Tag: Iraq

According to Sen. Tim Kaine, on "Face the Nation" this morning: Kaine was NOT aware that there was "any kind of threat" to U.S....

by Lowell Here are a few news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, New Year's Day 2020. Global Apathy Toward the Fires in Australia Is...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, New Year's Eve 2019. Let's hope the 2020s are...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, December 28. Also, check out the video below of...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, December 27. Climate change needs ever-increasing attention. It didn't...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, May 13. U.S. Plans to Open Jerusalem Embassy Opposed...

So let me get this straight: Donald Trump did not - repeat, did NOT! - oppose the Iraq war (although he falsely claims that...

According to Iran-Contra felon Oliver North, who thankfully lost to Chuck Robb in the 1993 U.S. Senate election in Virginia, the rise of ISIS...

When the neocons planned out the Bush Iraqi adventure the wave of popular sentiment toward the military arising from the first Gulf War had crested and begun to ebb. The undertow was Viet Nam. Somehow they had to make their war invulnerable to criticism. They found a shield: the troops.

Psychological operations directed against the people of the United States are not lawful. But the propaganda was so subtly crafted that the constant mantra, "Support the Troops," was never recognized for the actual message being delivered. The Iraq War was unassailable because to criticize the war was to criticize the troops. Then an unlikely propaganda ally gave the neocons 9/11. Politicians feared airing questions that begged to be asked. The military and veteran bandwagon took on a life of its own. There was no support for mass demonstrations against the war. Senior officers could take bribes and give girlfriends classified documents without indignation from our elected representatives. Support the Troops. What a contrast to the Viet Nam era. But in the end, how much support is there: compare the spending on veterans' programs to that on the continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

Eventually there'll be a lesson from the McDonnell trial. For now, though, the revelation is how easily polished politicians can embrace and superimpose parallax and conflicting images without challenge. What we see depends upon where we stand. We too often choose the view that eliminates the discomfort of cognitive dissonance.

You might recall that Bob fashioned himself as a friend of business; the "Jobs Governor." Now that it is convenient, he feigns disinterest in the details of business and investment. Even Jonnie Williams recalls an investment proposal putting the Governor to sleep during a plane ride. Many remark that it is a shame that such a fine man finds himself in this situation and look for someone to blame. Maureen is a convenient straw-woman; for them and for Bob's attorneys. Some say that he is so bright that it is surprising that he was taken in by a snake oil salesman. Others believe that he was simply too trusting. This reflects a public persona that he cultivated along a path of retrofitted accomplishments and, as it turns out, malleable, maybe even bankrupt, fundamental values.

Bob was born with the gift of physical charisma; aka good looks. Many people rely on that gift to advance themselves. If you've got it, flaunt it, so they say. But when there is not sufficient desire to develop internally yet personally ambitious, the alternative to interpersonal and intellectual development is building socio-pathological, manipulative skills. Bob McDonnell's accomplishments were singularly adequate and hardly distinguished but sufficient to pass as achievement among a close knit group of Virginia Beach, then statewide sycophants.