I Didn't Do It, I Meant To Do That, And Other Little-Kid Sayings

I remember when we used to play HORSE when we were really young. Like early middle school. You'd shoot a shot, miss horribly, pick up your rebound, miss again, and finally get it in. Then you'd say, "I meant to do that."

Or you'd get mad an hit a kid in the arm, or you'd do something destructive like knock over a lamp while running through the house, and you'd say "I didn't do it."

It's funny, I thought of this today because even though the leaders of this country, and the people that see fit to run our nation are adults, they still fall back on these ridiculous catch phrases.

For instance, Iraq. Everyone in the world heard about WMDs for months. Colin Powell ruined his career by doing a nice powerpoint presentation showing pictures of mobile chemical and biological weapons factories (later found to be actually made of Michael Powell's old legos). Bush even participated in the search himself, looking under his desk.

Then, lo and behold, we go to Iraq and don't find any. Bush and Cheney continue to insist there are some. They mumble something about Iraqi "invisibility" technology, and disappear behind a cloud of smoke.

Then they blame bad intelligence. No argument there.

But now. Now the conservative pundits are on a whole new line. It's no longer bad intelligence. It's... ready for this...

Actually, spreading democracy in the Middle East was the GOAL all along!!!

(Never mind that the conservative pundits claimed Bush wasn't lying about WMD, which this new PR line implies)

Yes, that's right. This NEVER WAS a war about WMDs. This was about giving the middle east the greatest gift of all. Rampant death. And DEMOCRACY!!!

Bringing Democracy to the world is noble. But to say that the Bush administration "meant to do that," is just plain dilusional. This new line is about recasting the war in a different light-- to ignore the rashness with which it was started, a rashness which has lead to scores of unnecessary deaths.

Meanwhile, Republicans are fighting any investigation into the torture practices of the CIA and military. Despite the fact that we've seen the proof of it, beyond Abu Gharib, even in Brooklyn (where 11 detainees were sexually assaulted and humiliated, before being deported without being charged with any crime).

"We didn't do it."

It's the childishness of all this that gets to me. I'm 22. I'm allowed to be stupid and ignorant and in denial. These people are our leaders, and they can't even get past the denials of a 5th grade game of HORSE or a Dennis the Menace style blunder.

I would love, love Bush if he would just be honest. If he would just say, "Look. We lied. People died. We're really sorry. We are. But we're owning up to it now. We're holding ourselves accountable for the tortures that have occurred, for the mistakes that led men and women to their deaths. I've asked Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzales to resign. I've asked for an independent inquiry into the alleged war crimes. We're trying to make it right."

I'd love him.

Well, maybe I wouldn't go that far. But it would be the adult thing to do. It would at least show that Bush isn't a heartless, ignorant moron.

Or is he?

Time will tell.