This latest round of hot air about Kerry's clumsy wording of an insult to the President tells me two things. First, if you're going to insult the President, it would be wise to be precise and direct. Second, when the GOP seized on clumsy phrasing, converted it to some other thought, and blew it out of proportion, it provided us another example of masterful spin and distorted reality.
Nobody spins better than Karl and George. Nobody. Was Bush's indignation honest? No. It was pure political manipulation. It was typical GOP campaign tactics. And it was one more time George publicly denied reality.
George has spun so well and so long that he believes in his own facade of competence. He won two elections. He was the man!
He was a fool. He invaded Iraq ignoring history, diplomacy, and knowledgeable generals. He thought winning the military campaign was enough, just as he thought winning the election was enough. He didn't count on the realities of a decapitated government and thousand year old tribal animosities. His "building democracy" spin was based on wishful thinking. He covered his lack of planning and diplomacy with phrases like "stay the course". Pure spin.
In Afghanistan, he repeated his error of thinking winning the initial campaign was success. That too is coming back to haunt him.
Bush is 90% spin and 10% substance. Reality is now showing through his smoke and mirrors. Spin has its limits; the illusion it creates is temporary. Spin does not win wars or build the peace. Spin does not provide for the common good. Spin distorts the truth. And when you build governance on distorted truth, you wind up with the mess of a corrupt administration, major fiscal irresponsibility, and disaster in Iraq.