If this is true I'm withdrawing my support of George W. Bush. I'll choose either to vote for Kerry, either on the grounds that an upheaval is more likely to lead to something workable, or that Michael Totton's argument has some merit, or I'll simply go cycling on Nov. 2 instead of going to the polls. And I think conservatives need to make this stance abundantly clear to George W. We're sticking with you because you're sticking with the program. If it's true you intend to do something else, we'll do something else. Understand, George?
Of course, it's important to consider the source of this info.
Bob Novac is a well known isolationist, so he may well be reporting this in the hope of influencinng the dedicision in the direction of isolationism.
But make no mistake, if there's any truth to this I think Kerry's on the verge of a BIG COMEBACK! In fact, I wouldn't even consider looking at my watch to let George know what time it is.
Update: Both Josh Marshall and Roger Simon think it's deliberate disinformation.
Update 2: Glenn has a few more theories about the reasons for the disinformation. And Daily Kos apparently sniffs balloons. (Why is that so unsurprising?)
Posted by Demosophist at September 20, 2004 03:24 PM | TrackBackI think I might vomit. Novak is a cynical, self-satisfied sack of suet, but at least I can understand his point of view - Nixon without ethics. I'm about 95% certain he's lying with anonymous sources. Speaking of lying with anonymous sources, I find Josh Marshall's post is so utterly repugnant that I literally feel sick.
At first, I was somewhat astonished that I would be in agreement with Marshall. Then I encountered his reasoning: Novak giving secretive reasons for the isolationist-minded and defeatist to vote for Bush, who's actually going to cut and run. I find this line of illogic so foreign, so alien, that I can barely understand it in simple grammatical terms. Madness!
Posted by: Mitch H. at September 20, 2004 05:12 PMI looked at the wording of the Novak column, and it looks like six pounds of shit in a five-pound-sack. "Well-placed sources in the administration" says to me - not "White House officials", not even "officials". The details are ludicrous - Wolfowitz as Secretary of Defense, orchestrating a withdrawal? Nonsense! It doesn't even resemble the real world.
The whole "we're lying to the untermenschen, trust us, the real people are in charge here" line of bullswallop is a Kerry habit, not a Bush thing. At least to judge from the "Kerry's not really a protectionist" line that his economic advisers are passing around the back corridors of academia, according to Dan Drezner.
Posted by: Mitch H. at September 20, 2004 05:19 PMI think I'd need a good deal more than Bob Novak's say-so to believe Bush intends to cut and run. After all, he was the guy who said Tariq Aziz is "a very nice man." No, he isn't a nice man. He's a thug with a grin. Whole different thing.
Posted by: Demosophist (to Mitch) at September 20, 2004 07:29 PMNo, couldn't be. Bush has to finish the job: democracy not stability.
Posted by: Jane at September 23, 2004 08:57 AM