House of Eratosthenes

As I type this, I’m halfway through my second viewing of All the President’s Men (1976) starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. This is the movie that created the Government-Entertainment-Complex as we know it today. House Democrats made sure nobody could follow the news without knowing about Watergate, then Hollywood made doubly sure. An electorate that had so recently been agitated against a judicial system that flooded America’s streets with mass murderers and sexual predators, suddenly became jaded and cynical toward all sides. They ended up putting a Democrat in the White House when they were entirely unable to explain why, and the rest is history. Runaway inflation. Double-digit interest rates. An energy crisis out of control. Hostages, a demoralized military, and the birth of militant radical Islam. A bond was forged between Hollywood and the liberal side of our government. And print journalists were put on notice that if they wanted to make a name for themselves nailing someone’s hide to the wall, they’d better make sure it’s a Republican hide.

I was watching it for the first time, a couple hours ago, and near the end I had a funny thought.

Take out the word “White House” and substitute “Iraq”…

…take out the phrase “burglary at the Watergate” and substitute “Al Qaeda”…

…pretend the “Washington Post” is the “United States” and “Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein” are “the George W. Bush administration.”

Do those things, and the entire movie is a rehash of what we’ve been seeing the last two years. Guilty people hiding behind innocent people, who keep secrets on behalf of the guilty because they don’t want to be hurt. High-tension arguing about whether there is “enough meat” to run with something or not, and what the stakes are if things can’t be backed up later. Haughty and indignant spokesmen who insist there is no connection between A and B when they know there damn well is one, only, it was only almost proven and not completely proven and they think they can drive a wedge in there. Money trails that lead nowhere, until you really start to follow them. Then they lead somewhere, but by then, anybody who could tell you anything, has a stake in the status quo, so you can’t learn anything, and you can prove even less.

Right-minded and altruistic seekers of truth and defenders of liberty, being attacked by those they answer to, for exposing their institution to derision and ridicule by seeking that truth and defending that liberty.

The natural condition of uncertainty being used to defend the indefensible.

What’s worse? A President who authorizes burglary to enhance his strategic plans for re-election? Or a murdering madman, known to seek nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in the past, who thinks its worth his while to spend billions of dollars in bribes, just to get weapons inspectors to look away — while he does God Only Knows what?

What’s more precious? The national security of the United States AND the stability of the Middle East as we know it…or the competitive advantage of the Washington Post over the New York Times?

Update: Here’s the quote that really got me to thinking. Clark MacGregor, speaking about the story that broke in the Washington Post, just fifteen minutes before the end of the movie.

Using innuendo, third-person hearsay, unsubstantiated charges, anonymous sources, and huge scare headlines, the Post has maliciously sought to give the appearance of a direct connection between the White House and the Watergate. A charge which the Post knows, and half a dozen investigations have found, to be false. The hallmark of the Post’s campaign is hypocrisy, and its celebrated double-standard is today visible for all to see.

Let’s replace just a few choice words and see how close we can get to very-recent-nostalgia with just a minimum of revision, shall we.

Using innuendo, third-person hearsay, unsubstantiated charges, anonymous sources, and huge scare headlines, the ~~Post~~White House has maliciously sought to give the appearance of a direct connection between ~~the White House~~Iraq and ~~the Watergate~~Al Qaeda. A charge which ~~the Post~~George Bush knows, and half a dozen investigations have found, to be false. The hallmark of the ~~Post~~Bush Administration’s campaign is hypocrisy, and its celebrated double-standard is today visible for all to see.

Doesn’t seem to be to be at all different from what we’ve heard over the last two years. Ah, well. Maybe I’m imagining the whole thing.

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All the United Nations MenMonday, August 29th, 2005

All the United Nations Men
Monday, August 29th, 2005