Accidental Blogger

Right now President Bush is delivering his speech on "Plan for Victory" in Iraq. What victory? Shouldn’t it be "Plan for Peace" now? I don’t have time to listen – will catch up with it later on the news.  Members of this failed administration are stuck on semantics over substance. They believe that a bad situation will magically become better by introducing new phrases and expressions. They ought to pay heed to what Gary Hart (who understands global terrorism far better than the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld trio) had to say about Iraq: "The public trust must be earned, and speaking clearly, candidly and forcefully now about the mess in Iraq is the place to begin."

Here is an example of Rummy Speak (or Turkey Talk) over the weekend:

He (Rumsfeld) declared that the insurgents would, henceforth, no longer be called insurgents.

"Over the weekend, I thought to myself, ‘You know, that gives them a greater legitimacy than they seem to merit,’ " Rumsfeld, at a Pentagon briefing Tuesday, said. "It was an epiphany," he added, throwing his hand in the air.

Encouraging reporters to consult their dictionaries, Rumsfeld said: "These people aren’t trying to promote something other than disorder, and to take over that country and turn it into a caliphate and then spread it around the world. This is a group of people who don’t merit the word ‘insurgency,’ I think."

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace, standing at Rumsfeld’s side, evidently didn’t get the memo about the wording change. Describing combat in Iraq, he paused and said, "I have to use the word ‘insurgent’ because I can’t think of a better word right now."……. "Sorry, sir," Pace said. "I’m not trainable today."

And now find out what another turkey, "Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job,"  – is doing for his own rehabilitation:

The former bureaucrat, nicknamed by President George Bush in a memorable but misplaced compliment, "Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job," has picked up the pieces and launched a new career as a disaster preparedness consultant, with offices in Colorado and Washington. In an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, the unchastened Brown explained why clients should hire a failed disaster manager to provide advice on handling future emergencies.

"Hurricane Katrina showed how bad disasters can be, and there’s an incredible need for individuals and businesses to understand how important preparedness is," Brown said, apparently with a straight face. Without mentioning names, Brown claimed he’s doing good work with a number of clients. "If people want to take shots at me, fine, but let’s figure out a way to make this thing work better next time." …..