Telling the Truth

George W. Bush must lead some kind of charmed life. How, in less than two months' time, is John Kerry supposed to overcome the national myth of this administration? (Waiting until now to go on the offensive was a huge and ridiculous error.) How do you connect with people who are probably reasonably intelligent, and yet have bought so fully into Bush's lies that they won't even consider other possibilities? Take this quote from a National Guardsman, following Kerry's address at the Guard convention in Las Vegas:

"What he was saying about George Bush not telling the truth on Iraq—I just don't believe that. George Bush did tell us the truth, so I guess I couldn't believe what Kerry was saying."

(Full story from the New York Times here.)

It's too bad he didn't elaborate more, or wasn't asked to elaborate, or further comments weren't published. Which "truth" is he talking about? Perhaps Bush's statement, "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised"? We know for a fact that the National Intelligence Estimate in the fall of 2002 was full of caveats that basically amounted to saying, "We have no way to prove any of this." And yet it left "no doubt." Interesting. Then of course there's the fact that we invaded the country 18 months ago and haven't found a single weapon. For a while Bush was pushing his "weapons of mass destruction-related programs," but the most current reports -- from Bush's own WMD guy in Iraq, no less -- said there weren't even any active programs. Basically the new official position is, "Saddam would have loved to have dangerous weapons if he could have, but he couldn't, so he didn't."

"He's a threat because he's dealing with al Qaeda." Well, okay, the 9/11 Commission did indicate that Osama bin Laden had been in touch with respresentatives from Hussein's government in Sudan in the 1990s, but the government's own panel concluded that these meetings did not result in a collaborative relationship. I mean, if just meeting with terrorists is evidence of a "tie," can I refer you to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11"? The clips showing the delegation from the Taliban visiting Texas and Washington, D.C.? I mean, okay, any conservatives out there are rolling their eyes and shouting, "Michael Moore? how can you take that propagandist seriously?" Well, whatever you want to say about him, he didn't invent the clips. How about the fact that the Bush administration gave more than $117 million in aid to the Taliban in 2001? What about the 9/11 hijackers training in Florida? The al Qaeda cell found in Buffalo, New York? If having terrorists in your backyard is a crime, then why can't we invade Florida and depose Jeb Bush? Clearly our own government had as much if not more of a tie to al Qaeda than Saddam.

Okay, well, that seems like last year's debate. Now that the WMDs are a no-show and the al Qaeda link was tenuous at best, the current justification is that it was necessary to depose Hussein because he was a really bad guy and the world is safer without him in power. Well, if you really believe that, I just want to ask you: was it worth the lives of 1000+ and counting American soldiers and more than 10,000 Iraqi civilians and the destabilization of an entire nation just to put this man in jail? Is there any evidence that the world is "safer" with Hussein in jail? If your answer is still yes, well...okay then. You and I just aren't going to agree. Ever.

For the rest of us, what is to be done? I mean, Bush's lies are so catastrophic and so easily debunked, you'd think it would be a cakewalk to defeat him in November. I mean, the evidence is completely against him. And yet...Kerry seems to be trailing in the polls. A lot can happen in politics in six weeks, but I confess I don't have great faith in Kerry. Or his campaign. What are they to do about the people who are just convinced of what Bush is saying? Is it too late?

If you need further evidence of Bush's chronic mendacity, or just want fuel for your fire, I highly recommend the following books that I read recently in preparation for the Republican National Convention here in New York. (Alas, I did not get to have an impromptu debate with a delegate on a street corner, but I did give a bus full of delegates from Illinois the finger. I'm all class.)

The Lies of George W. Bush -- "updated with new lies"

Bushwhacked

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them