As Holden keeps earning his ponies,
reading him today I was struck with a neck wrenching sense of deja vu.
QUESTION: Is the U.S. going to attack Iran?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Helen, we're pursing a diplomatic solution by working with the international community. I assume you're referring to some of the media reports. Some of the media reports I've seen, which are based on anonymous outside advisors and former officials, appear to me to be based on people that do not know the administration's thinking. I think it is a lot of wild speculation. We are working with the international community, particularly the EU-3, to pursue a diplomatic solution to a serious and growing concern.
Scott used the term twice more in the gaggle. Bush used the same phrase twice today. Now, anyone who's followed the administrations rhetorical tactics can see what's happening here: Call something "wild speculation" without denying that it also happens to be true.
As I said, I couldn't shake the idea that I'd experienced this "gaggle" before...
I did:
Billmon kept a record.
QUESTION: Wilson now believes that the person who did this was Karl Rove . . . Did Karl Rove tell that . . .
McCLELLAN: I haven't heard that. That's just totally ridiculous. But we've already addressed this issue. If I could find out who anonymous people were, I would. I just said, it's totally ridiculous.
QUESTION: But did Karl Rove do it?
McCLELLAN: I said, it's totally ridiculous.
Funny thing is, the white house page for that day no longer shows this excahnge.
Does anyone really believe that this administration is not planning for war with Iran as the stories set out this past weekend illustrate?