Better than the untrained ape that Rumsfeld worked for.
He actually said the president is stupider than a trained ape, and also compared him to a genius.
āWe have status of forces agreements, probably with 100, 125 countries in the world. This administration, this White House and the State Department have failed to get a status of forces agreement [in Afghanistan.] A trained ape can get a status of forces agreement. It does not take a genius. We have so mismanaged that relationship.ā
How about we focus on the actually damaging things Rumsfeld has done to the world, and not three second soundbytes?
Howā¦ what? Are people really that ignorant? Presumably, Rumsfeld, like many other elites, is highly educatedā¦ how can they not known the implications of a statement like that?
We have status of forces agreements, probably with 100, 125 countries in the world. This administration, this White House and the State Department have failed to get a status of forces agreement [in Afghanistan.]
Gee, I wonder if anything happened in the last dozen years or so that soured the international communityās willingness to support American military actions in that region? We should look into that, maybe figure out who was responsible.
Not to mention that the Bush admin failed to get a SOFA from Iraq, if I recall correctly.
Itās great that thereās no more racism in this country!
Read between the lines, since this was Rummyās thought-fart of what he would do, heās actually calling himself a trained ape and not a genius. That I can abide by.
Iām not sure how thatās an insult, every single one of us is a trained ape.
You think heās just ignorant. That may be charitable. Another possibility is while you see an ignorant white dude babbling about a war nobody wants anymore, actual ignorant white dudes see a guy who doesnāt trust black people, and therefore know that the Republican party is on their side when it comes to how they feel about the Others.
Thatās entirely possible. I might be too charitable to a guy who is clearly already established that heās a jackass. But at the same time, even people who are racist know what this sort of language means, and wouldnāt use it in particular contexts, because of blow backā¦ thatās why I assumed it was not an intentional thing, but just ignorance.
Maybe he just thought he was safe because he was on Fox?
You fade into obscurity with the quips you have
How about we continue to trivialize him in the present, exactly because of the actually damaging things he has done to the world?
Iām pretty sure that being Donald Rumsfeld means never even having to have your PR flack release a statement apologizing to anyone who might be offendedā¦
so you are saying he actually pissed off the conservative base by stating his belief in evolutionā¦?
Considering that he has been held accountable for not one of any of the horrific things he was responsible for, I donāt think the Colbert/Stewart approach to politics is really the best medicine here.
But, given that this is a blog quoting a blog, I canāt realistically expect deeper civic engagement than this āflavor of the weekā approach. Oh well.
And to be fair, heās not a public official anymore and he no longer has to worry about public opinion in the same wayā¦ what is he doing now? In the private sector, Iād guess? Even less soā¦
Youāre always walking a line when you try to blow the dog whistle. Obvious enough, but not too obviousā¦itās not a bad bet that he thought he could blow a little harder because Fox is a refuge for maniacs who blow much harder than that.
Iām possibly just being uncharitable with olā Rummy, but I think heās smart enough to know that he can sound racist in tone without being racist in the actual text, and to use his appearance in media to do that (wouldnāt be the first time he did). Look at the people already going on about āhe didnāt REALLY say thatā¦ā Well, yeah, thatās the point. He said it without saying it. He implied it, and maintained plausible deniability. Thatās the dog whistle: someone looking at what he said gets one message. Someone who knows the code-words gets another.
You presume I would only see him mocked? Given this is a comment section on a blog quoting a blog, I canāt realistically something something. Oh well, indeed.
Oh, I donāt want anyone to be charitable to the guy, necessarilyā¦ heās not someone I want to defend. I also think he is probably deeply racist, etc. I just think itās important to know what exactly is going on here and not necessarily mistake one thing for another.
I think maybe it is a case where he blew the dog whistle too hardā¦ also, whether he said this out of ignorance, racism, or some weird combination of the two, the guy is still a war criminal and should be held in nothing but contempt.
