Expressed Concern

Someone's got it for me
They are planting stories in the press
Whoever it is, I wish they'd cut out but
When they will, I can only guess.
-- Idiot Wind, B. Dylan

After PR management geniuses at the Pentagon assumed the position yesterday of denying any knowledge of the US military Arab media payola, the White House, naturally enough, had to come out today and express their concern over these stories. But get a load of what ol' Scotty McCllelan says. It'll knock your socks off:

The United States is a leader when it comes to promoting and advocating a free and independent media around the world, and we will continue to do so.

I nearly bit my own tongue when I read that one. Whether this means the White House intends to enhance the media payola is unclear from this statement but it is always amusing to see the such lofty words like "free" and "independent" waft out the of the mouthpieces of an administration that has payed off numerous media gabbers (I sedulously avoid the word journalists here) and serrupticiously distributed government produced "news" articles for broadcast.

Frankly, I just don't know how McCllelan does this anymore. Can't the guy be tired by now? The job certainly seemed to wipe out Fleischer fairly quickly. Sometimes you can see McCllelan standing up there after some story or another breaks -- and they have been breaking -- and he just looks beat up, even before the questions have started. He must know this is taking years off his life. That is, if you can call being White House press secretary a life. I'd rather shovel real shit all day long.

***

Let us assume, for a moment, that the denials of Joint Chiefs chairman, General Pete Pace, are true and that he knew nothing about the payola scheme until he read it in the LA Times. This admission alone is a double edged sword, neither edge of which cuts well at all. Should this admission comfort American citizens? Does the knowledge that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has no idea what in blazes the US military is doing, and doing with large amounts of taxpayer money comfort you? Does Pace think he consoles us with his pleaded ignorance? Are we, as a concerned citizenry, not alarmed to learn that there are factions within the US military that appear to be acting as rogue agents, unaccountable to those who should know about these sorts of things? If Pace knows nothing of this, of what else is he ignorant? What other mad schemes are being conducted in the name of freedom and democracy?

While still being outrageous, it might be less alarming to learn that these guys actually did know what their own military charges were doing. At least then, we might have a sense that they were actually in charge. But if their ignorance is the truth, it now is no wonder that they seem to have no idea about what to do in Iraq.

Bush had always claimed he was the "CEO president." And just like all those CEO buddies of his like Ken Lay, they too have claimed ignorance about all the bad stuff going on under their watch. And just like Lay, Bush stands up in front of America and tells everyone things are going great! Buy more stock! Woo hoo! The worst of this analogy is that the stock is American and Iraqi lives. And they have suffered an horrendous devaluation under this man, the "CEO" president.