’)But you knew this already.
As Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes traveled through the Middle East last week seeking to burnish the U.S. image, one of her key talking points was that President Bush is the first president to call for a Palestinian state.
“The person I work for, President Bush, is the first president in the history of America to say we believe the Palestinians should have a state, living side by side in peace with Israel,” Hughes told al-Jazeera satellite television. She repeated the statement two more times in the five-minute interview.
Hughes, a former White House official, told reporters traveling with her that she remembered intense administration debates at the time “about what a significant step this would be for United States policy” if he supported a Palestinian state.
But, oddly, when Bush announced in 2001 that he supported a Palestinian state, administration officials rushed to say that he was simply following a policy articulated by his predecessor, Bill Clinton. In fact, news reports at the time said Bush was merely the first Republican president to support an independent state for the Palestinians.
This serial liar and propagandist for the Cons is our nation’s public face in the middle east. We are screwed.
…the Dwight Schultz as Oppenheimer icon? No technical know-how needed. Go to Gravatar. It’s kind of a catch-as-catch-can thing… it appears gray on some comment boards.
These durn kumpooters work in a willy-nilly fashion sometimes…
There is media spin, and then there are blatant omissions and exaggerations to change the perception that people have. This seems to be the latter. Fuming Mucker, how did you get that Icon up there?
Well… hell, Obi-Wan Kenobi was a filthy liar too and he’s still the hero of the show.
Damn…, only in American can we understand our current events through the lens of our entertainment.
Dkelsmith;
Another word for it could be; ‘doublespeak’
Hughes seems to have a different version of the US Constitution than I have. She quoted her Revised Standard Version as saying ‘one nation under God,’ while my copy does not contain the word ‘God’ at all. Does that make her a liar, or just a misguided Bush hack?
PS –
But do you have anything to say about the fact that she’s a liar? Which, clearly, she is.
It’s nice to see Oliver calling a non-Jew “filthy” for once.
Basically, Hughes is lying to the Arab media to curry their favor. THe Israeli media watchdog group, MEMRI, makes a big deal about what Palestinian politicians say to Western media, and what they say to Arab media.
Isn’t what Hughes has done the same thing?
Everyone associated with the Bushes is filthy, and I’ve said so, so peddle your anti-semitism elsewhere.
Does that make her a liar, or just a misguided Bush hack?
Well, as Grandpa Abe Simpson would say: “A little from column A–a little from column B.”
You only made that distinction after you were called on your anti-Semitism.
So, to recap, on Planet Ollie, calling a black guy articulate is bad, even when it’s only one of four compliments given, but calling a Jew filthy is okay if they work for the current administration.
Wow, Brock has trained you well.
Wow, I always associated the word filthy with liar and by extension Republican. I had no idea it was a racially tinged code for Jew. I think that is just Republicans trying to open up their big tent to people they’d normally just be prejudiced against.
‘Filthy liar’ is a pretty common way to call someone a liar. If you’re going to argue that Oliver is anti-semitic, you’re going to need better evidence than the weird assertion that ‘filthy’ is a code word. And anyway, who knew Karen Hughes was jewish?
Yes, I’m anti-semitic, riiight. I better put away those two yarmulke I own. Newsflash: simply because a right-wing blog says something doesn’t make it true, in reality, it probably makes it less true. I’ve been calling the Bushies filthy for years, I don’t care what God they claim to worship. Go screw yourself.
I love this. Our supposed ambassador of sunshine and light to the Arab world is either an idiot or a liar and the only thing anyone on the right can do is bitch about Oliver’s word choice. Classic — wait, look over there! Dugger again comes in with the best unintentional irony: “Is this the best way you can think of to win hearts and minds?” Maybe we should ask that question of Karen Hughes, dugger: Is stupidity and/or dissembling the best way to win hearts and minds in the Arab world? Is that the choice we’ve been reduced to? Awesome.
Tom,
If Palestinians had the chance back then, do you think they would have passed on it?
Seems to me that Hughes is mistaken (wrong or lied) , but why the nasty, overly harsh response? Is this way you think you win hearts and minds? You lot more people with your nasty reaction than you might have gained from showing Hughes goofed. If it were some trick, Republicans would not have been out there saying otherwise. Are there not any progresives out there who think OWs description, “filthy liar”, is a little much?
Dugger
I love this. The Senator in charge of the Democratic Campaign Comittee illegaly obtains the Credit Report of a prominent African-American Republican and the only thing anyone on the left can do is bitch about the word “articulate”.
Classic…
TomY, ‘pidge:
PSU is dredging up an old fight from many months ago. It was silly then and more so now.
Remind me which Palestinians blew up the World Trade Center, Laurence.
So it was Bill Clinton who first came up with the idiotic idea of a formal policy to appease his favorite Whitehousegest with his own state from which to murder thousands of innocent civilians from, not Bush?
Well, I guess that that’s the cold hard truth, why is it so hard for you to believe that the seeds of 9/11 were planeted during the first attack of the WTC in 1994 … during… wait… who was President then?
Well according to Dick Cheney, the seeds of 9/11 were planted by Ronald Reagan.
Brandon, are you talking about all Palestinians? Because no, I don’t think all Palestinians would have wanted to blow up the World Trade Center in 1996. But it’s beside the point. I think the Clinton/Bush strategy of promoting a Palestinian state is an inevitable one, regardless of the intentions of terrorists, and regardless of your own personal reluctance to allow terrorists to hold our foreign policy hostage.
“But her mistake/fabrication is more one of internal rather than international political interest.”
Um, ya, because the rest of the world doesn’t care if the president’s personal representative is either a) stupid or b) a liar.
That’s funny Save. Tell me, is Karen Hughes even Jewish? Seriously, I don’t know. But I do know that Cap’n Ed took the Dem offense, you describe, and turned it into racial politics by accusing the Dems of being so afraid of “articulate” black conservatives that they were willing to break the law. That’s fucked up, especially given that people responsible duly admitted what they did, apologized and face the consequences. It was Cap’n Ed who was politicizing race in that instance and it was Cap’n Ed who found that ye reap what ye sow.
frame
“Is stupidity and/or dissembling the best way to win hearts and minds in the Arab world”
Of course not. Hughes could be criticized extensively. But her mistake/fabrication is more one of internal rather than international political interest. I didn’t mean hearts and minds of the Arab world, but those of the American political scene – of, say, undecideds. We keep talking about “brand Democrat’, the Democratic image and a Democratic slogan on this site – as if we (or you) want to convince average Americans that the Democrats are a good, reasonable option. Nice guys, with better ideas. I don’t know about you, but that kind of harsh invective, ‘filthy liar’, would warn me away moreso than Hughes error.
Dugger
frameone : Nice example of giving somebody false choices. Do you lefties ever consider the fact and reality that sometime people make a mistake? How about this : since Oliver is prone to calling people of the Jewish faith “filthy”, is he A) a bigot, or B) stupid ?
Did anyone actually read the WaPo article? The final paragraphs explain how she is not a liar:
When did Clinton start proposing a Palestinian state as a viable option? Was it just a few weeks before he left office? If so, then Hughes is not a liar or an idiot so much as an exaggerating cheerleader. Clearly the work of Clinton was important in the formation of current policy. But the Bush administration does deserve credit for formally making a Palestinian state official US policy.
I am very concerned with the tone of the arguments on this site as well as many others (both conservative and liberal) that argues that the other side must have some congenital defect that makes them think and act the way that they do. Read the following:
http://www.cultureshocktv.com/internews/2002/oct7200201659.shtml
Many of you may already have read this, however, those of you on the left should look long and hard in the mirror and those of us on the right should take it as a cautionary tale. Oliver and you other parrots on this site will, I’m sure, hurl enourmous scorn upon this poster. However you will merely help me make my point. Sooner or later the adults will win out.
I’m sorry, because I realy do not know this, but is Karen Hughes Jewish? Would anyone accussing Oliver of anti-semitism please clarify this when they next hurl the charge?
Yes, she made a mistake about Bush’s bold stand on the question of Palestine. Ya, she made a mistake about important international events she lived through, indeed, was an integral part of, just four years ago. Ya, she freakin’ forgot. But you’re right. You do get a third option: “exaggerating cheerleader.” That’s pretty much what her role is now, to exaggerate Bush’s boldness and success and cheerlead failed policies (ie the war in Iraq). Again, I say, awesome.
frameone, I gather that at some point in the distant past Oliver referred to Paul Wolfowitz as a “filthy liar” vel sim. Hypocritical right-wingers jumped on him for using the term “filthy” which, in connection with a Jewish person, is a term with a lot of anti-semitic baggage.
When, recently, Oliver criticised wingnut commentator Capt. Ed for using the loaded term “articulate” in reference to a black conservative, right-wingers dredged out this “filthy” business to accuse Oliver of hypocrisy.
Of course I’m sure Oliver did not refer to Wolfowitz’s judaism (if in fact he is Jewish – I have no idea) in the context, whereas Ed was making a deliberate point about Steele’s blackness. Still, from the warped perspective of an axe-handle reactionary hypocrite it’s all the same, and they’ve been pasting the charge all over Oliver’s comment board ever since. Maybe someday they’ll grow up.
Like you I have no idea whether Karen Hughes is Jewish or not, so there can be no anti-semitism involved when I agree that she is a “filthy liar”.
Zorro:
if you don’t like the tone of the current political climate, I ssuggest you exhume the dead corpse of Lee Atwater and give it a stern, high-minded talking to.
Wilbur;
Although I know nothing of Karen Hughes grooming habits, I have seen Wolfowitz mouthing spittle onto his comb then brushing it through his hair.
I don’t know about JD, but I find this rather unclean and possibly even ‘filthy’.
No, it was not a mistake. It was not official US policy to support a separate Palestinian state until the Bush administration. The exaggeration is in ignoring the unofficial support that developed under Clinton in the final days of his administration. The article Oliver linked to even states this (at the end).
Why are all Repugs such filthy, filthy liars?
In truth, the notion of a Palestinian State has been US policy since before AWOL George; of course, the devil’s in the details–the real issue has never been about Palestinian sovreignty but whether that sovreignty would include the right to return. Essentially, declaring support for a Palestinian state is a pretty empty gesture unless one defines the disposition of Jerusalem and the right to return.
Where’s your evidence that it was US policy before Bush? Did you even read the article?
JWG –
I did read your comment and the story which is why I recognize that I owed JD another option: “exaggerating cheerleader” per your description. So Hughes isn’t an idiot or a liar but an exaggerating cheerleader. Which is perfect. Exaggeration and cheerleading. Can you think up a better way to sum up, in polite company, Bush’s entire approach to governance?
No…we agree on this point.