Saying Nothing Like A Chimp... Champ, I Meant Champ

Flash back to Hurricane Katrina and the criminally incompetent response of the federal government.  I'm just saying, if Anderson Cooper knows it's bad, and Brian Williams knows it's bad, and housewives in Idaho know it's bad, and the White House doesn't, that goes beyond your ordinary variety of incompetence.  Saith the Chimperor:

Again, I want to thank you all for -- and, Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. The FEMA Director is working 24 -- (applause) -- they're working 24 hours a day.

Then Bush, being appropriately slammed by Republicans and Democrats alike, realized his continued insistence that the government did a heck heckuva job wasn't playing too well.  Apparently Republicans were worried about the '06 elections and might have to distance themselves from the President.  A week and a half later Bush realized this and took responsibility, accepted the blame for massive governmental failures:

To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility.

But but but I thought that MSNBC headline read, "Bush takes blame for flaws in Katrina response."  Um... no.  Mark at AzureBlog explains:

Lots of headlines claiming Bush accepts responsibility for errors in the Katrina response. But what does it mean? Nothing. He said that mistakes were made at all levels (hey, it was everybody, not just us), and "to the extent" the Federal government made mistakes (not sayin' THEY did, but if THEY did) I accept responsibility. At one time in Japan taking responsbibility meant a lot -- the leaders would run themselves through with a sword. Even today there the leaders often resign for mistakes made under their supervision. Bush's acceptance of responsibility means nothing. He distanced himself from it in the very sentences he used to say it, and he only said it because the press has been castigating him over it.

Now, fast forward to the present.  On April Fools Day, appropriately enough, Condoleezza Rice announced that she'd played a trick on us.  At a speech the day before she'd said, "I know we've made tactical errors, thousands of them, I'm sure."

On Saturday, a reporter asked Rice to give examples of the mistakes.

"First of all, I meant it figuratively, not literally. Let me be very clear about that. I wasn't sitting around counting," she replied. "The point I was making to the questioner ... is that, of course, if you've ever made decisions, you've undoubtedly made mistakes.

Let me be perfectly clear about this.  She admitted that the government made mistakes in Iraq.  The "thousands of them, I'm sure" was clearly an off-the-cuff number; perhaps it was even hyperbolic.  The next day a reporter asked her for an example of a mistake, and she ducked the question by attacking a question the reporter did not even ask.  You know what that sounds like?  A husband apologizing to his wife:

--I'm sorry.

--For what?

--I don't... um... you're wrong.  I mean... whatever you want me to apologize for?

Yeah.  That's a nice sincere apology which concedes wrongdoing while at the same time refusing to acknowledge any wrongdoing!  From her response to the question, it seems fair to say that Condi Rice does not recognize the United States as having made a single mistake in Iraq--but that's a nice little soundbite where she "acknowledges thousands of mistakes."  Reminds me of a little story where George W Bush "accepted responsibility" for massive governmental failure in the Hurricane Katrina debacle.

Hey, George has had a successful political career.  Since Condi also appears to suffer from a psychopathic personality disorder, perhaps things will work out for her, too, because surely she'll similarly misdefine "success."  (Man do they make me angry!)

Comments

[Ruchira Paul]

Remember how George W. could not name a single mistake when asked at a press conference to list one? Nothing has changed. With poll numbers sinking and voters characterizing Bush with epithets like *incompetent*, *liar* and *idiot*, the cynical bunch has decided to play contrite - and they are not doing it well.

[Joe]

Come to think of it, he has a different definition of "responsibility" than the rest of us. For example, he's said that liberal criticism of the government and/or the war is not responsible speech... so maybe when he was saying "I accept responsibility," he was actually thinking, "I've acted responsibly by not questioning myself."