Monday, July 09, 2007

Surprising success in Iraq! The surge is working!

Um, not.

Let's see - how about those benchmarks? The headline writer takes care of that with:

Official: Iraq gov't missed all targets
and for good measure, here's the lede:

A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any (emphasis mine)of its targets for political, economic and other reforms, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.
But, are you sure? None? What does a second Bush administration official say?

The second administration official said the report "will present a picture of satisfactory progress on some benchmarks and not on others."
Hmm, I note that that seems like a stronger spin but "satisfactory progress" doesn't mean met. And these guys sure seem to know a thing or two about lowering expectations so that even something as bad as no benchmarks being met might be satisfactory. Let's go live to Tony Snow for that portion of tonight's infotainganda.

"You are not going to expect all the benchmarks to be met at the beginning of something," Snow said. "I'm not sure everyone's going to get an `A' on the first report."
Well, everyone flunking does technically not make any of that a lie, but still.... I can imagine how much worse my punishment might have been if I had said, Mom, Dad, You are not really going to expect me to study and do my homework and meet my teachers expectations at the at the beginning of the school year. I'm not sure I'm going to get an A in everything during the first mark period. I mean, I just got off summer vacation.

Plus, you've got to love "at the beginning of something". For the love of pete, AT THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING?!?!?!? This war has lasted longer than WWII for Pete's sake (Incidentally -who is this Pete guy and why is HE so important anyway. Ah, here's one explanation.).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...


Read and delete

Re your post: "And thus, Bush, was the most beloved of all possible Republican candidates in 2000....
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2007/08/bruce-bartlet-1.html#comment-80788913

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