Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), the congressman who demanded Capitol Hill restaurants change their menus to read “freedom fries” and “freedom toast,” has lost his appetite for the Iraq war. According to the Guardian:

Walter Jones, the Republican congressman for North Carolina who was also the brains behind french toast becoming freedom toast in Capitol Hill restaurants, told a local newspaper the US went to war “with no justification”.
…
Asked by a reporter for the North Carolina News and Observer about the name-change campaign – an idea Mr Jones said at the time came to him by a combination of God’s hand and a constituent’s request – he replied: “I wish it had never happened.”

Although he voted for the war, he has since become one of its most vociferous opponents on Capitol Hill, where the hallway outside his office is lined with photographs of the “faces of the fallen”.

“If we were given misinformation intentionally by people in this administration, to commit the authority to send boys, and in some instances girls, to go into Iraq, that is wrong,” he told the newspaper. “Congress must be told the truth.”

Before the ink had even dried on the filibuster deal, conservatives began inventing exceptions and loopholes so at a later date they could push their agenda through with a clear conscience or cry foul when things don’t work in their favor. First Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH). Then Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN). And now the White House.

At today’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was asked how the President felt about the fact that some of his nominees were being given passage while others were not. McClellan responded, “It’s my understanding the agreement was silent on those [two nominees].” Actually, far from remaining “silent” on the two nominees, the agreement names them specifically and states: “Signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on the following judicial nominees: William Myers (9th Circuit) and Henry Sadd (6th Circuit).” In acknowleding the right of senators to filibuster at least in “extraordinary circumstances,” the signatories agreed these two Bush nominees meet that standard and should be withdrawn or subject to filibuster.

It’s hard to trust that someone is going to keep to his word when there are people who keep trying to change those words.

“Freedom has a power all its own, requiring no propaganda to find recruits, no indoctrination to keep its believers in line.”

– Vice President Cheney, 4/15/04

VS.

“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.”

– President Bush, 5/24/05

We’d love to hear your submissions for most propagated Bush fiction. Here’s a few to get you started:

Bush attempts to convince us that despite the increasing violence in Iraq, we are “making progress.”

In selling his Social Security proposal that provides a guaranteed benefit cut for most Americans, Bush claims there’s a “crisis” that requires action immediately.

Implying he can do nothing to address rising gas prices, Bush wishes he had a “magic wand” to lower prices at the pump.

Any more?

The discussion in Washington about the recent filibuster “deal” seems to center on the perception that Senate “moderates” have reasserted themselves. This is a nice, pleasant storyline – but it doesn’t seem to be a very accurate assessment of how Washington politics really works. In reality, congressional business is ultimately steered by how involved corporate America is in a given debate.

For instance, on the filibuster issue, the Washington Post noted that “one powerful group largely sitting out the fight is corporate America.” Business leaders were “wary of a strife-torn Senate killing pro-business items.” Thus, America gets a compromise.

On tax reform, it is the same dynamic. After the election, the New York Times published a report about social conservatives who were raising questions about President Bush’s proposal to flatten the tax system. Yet, because corporate America backed the idea, Bush is pressing forward.
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