Dowd: This administration's grand schemes always end up as the opposite.

[CatWoman]

Officials say they're promoting national security when they're hurting
it; they say they're squelching terrorists when they're breeding them;
they say they're bringing stability to Iraq when the country's
imploding. (The U.S. announced five more military deaths yesterday.)

http://groups.google.com/group/SocietysChild/browse_frm/thread/fa052f6543c8a60b/360e5773a23a85c4?lnk=st&q=%22Who%27s+on+First%3F%22+%22maureen+dowd%22&rnum=1&hl=en#360e5773a23a85c4

[rodeodance]

1. most people suffer from the WH 'grand schemes' but the troops do the

most--along with their families.

[mike6640]

2. not to mention

we all noticed early on that a *ush visit (photo op) was the kiss of death to program funding.

M

[UTUSN]

3. She's Been on Fire for Weeks/Months.

Bartcop says "She hates EVERYBODY," but when she's pinnin Shrub to the wall, she's GREAAAAT!

[NNadir]

4. I remember that in 2000 the focus of her wrath was Al Gore's suit.

That was a tremendous service to our country, to ridicule Gore for his haute-couteur.

[cantstandbush]

5. Admit it. These are NOT the brightest people in the world.

In fact, Rove's major talent is smearing, lying, intimidating, and squealing. We all know Bush is not really smart enough to be President of the US, yet he is. The smartest person in the administration is Rice but she is a fool and unwise.

We sometimes mistake pure evil for brilliance ... like Cheney for example.

What this administration has is financial backing, power, hubris and the necon agenda and backing...that's why they are where they are today.

[Marr]

6. I couldn't agree more.

Their corruption has only been matched by their incompetence. But they're supported by alot of very wealthy, very influential people, and so they're shielded.

Rove is a perfect example. He's lauded as some sort of genius, but his juvenile pranks would never fly if big media owners weren't sympathetic to his party. Imagine the response that a Swiftboat campaign would get in the corporate media if it was connected to the Howard Dean campaign. Or a Green Party candidate.

It'd either be ignored completely or it'd become the subject of multiple investigative pieces, exposing the "mastermind" who came up with it.

[meow2u3]

7. Touche!

Vice<-President Cheney> spent so much time lurking over at the C.I.A., trying to intimidate the analysts at Langley into twisting the intelligence about weapons, that he should have had one of his undisclosed locations there.

I couldn't have said it better myself.