MSNBC skjátlast um Rumsfeld - hann er ekki fasisti, bara senílt gamalmenni

Í framhaldi af yfirlýsingum Rumsfeld um að allir sem séu ósammála veruleikafirringu hans séu einhverskonar nasistavinir skrifar LA times ágætis leiðara, þar sem tekinn er sá vínkill að hann sé skapvont og senílt gamalmenni. Reynsla mín er reyndar sú að senílir og skapvondir gamalir karlar séu yfirleitt mjög nálægt því að hafa fasískar hugmyndir um lýðræði og pólítíska umræðu.

TWO REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATIONS ago, the mantra of conservatives was "Let Reagan be Reagan." Apparently President Bush has decided to let Rumsfeld be Rumsfeld — even when Bush himself is no longer the Bush who taunted Iraqi insurgents with "Bring 'em on!" and posed in front of a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished."

One effect of Rumsfeld's outburst was to serve as a reminder that he is still in office. Once the public face of the war in Iraq, he lately has been AWOL from the administration's public advocacy, ceding the spotlight to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The assumption was that, although Rumsfeld remained fireproof, his cocksure contempt for criticism was out of favor now that Bush has acknowledged that the prolonged U.S. presence in Iraq is "straining the psyche of our country."

Maybe Rumsfeld never got the memo, or, if he did, he crumpled it up. His speech was vintage Rumsfeld. It was also unfair and, in places, inane.

Þetta virðist reyndar vera sú lína sem Bush og nánustu samstarfsmenn hans ætla sér að keyra á fram að kosningum - öll gagnrýni sé uppgjöf og öll andstaða við þeirra stefnu í utanríkismálum jafnist á við landráð. Það verður hins vegar stöðugt erfiðara að halda svoleiðis lógík úti þegar vaxandi fjöldi frambjóðenda republikanaflokksins hefur snúið bakinu við "stay the course" stefnu forsetans.

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