Strange Kristoff column

[TimeToGo]

October 27, 2004
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Pants on Fire?
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Whenever I say that President Bush isn't a liar, Democrats hurl thunderbolts at me. And when I say Mr. Bush isn't truthful, Republicans erupt like Mount St. Helens.

So what do I mean?

Let me offer an example - not from Iraq but from Mr. Bush's autobiography. In it, he tells a charming little story involving his daughters in 1988, on the eve of the presidential debate between his father and Michael Dukakis:

"One night, Laura and I were out of town campaigning, and Barbara and Jenna spent the night at the vice presidential mansion. Dad had spent the day preparing for a debate with Michael Dukakis. Unfortunately, Barbara lost her sleeping companion, Spikey, her favorite stuffed dog. She complained loudly that she could not sleep without Spikey, so 'Gampy,' better known as Vice President Bush, spent much of the night before his debate searching the house and grounds of the vice presidential residence, flashlight in hand, on a mission to find Spikey. Finally, he did, and Barbara slept soundly. I don't know if my dad ever went to sleep that night."

It's a heartwarming tale of family values. And while it's not malicious enough to count as a lie, it's laced with falsehoods.

SNIP

Read the rest at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/opinion/27kristof.html

His conclusions seem to come from a different mind than the first part of his column -- especialy the line:


In fact, I'm convinced that Mr. Bush is not only smarter, but also a better man than his critics believe. Most important, he's not a panderer. While Mr. Kerry zigs and zags on trade and Middle East policy, Mr. Bush has a core of values and provides genuine leadership (typically, I believe, in the wrong direction, by trying to reshape America and the world according to a far-right agenda).

SNIP

Isn't it more than that it is in the wrong direction????

Anyway, read it and see what you think?

[depakid]

1. Strange Kristoff column?

Aren't all his columns strange?

There's clearly something wrong with that guy- but I can't put my finger on exactly what it is.

[whistle]

2. Bush is nothing but a Pat Robertson dominionist hack who will....

...say anything or use anyone including his family to give the impression he is something or someone he isn't. See this link for what I mean:

<link> http://www.yuricareport.com/

Then go down to:

The Despoiling of America
How George W. Bush became the head of the new American Dominionist Church/State
by Katherine Yurica

[Maeve]

3. But the bottom line---

"If Mr. Bush were a private citizen, I would admire his tenacity, just as I respect Barry Goldwater, Red Sox fans and Flat-Earthers. But for a president, I wish we had a clear-eyed thinker who understood the difference between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, or between a stuffed dog and a stuffed cat."

I believe he is speaking to those who see the "vision thing" and admire the Shrub for it, pointing out that it would be better to have someone who sees reality. He does link Dubya with Flat-Earthers, after all.

[Demit]

4. but Kristoff says he "respects" Flat-Earthers, which I thought was dumb

[Maeve]

6. Respect can mean simply that you don't insult their beliefs

Kristoff is painfully moderate in some of his thinking, obviously trying to see both sides. That can be an admirable trait, one I aspire to myself. It allows one to see the "big picture" and understand how your opponents think, even when they are dead wrong.

Certainty is a kind of strength. But it is also a weakness when you're certain about the wrong thing, when you are resolutely marching off a cliff. Flat-Earthers have that sort of certainty, so does Dubya. You may admire that sort of "damn the torpedoes" attitude, but don't follow it when it flies in the face of reality.(Don't put Flat-Earthers in charge of NASA!)

That, I believe is what Kristoff is saying. He's not aiming at DU-types, but at the folks who lean toward Dubya. They won't hear us, but they might hear him.

(Can you tell I grew up in a conservative household and had to think my way out of it?)

[mazzarro]

5. Me think that Kristof is 'off' the deep end himself

I, for one, am still unconvinced by the constant attempt by Kristof to convince 'libruls' that chimp is a smart and brilliant person. This claim that a set of military I.Q. tests put the chimp 'in the 95th percentile of the population and that John Kerry's was in the 91st percentile' is crap to me. I will like for Kristof to explain when and how the chimp started to loose his intellectual ability and why has it deteriorated to markedly?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Well, I think the story does count as a lie

because it's clearly wrong; it's not just some random recollection that someone's asked for at the dinner table - it's in his autobiography; and by getting the date totally wrong (and thus implying that Bush Senior went into the debate with no sleep the night before, and yet did OK in it (I presume)), he is getting a gain out of it - he's saying "look how strong and intelligent Republicans/Bushes are - even without any sleep we can take on Democrats; and we care so much about our family that they always come first".

[goose4739]

8. Serves no practical purpose

In the midst of all the pointless prattle, he does endorse Kerry. But after calling Bush a liar he then says he's a smart, wonderful man? Time for this press to get off its knees!

[Raster]

9. kristof's lipstick is always a shade of brown...

[TimeToGo]

11. I emailed him

pointing out the oddness of his comments.

[bemildred]

10. He gets in the "flip-flop" and "strong leader" memes

while pretending not to. This is propaganda, plain and simple.
He just sucks you in first with the pretension of "balance".

[realFedUp]

12. The Daily Howler's Bob Somerby covers Kristof today

www.dailyhowler.com