Happy Mission Accomplished Day!

(Not really that happy of an occasion, I’ll admit…).

I should note that Atrios has all of this covered from wall to wall, you might say, so if you haven’t gone to Eschaton yet, please do so (after you read this post, of course :-).

To me, this infamous anniversary is yet another reminder of the egregiousness of Bushco’s lies. I mean, if you’re going to be evasive and mendacious, don’t do so in a way that insults our intelligence.

Here’s what I mean (regarding the actual “Mission Accomplished” banner that appeared on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln); the post from this link by Lisa Rein informs us that, on October 30, 2003, Dubya said that the banner wasn’t his idea. Instead, it came from the actual crew of the ship, which had finished its 10-month tour just in time for the infamous photo-op.

The banner didn’t mean that the mission in Iraq was accomplished, according to President Brainless (who, apparently, had a major private hissy fit recently – continues to astonish me how people can still think this guy is “playing with a full deck”). The banner meant that a mission of the vessel was accomplished.

Riiiight…

Name for me any naval crew throughout the history of recorded time that would create and unfurl a banner for completion of its mission, let alone doing so on the exact same day that the President of the United States lands for a major oh-I’m-so-great-I’ll-just-pat-myself-on-the-back speech.

And let’s not forget the phony bit of staging noted in this story, as follows…

Despite initial claims that the ship was too far out to sea for a helicopter landing, forcing the president to use a jet, the Lincoln was actually within helicopter range when Mr. Bush arrived.

The jet flight was much more dramatic than a helicopter arrival would have been, as the president took the control stick for part of the flight and emerged on deck wearing a flight suit and helmet.

In addition, Pentagon officials told the Washington Post that after the president's speech, the Lincoln waited offshore for hours while he slept rather than heading into port after its 10-month voyage.

So the crew, after its 10-month voyage, still had to wait while Dubya nodded off before they could pull into port.

I know future generations will study this period in our history and render their judgments. The problem is that I think many will find it so farcical and absurd that they’ll never believe that it really took place.