Here it is: The Zagat -style DU take on Tenet's departure

[John_H]

Ever read a Zagat restaurant review, where they take reviews by a bunch of people and put them together, using lots of direct quotes, to try to give you an accurate picture of a restaurant? Fueled by a little Knob Creek and the belief that the Tenet thing ain't neurosurgery, it just dawned on me that if you do pull a Zagat on all the DU Tenet opining, you can approach what's really going on. So here it is, with as many direct quotes from DU posts as possible:


1) As everyone who was even half-awake during the war run up, and which only CBS managed to report today, Tenet was "pressured by Cheney & Rumsfeld in the run up to the Iraq War. He & the CIA didn't believe Chalabi, but he was pressured to accept the info from Chalabi."

2) Then things "go bad. Really bad" in Iraq. SThe administration needs a "fall guy" and "plausible deniability for the invasion." Who better than the "CLINTON appointed" Chief Intel Officer.

3) Let the games begin. Having identified the target, the "neocons fly into action." As every PR person knows, to sell an explanation of an event to Americans, there has to be a crystal clear "event" that causes another "event." Enter the Senate Intelligence Committee.

4) NeoCon Pat Roberts is more than happy to help. Roberts has "used his Committee to shield the Bush administration from any culpability" in 9-11 and the intel failures vis a vis Iraq. What better way to help protect Chimp than to use his committee he controls "to generate a report that blames the whole thing on Tenet."

5) Time to pile on. Powell puts out word he's "pressuring the CIA" to fess up and that he's "out for blood," and "wanted name, rank and serial numbers" of anyone involved inb the failures." Chimp tells "I-Get-A-Woody-for-Access Woody that Tenet said the words 'Slam Dunk.'" 'Natch Dem hawks Biden and Lieberman play along, and thusly get invited on TV shows disproportionately to any other senators over the past few weeks.

6) Yesterday, The NY Times is leaked a teaser in which a "republican source speculates" that Tenet will resign before Roberts's report is unfurled. "Ding. Ding. Ding."

7) Either voluntarily or not (who can know that for sure?) Tenet leaves, "creating a fall guy (a man and his agency) for 9/11 and Iraq war blunders"

8) The media dutifully reports that the "resignation may have been hastened by a critical, 400-page report from the Senate Intelligence Committee." Bam. "American Idol watching Americans" say that "9-11 was Tenet's fault. Our Preznit fixed it."

And there you have it. I give DU 31/2 stars overall for figuring out what really happened.

[malatesta1137]

1. And my personal favorite quote, my own:

Tenet was booted for exposing Chalabi & to drown both news of Bush's hiring of lawyer and the discovery of Cheney's link to Halliburton war profiteering. Great timing. People will talk about Tenet's failures now rather than Bush's Plamegate guilt or Cheney's corruption through Halliburton. The Bush Crime Family will blame Tenet now from 9/11 to Iraq and everything else, including the high price of the gallon of milk. I hope he writes a tell-all book.

[jjnagarya]

2. Gloating of Speculators

The condescension against "American Idol" US citizens is based -- I am assuming -- on evidence more compelling than the bigotry of the smug individual making the prediction about what they will and won't swallow?

It can't be based upon hanging out with such, which could result in knowing what those with whom one hung out express as being their views. Because you wouldn't hang out with them -- correct?

Today admirers of Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin who did not know them heroize them as something they were not. I knew them and watched their actions -- and the consequences of those actions. The most immediate consequence of their condescending stereotype of "middle America" was to alienate them from the effort to end US involvement in Viet Nam. Problem is, we needed those Hoffman and Rubin alienated in order to end that involvement.

But it was more "fun" being know-it-alls, prolonging that involvement, and protesting the killings that that prolongation kept going.

So we're told what "American Idol" Americans "think" and what they will decide regarding the Tenet resignation.

I'd congratulate you on your self-flattering assessment of yourself, and your ability to read minds of those you avoid, except that you cannot read minds.

And you're not accomplishing anything but irresponsibility by preaching to the choir/in-group instead of respecting, speaking to, and _persuading_ those "American Idol" Americans to question their support of Bushit. Obviously, as you veiw yourself as knowing more and better than they, who better to "correct" them but you?

But are you doing that? Obviously not. Who would want to hang out with such dumb folk, right? Whine, while letting them believe that which you disapprove and about which you do nothing to change.

How is that less intellectually curious than Bushit?

[Old and In the Way]

4. Am I missing something?

Very nice rant, but I see nothing in the poster's comments that deserves this response. Perhaps, being that this is your 4th post on the board, you were shooting for the original poster?

Regardless, the resignation of Tenet has taken the everybody on this board, pretty much by surprise and there is obviously lots of speculation as to why and how it will play out.

Excuse our cynicism about how the "American Idol" Americans will view this, but we can already see how corporate media is playing this up. And this is the same media that helped convince 70% of the American people that Iraq had WMD, that Iraq was responsible for 9/11, and that Saddam Hussein was buds with Al Qaeda. I have no doubt that polling will soon show us that 70% of all Americans believe every fuck-up and criminal action of this administration was actually caused by Tenet and the CIA.

What we are trying to do here is make sense of what just went down; ideas are offered, corroborated/rejected or refined here. Many of us tomorrow will take these arguments and thoughts developed here and bring them to work or the grocery store or the bar to discuss or argue with the "American Idol" Americans who only get their news from Fox or their political talking points from Bill O'Reilly. Corporate media will be orchestrating the public meme on behalf of the Republican Party that it's all Tenet's fault. If we don't challenge it, who will?

[John_H]

5. As Simon would say, "you're just not ready for this competition."

Especially when you start slinging the liberal elitist crap around the room because someone made a joke about a TV show's viewership.

But since we're being serious about our person-of-the-peopleness, here's a bit of real world for you: The people I used shorthand to describe can't be persuaded because they refuse pay attention long enough for you or me or anyone else to persuade, and I bet you know it.

You can call recognizing reality whatever you want but it won't make it less true. If significant numbers could be _persuaded_, Karl Rove would be in the shit--'cause reality, not some phony populism, is his bread and butter. He does read their minds. He knows that millions think Latoya getting jaked or who Tony's going to wack next, depending on which night of the week it is, is more important than why the director of the CIA resigned. That's why when he plants headlines like "Tenet Resigns Because of 9-11 Report," he knows millions of people will believe it. Now you wouldn't go around calling lil' ol' Karl a "liberal elitist" would you?

But I'll take your advice: The next time I'm hanging around with one of my American Idolitrist friends, I'll do a little _persuading_ at least until they tell me to shut the fuck up and go buy another round.

In return, here's some regular guy to regular person advice for post's five and up. DU is a place to preach to the choir, to blow off steam, and, too rarely, to piss of humorless dicks. So please stick around.

[newyawker99]

6. Hi jjnagarya!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[countmyvote4real]

3. Thanks, John. That was a delicious summary.

That's why I get my news reports at DU. The Daily Show is good, too, but DU doesn't go on vacation.