Arianna's New Book Cuts Kristol!

One of my favorite segments in Arianna Huffington's new book, Right is Wrong, is timed perfectly to the latest polling news: That George W. Bush has officially been crowned the most unpopular president in modern history, with a disapproval rating over 70%.

So let's return to her take on the now-infamous Bill Kristol op-ed in The Washington Post last July in which he promised that Bush would end up a "winner." Arianna calls it "the single most deceptive story of the entire war." One wonders if it was actually written by Billy Crystal, not Bill Kristol.

Do we need to remind anyone that such prescience, along with much else in that vein, earned Kristol a coveted spot as a regular New York Times columnist? Arianna recognizes this in her heading for this section, which is: "How Wrong Do You Have to Be to Get Kicked Out of the Media?"

She opens her account by mentioning that just before the July 15, 2007, piece appeared, she happened to be sitting a row in front of Kristol on the Acela train from New York to D.C. and heard him consulting with someone who might well have been a White House insider, discussing the president's recent use of the term "precipitous withdrawal" to describe what we would certainly not do in Iraq (even if by precipitous he meant five or six years).

When Kristol's op-ed appeared--with the delicious title "Why Bush Will Be A Winner" - the Post, Arianna writes, "should have put some kind of warning on the piece for pregnant women, heart patients, and anyone with an allergy to bullshit."

Kristol wrote that we were now "on course to a successful outcome" in Iraq. "Political progress" was transpiring and, if anything the White House should make its case "less apologetically."

Meanwhile, "The war in Afghanistan has gone reasonably well," he pointed out. In Pakistan, al-Qaeda "may" still pose a threat but, "I assume Bush will deal with them, using some combination of air strikes and special operations."

I'll save the rest for your own reading. Suffice to say that Kristol closed the piece by saying, "I like the odds" of Bush going out a "winner." I've got out my wallet. Bill, are you a gambling man? I'll even give you odds.
**
Greg Mitchell's new book is So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq. It has been hailed by Bill Moyers, Glenn Greenwald, Ms. Huffington, and others.

Comments

[dreamsmasher]

Okay, so when is Ariana going to write the book about how this Democrat controlled Congress has the highest disapproval rating in history? I mean come on now when you have a Congress that has a 90% dis-approval rating doesn't that make you wonder? Oh I forgot, the Democrats are little angel's and can do no wrong, afterall they are the sacred jack-asses!

[VFed]

Look up the phrase "Intellectual Dishonesty" on Wikipedia.org.... Yup, that's Bill Kristol alright! If there was any justice in this world, someone would make Kristol kick it in South Central Los Angeles for a day. He's isn't just "wrong" about shit. He's a liar and very skilled as arguing points that may be correct in theory, but still wrong nonetheless. Hitler could've used a guy like Kristol.

[radiclib]

.
Hitler DID use a guy like Kristol. Josef somebody . . .
.
.

[utopiandrive]

It's amazingly cowardly to hide behind "history will vindicate me," which is what Bush, his cronies and the right-wing loonies have been doing all along about... well pretty much everything Bush has done, but especially Iraq. They do so because they have no other defense, and of course they don't. The facts so clearly oppose them. Kristol sounds to me like another Republican hack with a "team over truth" attitude. Great responses, Ms. Huffington and Mr. Mitchell.

[rwe]

Winston Churchill was also unpopular and when Abraham Lincoln was elected a civil war broke out... As far as worst .. Jimmy Carter will always hold that title..Will Arianna go on Fox to push her propaganda?Just the fact that Pres Busgh prevented any more terrorism since Sept 11 when everyone on the planet thught there would be moer within months will be a legacy..

[billwetzel]

Bush is no Churchill or Lincoln. And Jimmy Carter had better economic growth and job creation than Reagan and both Bushes, plus he had the most significant singular foreign policy achievement in the world in the last 40 years when he brokered the deal between Sadat and Begin at Camp David that created a decades long peace between Egypt and Israel. Carter also got back all of the hostages from Iran without bloodshed, every single one of them. Plus, he's done more good out of office than virtually any president in our history has ever done in office.

And there was an immediate terrorist attack in the U.S., it was the Anthrax Killer, and Bush never caught him either. Bush is hardly exonerated for stopping something that almost never happens. Just the mere fact that he sat on his thumbs all those months before 9/11 makes him one of the worst presidents ever. And the fall 2006 NIE that showed terrorism and terrorists have grown exponentially since 2003 is damning too. Basically the one thing Bush was supposed to be good at, ended up being something he was catastrophically bad at. Here's what Bush's legacy will be. 9/11. Katrina. Worst American standing in the world ever. Exploding deficit. Eroding infrastructure. Two recessions. Ignorance of science. Torture. Gay Baiting. Piss poor war management. Massive intelligence failures. Your hero couldn't even make a cup of coffee without fucking it up.

[ApolloSpeaks]

I lived through the Carter years of malaise, stagflation and weakness in dealing with enemies, and the Reagan years of restored national optimism, greatness and patriotic pride that led to the collapse of international communism and the Soviet Empire and I can tell you on the authority of first hand experience that you are dead wrong. As for Camp David, whoever was President when Sadat made his heroic visit to Jerusalem would have closed the deal.

[AnotherunhappyDemocrat]

With all due respect, this is one of the most ridiculous comparisons I have ever read. Yes, Churchill's government was voted out of office in 1945; no, there was never any serious discussion that questioned his wartime leadership. His party lost because of domestic issues that the conservatives didn't take seriously. And while there were indeed serious discussions within the British cabinet in 1940 over the decision to either resist or give in to Hitler, most of the British public would support the decision to fight. There was never any doubt of Churchill's leadership comparable to the way we doubt Bush's.

And Lincoln? That is absurd! Bush is no Lincoln. He is not even close. And comparing this situation to the Civil War is not even like comparing apples with oranges. It is equivalent to comparing apples with giraffes.

And Bush has not prevented any more terrorism since September 11. Al Qaeda has been most active across the world. What hasn't happened is another Al Qaeda attack on the United States. And well Bill Clinton's administration achieved that same thing (remember we were also attacked in 1993) WITHOUT going to war.

[anelder]

Maybe, just maybe the Times has elected to expose one of the most easily recognized boobs in the fourth estate. I cling to that hope so I can continue to respect the Times. Hope springs eternal.

[racom]

You still have respect for the times? WOW!!!

[jfor]

The thing about Bill Kristol, Bill O'reilly, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh is this; as much as they adimire, respect and even love Bush and his policies not one them has given up their day job and put on a uniform for him. None of these men (pardon the expression) or their families have served this nation and never will. That is all you need to know about them and the many others who want to be them.

Five minutes with any of them alone would make them love the Geneva Conventions, United Nations and yes the ACLU. These pathetic worms denigrate our veterans daily, they smear our Constitution and they stain our flag with their anti american faux patriotism.

[TomR]

----
Meanwhile, "The war in Afghanistan has gone reasonably well," he pointed out. In Pakistan, al-Qaeda "may" still pose a threat but, "I assume Bush will deal with them, using some combination of air strikes and special operations."
----

Kristol's arrogance knows no bounds. How about if Bush deals with them by sending tough-talking Bill Kristol over there to get Al-Qaeda? Kristol is very brave with when it comes to sending other Americans into harm's way.

----
So let's return to her take on the now-infamous Bill Kristol op-ed in The Washington Post last July in which he promised that Bush would end up a "winner." Arianna calls it "the single most deceptive story of the entire war."
----

Just remember that the sole reason Neocons lie is to further their own agenda. They really don't care if what they say is true. All that matters is: will it get them the results they are looking for? Neocon Straussian principles dictate that the American people's role is to exist for the purpose of being manipulated by the elite Neocon cabal. They see us as a bunch of sheep who need to be led.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5010.htm

Bill Kristol is a propagandist who is kept propped up in our media by his sugar daddy Rupert Murdoch.

People who lie like Kristol without feeling any sense of shame or remorse for the harm and death their Neocon agenda brings can be classified as sociopaths.

- Tom

[Orikinla]

President George W. Bush is the most unpopular president in the modern history of America and not in the world.

The most unpopular president in the world today is President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, because over 80% of Zimbabweans rate him low.

The former president of Nigeria, Chief "the thief" Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Matthew Obasanjo was worse than Prresident George W. Bush.

The worst presidents in modern history are not in the developed countries, therefore President George W. Bush is not the worst.

If President George W. Bush failed America, he is not the only one who is guilty, but all the members of Congress who have voted in support of his policies, including Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others from the White House to Capitol.

All those who also voted for him to have a second term are equally guilty of the failures of President George W. Bush.

All the beneficiaries of the bogus and bloody contracts in the war in Iraq should also be hanged with President George W. Bush, because they are his accomplices.

The American journalists, elites and religious leaders who also supported President George W. Bush from 2003 to date should also be hanged.

Hypocrites are worse than sinners.

Only American fools and morons voted for President George W. Bush in 2004.

[bogananda666]

You forgot to mention the supreme court which anointed Bush in 2000.

[RepublicanBrain]

You seem to be confusing the Presidency of the United States with Presidency of High school class. The latter is a popularity contest.

[indypete]

Yes but the former is a competence contest. And, boy oh boy we have a loser there!

[burnt]

In reference to illegal national propaganda, one has to wonder if Pentagon payolla was restricted to retired generals. There could be "other" reasons why MSM won't touch the weapon of mass deception topic... perhaps it really is a bomb waiting to explode.

alienated in Seattle

[realpolitic]

If the NY Times gave a column to Kristol who makes a living out of getting things wrong and not admitting it, why not give one to Arianna?

[castlerider]

Because they obviously don't want someone who's more liable to actually be correct.

Life on the edge and all that.

[FullChat]

Think we could get Vegas to give us a line on this bet?
How about an Over/Under bet on us being out of Iraq - 10 years total?