Apparently, the present administration's infatuation with disinformation is not dead. The President seems to be willing still to use his metaphorical WTC bullhorn as a weapon of mass destruction. Although the insane idea of the Pentagon Office of Disinformation was publicly quashed [http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2002/02/gwb022502.html], it seems the temptation to use lies as a weapon is proving too much to resist. Molly Ivins recently noted a New York Times article that plans are underway to conduct covert operations to influence public opinion and policy-makers in friendly and neutral nations to bend them to our will. I'm sure Germany, France, and others in Europe will be delighted to know that! A brilliant way to build a coalition of trusted partners. It seems that legitimate power is not enough for George--he must wield the (short-term) power of lies to shape (temporarily) the reality of the American populace and attempt to do so with the rest of the world. George should take a lesson from Coca-Cola Corporation.

Yesterday, Coke announced that is discontinuing the practice of reporting short-term earnings expections to Wall Street because Coke is focusing on long-term investment and development strategies. The short-term perspective, they have learned, is a costly one. The Bush administration needs to adopt a long-term perspective (perhaps they are expecting one term like George I?) on the impact of waging an intellectual, and moral war on allies and the American citizenry by systematically not telling the truth. The long-term prospects of receiving help with the undeniably long-term problem of occupying and controlling Iraq and the political situation in the Middle East are bleak if our allies don't participate because they can't trust us. Little trust already exists.

Keep in mind what Bush has done to erode trust at home and globally:
Recinded access to Presidential papers
Ignored court orders to produce records of meeting with oil executives regarding energy policies (and now have a Bush-appointed
judge sanctioning withholding the records)
Attempted censorship of Bin Laden tapes (that were freely available on the airwaves!)
Attempts to limit the number of Congressional representatives who had access to military briefings (from Molly Ivins 12/17/02)

Such an approach may work some of the time; it may work temporarily, but it invites probing and investigation and efforts to seek the truth. The effects, beyond the frustration and distrust of the electorate, may very well be that the Bushies fail to hide the secret that will bring down the empire. Nixon tried it and he (and the country) paid dearly. Perhaps George II will as well.