An ideological struggle

One final thought on Scott McClellan's press briefing Thursday, in addition to my somewhat displeased reaction yesterday afternoon. I think one particular exchange, between Scotty and a visibly disgusted Helen Thomas, goes to the heart of Liberal anger and outrage at the Bush Administration. To wit:

MS. THOMAS: Why do you keep linking Iraq and 9/11 and so forth? Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, and you keep -- we started the war in Iraq. We brought the terrorists in, so-called.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that's a misunderstanding of --

MS. THOMAS: -- and 20 to 50 people are dying every day in Iraq.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think, one, that's a misunderstanding of the global war on terrorism that we are engaged in --

MS. THOMAS: We invaded.

MR. McCLELLAN: Some people take a narrow view of the war on terrorism. The President recognizes --

MS. THOMAS: Innocent Iraqis are paying the price.

MR. McCLELLAN: The President -- well, first of all, the Iraqi people, we have heard from many of them who have expressed their appreciation for the removal of a brutal and oppressive regime --

MS. THOMAS: Many are dead. Thousands are dead.

MR. McCLELLAN: Second of all, Zawahiri, bin Laden's number two leader, has talked about how Iraq is the central front in the war on terrorism. We know that the terrorists want to create a safe haven from which they can plan and plot attacks. The stakes are high in Iraq. And that's why it's critical that we prevail in Iraq, because it will be a major blow to the ambitions of the terrorists. They don't want us in the Middle East. The Middle East is a dangerous region of the world. It has been a breeding ground for terrorism, a breeding ground where people are --

MS. THOMAS: They don't want a foreigner in their country.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- planes into buildings and attacked innocent civilians across the world. And that's why it's so critical that we prevail in Iraq, as well. And we will. And the Iraqi people no longer live under a brutal, oppressive regime, a regime that was responsible for the systematic torture and killing of people who simply spoke out against that regime.

(UNKNOWN): Scott, if I could follow --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll try to come back if I can. I think -- go ahead.

To me, it's all there. The condescension. The mantra. The denial. The disproven cliches. The tired, disingenuous talking points. The continued conflation of Saddam and 9/11. The curt dismissal. The refusal to respond directly to the actual f#%king question.

And it's an important question that deserves an answer.

It is shockingly obvious that despite its campaign promises of openness and transparency, the Bush Administration will never provide an honest, straightforward response to this or any number of other questions that should be of vital importance to the American people. In addition to fueling Liberal frustrations, that behavioral pattern ought to alarm citizens of all political stripes.

The refusal of a government to acknowledge demonstrable facts, facts which are widely researched, available, and accepted, is a clear indication of that body's lack of governing ability. Its simultaneous policy of calculated misdirection and obfuscation demonstrates an awareness of its dishonesty, and is in my mind a tacit admission that its opponents are correct. Can we really trust such a government to do what's best for the nation, to make decisions that potentially affect our very lives, when it is one that relentlessly insists that 2 plus 2 is 5, and that anyone who dares to say "4" is an agent of the enemy?

How is it that this remains a mystery to all Administration apologists...

McClellan also hammered away at the latest White House catchphrase, talking repeatedly about the existence of an "ideological struggle." I would contend that we face an ideological struggle within our own borders, a battle which is perhaps even more important to our survival as a nation than the threat of terrorist attack from afar. It is a struggle between truth-seekers and propagandists, between peacemakers and warmongers, between transparency and secrecy, between acceptance and prejudice, between democracy and fundamentalism.

And it is a struggle that this Administration cannot be allowed to win, for the sake of our national soul.