Laughing With Bush

From the Nation:

As Bush flashed photographs of himself looking about the Oval Office and quipped, "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere," the betuxed and begowned audience generally laughed. I did not--and the next morning wrote what I believe was the first review critical of Bush's performance, accusing him of callousness and arrogance for making fun of the primary reason he'd cited for sending Americans to war and death, and for turning serious scandal (his use of false assertions to launch a war) into rimshot comedy.

Perhaps it was not surprising that Bush was so insensitive. By turning his prewar misinformation--or disinformation--into material for yuks, he was downgrading a controversy. Suspicious minds can wonder if that was the strategic intent of the bit. But did the media have to go along?

An extensive though unscientific review of the subsequent coverage suggests that many, if not most, in the Washington press corps saw Bush's shtick as no big deal.

Click here for the rest.

Here is a flash animation (thanks to Eschaton) that puts the controversy into perspective.

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