[Lerkfish]

amusing CNN story

John Lister, spokesman for the campaign, which strives to have public information delivered in clear, straightforward English....

If there was ever a needed organization, that would be it, regardless of party.
Unfortunately, in these times, the most successfully politician is the one who actually says the least with the most convincing rhetoric.

[Zimphire]

And we give Lerk the "Bitching about all petty things award"

[eklipse]

"We think we know what he means. But we don't know if we really know."

[lil'babykitten]

"We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."

[SimeyTheLimey]

Rummy's comment is actually rather perceptive if you work through it. I think the prize should have gone to their runner up, Governor Schwarzenegger:

"I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman," the new California governor said.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by Zimphire:
And we give Lerk the "Bitching about all petty things award"

LOL! do you even read anything anymore?
No, I was amused by the article, not bitching about anything.
And my comment at the end was directed at both parties.

But thanks for playing! We have a lovely home version of the MacNN game waiting for you just offstage....

sense of humor. find one. buy one. steal one.

[Zimphire]

Lerk I am sorry that your sense of humor comes off as whiney.

Really I am.

[Ayelbourne]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
Rummy's comment is actually rather perceptive if you work through it.

At least he admits (I think) that he doesn't know everything, which is encouraging.

[Ayelbourne]

"We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know."

But... if he knows about the unknown unknowns... doesn't that make them "known unknown unknowns", the unknowns he knows he doesn't know about? Or is he implying that, albeit unknowingly...??

help. me.

[Wiskedjak]

I nominate Rumsfeld for the position of Iraqi Information Minister.

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by Ayelbourne:
At least he admits (I think) that he doesn't know everything, which is encouraging.

For a Secretary of Defense, it is very encouraging. In fact, I'd go so far to say it is essential.

[thunderous_funker]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
For a Secretary of Defense, it is very encouraging. In fact, I'd go so far to say it is essential.

I'm not so much bothered by what Rummy admits he doesn't know as I am about the things Rummy claims to have absolute knowledge of which later turn out to be completely wrong.

[zigzag]

Funny. It would be even funnier if he flew to London to accept the award.

Policy matters aside, I still kinda like Rumsfeld. Most politicians give canned answers. Rumsfeld actually pauses and reflects (which you're not supposed to do on TV), and if a question can't be answered in a simplistic way, or if he doesn't know the answer, he's not afraid to say so (which, again, you're not supposed to do on TV). The results, as here, can be comical, but I nonetheless find it a refreshing departure from the norm.

He can also be refreshingly frank. "In war, people die." Any other politician, even military leaders, would couch such a thought in all sorts of flowery language, but Rumsfeld just comes out with the plain, unvarnished truth.

In another context we might admire this kind of forthrightness - aren't we always complaining that our public officials are too slick and sanitized?

Of course, he does his share of spinning (e.g. "This is not guerilla warfare . . . "), so you aren't always sure if he's answering a question or avoiding it.

"We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know." It's more Rotary Club than Siddhartha, but I kinda like it.

[voodoo]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
Rummy's comment is actually rather perceptive if you work through it.

No.

[SimeyTheLimey]

How about a special foot in mouth prize for Howard Dean?

Also, we have less-fewer levers much the key, I believe, to Iran is pressure through the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is supplying much of the equipment that Iran, I believe, most likely is using to set itself along the path of developing nuclear weapons. We need to use that leverage with the Soviet Union and it may require us to buying the equipment the Soviet Union was ultimately going to sell to Iran to prevent Iran from them developing nuclear weapons.

Howard Dean, speaking on Hardball 1 December, 2003 (12 years after the demise of the Soviet Union) (bold added).

Hat tip Andrew Sullivan

[voodoo]

Who is Howard Dean?

[voodoo]

Seems a bit stupid to talk about the Soviet Union in the present term BUT it is certainly more stupid to VOTE for a man who REPEADEDLY shows his UTTER ignorance of the world.

Who is the more foolish the fool or the fool who follows him? /ObiWan

[BlackGriffen]

Dean is a Democratic presidential candidate. The current frontrunner, actually. Thing is, he often refers to weapons from the former Soviet Union that the U.S. is entitled to buy under a cooperative threat reduction treaty. He refers to it properly all the time. Apparently, in this case, his brain got a little ahead of his mouth, and he started dropping adjectives that, while technically speaking are necessary, don't add anything to the meaning of what he was saying..

BlackGriffen

[dtriska]

I was kinda hoping our outgoing PM would get the prize for this gem:

"A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven."

[Face Ache]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
But thanks for playing! We have a lovely home version of the MacNN game waiting for you just offstage....

Sillly game. Round pegs and square holes.

Anyway, my copy is missing its hammer.