Give me Rewrite!

In the upcoming election, Bush can and no doubt will, attempt to rewrite current events. Noam Chomsky refers to this as the "doctrine of change of course." With an ad blitz underway, and attacks on Kerry now a part of unofficial White house policy, we here at pure bs(well, it's me actually, isn't it? :) ) attempt to give you the tools to walk without fear of falling prey to the doctrine.

Chomsky:

"It's a doctrine that's invoked every two or three years in the United States. The content of the doctrine is yes, in the past, we did some wrong things because of our innocence or out of inadvertence, but now that's all over, so we can't not waste any more time on this boring, stale stuff, which incidentally we suppressed and denied while it was happening, but must now be effaced from history as we march forward to a glorious future."

Unless you've been under a rock for the past three years, you have no doubt seen this in effect. From the obfuscations surrounding pre-9/11 intelligence, to what Kerry accurately referred to as 'stonewalling' by the Bush Administration over Iraqi intelligence issues.

While it is clear that that the doctrine of change of course is being invoked, the media --who are bound to their corporate masters -- are mostly unwilling to speak to these issues. Hence, the public at large is mostly unaware of these issues.

A glaring example of this, is that while everyone knows that 9/11 occurred under Bush's watch, we are not allowed to say so. Why? The doctrine again. Perhaps as the 9/11 commission makes more public pronouncements, it will resurface as a real issue. But the doctrine will likely take precedence.

Just today, there was a pronouncement -- not the first, by the way -- that conditions in Iraq are far better than the media portray. That was the word of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. Ms. Chao's assessment does not parallel the views of the U.N. officials in Iraq. In fact, it seems likely that the bomber's have simply retargeted toward the civilian population rather than the relatively hard target that the U.S. forces provide.

The latest word from various NGOs and the U.N. is that Iraq is now at it's most dangerous for the average Iraqi. I'm sure ffrom inside the "green zone," where presumably Ms. Chao spent her time, life is better. But even here, there are still rocket attacks, and the threat of sudden death must be on the minds of all.

Just yesterday, The Independent's Robert Fisk stated: 'It's the same old Iraq, just a tiny bit worse than it was last month.'

Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice used the doctrine to make the case for war against Iraq. Compare Powell's and Rice's statements here to Powell's presentation to the UN Security Council of 05 02 2003, and Rice's infamous "mushroom cloud" gaffe. These are examples of the doctrine at work.

Every day, you can find examples of the doctrine at work. The Democrats are as adept at this as the GOP. If something you read, or hear makes you aver: "Hey, wait a minute," there may be good cause for you to explore your intuition in more depth.

I could spend very minute of every day finding examples of the doctrine at work. Note the breathtaking speed at which the doctrine is invoked, either purposely, or not. It doesn't matter to the truth. That's what I try to uncover. But I am, after all, only human(some would say barely), and I have my failings. It is your task to call me on errors of fact, or omission.