Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The Bushies Lied About Tillman and Lynch



She was the petite war hero. The "Little Girl Rambo from the hills of West Virginia" who was critically injured in a blaze of gunfire in Iraq and was subsequently rescued by American troops from a hospital in Hollywood-like fashion. He was the NFL star-turned-war-hero who actually looked like Rambo and was killed heroically battling the enemy in Afghanistan. At least that’s what the lying Bush administration wanted us to believe since 2003. In Congressional hearings that began Tuesday, testimony and evidence was put forth reinforcing charges that the White House intentionally misled the public over the details of the ambush of Pfc. Jessica Lynch and death of Cpl. Pat Tillman in an effort to keep Americans behind the Iraq war.

Henry Waxman, (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, accused the Bushies of inventing "sensational details and stories" about these two highly publicized incidents. "The government violated its most basic responsibility," said Waxman.

As we now know, the dramatic stories put out by the Bushies about Lynch and Tillman were 100% false. Lynch in fact was taken prisoner after her maintenance convoy went astray and she was ambushed. Tillman met his untimely death at the hands of friendly fire. Lies, lies and more lies by the pathological lying liars who’ve been running our country since 2000. This was government propaganda at its best.

"I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were, in fact, legendary," said Lynch. Well, I can answer that one for her. Since it stepped foot into the White House, this administration has been lying through its collective teeth and breaking law after law in order to further its aggressive, reckless right-wing agenda. The amount of lies and misdeeds has been mind-blowing: WMD; Saddam and Al Qaeda connections; yellowcake uranium purchases; nation-building; the real cost of the war; the war’s progress; and illegal wiretappings to name a few. Is it any real wonder why Bush would lie about Lynch and Tillman in a shameless effort to exploit them for partisan political purposes? To use them as pawns in his delusional campaign to keep the public behind the war? This is an administration that was founded on lies, for Pete’s sake.

The real question is, what will the Democratically-controlled Congress do about it now? Will it merely wrist slap these liars as Congress has in the past when Republicans were in charge or will it finally demand accountability this time around? It’s time the legislative branch of government starts doing its job and stops enabling our liar-in-chief. Can you say…impeachment?


On another subject......we could use your help at The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated in my wife's honor to help carry out her spirit and passion, with the goal of assisting women filmmakers. As you may know, Adrienne was brutally killed in NYC on November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've finalized a scholarship with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; and grants with Columbia University, American Film Institute, NY Women in Film and Television, the Independent Feature Project, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Other initiatives will follow. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and to make a donation. Every little contribution helps preserve Adrienne's legacy, and to help create something positive out of this horrible tragedy. Thank you.

Adrienne's film "Waitress" will hit theatres May 2nd. Early reviews have been terrific. A link to the trailer is below. Enjoy.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/waitress/trailer/

7 comments:

Steve said...

The Democrats are pummeling the Repugs with oversight hearings. It is leading to the end of the Bush Crime Family. George McGovern in an excellent response to Cheney in an LA Times Op Ed today stated: "I expect to see Cheney and Bush forced to resign their offices before 2008 is over."

Anonymous said...

As usual your commentary was excellent. Your readers are now armed even more ammo to be used against those who created it. As you asked, What will the Dems do? I also ask when will people quit standing-by quietly as our own Lady Liberty is being raped. C'mon people, what's happening right now in the good 'ol U.S. of A. is just disgusting. Won't be long before things change or go up in flames one way or another. It's like the fire on a long slow-boil is being turned-up. I say we send all neo-cons to IRAQ so they can fight and die for nothing.

Anonymous said...

So here's a guy, Pat Tillman, who quietly, without media fanfare, left his limelight job to go defend our freedom in a hellhole...

... while our current Commander-in-Chief dressed up in a flight suit with full network, cable and "conservative" blog coverage landed on a safe, cozy air craft carrier far from the nation building.

This story, along with the prosecutor firings, are the coda to the Katrina and Iraqi PR disasters of the Bush / Cheney administration.

Katrina was all there for the American people to see. The US – and global – media, en masse, changed their kid-gloved approach to this “war time” administration. They’ve never recovered politically.

The problem the Bush administration has is that they think they still have this pass with the media. They think, and act, like they can concoct any story and people will believe them.

Like Rove who can’t discuss climate change on a scientific basis with a… music industry person! He can’t even discuss the merits of the other side with Sheryl Crow, hit maker, without running away. They simply cannot deal in facts, but only myths and symbols.

People understand the Tillman story. People understand the firing of prosecutors. By structuring a presidency around myths and symbols, and having it “work” for you for so long, when it stops working there's nothing to fall back on.

As the housing market crumbles even those thirty-plus percent of Americans who still, emotionally, support Bush / Cheney will begin asking about the magician’s show they’ve been live and on stage at for the last six or so years.

I hope we build some institutional and cultural knowledge that finally rejects the myths and symbols, the cracker barrel BS, that these people have used as a basis for governing. Sixty to seventy percent of Americans and the rest of the world see it. It’s our duty to our country to make the few remaining Bush lovers see it too.

Anonymous said...

It's quite clear that this administration desperately wanted to use the stories of Cpl. Tillman and of Pfc. Lynch to tout them as inspirational heroes so that more people would want to enlist and join in their misbegotten "war effort." Both of these individuals should be considered heroes, not because of the lies and tall tales of this administration, but because they've helped expose the truth behind this administration's cynioal manipulation of the media. After Vietnam, I thought we as a society were finished with such lies like those of My Lai and Lt. Calley; I see now that I was mistaken.

Anonymous said...

"...pathological lying liars who’ve been running our country since 2000."

We've actually had pathological lying liars running our country since 1993. Try being less partisan and more truthful yourself.

Anonymous said...

AMEN to The Ostroy Report! It's time for the Bush clan to take a step out of politics! I live in Florida and we are so screwed! They have all done enough damage to everything they have touched.

Anonymous said...

We all know that Bush the First lied and Reagan before him. The date isn't the "marker." The key is the word pathological, which Andy wisely uses.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Pathological -
1. of or relating to pathology
2: altered or caused by disease; also indicative of disease
3: being such to a degree that is extreme, excessive, or markedly abnormal as pathological liar; pathological fear.