Cults refuse the truth they see with their own two eyes, preferring to always interpret reality through the lens of their own distortions they’ve made for themselves.
A couple of days ago, CNSNews, the site run by Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell was almost breathless in its anticipation of audio tapes of Saddam Hussein that were supposedly going to reveal his WMD plot to terrorize America. First off, you need to look at the track record of the source. CNSNews hyped documents found in Iraq that were supposed to prove the existence of WMDs - they never delivered. They also fabricated quotes in order to smear Paul Begala. But some people persist in believing them, even folks on the right who are semi-reasonable on occasion (I guess the cult has a few levels of intensity).
So, of course, the tapes have turned out not be what the right said they would be.
One of the most dramatic moments in the 12 hours of recordings comes when Saddam predicts during a meeting in the mid-1990s a terrorist attack on the United States. “Terrorism is coming. I told the Americans a long time before Aug. 2 and told the British as well & that in the future there will be terrorism with weapons of mass destruction.” Saddam goes on to say such attacks would be difficult to stop. “In the future, what would prevent a booby-trapped car causing a nuclear explosion in Washington or a germ or a chemical one?” But he adds that Iraq would never do such a thing. “This is coming, this story is coming but not from Iraq.”
End of story, right? Of course not. Like a good cult, when the facts don’t line up with the rhetoric, you change the facts (sort of like how the vegitative Terri Schiavo was going to get up and walk if she just got a cup of water, according to Bill Frist and Tom DeLay)!
The FBI translator who supplied the 12 hours of Saddam Hussein audiotapes excerpted by ABC’s “Nightline” Wednesday night now says the network discarded his translations and went with a less threatening version of the Iraqi dictator’s comments.
“What you heard on ABC News was their translation,” former U.N. weapons inspector Bill Tierney told ABC Radio’s Sean Hannity on Thursday.
“They came up with something different on a key element regarding terrorism in the United States,” Tierney insisted.
And again
But on Thursday evening, the translator of those tapes, former U.N. weapons inspector Bill Tierney, told Hannity & Colmes he disagrees with ABC’s interpretation of what Saddam was saying.
“I disagree completely, because Saddam also says in other tapes that the war is ongoing,” Tierney said, according to a transcript of the program.
“And when I was there [in Iraq] as an inspector, what struck me is that these people were still in the fight. There was no change of heart like you had in Germany after World War II. They were still in the fight. It makes perfect sense.”
So you may now wonder, who the heck is Bill Tierney, this apparent expert on Arabic and Iraq’s supposed stockpile of WMDs? Based on what I’ve found, Tierney seems to be a regular source of this sort of echo chamber information for the cult. In March of 2003, a Freeper reports that on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Tierney claimed
[T]hat we will be shocked with what we are going to find in Iraq. He has no doubt we will find huge amounts of what Iraq swears it does not have.
In addition, Tierney said that he has told our government where Hussein has hidden an underground uranium plant. Tierney said “I can drive there with my eyes shut.”
But look, Bill Tierney shows up again, and wouldn’t you know it he was on the scene at the Terri Schiavo circus.
No, we’re not going to go home,” said Bill Tierney, a young daughter at his side. “Terri is not dead until she’s dead” . . .
Mr. Tierney, a former military intelligence officer in Iraq who works as a translator and investigator for private companies, cried as he talked about watching the Schiavo spectacle on television and feeling the utter need to be at the hospice.
And Bill Tierney pops up again.
The French “‘gave them forewarning of the inspection targets,’ charged Bill Tierney, a former top U.N. weapons inspector, in an interview with radio host Sean Hannity.
And then in November of ‘05, Tierney was peddling the story that Iraq had now moved its WMDs to Syria.
In Iraq s case, the lakes and rivers were the toilet, and Syria was the back door.
Tierney keeps popping up like Forrest Gump, only instead of a box of chocolates he’s got more of the red punch mixed up for the cult followers. Tierney helps them, he tells them that they really haven’t seen what they’ve seen. They only need to believe their own version of reality and can rest their little minds.
Like kryptonite to Kool-Aid
Go. Read. Right now. The irony is that the concept of feeling right over being right is stongly present in Oliver’s own comments section. Read back on some of his older posts and watch the nonsense that a handful of…
I know nothing about Tierney, but it is funny to see how you present him.
I especially like the “It’s true if we say it’s true”. Here you go through a litany of things that the guy, a military intel guy who speaks arabic, says and mock him without giving us a wit of information to back up your side of the story. I mean, HAS anyone else looked at the translation?
Pollack REALLY cracked me us with the “if it feels right” comments. Most of the republicans that comment here (trolls per Pollack, who apparently isn’t really enthralled with the idea of someone disagreeing with him)lay down factual information constantly…most of which is immediately discounted or flat ignored by the leftists.
Pot, meet kettle……..
Is he some kind of professional actor that is paid by the Conservatives and their puppet TV affiliates???
It’s Zelig.
Pedro — you’re right on cue. You’re more predictable than Daniel Pipes hating Arabs.
Most of the republicans that comment here (trolls per Pollack, who apparently isn t really enthralled with the idea of someone disagreeing with him)lay down factual information constantly& most of which is immediately discounted or flat ignored by the leftists.
Pedro, last time you made a statement like that, I asked you for an example of “factual information” that you had presented and that was ignored by the rest of us. If it happens “constantly” that should be easy for you to do. I’m still waiting.
Put up or shut up.
He sure isn’t piping information to me — I never heard of the guy. Oliver, some of your posts come off as pure left - wing McCarthy, I swear.
I get the impression that Dr. Pedro and Dugger never heard of him, either.
Maybe, just maybe, he’s not the ubiquitous power behind the throne you make him out to be, eh?
You never heard of him - fine, but he’s been on Hannity’s radio and tv show, cited in Newsmax, CNSNews, ABCNews, and interviewed on FrontPageMagazine and in The New York Times pushing the conservative cult agenda.
Otherwise, he’s been pretty low visibility.
Also, I’m not sure how to take the “left-wing McCarthy” thing. If it were coming from a non-conservative I would be sure it’s an insult, but the right swears that McCarthy is a Great American - so maybe it’s a complement? Unclear.
Frank,
The idea is that he may be a plant, seeding low-level white noise for the right wing echo-chamber. It’s an age-old tactic of Rove’s. Someone puts an allegation out in the wilderness of media spindom, and the bigger dogs ceaselessly reference it. They aren’t obligated to ‘fact check’ it, since, well, it’s already out there…somebody must have verified it, right?
Tierney doesn’t have to speak *directly* to you, his misinformation and spin simply gets repeated ad nausem in the right-wing media channels, were it’s likely to find a way into your arguments.
There have been so many right-wing fraud’s and media plants exposed in the past several years (Gannon, PayolaGate, etc), coupled with the idea that this White House has spent upwards of 1.4 billion american tax dollars on propaganda over the past 2 and half years (source) …and any sensible person has to wonder if there’s absolutely any truth to information we hear supporting this administration’s agenda, or if it isn’t, indeed, some well-placed fabrication.
This administration has already vehemently defended it’s right to spy on American citizens - you know, for our own safety - I’d imagine it’s par for the course that they feel we need to be “ministered” to as well.
WAKE UP, AMERICA!
I meant, Oliver, that you were using McCarthyesque tactics more and more, every day. this guy is associated with this guy, who went to school with this guy, who stayed at the same hotel as this guy, who rode on the same bus as thiss guy, who once ate in the same restaurant — on different days — as this guy.
I think it’s called “guilt by association.”
Cheetos, Oliver and Curmudgeon: You’re not going “tinfoil hat” on me, are you?
Three conservatives, who follow the movement pretty closely, never heard of him, and that proves he’s some kind of clever right - wing agent?
“Bill Tierney” according to Google, shares space with an athletic coach from Princeton, and a baseball player. Maybe they’re all one and the same.
I’m talking about one guy, Frank. One solitary guy who shows up everytime the right needs someone to confirm their talking points on Iraq. It’s not guilt by association when its one guy who’s serially misinforming people.
Cheetos, Oliver and Curmudgeon: You re not going tinfoil hat on me, are you?
No. Just trying to get you to exercise those critical thinking skills Frank.
Seriously, there’s a whole lot of evidence that this is a tried and true GOP method.
For instance, if you’ll allow me to point you to Phil Parlock, serial victim for the Republicans. He has convientiently planted himself in front of a camera (three elections in a row), and has an accomplice (at times, his own son) tear his signs apart, often making sure to include his terrified little daughter in the picture as well (again, for a broader emotional appeal). These photos quickly make the rounds, as “evidence” of viciousness on the part of Democrats.
This is what the GOP has become. A party of smoke and mirrors. The party of power before governance. The party of winning at all costs.
Yea, the party of winning at all costs….you mean like these guys, who by the way, aren’t just individual citizens, but paid democratic party activists…
Sources close to the 83-day-old probe said Sowande Omokunde, Michael Pratt and three other paid Democratic activists will each be charged with a single felony count of criminal damage to property, legalese for vandalism.
Omokunde, also known as Supreme Solar Allah, is the 25-year-old son of the rookie congresswoman. Pratt, 32, worked on Kerry’s local campaign, which was chaired by his father.
Pratt, Omokunde and the other staffers will be accused of cutting the tires of some 20 vans and cars rented by the state Republican Party to usher the party faithful to and from the polls on election day. The charges will state that the damage to the vehicles was well in excess of $2,500 - the minimum required to merit a felony.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=295538
Whatever happened to every vote should count?
A party of “winning at all costs…”
Indeed……
Another Pedro non-sequitor, completely unrelated to what we’re talking about. From now on, pedro, just say “Easter Bunny” and we’ll know what you mean. And if you wanna talk about winning at all costs…
Tell ya what, Frank… if we’ll agree to posit that a commentator who has been featured on Hannity, FrontPageMag, ABC, etc. is just a nobody of no consequence in the right-wing army because you personally haven’t heard of him, would you agree to stop citing ass-heads like Ward Churchill (whom no one on the left had ever heard of until the right wing punditry dug him out from under his rock to throw up in our faces) is somehow representative of Democrats and progressives?
You’ve certainly heard of ward Churchill by now… And I’ve never called him influential in way, shape or form. So that’s easy. I don’t recall ever mentioning his name in any regard.
Next.
All I’m saying is he he can’t be too powerful, if I’ve never eeven heard of him. I’ve never heard or read anything about this guy. I don’t watch or Hannity, as I’ve said before. I only read frontpage when Oliver refers to it. And I rarely watch ABCCBSNBC news — biased, you know.
Seriously, Oliver…that’s a perfect example. The Democrats were trying to illegally fix the recount to favor Gore and the Republicans tried to stop it.
Frank: Churchill has no influence on the right, but the cons drag him out again and again as if he were the DNC chair. This guy as I’ve noted, is a part of the right and propels himself into the news by working in concert with the right-wing to spread their propaganda.
JWG: Lol, drink up my little cultist.
Sorry Ollie, you can’t mention “winning at all costs” as if this is a republican only trait like curmudgeon, and then get mad when I bring out the fair and balanced facts
I am constantly accosted by the leftists here for their perceived lack of “fact” on my part. I use them constantly, they are just immediately discounted by you guys for a variety of reasons, in this case Ollie doesn’t think it is related to the discussion.
Whatever, just keep your ears plugged while saying “nyaah,nyaah,nyaah…I can’t hear you…!”
pedro, that’s exactly the strategy you employ. I’m talking about a guy who is a propaganda tool and your best response is election day vandals?
This really isn’t news in the world of the conservative media. They’re always parading these “experts” who really aren’t much of experts in anything except for lying.
Faux does this all the time–they dredge up some “expert” who subscribes to the latest GOP talking points.
Case in point, remember at the start of military action against Afghanistan? Faux had a Joe Cafasso on just about 6 hours a day. Cafasso claimed to be a Special Forces Colonel. Yet, Army records found Cafasso lasted 5 weeks in boot camp before being sent home.
Here is the post I was referring to Oliver
“This is what the GOP has become. A party of smoke and mirrors. The party of power before governance. The party of winning at all costs.” Curmudgeon
I responded directly to it.
That is a “case in point”? What GOP talking points did Cafasso parrot in the FOX coverage of the invasion of Afghanistan?
Pedro,
Oliver’s writing about an “expert” who’s a frequent voice on a highly-rated right wing program and you come back with three numbnuts nobodies who -let’s all admit- performed a stupid, possibly criminal act of vandalism.
You say we “ignore and discount” your “facts”. It’s true that we do “discount” them when there’s a reason to discount them, as in this case. Are you saying we shouldn’t discount your “facts” even when they are irrelevant and distractionary?
Put up or shut up.
Oh, please. If the sons of a current Republican congresswoman and a former Republican mayor were caught preventing Democrats from transporting voters to the polls, this website would be going ballistic.
Oh we might have something to say about it, but we certainly wouldn’t be touting it as morally equivalent to something heinous that -say- James Carville or Paul Begala were saying on CNN. That would smack of desperation, and desperation is exactly what youse guys’s posts smack of.
It always amazes me how far you folks have to stretch to drag some democratic misdeed out of your collective posterior to put up against republican shenanigans. Funny how we never have to stretch that far. Here’s a tip for you: it’s a lot easier just to bring up Chappaquiddick again. Better hurry and mention that as many times as you can before everyone involved in it is dead (not that that stopped you in the case of Aaron Burr).
Oh, please. If the sons of a current Republican congresswoman and a former Republican mayor were caught preventing Democrats from transporting voters to the polls, this website would be going ballistic.
Somebody tell me: WHO IS THIS GUY?