Prayer and Probability

Liar Du Jour
Stephen Hadley

It’s getting to the point where you need a scorecard to keep track of the Bush Administration’s current purveyor of propaganda and disinformation. Mr. Bush rarely steps up to the plate himself; his Friday’s Veteran’s Day speech is a notable exception. The current unlucky pinch hitter is one Stephen J. Hadley, his reigning National Security Advisor. Mr. Hadley subbed for Scott McClellan at the last White House Press briefing. The reason for the substitution is that the Administration had to keep McClellan out of the line of fire after the uproar about his stating it was accurate that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby had leaked secret intelligence about Valerie Plame’s identity. The Administration then tried to rewrite history by saying Mr. McClellan actually said, “I don't think that's accurate.” Scott McClellan Unfortunately Mr. Hadley did not fare too well himself when the questioning got around to intelligence. As you can see his defense left much to be desired when questions arose.

Q Can I just do one follow on the intelligence? You said the prewar intelligence was clear. It was also wrong.
MR. HADLEY: Which clear?
Q You said the prewar intelligence was clear.
MR. HADLEY: Right.
Q It was also wrong, wasn't it?
MR. HADLEY: I said it was, I believe, a strong case -- a strong case was what I said in answer to the earlier question. And a lot of it --
Q You said the intelligence was clear.
MR. HADLEY: -- and a lot of it turned out to be wrong.
Q A lot of it turned out to be wrong.
MR. HADLEY: We know that.
Q Why -- I'm sorry, I didn't --
MR. HADLEY: Is there a follow-up? Can this be the last follow-up?
Q This will be the last follow-up.
MR. HADLEY: Good.

It is fair to ask why was Hadley there in the first place, not replacing the hiding Scott McClellan but in a position to substitute for Scott. The only feasible answer is President Bush’s penchant for promoting/rewarding lying and incompetence. You might remember that Hadley was promoted to National Security Advisor after his boss Condoleezza Rice was promoted to Secretary of State earlier this year.

How could a person who publicly admitted that he had ‘forgotten’ about two secret CIA memos that stated the Niger allegations about uranium were most likely false, be named National Security Advisor. It wasn’t like he forgot to take out the trash. He ‘forgot’ that Iraq really wasn’t trying to build nuclear weapons!! He first knew this in October, 2002 and he ‘forgot’ to mention it to his then boss, Ms Rice, before she wrote a New York Times op-ed titled, "Why We Know Iraq is Lying" on January 23, 2003. He forgot to mention it to the big boss, Mr. Bush, before his State of the Union speech on January 28, 2003. And finally Mr. Hadley still hadn’t remembered when he wrote his own op-ed for the Chicago Tribune on February 16, 2003. In fact Mr. Hadley did not remember until July 22, 2003 when the mass deception became public knowledge.

In his defense Mr. Hadley did try to resign for his ‘memory lapses’ but President Bush did not accept it. Obviously this kind of Michael Brown incompetence would need to be rewarded. It was in January 2005.

The Bush Credo - No Sacrifice Is Too Great For Others To Make.