Today’s MTP, Chris Matthews, ThisWeek: my summary of these

three shows:

1. MTP:
a. Annan (UN): Bush* has the goods on the UN members illegal oil-for-food program dealings. Will be able to twist arms.

b. JOE WILSON: Called Cheney an SOB, Condi a liar, Rove, Libby, and Abrams probable sources of statements that ARE TREASONOUS ACTS (revealing his wife’s status as CIA). Bush does not want this investigated or he is not really have the power (otherwise his subordinates would have cleared this matter a long time ago.)

2. Chris Matthews:
Donaldson’s recommendation for Kerry right on the mark: Kerry should not be trying to rephrase his statements after the war (he is the hero, not bush); he should say his wife’s money is that: his wife’s money and her affair not the nation’s; he should come out swinging. The other pundits’ statements were just junk.

3. This Week:

a. General Myers is a milquetoast, ignorant, cover-ass type person who will lie, kill, or steal to maintain his job. Faced with the report quoted by Hersh on the New Yorker, he said he had not seen it. When asked why, he said many reports are not shown to him… or something to that effect.

b. McCain: continues trying to play a balancing act: support Bush against his conscience. Doing a pretty bad job of it.

c. Lieutenant Riekhoff: a hero, calls them as he sees them. THIS BECAME POLITICAL THE MOMENT THEY SENT ME TO IRAQ with inadequate planning, inadequate troops’ training and equipment.

Definitely on the mark with Sen. McCain. When push comes to shove he will always back GW. He says he is a Republican and will always be. That is like saying I will continue to smoke even though I know it may lead to my demise. He can't have it both ways no matter how hard he tries. He sounds scripted every time he speaks. Determining which way the wind blows is how I see him. And as for Myers--he is so full of BS I can't listen to him.

much "respect" for him at DU!?!

:eyes:

GW machine roll over him many times. How he could support GW now is beyond realization.

I think in b. you meant to say "Rove, Libby and Abrams" as in Elliot Abrams(not Adams). Otherwise, excellent!

...the report written for the army chiefs by Major General Antonio Taguba.

This sounds like the Skilling (former CEO at Enron) gambit: Hey, I'm in charge so I don't know nuthin', no how, no way. Duh!

The New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh, which referenced the Taguba report repeatedly, was on the Internet on Saturday. Is Myers out of the loop? Did his subordinates see it? If they did, why didn't alert him?

So Myers trumpets his ignorance of the report as proof that the abuses aren't widespread.

No mention was made that Amenesty International has numerous reports of abuse of prisoners by both the US and UK.

Think Rummy gave him a wake-up call this A.M. to tell him what to say, think, eat and shit? The man's not just a "company man"...he's in a military where your orders suprecede your own sense of decency and the more you can detatch the two, the higher up the chain you go.

I expect a slew of tell-all books someday from a bunch of these characters...either mea culpas for years of personal anguish or a last chance to make a quick buck.

We get so used to hearing lies, lies, lies (Myers) that when someone with integrity and first-hand experience tells the truth, it just blows us away! Riekoff IS a hero. He has my utmost respect and gratitude, both for his service in Iraq, and for his courage in telling the truth in the face of power.

How about the tribute at the end? Departing from the usual recitation of the names of those killed this week (although their names were shown on the screen) they had a soldier read his report of accompanying a dead soldier's body back to his home. It was absolutely heart-wrenching. I was in tears. :cry:

This would be such a useful service for those of us who have to spend the whole of our "day of rest" repairing gutters, buying groceries, mowing lawns, and shlumping kids.

And I have seen convenience store clerks who were sharper than Myers.

He has sold his soul to the devil.