Bush's fish story, part II

I remember a number of years ago watching a television commercial for a brand of coffee. A thirty-something couple stand in tall grass gazing into the sky through binoculars. The man nudges the woman and points to something. “Look,” he says excitedly. “A red-winged blackbird.” The storyline continued to somehow tie in coffee, although I can’t recall how.

I don’t know anymore about birds than the next person, but I do know that the red-winged blackbird is one of the most common birds around, in the Midwest, anyway. Why would any birdwatcher be excited about seeing one?

At some later point, I happened to see the commercial again. The same man and woman huddle in the tall grass with their binoculars. This time, however, when the man nudges the woman, he points up and sputters the name of some obviously more exotic bird (I think it was the large-breasted titwillow, but I could be mistaken). Someone in Hollywood Land was alerted and corrected the mistake of an over-paid copywriter who knew less about birds than me.

Which brings us to Bush’s fish story, mentioned in my posting below. Yesterday, someone in the Bush castle corrected 43’s statement about the highlight of his presidency. “Perch” was replaced with “Bass.” So now the highlight of Bush’s presidency is catching a 7.5-pound bass on his lake, which, for a bass, is not particularly large. But the story doesn’t end there.

As others have uncovered, several years ago Bush actually listed the fish that were stocked in the lake on his ranch. Bass wasn’t on the list. Perch was.

So now we have a fish story that was originally a lie (or one of Bush’s many faulty biographical memories), revised to be a totally new lie, probably by some overpaid political hack who knows less about fish than me.

The spin from this administration is merciless. It never stops regardless of the subject matter, and it never concedes for a minute that a large portion of the American people recognize bullshit when they hear it. To this group, 1984 isn’t fiction but a blueprint upon which to build a government. They lie when the truth would server them better.

The administration’s propensity for lying follows a similar path to that of any kind of addict. It started out innocently enough, with a lie or two here and there to gloss over military records or debate statements. In past presidencies, the media would have stepped in at some point and challenged the statements of Bush, Chaney, et. al. But, for a truckload of reasons, today’s press rolled over and played dead. Since the lying seemed to work, they lied more, and more, and more, until they couldn’t stop or backpedal, as the press licked the boots of the politicians at the same time they were being trampled. The lies have increased over the years, especially since 9/11, and today they emanate from every nook and cranny of this administration.

Hence, bass instead of perch. Lie on top of lie. The never-ending fish story.