The Shrubbery read a speech, and CNN felt compelled to write about it. Their essay is titled: Bush will add more than 20,000 troops to Iraq [not exactly catchy].

Bush recognized that the progress of the war is “unacceptable to the American people — and it is unacceptable to me,” adding, “Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me.”

…snip

Emerging from their meeting with Bush about 3:15 p.m. ET, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said they felt they were not able to give input to the Bush plan.

Their meeting “was notification, not consultation,” said Pelosi.

…snip

The Republican congressional leadership is standing behind President Bush’s new plan, and faulted Democrats for not offering their own plan for victory.

…snip

A number of Republican senators — including Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas — have publicly questioned whether Bush’s plan to increase troop strength will help stabilize Iraq.

“A troop surge in Baghdad would put more American troops at risk to address a problem that is not a military problem,” Coleman said Wednesday on the Senate floor.

“It would put more American soldiers in the crosshairs of sectarian violence and create more targets. I just don’t believe this makes sense,” Coleman said.

[Read more →]

I caught most of the Terry Gross [Fresh Air, January 9, 2007] interview, Frank Luntz Explains ‘Words that Work’, and it was an amazing display of delusion and propaganda.

Luntz wires focus groups and reads a thesaurus to them to find the best word to describe the next Republican outrage or to maximize the value of attacks on critics. Words aren’t selected for their accuracy of meaning, but for their emotional impact. Luntz is selecting a vocabulary based on its appeal to the “lizard brain.”

Northstar of People’s Republic of Seabrook has a Horsey cartoon in the post, It’s all about the propaganda, that illustrates this point.

The new “Enemy of the State” feature on Fox News’ Hannity’s America is an example of what happens when Republicans don’t hire Luntz, their repressive authoritarian face is shown. Even Stalin dressed it up by calling them “enemies of the people.” Not to rain on their parade, but the “founding fathers” were “enemies of the state.”