The Mouth of Sauron

I've just watched Scott McClellan's press briefing, which focused primarily on today's newly-released communique from Osama bin Laden. You know, I have to say that whenever I see Scotty these days I'm not sure whether to loathe him for his pivotal role in perpetuating the Administration's myths, half-truths, and outright lies about their "war on terror", or to pity him as a man with an impossible job who, when faced with questions that clearly rattle him, is simply forced to resort to endless repetition of White House talking points in lieu of honest answers.

Today, however, I think I'll stick with the former.

McClellan has even adopted the body language and peculiar cadences of his boss when he speaks, using Mr. Bush's patronizing tone and hand gestures to underscore tired old "victory" chestnuts that are debunked by actual news reports every day. He increasingly addresses the assembled press (and by extent, the American public) in a condescending, smarmy fashion that calls to mind the image of a pedophile trying hard to coax a suspicious child into his car against her better instincts.

I think if I hear the phrase "we're makin' good progress" one more time I'll have to pound my head against the living room wall until it bleeds! I'm sick to death of Administration lackeys that cling to the belief that if they just repeat a falsehood enough times it will magically be accepted as true - and a gullible populace which time and time again only proves them right. News flash, America: Saying it's so doesn't make it so.

Scotty spoke of how "bin Laden is clearly on the run," but then refused, when pressed to explain, to provide any credible rationale for that assessment. I mean, the guy is still roaming free, still has access to global information centers, still is obviously in charge of a terrorist network that grows larger every day, still poses a credible threat to our nation. Tell me again how that qualifies as clearly on the run?!

He stuck to the Administration's shocking silence concerning our deadly missile strike in Pakistan, claiming that he "can't comment on an ongoing military operation." Right, Scotty. You can bet that if that unmanned attack had killed its intended target, instead of 12 women and children, Mr. McClellan would be trumpeting the details of our operational brilliance to the heavens and beyond.

McClellan also thumbed his nose at national treasure Helen Thomas over her acute criticism that he continues to conflate Iraq and the al Qaeda attacks of 9/11, dismissing her as one of "many people who don't fully understand" the complexities of what he subsequently (and repeatedly) termed "a clash of ideologies" in which "we're makin' progress."

Oy! There's that phrase again. More on Scotty later, when the transcript becomes available to more accurately quote. If, that is, my head stops bleeding by then...