Richard “The 21st Century’s Tricky Dick” Perle is in the news again:
Pentagon adviser Richard N. Perle, a strong advocate of war against Iraq, spoke last weekend at a charity event that U.S. officials say may have had ties to an alleged terrorist group seeking to topple the Iranian government and backed by Saddam Hussein. […]
…and I just wanna dance, dance, dance! and that means it’s time for a brand new game here at Sadly, No! Enterprises Ltd AG GmbH.
Are you ready? (Frederick raises his hand.) Well, here we go. After our earlier popular endeavors like The Besides That? Syndrome we are proud to introduce:
The Real Scandal Pronouncement!? Inspired by many of our conservative friends, the object of the game is to trivialize something important (ideally criminal) and then announce that the more serious issue is this other, rather unsurprising and fairly minor development. Let’s take today’s Wall Street Journal to get things started.
Forget the fact that Republican Senate staffers illegally accessed opposition memos for several months, the real scandal? is that Democrats tried to block a few of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
Ever so reliable InstaHack offered this gem last year:
Forget the fact that the Bush administration included a claim it had every reason to know was bogus in the 2003 State of the Union speech, the real scandal is that Joe Wilson doesn’t completely agree with Richard Perle’s views.
Random conservative pundit on the intelligence used to justify the war:
Forget that the US has spent $200bn war on a war of aggression that’s killed hundreds of coalition soldiers and thousands of Iraqis, the real scandal is that Bill Clinton also thought Iraq had WMD.
And now… add your own version in the comments. Winner gets a shrink wrapped copy of Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons.
The Snarky Cat links to this Foreign Policy story on the foreign policy advisors of the major Democratic presidential candidates (and Joe Lieberman’s.)
The most popular are:
The strangest:
The don’t tell Glenn Reynolds or he’ll have a heart attack department:
Inexplicably overlooked:
World O’Crap introduces a new feature, called You Asked for It!
And the first post is dedicated to us! ::blush::
Has Amber ever dedicated a column in this manner? Sadly, No!
Via World O’Crap, the true nature of The Corner is revealed:
A PARTICULARLY ARRESTING SIMILE (THOUGH NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN) [Peter Robinson ]
From a reader who had joined the fray over Operation Barbarossa: “Only on the Corner can penguins falling over share space with whether it was the Luftwaffe or wet roads held that up the German invasion of Russia. It’s kind of like being on a long car trip with some heavily stoned Rhodes Scholars.” [Emphasis added]
Rhodes Scholars… Rhodes Scholars… Didn’t someone warn us about them recently? Ah yes, our man Andrew Sullivan:
Rhodes scholars are among the most irritating mediocrities on earth
and:
they are mega-losers, curriculum-vitae fetishists, with huge ambition and no concept of what to do with it.
So there you go boys and girls: Reading The Corner is kind of like a long car trip with a bunch of mega-losers, curriculum-vitae fetishists, who are also the most irritating mediocrities on the planet.
Alert the media: We agree with Andrew Sullivan!
You can keep asking me, and I’m gonna keep not answering, ok? Scott “Gathering Bullshit” McClellan shows his skills:
MR. McCLELLAN: Dr. Kay did a great job working on the Iraq Survey Group. We very much appreciate his service. It’s difficult work. But he has pointed out that they need to complete their work.
Q Are you saying that still — you still expect weapons to be found, when the President, the Vice President, Powell and so forth have basically written that off?
MR. McCLELLAN: Helen, I think I’ve addressed this question over the last couple of days. What we know is that Saddam Hussein’s regime was a gathering threat. And in a post —
Q I didn’t ask you that —
MR. McCLELLAN: I understand, but I’m coming to your question. In a post-September 11th world, it’s important that we confront those threats before it’s too late —
Q What were his threats? Has he ever threatened us? [Emphasis added]
Scott later added, “David Kay did a fabulous job you know.”
Bonus points:
MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you, Helen. We have already reconfirmed that it was the right decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
Q Who said so?
MR. McCLELLAN: The world — I think a lot of people say so. The world is a safer and better place —
A lot of people. Boo-yah!
Sadly, No! reader Frederick (he who is an expert on the part of the male anatomy that cannot be named) sends us this email:
The Best Chain Letter I have ever received – read on:
Hello, my name is Lewis and I suffer from the guilt of not forwarding 50 billion fucking chain letters sent to me by people who actually believe that if you send them on, a poor 6-year-old girl in Arkansas with a breast on her forehead will be able to raise enough money to have it removed before her redneck parents sell her to a traveling freak show.
Do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to give you, and everyone to whom you send “his” email, $1000?
We’ve written about the lies of the Wall Street Journal editorial page in the past, but today brings yet another serving of an often repeated, thoroughly debunked, claim:
And not just the CIA. Believers included the U.N., whose inspectors were tossed out of Iraq after they had recorded huge stockpiles after the Gulf War. [Emphasis added]
The WSJ editors don’t say when Iraq “tossed out” UN inspectors. Perhaps, one guesses, because Iraq never did. Iraq’s cooperation with the inspection regime was deficient, obstruction was typical, deceptions abounded, attempts to hide were plentiful, etc, etc… But did Iraq ever “toss out” UN weapons inspectors? Sadly, No!
War on Terror Ally (WOTA) Britain provides a comprehensive history of the UN inspections and assorted resolutions here. Under the heading “Withdrawal of the Inspectors, it writes:
15. By the end of 1998 UNSCOM was in direct confrontation with the Iraqi Government which was refusing to co-operate. The US and the UK had made clear that anything short of full co-operation would make military action unavoidable. Richard Butler was requested to report to the UN Security Council in December 1998 and stated that, following a series of direct confrontations, coupled with the systematic refusal by Iraq to co-operate, UNSCOM was no longer able to perform its disarmament mandate. As a direct result, on December 16 the weapons inspectors were withdrawn and Operation Desert Fox was launched by the US and the UK a few hours afterwards. [Emphasis added]
Is Peggy Noonan in charge of fact checking at the WSJ?
Bonus points: Watch Robert Kagan & William Kristol repeat the lie and fuck up the time line in the process:
But one effect of Operation Desert Fox was that Saddam expelled the U.N. inspectors altogether. [The Weekly Standard, Oct. 10, 2003]
A reminder boys:
As a direct result, on December 16 the weapons inspectors were withdrawn and Operation Desert Fox was launched by the US and the UK a few hours afterwards.
FAIR has more here.
The good people at My brain is made of things made of gold (say it twice, win a prize) report on the ultimate garment for the Sullivan fan that has it all.
Amber responds to our refusal to provide her with a picture of the Sadly, No! staff:
No picture? :_-(
(8) Don’t cry for us Amber Pawlik (8)
In other news, we failed to congratulate someone earlier this week for being the 100,000th visitor to S,N! So belated congratulations to, well, someone. Informed of the milestone, a friend of S,N! replied by email:
How many of those are Amber Pawlik?
Jerks of a feather flame together we guess.