Some in the media have marveled at Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s “plain-spoken” comments, which appears primarily to be a euphemism for his willingness to casually curse and say foolhardy things.
This was particularly true in one of his first speeches at “Camp Victory” in Iraq, where the secretary claimed the US occupation of Iraq was “because of 9/11.” It was widely covered in the press, but to hear the Pentagon, it never happened.
Indeed the Pentagon decided to release no transcript whatsoever of his public comments there. Even when transcripts have been released, those covering the events find that what was actually side can vary significantly from what was “officially” said.
Media outlets have been filing formal complaints to the Pentagon, noting that roughly half of the secretary’s comments have never even made it into transcripts. Officials suggested they may make them available “eventually” but even if they do, it seems the policy will be to “sanitize” them, carefully removing whatever jerkass things Panetta may come up with and whatever “priest and a rabbi” jokes he decided to toss in as a testament to his much-vaunted “candor.”
At least one good thing is coming out of Panetta playing musical chairs. At least with him, you can sometimes expected to hear the truth, even if it is unknowingly.
Editing = spin = lies. Count on it.
is it already "change management" o'clock?
Yes, I agree, as much as I wanted Gates out, the military has maybe one little advantage before a typical politician, they are not lying so much or lying more clumsily. This Panetta, as any member of senate or congress, fits well into the new J. Mearsheimer book about lying politicians. For politicians, there is a just another Darwin's law: nobody can advance who cannot lie with straight face to the public.
W9
SecDef Piñata needs to be "sanitized?" Wow go figure. Would that be like being 'latter-day' disingenuous?
Panetta's sanatized comment claiming 9/11 was the reason for the Iraq war was actually the truth, for a change. Not that it was a legitmate reason to invade and occupy and destroy a nation that posed absolutely no threat to the U.S. – but that it was the excuse that made long-standing geopolitical(Israel and oil) and domestic goals(strangling dissent, setting up a classic fascist system of repression) possible….
DOD and all its combined wisdom created transcripts stating what Panetta really wanted to say. They are very supportive to their generals.
This should not be surprising to the members of the press – they had seen it done hundreds of times during the cold war by the Soviet Union. After all, we are at war against terror.
So because it's the US government doing the lying and revisions and editing that all combine to produce a document that isn't a true transcript of a speaker's comments, that make it okay? A lie is a lie, period, and if you publish a transcript that isn't exactly what the speaker said you're lying. I don't pay my taxes so I can be lied to. Furthermore, if they are going to lie about something as simple as a speech, why wouldn't they lie about things of far more importance.
The moral of the story is: you can't trust a government that lies to its own people.
War on terror? Please- this is nothing more than political theater, and people are paying with their lives for it.
"The moral of the story is: you can't trust a government that lies to its own people. " True!
Which means that you can't trust government. Period.
Good to see the Ministry of Truth is alive and well at the Pentagon. Be it a Dem or a Repug in the WH, Newspeak remains the lexicon of choice. Doubleplusgood!!
I doubleplusunbellyfeel AmeriSoc.
Revisionism. Well, look at who they're taking their peas and carrots from, none others than the Kings of Spin, the Sultans of Hasbara themselves.
It's all lies all the time. No one needs Mearsheimer to tell them that. George Carlin said it, and god only knows how many others down the ages before him.
Here's the deal. Turn on your tv, and when any politician (and most commentators for that matter) comes on, hit the mute button and repeat softly to yourself, "He's lieing, he's lieing, he's lieing." Don't stop. Continue repeating this as you turn the volume up ever so slowly. Make sure that as you become able to here his words, you never stop reminding yourself of what's really happening: that another liar is trying to get you (and others) to believe his lies, so that he can get you to help him screw you over.
…and here I thought he was just lying to the American people.