W stands for whopper

It seems that the cumulative weight of five years of lethal lies is finally catching up with the administration, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. Only 41% of those polled thought the president was honest, down from 50% since January.

While it is not uncommon for politicians to prevaricate, the current president has come up with some costly whoppers:

• The unfulfilled commitment to bring the author of the September 11th attacks to justice – instead letting him go in the December 2001 battle of Tora Bora;
• The evanescent Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and Saddam/Al Qaeda links which formed the pretext for a war that has so far killed 1,700 US soldiers, wounded thousands more and killed tens of thousands of Iraqis;
• The hollow claim that the war would be short and that our troops would be welcomed as liberators; and
• The empty notion that by fighting terrorists in Iraq we would be safe from terrorists at home delivered repeatedly and as recently as June 28th, a bit over a week before the bombings in London, capital of a loyal Iraq ally.

Compared to all these false claims, it is interesting that the one evoking the most focused press furor has far lower human costs – Karl Rove’s involvement in violating the cover of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame – about two years after fervent White House denials of same.

However, this firestorm ties together some of this administration’s important operating principles:

• Fixing the facts – here a link between Uranium and Saddam -- to fit the president’s will;
• Destroying political opponents – Joe Wilson and his wife – through fingerprint-free machinations; and
• Protecting the loyal – Karl Rove and Bob Novak – while punishing the enemy – The New York Times.

Whether or not Rove emerges from this battle unscathed, history will well remember this presidency and its headline will be: W Stands for Whopper.