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Journal the_mad_poster's Journal: "The President Is Not A Fact Checker" 24

Journal by the_mad_poster

How did we go from a period when it was practically inconceivable that a president would lie to us, to a period where they would do it, but they'd pay dearly, to Reagan, who only got a slap on a wrist for it, to today, when the current administration makes it a policy to not bother with the truth, as if honesty were an inconvenience, and is beloved by more than half the country for it?

I don't get it. WHAT is it that makes people support this group? This guy stood around press conferences months after the Kay Report came out saying the Kay Report said exactly the opposite of what it really said. When confronted with a string of lies the president had told, one aide dismissed the entire thing with "The president is not a fact checker". Bush actually told a Polish news outlet "We found the weapons of mass destruction..." in May 2003.

What is wrong with this picture? This administration is being lauded by some mysterious "moral majority" as some heroic godsend when, in fact, it constructed practically its entire first term on misinformation. I'm sure some of it was the result of mistaken information coming from the hard-to-analyze world of international intelligence, but that's no excuse given that this group actually stood around on countless occasions explicitly claiming that there was no debate, that they knew what he had and, on some memorable occasions, going so far as to say they knew where he had it.

And, it's not even just the war in Iraq. They've been lying about budgets since they got into office. They've gone so far as the silently replace online press releases with new text when news agencies blow holes through the lies in them. This guy ran on the platform of being a "fiscal conservative" and then ran up unconscionable deficits. When he was confronted about it, he actually attributed a quote from Al Gore to himself.

This is truly unfathomable to me. When people continually and systematically lie to me, I tend to think less of them 51% of the voters in this country actually appear to APPROVE of people sytematically lying to them.

What. Am. I. Missing. Here?

This discussion was created by the_mad_poster (640772) for no Foes, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

"The President Is Not A Fact Checker" More

"The President Is Not A Fact Checker"

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  • When people (especially us fat, content, lazy Americans) are faced with a fear they've never known, they will follow the first guy who offers hope, no matter how crazy he may sound.

    ShrubCo offered the way out. The people are content to let him keep doing it because "government stuff is boring" and "they wouldn't do stuff unless there was a good reason."

    The bottom line is the majority can't be bothered to think critically about how the country is run. That is why Republics/Democracies are amongst the most

    • When people (especially us fat, content, lazy Americans) are faced with a fear they've never known, they will follow the first guy who offers hope, no matter how crazy he may sound.

      Sure, but the problem with that is that there is nothing to fear! The odds of dying in another terrorist attack on US soil are about as big as winning the lottery... six times in a row, and then being announced that they misdrew the numbers so that you won 7 times and that you actually also get a Ferrari F40 as a bonus becau

      • fuck you. there are targets in ohio, even central ohio which you picked out. not that i want them hit, because this is where i live.

        battelle [battelle.org] was enough to put columbus on the list of top nuclear targets during the cold war. then there's the ohio state university, which sports one of the top five largest (population wise) campuses in the united states. several large corporations are headquartered or have major offices in columbus (wendy's, qwest, scott's, ross laboratories, etc, etc.).

        even so, i'm not
        • Hey, don't crap in your pants. (About the "fuck you", there are nicer ways to say that... and you know I have a personal grudge against Ohio) There are always "potential targets". Targetting a large corporation will have economical impact but not the psychological effect that terrorist wants. SWith Universities, it's the inverse: lots of psychological impact but the economical one is meager..

          Now battelle, would make sense... somehow. It surely doesn't have the global impact that WTC had. I did not k

          • i'm sorry man. i didn't mean "fuck you" in the angry sense. i was joking around in the vulgar way i often do. i probably should have included smileys to make that clear. anyway, i guess the damage is done. all i can say now is that i'm sorry to have offended you.

            like i said, i'm not worried about terrorists killing me. terrorists probably wouldn't care about battelle. that's a military target (weapons development) much more than a psychological one.

            personally, i was much more angry about the thousa
            • i'm sorry man. i didn't mean "fuck you" in the angry sense.

              My bad for reading slashdot at 7AM without a propper dose of caffeine.

              everyone's kids are important. either you value human life or you don't.

              I agree with you: still, it's a matter of probabilities. Of course your kids life is worth something, but the odds are so much against dying in a terrorist attack that it shouldn't be a concern of soccer moms. Still, they massively voted King George. What I denounce is that people don't take pers

            • either you value human life or you don't.

              Didn't you get the memo? The only human life worth valuing is the blameless human life. And you know that can only be good upstanding christian americans, right?


    • And if we look at countries like France the prospects are even worse. It took them all of two weeks after the Revolution to create a new monarchy.
  • They can't handle the truth, they don't want the truth, they don't hear the truth. GWB isn't the cause, he's the cog in this wheel of destruction. If it wasn't him, someone else would happily step in.

    • That sounds like a good movie line, ever think of becoming a writer. ;)

      I do think you are right, I don't think one man can do that much it takes a whole cabal of people to do the things that are attributed to GW.

      He's just the current front man, and when he stops looking 'so good' they'll get another.
  • or not even how you say it, it's who says it. And if he seems like good people and goes to church on Sundays that settles it.
  • Look at the behavior of those who elect the president - honesty isn't a characteristic one would use to describe a typical American citizen. We expect corporate accountants to lie; we expect lies in advertising and marketing; we expect lawyers to stretch the truth to the breaking point; we expect media to twist facts. So, of course we expect the president to lie. That just proves he is "one of us".
    • I disagree with one part... I truly believe that most American citizens are generally honest. I just believe that leaders (leadership is not a typical position) are frequently dis-honest.

      Worse (to me) is during the 70s we came to suspect that the government has secrets. During the 80s we came to accept that the government has secrets. During the 90s we came to expect that the government has secrets.

      So most people figure... what's the difference. There must be a reason. The government isn't lying to u

      • In the 2000's, demand that the government censor us [slashdot.org] just in case we might be on to a secret.
      • I truly believe that most American citizens are generally honest.

        Perhaps I've become a bit cynical, but I think the majority are far less than honest. I'm not talking about being chronic liars or being unable to tell the truth. I'm talking about the number of people who have affairs and keep secrets. I'm talking about people who park in handicapped and fire zones, but would never admit to it. I'm talking about people who will claim their child is under 4 to get a discount or teens who will claim to be
        • I'm usually pretty cynical, and I suppose I would be quite readily apt to attribute your beliefs about honesty to any group of 10 to 20 year olds. In my mind, the majority of teenagers (from almost any era) are dishonest. In a way, there is a minority of people who do not 'grow up', and create a mature understanding of the importance of honesty.

          In many (many, many) ways, I believe that Junior has not grown up. Honesty is one of those ways. However, growing up is experience. Somehow, it seems, that the

        • I think the majority are far less than honest. I'm not talking about being chronic liars or being unable to tell the truth. I'm talking about the number of people who have affairs and keep secrets.

          Welcome to human nature.

  • I can believe that Bush doesn't know what's going on. One of the big stories that came out yesterday was that Bush was surprised that we'll soon require passports to visit Canada or Mexico [cnn.com]. The problem is that Bush actually signed this into law last December. So, why is it such a big surprise to him now?
  • I think the word decribing this type of character is

    "dictator"

    With the "facist" added for clarity.

  • A statement that claims an absolute truth can be proven to be false with one contradictory example. "There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq" is such a statement that was proven false, and in fact, lately even the NY Times has admitted that Iraq had WMD... it was proven that Iraq had WMD when:
    - the US Mility found the mobile (biological) weapons labs
    - Iraq fired a Silkworm missile at Kuwait
    - the US Military found traces of Sarin in the Euphrates river

    Indeed we did find WMD in Iraq. To prove t

    • The Clinton Administration was easily the most corrupt Administration in history.

      Even if I accept this as true (and I don't), it doesn't effin matter, because they are gone. And if you let Hillary get elected President, despite the fact that many of us "liberals" can't stand the woman, then you're in the same boat us poor lefties are in now. Enjoy the shoe on the other foot. Hope you like your part in creating the problems.

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