He has no answer. He doesn’t even try.

One of the things that struck me in the movie was the portrayal of Bush’s model for group socialization. In an early scene dipicting Bush’s Frat Hazing at Yale (becoming a ‘Kapster’,) Bush demonstrates that he ‘knows how the game is played’ – the Hazers recognize immediately that Bush is an ‘insider’, a legacy – and, more chillingly to the story-line, you ’see’ that the ‘penalty’ for not being ‘wise to the game’ is that you get Socially Waterboarded with Alcohol.

If you get a chance to see the movie, compare the College Hazing scene to the scene where the Principals are meeting during the Run-Up to the War and Powell – clearly demonstrating he’s not ‘wise to the game’ being played by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc – Powell speaks-up on behalf of all the Questions of Honor and Pragmatic Concern for the Consequences of Action (”You break it, you own it”) – and, What happens to him?

He gets Socially Waterboarded with Hubris, the Frat Boys and Girl are now Drunk on Power.

As a literary comparison, consider the parallels with the “Lord of the Flies” where the ‘fat’ kid gets demonized and killed as part of a Social Ritual – a ‘Wilding’ – that shows ‘group’ power and control over individuals – where ‘reason’ was chanted down and emotions were empelled towards rage.

Powell is the guy in the psychology experiment, sitting in the fourth chair, who’s just heard the first three people say “1+1=3″ – and now everyone’s looking at him expectantly. Will he join-in with the Irrationality?

I think you and I can agree totally that Torture is Wrong. There is no procedural pathway that justifies Torture. However, in the Bush Model of Group Decision-Making – everybody ’smears-in’ and ‘accepts’ playing dirty pool to ‘Win’ – or they get ’smeared-out.’

All I’m saying here is that, imvho, Powell will prove, in the long run, to have been a person of Character – like many others – who got ’smeared-out’ when he objected to being ’smeared-in’ – proving to the Bush Cabal that Powell didn’t know How the Game was Played.

what have we come to that we must actually be reminded of such things?

i actually think powell’s endorsement – not just the fact of it but the text of it – will be remarkably influential for those few voters who still have not decided.

Philly talk radio is as dominant GOP outlet as there is anywhere, and I mean anywhere. Morning talker Mike Smerconish late last week announced he is voting Obama. He followed that with a column in the Philly Inquirer (which also came out and endorsed Obama).

Note the similarities between Gen. Powell and Mr. Smerconish.

http://www.juancole.com/

Miller is drowning in the Iraqi peoples blood and she could care less. Her agenda on Faux news will to be incite a war with Iran.

Back in Action

Fox News is expected to announce today the hiring of a new contributor, a veteran national security correspondent who has shared a Pulitzer Prize.

Her name is Judith Miller…

…Miller will be an on-air analyst and will write for Fox’s Web site. “She has a very impressive résumé,” says Senior Vice President John Moody…

…”She has explained herself and she has nothing to apologize for.”

(My Bold)

This is an encore?