We're staring a new tradition here at POS: Wild Card Wednesday. Wednesdays will feature topics that don't necessarily fit into the nice, tidy categories we have created. Hump day is almost anything goes day. Be forewarned.
We're going to kick this off with Donald Rumsfeld's September 10, 2001 news conference where he announces that that The Pentagon cannot account for $2,300,000,000,000 (It would be a different world if journalists always wrote out the numerals instead of using the convenient shorthand.)
Where do we begin with this subject?
First, I wish I could still find the original footage instead of using CBS's 2006 rehash of the event. Not that CBS's report is not valid. It is. If only they did more reporting like this. Their five year silence screams at us. The Rumsfeld announcement of September 10 is the second biggest news story of the decade, surpassed only by the events of the following day. It is understandable that this issue would get placed on the back burner in the aftermath of 9/11, but why did it take the media so long to even glance at this once more?
The probable answer is that Rumsfeld exposed corruption or ineptitude or both, on behalf of the Clinton Administration. We know that the media are partisan but we have to remind ourselves just how partisan they really are. They waited for complicity by the Bush Administration before taking this story off the shelf. Too little, too late.
Second, this confirms POS's pillared belief that the news media, Fox News and talk radio included, share one universal bias: The Bias For Simplicity (Or perhaps a bias against complexity would be more accurate.) It would require a lot of work to bring this story to light and most journalists are lazy.
Third, this throws a wet blanket on the notion that the GOP is an antidote to the free spending, irresponsible and often corrupt Democrats. Why did Rumsfeld not revisit this issue? It's possible that his reformist tendencies took a back seat to opportunity. He would not be the first reformer to view graft in a different light once he had ascended the ladder. But every excuse is invalid. This is a scandal that dwarfs every other scandal in US history. It might have started a long time ago but the Bush Administration never sufficiently addressed it and for that they deserve our unending scorn.
Fourth, I have to say a few words about the 9/11 Truthers. I will not dismiss all conspiracies as a matter of habit. I believe JFK was murdered by a conspiracy involving Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby and parties unknown. It is irrefutable that our government has conducted a conspiratorial campaign of misinformation involving UFO's. And yes, I believe that there was indeed a conspiracy (yes that is the best word for it) to catapault Barack Obama into the White House with tactics that were not always legal.
Having stated my open minded position on conspiracies, let me hereby proclaim that I accept the US government's version of the events of 9/11 in essence if not in toto. As with the holocaust, the details might be off here and there but the crux of the matter is sound. Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld did not plant bombs and fly commercial aircraft into buildings via remote control devices. Yes, it does look suspicious that Rumsfeld would make this startling announcement on September 10 and the catasrophic events would transpire the vey next day. An elaborate diversionary tactic. No! If Rumsfeld was so vile and so evil and so conspiratorial as to launch a series of attacks against his own people merely to distract us, then why did he even hold a September 10 news conference?
We are always looking for readers but if the Truthers (sic) want to skip over us, we will not be offended.
Anyway, let's crack that bottle over Wild Card Wednesday!
THE SECOND BIGGEST STORY OF THE DECADE LANGUISHES IN OBSCURITY
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