The Feld-Blog

Contrary to popular belief, podiums are not fountains of eternal truth. In fact, in Washington today, it seems that lies and inconsistencies flow freely from Bush, Jackson, Snow and Rumsfeld's respective podiums (or rather "podia," which, as my co-worker David has pointed out to me, is the correct pluralization of the word podium). Elected officials and appointed bureaucrats fling them at reporters so often and with such veracity I can hardly keep up. Here's a quick rundown.

The Administration released a 'list' of the times Jack Abramoff visited the White House, but it leaves off at least 5 or 6 visits per year that are photo-documented in the press already (including Christmas and New Years parties as well as Bush's press conferences where he appointed Abramoffs old colleagues).

Alfonso Jackson, director of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took the podium and publicly stated that he rejected contract bids because the bidders "criticized Bush." When members of the Press pointed out to him that this is illegal he quickly changed his tune saying he hadn't mentioned a specific contract and even stating that he is not involved in any of the contracting procedures. Both are blatantly false and contradict his statements as well as his spokespeoples'.

Finally there's good old Rummy. Giving a speech a few days ago, 3 protestors stood up at various points throughout his speech to criticize him and accuse him of war crimes. When a 27-year CIA veteran took to the microphone to ask a question, I was hopeful that reason would prevail. This 27-year veteran prefaced his question with a quote from Rummy where he said "we know where they [weapons of Mass Destruction] are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad, and east, west, south and north somewhat." Even though he is on record saying this and it is one of Rummy's more famous utterances, He flat-out denied ever having said it. HE WAS ON MEET THE PRESS WHEN HE SAID IT. IT'S DOCUMENTED ON TV. There is no doubt he said it, and yet he refuses to come back to reality.

Another interesting Rummy moment was when he spent only 40% of the billions of dollars allocated to train Iraqi troops. The Defense department appropriated billions of dollars in 'emergency' supplemental spending bills. How emergency could they have been when more than a year later, only about 40% of that money was spent? And furthermore, Rumsfeld railed the congress for threatening to scale back future defense appropriations. He had the gaul to pass blame onto congress for his underfunding this war effort.

And this concludes tonight's episode of liars and Crooks.

P.S. The Primary elections are coming up on June 6th (in California). Are you registered? If not, do it. And vote in the primary. These are just as important as the general elections for deciding who will be running your state or your country. Register absentee if you have to. If you're from California, go here or call (916) 657-2166. Do it today. Deadlines area approaching fast.