Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Monday, April 10, 2017

What The Fact?

So I read the WaPo's fact check of Susan Rice's claim - and the Obama administration's claims in general - about the removal of chemical weapons from Syria.  Basically, they engaged in careful parsing of their words to spin their agreement in the best possible light.

The agreement pulled out the "known" chemical weapons, while leaving some hidden weapons in place.  That's what Rice said.  As with so many things in Syria, there were simply no good options.  The negotiated settlement probably got rid of more chemical weapons than strikes would have.  Certainly, they got rid of more chemical weapons that Trump's rubble bouncing last week did.  That's what Rice said.

Nevertheless, in a blatant case of Both Sides, the statement was given "Four Pinocchios."  Basically, they took Rice's spin and said it was a blatant lie, even though it was factually accurate within the parsed limits of the language.  They equated measured spin with the daily blatant bullshit spewing from the White House.

This is why we can't have nice things.

No comments: