Supreme Court. Gonzales was mentioned as a possible candidate for the Supreme Court during the Harriet Miers fiasco.

Not that any of you can think clearly, display knowledge of current events, or properly analyze anything for yourselves. Sheesh! You can cut the stupid with a knife and serve it for dessert around here!

Uh, did someone invite Norman Rogers to this thread? I ask 'cause he's in the corner mumbling about Supreme Court appointments and Lieberman being a man of conscience -- not only off-topic but also, clearly, off his meds.

Maybe someone can call him a cab...

Well, I have access to a couple of databases that aren't public access. From a Jewish Archives site:

When a shipment of HAWK missiles was proposed in November of that year, Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin again demanded specific U.S. approval. According to McFarlane, the President agreed.

By December 1985, the President had decided future sales to the Iranians would come directly from U.S. supplies.

According to the committees' report, NSC aide Lt. Col. Oliver North first used money from the Iran operation to fund the Nicaraguan resistance in November 1985. He later testified, however, that the diversion of funds to the Contras was proposed to him by Ghorbanifar during a meeting in January 1986.

to consider "mistakes were made" to be boneheaded, you have to assume that it is possible for Ronald Reagan to do something poorly and even, gasp, communicate with other than greatness.

The claus is notoriois only among us unbelievers in the Cult of Reagan and Bush and Gonzales don't talk to any of us.

Of course the totally blatant and pathetically feeble effort to avoid taking responsibility by using the passive voice was lame the first time, but that just shows that including late President Reagen they makes three morons (which would probably be enough to screw in a lightbulb).

Uh, did someone invite Norman Rogers to this thread?

Unlike the private Instant Messenger chat rooms where people like yourself are "invited" to talk about your love of anatomically correct Star Wars figurines and pictures of Barbra Streisand in sheer gowns, no one had to "invite" me to a blog where I have posted comments for the last four years.

The last two graphs are supposed to be italicized too.

How come when I don't want it to italicize the whole post, I have no problem achieving those ends?

Norman, Norman, Norman... Sarcasm, my dear boy. Sarcasm. But the Star Wars and Streisand references were pretty good. I'll give you that.

The claus is notoriois only among us unbelievers in the Cult of Reagan and Bush and Gonzales don't talk to any of us.

"Cult of Reagan?"

Oh, and there is no blind and subservient "Cult of Clinton" out there that is automatically making his wife the Democratic Nominee for the Presidency, now is there?

We are not "Cultists" who believe in Reagan. We are Americans, and we fly the flag and remember a great America. You drop your drawers and wang dang doodle yourselves every time the Big Dog tells that story about being five feet from a nervous President Kennedy.

Gonzales was mentioned as a possible candidate for the Supreme Court during the Harriet Miers fiasco.

And that dog didn't hunt then, you really think it will now? What, exactly, is the drug combination you are washing down with that green tea?

Gonzalez has presided over the politicization of the one cabinet-level department that can not be politicized. Prosecutors must have independence or else the entire proceeding becomes perfunctory, nothing more than show trials for the cameras.

We defeated the Soviets, remember?

Why are you in such a hurry to turn into them?

We defeated the Soviets, remember?

No, the Republican Party defeated the Soviets; the Democratic Party wanted to surrender and cede Alaska and the Panama Canal to the Politburo. Did you miss that part of American History 101?

But answer me this as you sputter in your cornflakes--who was a bigger religious nut? Attorney General Ashcroft or Senator Rick Santorum? And then explain why Nelson, Nelson, Landrieu and Lieberman wouldn't vote to confirm Santorum?

Oh for heaven's sake, Norman. Calm down and grow up. If there's a cult of one, there's a cult of the other. Either way, you're a shallow believer in the greatness of Bush and all things Republican, which proves that either you don't know what's going on or you approve of it. Either way, you're deserving of both ridicule and social isolation.

The only reason you raised the idea of Santorum being nominated to the Court -- completely off-topic -- is that you've already accepted the complete and utter defeat and failure of the Bush Administration in all other realms: economy, foreign policy, environment, health care, homeland security,... The only tool he has left that he can wield with any confidence is his choice of SC nominees. Why else would you turn to that issue, now of all times?

No, the Republican Party defeated the Soviets;

Those SAC troops in those silos were comprised of men and women of various political parties, my dear man.

Ronald Reagan is a Potemkin Victor. Without the Strategic Air Command, McDonalds, Levi's and Rock-n-Roll, Reagan's efforts would have all come to naught.

We are Americans, and we fly the flag and remember a great America.

We remember a great America, too. That's why we want you fascist freaks out. So we can bring it back again.

Freaking jingoist.

Without the Strategic Air Command, McDonalds, Levi's and Rock-n-Roll, Reagan's efforts would have all come to naught.

All funded and supported by Republican Presidents and backed up with stern foreign policy conducted by Republicans.

What, praytell, did Jimmy Carter ever accomplish by cancelling the 1980 Olympics?

Norman, you're pathetic.

Heeey who told Norman that I like to chat about anatomically correct Star Wars figurines in sheer gowns ?????

So - Norm!! You just sort of join random wingnut cliches together and kind of throw them out there no matter what anyone else is talking about don't you? You are either a cartoon character, or someone from The Daily Show writes your hackneyed observations.

Ok, I get it. The U.S. Attornies serve at the pleasure of the Attorney General's Chief of Staff.

How mature. Name calling, spoofing, and stoned giggling sure to follow. And all anyone managed to do was get in the way of BGRSakaGC making a point. Only a handful of you can actually express yourselves and the rest just throw up pedestrian little pieces of cutesy tripe. It is, literally, a thousand of you against me and why is it that I win virtually every time I deign to post here? Oh, that's right--because the ones with no talent or originality or ability drown out the handful that can respond with substance and thought.

Nice going, liberals. You just HAD to get stoned and ruin a good conversation, didn't you?

Hey, that was a bone-headed play. No doubt about it.

How exactly were Rock-n-Roll and Levi's backed up by Republican foreign policy, by the way? Can you clarify that for me?

SAC was not a Republican entity. It was a USAF entity. It was funded by - and used as a political football by - presidents of both parties - from it's inception at the start of the cold war in the wake of WW II, to it's final stand-down in 1992.

Do not deign to lay claim to the exclusive loyalty of the military. Especially with flag-ranks speaking up and speaking out with increasing frequency and volume.

Norman Rogers: "a thousand of you against me and why is it that I win virtually every time I deign to post here?"

translation: "It's only a flesh wound."

Enjoying the free rides in the self-delusion amusement park, are you? That's nice, Norman. You just keep at it.

why is it that I win virtually every time I deign to post here?

I'm guessing it's because you're a delusional asshole and only think you do. Hint - just because you keep on talking doesn't mean you've proven any point.

Israeli involvement in the Iran-Contra affair is not exactly a secret, as the Google News Archives results show.

Especially with flag-ranks speaking up and speaking out with increasing frequency and volume.

Funny, I don't hear them praising the gifted leadership of President Kerry these days...

Bwah hah hah hah hah hah hah!

(I win again. Norman Rogers=3,987. Liberals= zero.)

Pechorin --

He's a fascinating specimen, isn't he?
It's as if he believes: "As long as everyone continues to disagree with me, I win."

Norman Rogers: "Funny, I don't hear them praising the gifted leadership of President Kerry these days..."

Score on the Proof of Delusion scale: 100.

When the rest of us are talking about Gonzalez and the US Attorneys, Norman talks about Santorum being nominated to the Court. When someone says "not everyone in the military is a Republican" he says "but Kerry didn't become President".

And HE things he's scoring points. Yeah, right.

egfart: "Waco up in flames. Blow jobs and stained blue dresses. Chappaquidick. Kristnallnacht. The Dreyfuss affair."

Waterloo. The Magna Carta. Pizza Hut. Jonas Salk. "Subterranean Homesick Blues". Hiroshima. Crossing the Rubicon. X-Box. Lois Lane. Blackjack Pershing. The Marsellaises. Wounded Knee. Cra-Z-Glue.

Gee, that was really fun. Let's play some more.

Norman Rogers said: I'm full of green tea and I'm loaded for bear, liberals.

Full of green tea, eh? Then you might be experiencing the suffering we liberals have been enduring for six plus years.

It is a small monkey, perfectly black. It had only one peculiarity—a character of malignity—unfathomable malignity. During the first year looked sullen and sick. But this character of intense malice and vigilance was always underlying that surly languor. . . . Its eyes were never off me. I have never lost sight of it, except in my sleep, light or dark, day or night, since it came here, excepting when it withdraws for some weeks at a time, unaccountably.

When it leaves me for a time, it is always at night, in the dark, and in the same way. It grows at first uneasy, and then furious, and then advances towards me, grinning and shaking, its paws clenched, and, at the same time, there comes the appearance of fire in the grate. I never have any fire. I can’t sleep in the room where there is any, and it draws nearer and nearer to the chimney, quivering, it seems, with rage, and when its fury rises to the highest pitch, it springs into the grate, and up the chimney, and I see it no more.

When first this happened, I thought I was released. I was now a new man. A day passed—a night—and no return, and a blessed week—a week—another week. I was always on my knees, Dr. Hesselius, always, thanking God and praying. A whole month passed of liberty, but on a sudden, it was with me again.

Green Tea by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

It's not green tea with me. The Chimperor is very real to me. But perhaps green tea can help you empathize with us.

jimBOB: The pushback strategy is clear - repeat the crap about Clinton firing 93 USA's endlessly...

Has anyone already mentioned that Ronald "Mistakes were made" Reagan replaced every sitting U.S. Attorney when he appointed his first Attorney General? Yeah, shockingly true, but you know everything is Reagan's fault.

McPeak. Odom. Eaton. Clark. Shinseki.

And the trump card - former CENTCOM commander ZINNI.

Well, duh, the world wide web wasn't around in 1986.

The World Wide Web wasn't around in 1928, either, yet Google still returns 80,000 hits for "A Chicken in Every Pot," Herbert Hoover's campaign slogan from that year.

More to the point, I was around in 1986, and I never heard any reference to an "Israel-Iran-Contra scandal."

Of course, that doesn't mean the phrase wasn't used in some PLO newsletter, but if the scandal was "originally called" that, you'd think some trace of it would show up in the Internet.

Try "Iran Contra, Israel"

1,290,000 hits in .32 seconds.

Hope teh Google works out for you.

Make that 0.08 seconds, when I put my glasses on.

More to the point, I was around in 1986, and I never heard any reference to an "Israel-Iran-Contra scandal." ...Of course, that doesn't mean the phrase wasn't used in some PLO newsletter...

Scroll up to Calton Bolick's post at 12:40 AM and click the link. Somehow, I don't think the San Jose Mercury News, Philly Inquirer, or the Washington Post qualify as a PLO newsletter.

I learn something new everyday. Washington Post, Aug, 16, 1987:

In the words of Secretary of State George P. Shultz, the origins of the Iran-contra affair can be traced to Israel, which he said "suckered" the United States into the initial arms sales to Iran in 1985. Other Cabinet officers and Iran-contra committee members have offered similar views, saying that Israel's agenda pulled the United States into an initiative that ran counter to American interests.

I reproduced segments of a report from the IDF from a restricted Jewish Archive, as well.

Wanna talk about Bobby Inman, Johnathan Pollard and taking Mossad out of the intel loop? We can...I have an hour until I have to be in bed...

With friends like that....

Apollo 13

Interesting post re: Schultz, Israel suckering the US.

I'm more and more convinced that, when it comes to foreign policy in the Middle East, the US is simply out-classed, out-performed. The history, the complexities, the language barriers,... All other parties listen because they have to -- not because we know what we're doing. It's almost embarrassing.

So there's no article on Mistakes were made on Wikipedia yet. Anyone got good sources on the etymology of the phrase so we can start one?

Almost?

I fully understand that Israel played a role in the Iran-Contra scandal. That is not at issue here. I am not interested in discussing that, since Israel's role is not in any dispute, least of all by me. What I am arguing against is that "the scandal name originally included Israel," as disputo posted at 9:51.

The New Republic called it "Iranamok" (which still garners nearly 600 Google hits, by the way, even though no one else ever called it that), but until someone can point me to any reputable, contemporaneous source that uses the phrase "Israel-Iran-Contra," I will continue to believe that the phrase was never in widespread use. Or in any use at all, from what I can tell.

From Reagans State of the Union Address, Jan. 27, 1987:

But though we've made much progress, I have one major regret: I took a risk with regard to our action in Iran. It did not work, and for that I assume full responsibility. The goals were worthy. I do not believe it was wrong to try to establish contacts with a country of strategic importance or to try to save lives. And certainly it was not wrong to try to secure freedom for our citizens held in barbaric captivity. But we did not achieve what we wished, and serious mistakes were made in trying to do so. We will get to the bottom of this, and I will take whatever action is called for. But in debating the past, we must not deny ourselves the successes of the future. Let it never be said of this generation of Americans that we became so obsessed with failure that we refused to take risks that could further the cause of peace and freedom in the world. Much is at stake here, and the Nation and the world are watching to see if we go forward together in the national interest or if we let partisanship weaken us. And let there be no mistake about American policy: We will not sit idly by if our interests or our friends in the Middle East are threatened, nor will we yield to terrorist blackmail.

Wanna talk about Bobby Inman, Johnathan Pollard and taking Mossad out of the intel loop?

Bring it on, Globe. Educate me as long as you have time.

Wanna talk about Bobby Inman, Johnathan Pollard and taking Mossad out of the intel loop?

Bring it on, Globe. Educate me as long as you have time.

And I'm still here -- that makes two attentive listeners, at least.

Okay - first of all, Inman is the only character in that sorry cast that didn't deserve to hang. I would say taht to Poindexter's face if I had the chance. Fucking traitor. Read Veil, by Bob Woodward for a good peeling back of the layers of Iran-Contra.

The Mossad set the sorry spectacle in play. The Mossad are a bunch of thugs and war criminals, by the way, and I don't just say that to make my Uncle Myron's neck-vein throb, that's just a bonus.

Inman was the only one to stand up to them. Hew cut the Mossad out of the intel loop. AIPAC went apeshit. Hell, Pollard tried to say that he was forced to betray his country and steal intel for Israel because Inman had created an existential threat to the state of Israel!

That's the nickel version.

That's the nickel version from someone who was in the Intel community and the Inman camp. I should clarify that.

AAnd Pollard? He should have had two choices to make...

The gallows or the wall?

and

Last cigarette, or no?

Other than that...

Can you tell that treason is a touchy subject with me?

Sheesh. So what happened to Inman and Pollard. I can Google this for my own education or buy Woodward's book. But do you know?

...The Spanish Armada. Flivvers. Bubonic Plague. Five-Year Plan. "Just Do It!" The cotton gin. Genghis Khan. SATs. Dr. Caligari. Sacajawea...

Pollard got life.

Inman was nominated by Clinton to replace Aspin, the lobby went apeshit - - again - and he is happy at the LBJ school in Austin.

Definitely read Veil. It's probably pennies at Amazon, or still in the public library.

By the way - if the lobby insists on laying Pollard's treachery at the feet of someone in the US government, lay it on Casey and Reagan - when they decided to spy on an ally in 1982, they changed the whole dynamic.

"...I do not believe it was wrong to try to establish contacts with a country of strategic importance or to try to save lives...." Reagan.

And how many people died in the course of the Nicaraguan civil war?

++++++++++++
Used to be "perfect storm" was not only overused but misused. Sorry, RGBS. You are only the most recent in a long line.

"Existential threat" would be, literally, "the threat of existence" or "threat based on existence", not "threat to existence" as it is increasingly over used, or, perhaps "existent threat" as in "existing threat".

That's what I think, anyway. Apologies, but it's been bugging me for a while and this is about the fourth time this evening.

BGRS--
Whoops. Apologies again. Didn't mean any insult. BGRS

Hey Apollo - tell me "Happy Blog-o-versary" before I go to bed. Blue Girl, Red State turned two yesterday.

I reproduced my first post ever - mostly because I was totally, absolutely, 100% dead on about the midterms, 18 months ahead of 'em.

Ironically, that bugs me too, and I should have put it in quotes, because that's how the A-Pollard-gists put it.

Thanks, Globe. I'll check my library or Amazon.

Happy Blog-o-versary! And may your third anniversary be even more auspicious. You're on a roll. Keep up the fine work and thanks for all you do.

Aw shucks...(*blushing*)

Today I figured out how much CO2 my governor is responsible for on a daily and weekly basis because his wife doesn't like the governor's mansion!

For those interested, Matt Blunt of Missouri is responsible for almost a ton of CO2 emissions every single day.

I like your post on Carol Lam, BTW, Globe. Yep. That's what the reason for the purge looks like to me. Also, glad to see that your collective blog, Watching Those We Chose, is coming along nicely.

BGRS --

congrats too. Have visited and always appreciate your input here.

Well thanks. I'm going to take those birthday wishes and use them for the basis of sweet dreams. Between Kevin and I we have the smartest readers on the web!

The only reason my site matters at all is because of you guys. Thanks again for making my obsessions worthwhile!

Happy birthday, Blue Girl, and cheers from the Great White North.

Enjoying your site, by the way.

What, praytell, did Jimmy Carter ever accomplish by cancelling the 1980 Olympics?

Posted by: Norman Rogers

He didn't cancel the 1980 Moscow Olympics, he boycotted them. They went on without the American team, and a number of others.

Rogers, if you can't even get this right, it's no wonder the board rightly regards you as an ignorant blowhard.

I don't understand the repeated references to Dear Ronnie being the origin of "Mistakes Were Made". Contemporary political usage traces back at least to Dick Nixon, as this article in the Chronicle reminds us.

I always assumed that Reagan saying "mistakes were made" was a deliberate hat doff to Nixon making the phrase infamous. This week I assumed the same thing of our new (and improved! Makes Nixon look like a piker!) imperial president: "Bush to America: Eff you."

I know I'm not giving them too much credit for evil, but I may be spotting them too many brains.

And this from W above made me laugh: Yeah, all I said was "who will rid me of these troublesome lawyers".

Charles Baxter, from his book Burning Down the House, "Dysfunctional Narrratives, or 'Mistakes Were Made." ....an excerpt

"What difference does it make make to writers of stories if public figures are denying their responsibility for their own actions? So what if they are, in effect, refusing to tell their own stories accurately? So what if the President of the United States is making himself out to be, of all things, a victim?
Well, to make an obvious point, they create a climate in which social narratives are designed to be deliberately incoherent and misleading. Such narratives humiliate the act of storytelling.

You can argue that only a coherent narrative can manage to explain public events, and you can reconstruct a story if someone says, "I made a mistake," or "We did that."
You can't reconstruct a story — you can't even know what the story is— if everyone is saying, "Mistakes were made." Who made them? Everybody made them and no one did, and it's history anyway, so let's forget about it. Every story is a history, however, and when there is no comprehensible story, there is no history.

The past, under these circumstances, becomes an unreadable mess. When we hear words like "deniability," we are in the presence of narrative dysfunction, a phrase employed by the poet C. K. Williams to describe the process by which we lose track of the story of ourselves, the story that tells us who we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to act..."

Ah, the touching scenes of young George sitting on Mummies lap and asking, "Can I have my very own Abogado some day?" Dear Mummie could not resist saying yes.

So, the next day while playing in the sand box and pulling wings off bugs, Georgie said to Al, "Geez, if only you go to Law School"

And what a school - taught him how to defend DUIs, get someone out of jury duty, and be able to torture anyone and everyone. And they still sit in the same sand box pulling wings off bugs. Georgie and his little pet coucaracha abogado of his very one.

Well said, thirdpaul.

More from Charles Baxter:

"Deniability is the almost complete disavowal of intention in relation to bad consequences.
A made-up word, it reeks of the landfill-scented landscape of lawyers and litigation and high school.
Following Richard Nixon in influence on recent fiction would be two runners-up, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
Their administrations put the passive voice, politically, on the rhetorical map.
In their efforts to attain deniability on the arms-for-hostages deal with Iran, their administrations managed to achieve considerable notoriety for self-righteousness, public befuddlement about facts, forgetfulness under oath, and constant disavowals of political error and criminality, culminating in the quasi-confessional passive-voice-mode sentence, "Mistakes were made."

This has been covered, but...

"ex-liberal" defends the actions of the criminal nutjob David Koresh by blaiming clinton, and excuses the unprecedented political meddling in the USA corps. Absolutely incredible.

Shame on you, "ex-liberal."

Oh, golly, happy birthday, BGRS/GC!

If I hadn't given it up for Lent, I'd hoist a cold one in your honor. As it is, I'll toast you with ginger ale (just like Bruce Wayne!).

Boots day is right -- everyone knows that Israel was involved in Iran-Contra. But it was never referred to as the "Israel-Iran-Contra scandal." Of course, how it was labelled is ultimately irrelevant, but I suppose Disputo had some reason to throw that out there.

According to a New York Times article yesterday, two republicans spoke anonymously about private white house conversations and noted top aides to Bush felt Gonzales is so damaged in terms of credibility that he would be unable to advance white house agendas related to sensitive matters, and one said "I really think there's a serious estrangement between the white house and Alberto now."

True to form, yesterday Bush said he stood by Gonzales, but I certainly expect to see
his resignation--especially before he is compelled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his role, and about broader questions.
A toast to the results of the mid-term elections and to the democrats' pending hearings.
A toast to you too, Globe, for your anniversary with your blog.

Speaking of Iran-Contra, didn't GB1 claim to have been "out of the loop" on the decision-making for that adventure? Family values?

"...Albie G doesn't have a[n] e-address..."

No admin principals (Prez, VP, Rove, etc.) use email -- for obvious reasons.

Notice Richard Perle, as he recently distanced himself from the necon's failed dream
of occupying the middle east, parses his words, as he says "the decisions did not get made..."
These people play with language. 'Mistakes were made' is almost orwellian.
Here's Perle, also using the passive voice word play:

"The decisions did not get made that should have been. They didn't get made in a timely fashion, and the differences were argued out endlessly.… At the end of the day, you have to hold the president responsible..."

Thank you, Kevin, for drawing attention to looking closely at this administration's rhetoric.
I am compelled to continue to post on this sickening play with language, attempts to mislead the average citizen, and abject failure to take responsibility for their own behavior.

Michael D.C. Drout of Wheaton College penned this gem in a course guide
to lectures, "A Way with Words: Writing, Rhetoric, and the Art of Persuasion."

"What if you want to leave out information?
Then passive voice is your friend.
"Mistakes were made," you say, when challenged about the collapse of the multibillion dollar corporation you were running.
Why not say "I made mistakes"?
Well, it makes you a lawsuit target (you have just "admitted" to making mistakes), whereas if you just say "mistakes were made," you end up looking as if you've admitted something without actually doing any admitting.
"I made a mistake" is a performative utterance, with all the difficulties that go with it.
"Mistakes were made" is not performative. As an analyst of rhetoric, look out for passive voice..."

And I must say I am enjoying watching Rep. Henry Waxman, Ike Skeleton and other oversight specialists on cspan discuss the accountablity in contracts act introduced in reaction to the sneaky no-bid contracts this administration has administered--I like this "micro-management"-----another term now being overused as a new republican talking point piece of rhetoric related to democratic oversight!

I'll second the notion that Woodward's book Veil is worth reading. I think it's his best researched and written book.

Speaking of Iran-Contra, didn't GB1 claim to have been "out of the loop"…denise at 11:09 AM

No, the Republican Party defeated the Soviets… …Norman Rogers at 12:19 AM

We are not "Cultists" who believe in Reagan…Norman Rogers at 12:14 AM

Norman Rogers said: I'm full of green tea…

"Mistakes were made." Nice omission of a pronoun. Without attribution for the mistake and who made it it just floats out there as if the "mistakes" came out of nowhere from no one.

Once again (and again, and again and again) the Bush clan (I mean "Bushies") breaks the law, screws over citizens' lives (V. Plame, our military, etc., etc.) and foregoes any responsibility.

Mistakes were made-By Alberto Gonzales, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, et al.