MoDo NYTimes "Shocking and Awful"

[chimpymustgo]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/opinion/06DOWD.html

Shocking and Awful

Washington
Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz were swanning around in black tie at the White House Correspondents' dinner on Saturday night, mingling with le hack Washington and a speckling of shiny imports, like John Kerry's former Tinseltown gal-pal Morgan Fairchild, Ben Affleck, a Victoria's Secret model who was not Gisele and several "Apprentice" alumni who were not Omarosa.

The Pentagon potentates seemed unburdened by the spreading storm kicked up by the torture pictures shown on "60 Minutes II" and about to appear in The New Yorker — the latest example of a dysfunctional and twisted occupation warped by arrogance over experience, ideology over common sense.

When a beaming Mr. Wolfowitz stopped at my table to greet an admiring Republican, I wanted to snap, "Get back to your desk, Mr. Myopia from Utopia!" Shouldn't these woolly headed warriors burn the midnight Iraqi oil — long enough for Wolfie to learn the body count for dead American troops and for Rummy to read Gen. Antonio Taguba's whole report on "horrific abuses" at Abu Ghraib?

Sure, the secretary of defense has had two months to read the report, but as he complained to Matt Lauer, it's awfully thick: "When I'm asked a question as to whether I've read the entire report, I answer honestly that I have not. It is a mountain of paper and investigative material." Goodness gracious, where is Evelyn Wood now that we need her?

Can't the hawks who dragged us into this hideous unholy war at least pay attention to a crisis of American credibility that's exposing Iraq and the world to more dangers every day? For the defense chief and the president to party two nights in a row, Friday at Rummy's house and Saturday at the Washington Hilton, is, to borrow a Rummy line, "unhelpful in a fundamental way."

-snip-

******
Much, much more. Damning.

[NMDemDist2]

1. on other future wars?? WTF??

And Douglas Feith, the defense under secretary who was in charge of Iraqi postwar planning and the secret unit that furnished prêt-à-porter intelligence to back up Dick Cheney's doomsday scenarios, told conservatives that the administration might set up an office to plan postwar operations for future wars.

Well, on the one hand, it would be refreshing to have a postwar plan. On the other: future wars??? ibid

[robbedvoter]

8. You must have missed Dick's "permanent war- 60 nations" speech

right after 911!

[RobertSeattle]

2. Wolfowitz: "Mr. Myopia from Utopia"

That's a keeper.

[cosmicdot]

3. how nice for Maureen to attend the affair and report back ...

she suffered through it; she didn't walk out ... of course, she could have RSVP'd her regrets (in protest) noting that Rome is burning, and attending such a gala in light of events would be the equivalent to fiddling ...

but, that's just imho ...

[dennis4868]

4. WTF?

Doea anyone in this Administration READ? No one read the NIE before the war, no one read the Ruddman/Hart Report before 911, no one read the prisoner abuse report....WTF?

[gulfcoastliberal]

5. 1st it's Kerrys Butler & PBJs, now it's Partying Neocons...

C'mon, Modo, let us know what YOU think is important. :eyes:

[chimpymustgo]

7. This is a very important column from MoDo. Scorching and

unambiguous.

She nails EVERY single scoundrel in the adminstration, and even has a plaudit for Kerry.

This is the point of no return.

[livetohike]

6. "When I'm asked a question as to whether I've read ...

No one wants to be thought of as a "fancy pants elitist" who actually knows how to read and comprehend. God forbid.

All those bureaucrats writing their comprehensive reports and no one reads them! I don't believe anything anyone in Bush's regime says, but they never had any credibility with me since the day they took office.

[thebigidea]

9. I'm charmed by this reference to "le hack Washington"

as if Dowd wasn't a hack, as if she was a fish out of water there.

[leftchick]

10. wolfowitz MUST GO TOO!

I loathe him almost as much as chimpy*. After rummy he has to go!