Hersh versus the Pentagon

Hmmm. Who to believe....who to believe...who to believe? Seymour Hersh or the Pentagon. Now, let's see....

Seymour Hersh (Ok, so he has the same first name as both my father and grandfather.) is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who exposed the My Lai Massacre back when I was but a young high school student. Versus the Bush Administration who has taken lying, confabulation and misinformation to levels unkown since the days of Richard Nixon.

I highly doubt that Mr. Hersh would put his prestigious reputation on the line by making up an "outlandish, conspiratorial story." Empshasis on the "making up" part. Is the story "outlandish?" Yes it is. Who would believe such a thing? Is the story "conspiratorial?" Indeed. Since it involves a sort of conspiracy...but not on Hersh's part.

I was amused and enlightened by the Bush administration response to the story, which posted on the New Yorker's Website on Saturday and will publish in this week's issue today. The administration "denied" the story by saying it was "outlandish, conspiratorial, and filled with errors." Reading this "denial very closely, one can see that it is not a denial at all, but a classic "non-denial denial." Note that the "denial" didn't say the story wasn't true or had some truth to it. Makes you ponder what else will be revealed in the coming days or hours.

If the the Senate and House democrats continue to find their collective backbones and push for a congressional investigation--not a pentagon investigation--with independent counsel and the works--this will no doubt mean the downfall of the Bush Administration in November. It is a terrible, terrible shame that it would have to have happened on the backs of so many Iraqis and the deaths of so many of our young people.

Barbara Barnett