Question Time

28 March 2005 |permalink | email article

1. When is President Bush going to level about our bizarre relationship with Pakistan? President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and joined the war on terror, has failed to make good in the capture of Osama bin Laden. Now, the U.S. is about to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in a deal that Washington says will improve regional security. The Indian government says it will do the opposite. Bush is attempting to mollify India by clearing the way for it to discuss combat aircraft purchases with American arms manufacturers. Relations between Pakistan and India remain bitter and tenuous. Each has nuclear arms. Now comes the shocking news from The Los Angeles Times’ Josh Meyer that a federal criminal investigation has uncovered evidence that Pakistan made clandestine purchases of U.S. high-technology components for use in its nuclear weapons program in defiance of American law. While Bush has pushed for a crackdown on such trafficking, agents for two U.S. agencies sent to Pakistan to investigate have hit a bottleneck in Washington. Bottom line: a battle between federal agencies that enforce U.S. non-proliferation laws and what are described as “policy makers who consider Pakistan too important to embarrass.” Really?

2.  Talk about grasping real life priorities? How could Bush, who flew back to Washington from his Texas ranch on March 19 to sign the Terri Schiavo bill, wait four days to express condolences to the leader of the Minnesota Red Lake Bank of Chippewa on whose Indian reservation 10 people died March 21 in the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history? It’s worth noting that it took just hours after the shootings at Colorado’s Columbine High School for then-President Clinton to express condolences. 

3.  Should Democratic voters applaud the disgraceful decision by the Senate Democratic leadership to back Senate Majority Frist and his crowd to unanimously approve the Schiavo bill and lateral it to the House? Only a few Democrats had the courage to speak against the bill, joining 82% of the public in a CBS News poll who opposed intervention by Congress and the president. This stunning GOP mini-crisis about its priorities creates the first big leadership test for DNC Chairman Howard Dean. Can he do it? Which party is hurt most by perception of “playing politics” as the GOP clearly did? If Schiavo dies, will the numbers shift?  New USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll last week showed biggest drop among Bush supporters - men, church goers and self-described conservatives. Bush plunged 7 points to 45% in his approval rating.

4.  The administration and many Iraqis envision a secular kind of gender equality in a democratic new Iraq. Why is so little MSM attention being paid to a group of powerful Shiite women pushing Islamic law on gender issues which allow Iraqi men to have as many as four wives and repeal laws that guarantee alimony payments and children custody in divorces? Is an eventual civil war over the issue of a theocracy possible? 

Bush confidante Karen P. Hughes is his nominee to repair the tarnished U.S. image overseas, especially in the Arab world. Since past efforts have failed, why is there any reason to expect that a radical transformation is now possible through marketing and PR efforts in the Middle East when U.S. supports Israel? Undismayed, Condoleezza Rice presses forward with demands for competitive elections in Egypt this year and women’s right to vote in Saudi Arabia and other countries. Over the weekend, Rice made the revealing statement to The Washington Post that she was guided less by a fear that Islamic extremists would replace authoritarian governments than by a “strong certainty that the Middle East was not going to stay stable anyway.” What is she implying?

5.  Why is MSM relatively silent on the blame game for the Schiavo tragedy? Why is it that only mediamatters.org (link) has documented the politically motivated accusations by ultra-conservative columnists and electronic commentators that their liberal counterparts have condemned her to death? The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, apparently agrees. It compares a federal district judge’s refusal to reinsert Schiavo’s feeding tube to that of an innocent person being sentenced to capital punishment - a position far more extreme than the nuanced expressions on the website of Florida’s Catholic bishops. The L.A. Times’ Tim Rutten quoted Notre Dame theology professor Father Richard McBrien as saying that L’OR’s editorial “is theologically erroneous - and irresponsibly so…” Alleluia!

6.  About propaganda: when will the White House finally level about “fake news?” At his March 16 news conference, Bush was asked about video news releases - prepackaged news stories sent to TV stations without any disclaimer they were produced by the government. “Does it raise ethical questions?” a reporter asked. W. joked, “Oh, you mean a disclosure, I’m George W. Bush and I approve this message.” He bluntly said it was up to the stations to reveal the truth about such deceptive propaganda. Now, copycat California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is openly acknowledging making mock news videos, possibly at government expense, to advance his political agenda.

Then there is the story of James D. Gluckert, using the alias of Jeff Gannon, a fake reporter for a fake news service (Talon) who got daily White House press passes for two years. He was often called upon by the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, as a shill to deflect embarrassing questions. No investigation about how, or if, Gannon ever got Secret Service clearance? MSM has all but let it slide except for shouts from The New York Times’ Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd. In her column about the recent Gridiron Dinner in which W. winked at her, Dowd, who writes scathingly about him, remarked, “I still don’t have my regular White House pass back.” Guess what else? Adding mean spirited insult to injury, the White House recently provided a blogger with a daily press pass.

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