Robertson's 'No Casualties' Statement Means Something

[The Magistrate]

It is a knife that must be driven home and twisted hard.

The statement is undoubtedly true, and in addition to demonstrating the reckless idiocy and naivitie of the Crawford coward and his advisors, amounts to cold proof the current administration knew Hussein's arsenals contained no chemical or biological weapons, and that they lied deliberately when they stated otherwise, for if there was any genuine worry such weapons might be used against U.S. soldiers invading the place, that statement could never have been made.

Since the White House has now denied Robertson's statement is true, two things are best hammered hard over this mendacious denial. First, that there is no reason whatever to believe the denial, that it is certainly just one more lie, and second, that calling Robertson a liar is an expression of desperation and defeat, certain to depress the evangelical vote for the criminals of the '00 Coup.


"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[karlrschneider]

1. Indeed, sir. There is simply no rational way to 'spin' this. I despise

Pat ROBert$on as much as I do the Chimp, but since is a huge W supporter, there is no motive for lying about this. (If he had said something derogatory about JK, I would be fairly confident he was lying, whether I knew the truth or not) but this makes no sense at all to me.
It's a HUGE :wtf: moment.
:eyes:

[lastliberalintexas]

7. I actually think there is

a way to spin this. Repubs are infamous for speaking to their people in code, and I think that's what this was. This was their way of comforting the repubs who are concerned that Shrub callously sent our boys (it's never men and *women*) on this invasion. Robertson just told them that they can still vote for him and that he did no such thing because they thought they could do this like Grenada.

Now I know, anyone with even the most limited knowledge of Iraq knew we'd lose people (particularly Iraqis :eyes: ) and that the Shrub administration would have to be supremely incompetent to think this could be done without casualties. You have to be sane and rational to see the problem with that premise, which is why it works on the repubs.


And I'm not too sure about this, since I didn't see Robertson do this, I've only read the accounts. Maybe his body language gave his real motive away and it really was something anti-Shrub. I'm just not counting on that being the case.

[The Magistrate]

9. Robertson, Ma'am

Was simply carried away by spiritual pride, a malignancy to which he long ago succumbed, mush to the Devil's delight: he was showing off for the young woman questioning him, declaring his assessment of both political and military affairs was superior to that of the current administration, laying ground for the claim that, had they only listened to him, they would have escaped the defeat that is come upon them....

"There can be no greater sin than to believe one has a personal relationship with God."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Beetwasher]

13. Yes, I Think You're Right, Sir

Hubris, Vanity, Pride...I've been thinking along the same lines. I think the motive is quite psychological and impulsive rather than strategic...

[lastliberalintexas]

15. I guess I'm just too cynical

And they're usually far too scripted for it not to have been some sort of coded message. But like I said, I'm too cynical. :D

[The Magistrate]

33. It Is Not Possible To Be Too Cynical, Ma'am

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Joe Turner]

45. I have a similar take on that

I think Pat Robertson was taken with Paula Zahn and in trying to impress her with his powerful White House connections and influence said something he ordinarily would never say. Charlatans like Robertson just feed off this kind of attention, especially when it comes to beautiful women.

And what Pat said really rings true with how Smirk impulsively rushed into this war beyond all reason.

[blondeatlast]

14. True about the "code." I had forgotten. nt

[bush equals idiot]

36. ?

[NDFan]

39. Isn't Robertson...

Is this the same Pat Robertson has a book out on "miracle pancakes" that will, among other things, prevent prostate cancer? :D

I wonder if demand for the book (titled Pat's Age-Defying Protein Pancake) went away when Pat found out he had prostate cancer earlier this year? :D

If you want a good laugh, check out the book's webpage:

http://www.cbn.com/communitypublic/pancakes.asp

[The Magistrate]

40. He Is Getting Old, Sir

You would think that in his confidence of Heaven, he would be at ease with the prospect of death, but he has instead turned to health-food nostrums as eagerly as a New Ager, and taken up peddling them to his flock as a supplement to his more regular means of bilking them through exhortations to demonstrate their faith in God by sending him money....

Welcome to the forum, by the way, Sir!

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[NDFan]

41. Sir..

Thanks! :D

No one has ever called me SIR before in a non-condescending manner. ;)

[no name no slogan]

44. Remember, too, that Pat has not been "Rev. Robertson" since the early 90s

Pat gave up his ordination in the Baptist church in the early 90s, when he discovered he could make much more money serving both God AND Mammon-- AND killing off pesky East African diamond miners to boot.

The proper way to address him today would be "Dr. Robertson", "Mr. Roberson", or "You Lying Sack of Hypocritical Sh!t".

:dunce:

[The Magistrate]

48. Indeed, Sir

The wretch's diamond mining adventures rank him right up with such scoundrels as King Leopold's men....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[wickywom]

47. Rove perhaps trying to have his cake and eat it too..

trying to keep some of those moderate athiest votes?
Some rich Repubs like my uncle get alittle jumpy about *'s religious tone, I'm sure he's not the only one.

[speedoo]

2. Yup.

Saying that Robertson must have "misheard" is not believable. How could anyone "mishear" something like that.

shrubco's denial won't put this away.

[XanaDUer]

3. Hi Magistrate

Don't forget to write Our Fearless Leader at www.congress.org.

It's a good way to put this kind of information out there, whether about this, or the lack of 'flu vaccines, or his general idiocy.

PS-and it's free. Once you write your letter, make sure to tick the radio button that says to show the message on the site.

[grasswire]

4. let's reduce this to a sound bite

If Bush said in advance that there would be no casualties, he knew in advance there were no WMD.

Think about it.

[The Magistrate]

6. Exactly, Sir!

If he knew there'd be no casualties, he knew there were no WMD....

"It is wonderful to observe the calm confidence of a Christian with four aces."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[life_long_dem]

27. are you sure he didn't say four "faces"?

I know of two already....

[KittyWampus]

5. Well Magistrate, They Probably Bribed Saddam's High Command

who was only too willing to give up, run away and blend into the population... and wait to fight AFTER Junior did his inevitable
"Mission Accomplished" speech.

[The Magistrate]

8. That Is A Legitimate Usage Of war, Ma'am

"Silver bullets" are often more efficacious than leaden ones. this is something else. weapons of that sort would have been under the control of the most reliable Ba'athist leaderrship, had such weapons existed, and nothing could have rendered military planners certain they would not be used. Military intelligence pays little attention to enemy intentions: it focuses on enemy capabilities, and derives intent from assessment of what could be done....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Tatiana]

10. Exactly on point, sir!

This is win-win, no matter how you look at it.

A - The Bush campaign called Pat Robertson a liar.

B - Pat Robertson acknowledged that either Bush is delusional (and thusly, 'unfit for command') or a pathological liar and manipulator (knowing there would be no casualties because there were no WMD to be used against our soliders).

If the Bushies label Robertson a liar, you will have masses of evangelicals turning their backs on Bush. As much as the masses of right-wing evangelicals love to defend Bush, their true spiritual leader is Robertson. Every fundy I know watches the 700 Club, which happens to be based in Virginia Beach, Virginia - a state that isn't solid red at the moment.

So the question remains, why would Pat make such a statement?

I believe it was a not-so-subtle warning to Bush. The fundies can't be pleased with the recent Bush/Cheney responses to issues such as abortion and gay rights. He's telling Bush to tow the (hard right) line or risk losing the evangelical base. Bush knows without the fundies, he is lost.

[monchie]

11. Remember: Bush regimes denials are not believable...

...since in the third debate the Shrub himself denied making the Bin Laden remark, even though that had been made in public and was preserved on video tape.

Repeat the meme: BUSH REGIME DENIALS ARE NOT BELIEVABLE.

[The Magistrate]

42. Denials From These People, Sir

Are confirmations....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Beetwasher]

12. Oooooh, They Are In Quite The Pickle. 'Tis a Thing of Beauty, Sir!

Quite a delicious conundrum...

[Gregorian]

16. Good one.

Bush knew. Bush lied. Thousands died.

[The Magistrate]

18. The Shorter, The Better, Sir

Quite right.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[A-Schwarzenegger]

17. And I hope it's pointed out in the media that "casualties" refers to

deaths AND injuries. That means Bush was saying there
would be no INJURIES in the war. Some of the headlines
in google news are interpreting "no casualties" as
"no deaths."

[City Lights]

19. Why does the "plain speaker" always have to have his words clarified?

I'm so frickin' sick of hearing the media/bushbots say the "president" says what he means and means what he says out of one side of their mouths, while they translate his bushspeak out of the other side.

I wonder how robertson feels about basically being called a liar.

Anybody have an email address for pat? I'd like to drop him a line and tell him how offended I am that the White House would even suggest that a fine, upstanding citizen like robertson could be lying. ;-)

[WordSalad]

20. Isn't there another side to this too? A double bind for Bush?

Which is it? Did Bush lie about the casualties? OR, did Pat Robertson lie about what Bush said? Someone needs to ask him. Will he admit a mistake (for the first time ever) OR will he accuse Robertson, a person revered by a sizable portion of his base, of not telling the truth. I can't wait to see this.

[stevedeshazer]

21. Welcome to DU

Your fingers are directly on the truth here, as I see it.

One, or both, of these pillars of the Christian extreme right is lying. No good will come to them over this, it only serves to divide them in the eyes of their respective yet mutual supporters.

And that is a very good thing at this time.

[ladybugg33]

23. And did they both lie on God?

That's the one I want answered.

[AntiCoup2K4]

I don't see anything that Pat Robertson stood to gain by lying on this one

He clearly benefits from another Bush Jr term, and the all but certain fascist Supreme Court that would result from it. Given the "cakewalk" line being floated by Perle, Wolfie and the other traitorous PNAC shitbags at the time, no doubt it was THEY who convinved the Half Assed Monkey Boy that casualties would be non existent.

[newyawker99]

26. Hi WordSalad!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[WordSalad]

34. This needs to be looked at further...

I agree with the later posts that say this needs to be pursued further, even though the Bush and Robertson appear now to be trying to diminish the impact of the Robertson statements. It seems to me that if the two had the extended conversation that I've heard described, that it is unlikely that Robertson "misunderstood" as they are now saying.

Thanks to all of you who extended a welcome to me! This seems like a friendly place.

[bush equals idiot]

37. You are using the hammer which drives the point.

That's why this should be rushed into a commercial. One of them has to scream bloody murder about it. There is no way they can both square this. That will also force the news networks to follow the quandry because one or both of them is going to be bitching...ahhhh that's not fair, that's dirty politics, that's distortion. And blah blah blah. Yadda yadda yadda. :beer:

Robertson is stuck because he was so vehement when he said it on Paula Zahn. He has no way to wiggle out of it.

[grasswire]

22. kick

it's an important point!

[evilqueen]

24. You're assuming the RW cares if their Idols lie.

We know the freepers do, but the fundies?

[The Magistrate]

30. Those In The Middle, Ma'am

Who wish for a competent, strong leader in troubled times, cannot be moved to confidence by the naivite of the statement, and do not appreciate being lied to and frightened into cowardice for no good reason....

Fundamentalists will not appreciate Robertson being called a liar, which is what the White House defense in this matter boils down to....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[radfringe]

25. "MIS"heard, "MIS"spoke, "MIS"understood

amazing how many "MIS" 's there are to this "MIS"-adminstration

one thing I won't "MIS"s is the smirk-boy

[pabloseb]

28. The 527's desperately need to pick up this NOW!!!!!!!

I'm not sure this would be good material for an official Kerry ad. But progressive groups need to pick up this and inundate the airwaves. I think it could have an effect on those conservative religious people who have Robertson in the highest esteem but are not too fond of the * administration.

[The Magistrate]

31. That Is An Excellent Idea, Sir

Welcome to the forum!

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[sontec]

29. Critical to keep this in the news.

Keep harping. I am posting negativity RE:"this" on FREEREPULSIVE. I encourage all to do this...They embrace you easily and then just question everything, followed w/ token praise for * and co. they're gullible.

[ladybugg33]

32. The election might just turn on this one!!

We have got to make the media pay attention. Where is Dan Rather when you need him? Where is Rush Limbaugh? Surely Rush wants to smear Pat for this remark about the President (Hee hee).

[kentuck]

35. Yessir ! Drive this truck right through his Christian base...

Who's lying? Robertson or Bush??

[The Magistrate]

38. It Cannot Be A Pleasant Thought For A Fundamentalist, My Friend

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[bigtree]

43. One more group that Bush has marginalized

What is this counterfeit loser's base anyway?

[eleanor]

46. A couple of other points ...

1. It would appear Robertson and Shrub are talking to a different God. Whattup?

2. It actually makes sense that Shrub would say this which is why he was so quick to march in. Thus, he lied in the debates when he looked so serious in stating how difficult it was to send other people's children into harm's way. Well, if he didn't think we were going to have any casualties, then the decision must have been very easy and he gave not a thought to other people's children? Eh?