Cafferty admits to drinking the Kool Aid in the run-up to the Iraq Invasion
By John Amato Sunday Sep 16, 2007 8:20pm
On Sunday's Reliable Sources, Jack Cafferty did something that most of the punditry class needs to do in this country and that is to take responsibility for his words. He admitted that he was caught up in the national hysteria that followed 9/11----manipulated by the White House propaganda and pushed for war with Iraq. As usual, Howard Kurtz uses right-wing framing to ask Cafferty about his criticisms of the Bush Administration. No shock there.
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KURTZ: But you bash the Bush administration so often that you have become a hero to some on the left. I mean, just in this book, in the first few pages, you talk about Bush and company harming America. You call the president deluded and you speak favorably of impeachment.
Do you consider yourself a left-winger?
CAFFERTY: No, I don't. Not at all. On the contrary. In fact, in the early days of the run-up to the war in Iraq, I was a right-winger, if nothing else. I bought the whole song and dance about WMDs. I was caught up in the national hysteria that followed 9/11, and was captive to the political manipulation, if you will, that took place of all of us.
And I include myself. I was drinking the Kool-Aid on the run-up to that war. And I spent a lot of time on "AMERICAN MORNING" here on CNN supporting the administration and supporting the war.
So, no. The answer to your question is no, I don't consider myself a left-winger.
Good for him. Howie, do you consider yourself a shill for the right-wing bloggers?
Respect.
Frist
wha wha wha...what??????...nice to see some honesty.....And I hope he keeps it up......before he gets fired.
Jack went on live national tv and admitted to having uknowlingly done a horrible thing.
That's admirable.
I think the rest of the Corporate Media hasn't admitted to being fooled because they are still drinking the Kool-Aid.
Phil Donahue was anti-war during the build up. He had the highest ratings on MSNBC until they cancelled his show 2 weeks before the war.
Cafferty is showing courage & a grasp of reality.
Therefore look for him to get fired soon & get replaced by Glen Beck.
I don't care what party he belongs too as long as he keeps telling it like it is.
It's getting to the point where I can't curse enough to deal with this s**t:
Left winger?
Here's two more appropriate labels for the moldy old "right" and "left" designations:
Progressives, and
Regressives
Howie. Don't you think it's time to wake up and smell the coffee? That used to be what you said to someone indifferent to facts and events going on around them.
Speak for yourself, Cafferty. I, for one, was not hysterical after 9/11 and I did not for one minute buy the WMD bullshit or any reason given for invading Iraq. Sorry, Jack, but some of us pay attention.
juanchopancho @ 5:
Say no more.
Thanks for the reminder.
Lollimom @ 8:
And progress means less government intervention in our lives, right?
Funny, but the term as used in politics usually connotes the opposite.
I just know Jack is emptying out his bank account trying to help innocent Iraqis whose lives have been destroyed as a result of Iraqi Freedom.
He drank it, Keith Olbermann drank it, all those educated million dollar salary winners drank it.
Why is it, poor ole me tasted it for ONE SECOND and spit that sh*t right out because I knew right then it was foul!!!
phuck howie kurtz! period!
Howie looks like he just had a fresh dose of that Kool Aid in the screenshot.
Cafferty joined the reality based community a little over a year ago when he criticized the NSA unwarranted tapping and the GOP pushing the gay marriage bill on the state level to drive religious nuts to the polls.
Thing Fish @ 9:
howie has to ask his wife for permission to have an opinion based on fact.
Greg @ 1:
Someone please explain this phenomena to me. What is it that gives so many people their jollies about being the first (or "Frist" for some special people) to post on a topic? Isn't it kind of like being the smartest kid in the special ed class?
The difference between Howard Kurtz and Jack Cafferty is Cafferty admitted he had
a problem and then fixed it...Kurtz still and will forever have his head planted firmly up
his stupid ass.
motorfingaz @ 14:
There seems to be a tipping point with some of these pundits where one event snaps them out of it. As I noted above, it was the illegal wiretapping and GOP pandering to religious nuts that pushed Cafferty. With KO, it was the Katrina disaster.
Update with a link to Cafferty's book in your article:
It's Getting Ugly Out There:
The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America by Jack Cafferty (Hardcover - Sep 10, 2007)
The fact that Howard Kurtz is married to Republican consultant/activist Sheri Annis is at least a conflict of interest. He should be required to let his readers/viewers know that the relationship exists at the very least.
I respect Jack Cafferty's integrity. I don't always agree with him, but he is the only one on CNN who's openly willing to take on the hypocrisy of the Bush Administration.
Dale @ 18:
Someone please explain this [Frist] phenomena to me.
Just something that got started a while back. I take it as a "I want to start the conversation going but don't have anything better to say." Like Earth: mostly harmless.
Cafferty came to his senses before the 2006 election. As memory serves, quite some time before. Anyone who "came to their senses" after November of 2006 is little more than a wind-sock. And anyone who hasn't come to their senses yet has the brains of a bull.
frightening thing is, if the war was handled competently, these warmongers would feel no sense of contrition. Instead, they'd be braying about the mighty power of the USA to do good in the world, and how pre-emption is now a fully vindicated strategy.
Peace should surely be the reflexive option?
But, you know, it's a mindset. Perhaps he will not be fooled again. But if you've got the mindset, chances are you will be.
I never follow with a trend.
Cafferty has such an amazingly very expressive face, especially when he is listening to Kurtz's question. So refreshing to see such transparency. Very candid and honest. I think he speaks for so many that got suckered, and now regret it.
Dale @ 18:
Relax............. What's with the obsession.
It goes back to Slashdot. I first saw it circa 1998. It was very common back that the first comment that got posted in a thread garnered moderation points (karma, in slashdot lingo) faster than later posts. That first post got read more, and replies to it were hung higher up in the thread than later posts. Eventually it became a game to get the first post on a new story, to the point where script-kiddies and others would sit there on the refresh button, or even scripting the refresh of the page, in order to ram their comment into the first slot of the new story. Such posts would degenerate into shouting "FIRST!" in all caps, thus losing any coherence to the discussion. Eventually First-Posters were modded into oblivion instantly upon posting, and script-kiddies were dealt with with the now-familiar tactic of forcing anonymous posters to key in the letters of a jumbled .gif into a text box.
It's an old, and stupid, habit. I used to respond "Frost Pist" sometimes, and it's not a long leap from one of those to "Frist!" especially considering what a dipshit Bill Frist was.
Anyway, some scrummy old /. lore that no one in their right mind really cares about.
Hey C&L, sorry to go off topic but Tucker had a story about a college student getting tazed at a John Kerry appearance similar to the tazing incident from another college you posted a few months ago.
True, the student apparently asked Kerry a confrontational question; however, Kerry was prepared to respond to it before the security people started corralling the dude. They (about six or seven of them) eventually pinned him down but despite his numerous pleas with them, they tazed him anyway.
Regardless of whether the dude was a jerk trying to cause problems, the reaction by the police seemed very excessive. And it shouldn't be condoned when security goes overboard at a Republican appearance OR a Democratic appearance.
starwheel @ 30:
And I'm sure Tucker blamed the whole thing on Kerry............
...........
....and the Clintons.
Yea, Kool Aid is great until you read the ingredients: The process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor. -- PNAC Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century
Guess U.S. military preeminence in the coming decades was to go on for a millennium with this "transformation". And you thought it was only the aspartame causing holes in the brain.
Howie seems to be a little delusional about only people on the left criticize Bush.
What a tool!
Anyone know how to share the love with Howie Kurtz? And by the way fuck him.
slippytoad @ 29:
Kindaa Sorta, but we started using Frist on here when Senator Bill Frist was disgraced for failure to disclose funing which eventually got him in enough trouble to lose his seat.
SteveinSC @ 34:
I like your style, fuck him indeed,
" Howie, do you consider yourself a shill for the right-wing bloggers?"
Great question John but lets get honest.
Did you hook up with Jane at the party?
Pissed-American @ 36:
Just noticed your also in SC, MB here
To work toward a positive closure to this screwed up Iraq Cruasde some others should follow Nr. Cafferty's example (no names mentioned ). Then ,withdraw the US troops before Nov 2008 ( it can be done, no excuses, a big airlift , spend $ 100 million now and save $ 2 trillion down the line) . The Iraqi's are perfectly capable of dealing with their own problems. They have been doing it for over 3000 years. It hasn't been a pleasant 3000 (plus ) years , at times, but the Iraqi's do not need the US ( and in particular the Bush Admin. and the neocons ) to tell them how to run their lives. Bush , Rove, the Neocons, Haliburton, etc,, well what do you think ? Would you put them on the ALL Star Team?
Welcome home Jack!
Kucinich/Cafferty '08
There is my kick-ass ticket!
The term "bash" when applied to Bush strikes me as a virtual impossibility.
To me "bash" means criticize without due cause or justification.
Case closed.
Days before Bush attacked Iraq my exact words were, "he BETTER be telling the truth." I am naturally an anti-war advocate especially when the place is: A. a communist country, B. any place that has oil as a natural resource and a Bush is involved, C. when the attacked are a 3rd world country, D. anything that involves a Bush or any republican, E. any type of religious war. If we were fighting against Iran, then Sadam would have become a friend again. No we allied ourselves with a dictator from Pakistan. It is all so much bullshit. And I hate George Bush with every fiber of my being. I consider him a war criminal, a chicken-shit coward, and a stupid bully. The only war I would favor is when they come here.
glad he appears to value truth. but he is certainly no progressive. he has disparaging words for some of the folks that were trying hardest to get our government to follow the rule of law. remember, he has a show about money. does that tell you enough?
Yes, Cafferty should have turned it around and said: "Do you consider yourself a partisan fanboy shill? Why not? You've done an excellent job ignoring reality in favor of the party line. Be proud of it"
There should be a media award for courageous integrity in the face of overwhelming propaganda, and it should be given to Cafferty. This kind of person is rare in media, and maybe even in the world in general.
Notice how the media marginalizes anyone that may be liberal or on the left of the political spectrum.
These freaks act as if "conservatism" is the norm and "liberalism" is abnormal. Noooo way anyone could be a liberal.
WELL Kurtz you asshole, America is really a Liberal nation. LOOK AROUND YOU FREAK!!
Otay @ 44:
A simple "How about you?" would've worked for me.
I may start a disagreement here; but for me it's not about left versus right, conservative versus liberal. It's about not lying and not supporting what you do with lies.
#43 oldtree,
Did you see Greenspan on 60 Minutes last night? He was disparaging the fact that G. H. W. Bush publicly questioned the Federal Reserve.
Greenspan insinuated that it's just plain wrong to publicly analyze the so-called "Fed".
It's the dirty little secret American aren't supposed to think about between pro wrestling and American Idol.
If we all collectively realize the Federal Reserve is neither federal nor a proper bank, but a private corporation printing paper money out of nothing, $#!+'s really gonna shake up, and that's one of the few things that rattles the Rothschilds of the world.
JFK apparently figured it out. Supposedly, he decided America would print it's own money about 6 months before his assassination.
LBJ is said to have overturned this literally on the plane back to Washington on 11/22/63 (don't take my word -Google it.)
It's great that people have been changing and opening their minds to see this administration for what it is... but why has it taken so long? How did so many of us just KNOW that the run-up to the war was bogus? How did so many of us know that Bush would be disastrous for our country before he even took office? I don't think it's because we're psychic.
Interesting how Howie didn't respond to Jack's Kool Aid comment. And instead segued over to how CNN spent a lot of time on Anna Nichole Smith.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The way I heard him sucking up to Israel and AIPAC recently on HuffPo, he's still drinking the Kool-Aid unfortunately.
I'm just throwing Cafferty a bone here, but that did take balls. Good for him.
Which brings forth the question:
So where is the mythical "Liberal Media".?
I guess Cafferty just admitted the Left wingers were absolutely correct on Bush and Iraq...................
Cafferty is okay, Howard should work for Fox News.
Jack is a good man. He & Keith have been glimpses of the kind bright lights we need in media journalism.
Howard "It's okay to mislead" Kurtz is a putz.
nincompoop @ 12:
Last I checked, it wasn't the Progressives who want to want America to become a religious theocracy, where the government decides who can get married, and what god our children need to be taught to worship.
When they have video of your mistakes it doesn't make you a hero to admit your mistakes. It makes you honest and not in denial.
All the same, good for what's his name.
you don't have to be a lefty to see the Bushies as evil extremists who are destroying America and the world. you just have to have a thread of common decency and be able to accept the truth.
It's important for conservatives like Cafferty to speak up. It may give those who are still holding on to their illusions the courage to let go and join the reality-based community.
There seems to be a tipping point with some of these pundits where one event snaps them out of it. As I noted above, it was the illegal wiretapping and GOP pandering to religious nuts that pushed Cafferty. With KO, it was the Katrina disaster.
Actually, I would have to say for Cafferty the tipping point was Hurricane Katrina. Remember when he asked "Where's President Bush, is he still on vacation". But the official breaking point was the Cafferty File where he read quotes from various newpapers about Bush lacking leadership. Then he says,
"We've received about 5 or 6 hundreds e-mails about the federal governments response. No one, no one says the federal government is doing a good job in handling the most atrocious and embarrasing and calamitous I've ever seen in this lifetime. .... I've never seen anything as badly bungled and poorly handled as this situation in New Orleans. The government has fallen flat on its face in the way it has handled this thing."
Hurricane Katrina changed the whole political landscape. The Kool-Aid still exists, but why do you think there was so much panic about Moveon.org's General Betrayus ad?
BTW, Howard Kurtz is annoying.
Jason M.
There seems to be a tipping point with some of these pundits where one event snaps them out of it. As I noted above, it was the illegal wiretapping and GOP pandering to religious nuts that pushed Cafferty. With KO, it was the Katrina disaster.
Actually, I would have to say for Cafferty the tipping point was Hurricane Katrina. Remember when he asked "Where's President Bush, is he still on vac
Can we stop giving people a hard time for coming back to the light. Would we rather them not admit their mistakes and continue to support the damn war and the damn Administration?
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. - Arthur Schopenhauer
Some of us skip right over the first and second stage. But, for some stupid reason, others take a little longer to make it through these steps. It sucks, it can have horrible consequences, but for the love of god when they finally make it to stage 3 lets not give them the temptation to turn it around out of spite because we can't stop hounding them for it. Accept it and lets move on to help someone who's still stuck at stage 1 or 2.
Greg @ 28:
Greg, I think that was Dale's point: What's with the obsession...
Actually, I would have to say for Cafferty the tipping point was Hurricane Katrina. Remember when he asked "Where's President Bush, is he still on vacation". But the official breaking point was the Cafferty File where he read quotes from various newpapers about Bush lacking leadership. Then he says,
"We've received about 5 or 6 hundreds e-mails about the federal governments response. No one, no one says the federal government is doing a good job in handling the most atrocious and embarrasing and calamitous I've ever seen in this lifetime. .... I've never seen anything as badly bungled and poorly handled as this situation in New Orleans. The government has fallen flat on its face in the way it has handled this thing."
Hurricane Katrina changed the whole political landscape. The Kool-Aid still exists, but why do you think there was so much panic about Moveon.org's General Betrayus ad?
BTW, Howard Kurtz is annoying.
Jason M.
I remember when Cafferty was very much on the right - I couldn't believe when he started expressing a negative Bush point of view.
I don't like Kurtz but I think this was an agreed-upon question giving Cafferty the opportunity to explain himself.
the thing that bugs me - Cafferty says he was caught up in the national hysteria.
He created the f - ing hysteria. Isn't this known as a circle jerk?
He paints it as though EVERYONE was backing the war and that is simply not true.
It was his own MSM that failed to report on the anti-war protests, the CIA reports, the
languaging of the "authority to use force" and all the other reasons for NOT going to war. Personally I am rather tired of their laudatory self-forgiveness. Tell it to the dead.
Lea @ 65:
Lea, what would Gandhi say? Martin Luther King? Buddha? Trust me, every time Bush opens his mouth, I ask myself those questions? It helps dull the pain.
Jack rules
That is real honesty on the MSM, something that's almost never present. There's another "left-wing hero" that needs to admit the same thing. That is Keith Olberman... I hope he gets better. Anyways, Olberman was no anti-Bushie in the run-up and at the start of the war. I remember after Donahue got axed, Olberman got a show and so did Scarbarough. We all thought they were right wingers.
Strawberry @ 66:
I think of WWJD. What would Jethro from the Beverly Hillbilly's do or say. And still, Bush pales in comparison.
Bill Maher is a junkie.
Does anybody else find it queer to see Howard Kurtz attempting to dress down Jack Cafferty for being intellectually honest enough to admit that he was wrong about Iraq?
Punished for having integrity - that is how the right attempts to keep people in line.
It's as if Kurtz does not understand the significance of the words coming out of his own mouth.
Ask him what he thinks of muslims and watch that famous scowl appear on his face.
They make it sound like there is something wrong with being a left winger. Unless you condone suffering' and killing your fellow man, and putting profit ahead of people, what could possibly be wrong with being a left winger. Seems they should apologize for being right wing.
nick @ 27:
I especially liked how Cafferty had to laugh to Howies face at the stupid question that Howie was asking at the end of that clip. What a putz.
PS: one word for motorfingaz ---> Decaff
My God, what a typical right-wing means of obfuscating the issue: concentrate on labels.
Cafferty could call himself fucking Porky Pig and it would not detract from his criticisms. His criticism should be judged on their merits.
That's why, in the future, when asked such an asinine question, I'd like to whoever is sitting in Cafferty's seat to respond with
a) "Wow - what a shallow and asinine question. Could we please move on to something relevant?"
or
b) "Wow - what a shallow and asinine question. You know, these days, someone who believes in the Magna Carta is deemed a left-winger by this White House, so I think the term has lost any kind of real meaning in this context. That's how radically right-wing this administration is."
Great answer. Example of someone who's an interviewer using his skills as an interviewee.
Respect Cafferty more than almost anyone on TV. Not that I have one, watch a few minutes here and there via the Intertubes. Cafferty is the real deal. His gruffness makes him more believable.
Anonymous Source @ 48:
Could be because it was all laid out for those of us who wanted to read it--it was not hard to find information that there were no WMDs (I mean the UN inspectors said it straight out) and Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9-11. The only argument that made any sense was the promise to topple a tyrant and most of us could see that Bush the elder had good reasons for not toppling him in the First Gulf War. It didn't take being psychic; it took being informed skeptics.
I always figured that, when push came to shove, it would be Jack Cafferty who would man up and admit he was wrong. Glad to see I was right.
The truth of the matter seems to be that the U.S. has NEVER been in the business of spreading democracy anywhere in the world...the deliberate overthrow by our CIA of Mossadeq in Iran who was the closest thing to a democratic government proves that. Aside from the fact that certain groups seem hell-bent on destroying it at home. But they are only one of many. There is soooo much more our country has done to other countries to line their pockets unfairly with other people's property. The ultimate emienent domain theory. But still there is a lot hidden. The older the news, though, the more likely you will find it on the internet. I think there are those who would be highly enlightened to read the summary of the overthrow of the Mossadeq government, that is, if anyone is interested. Here is the link: http://www.iranian.com/News/2000/April/ciasum.pdf
And, The CIA IN IRAN, 1953 coup official history: http://www.iranian.com/History/2000/April/CIA/
This kind of thing has been going on for a long, long time. And they've been gaining followers who they've paid off as they go along. Not only money, but other things as well,such as paying people (authorities) to turn a blind eye to their followers when they break the law. As well as political clout.
The way I see it, it's not much different than people who grow up in a religious faith, they are born into it, and therefore believe and understand the basic rules of living their lives by somebody else's rules. No matter if they agree with it or not, they know which side their bread is buttered on...which makes them seem ignorant and dumb, when they are anything but. If you can't envision a different way of living your life, you will NOT leave it willingly, or easily, even if you are willing. But I do believe people CAN change....it's just a matter of figuring out the right kind of carrot.....(or ultimately having to decide to use a stick).Oh, and the guy that you're talking about that came clean? I think he deserves a pat on the back, although, I would watch him for a while. It takes time to build trust again. Have a great day!
I bought the run up to the war until I saw Colonoscopy Powell's UN speech and I thought, "This is all they got?" Bush shit!
when will howie have the balls and admit he is an asshat?
Gosh, he's almost...leftwing!. Amazing how left-wing and liberal have been turned into such horrible labels. I'm so sick of the fucking idiots running things in this world.
About 80% of Americans drank the Koolaid. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone (in the world) was manipulated in the most egregious way. What matters now, is see the light and call out this adminstration for the crimes we know it has comitted and is committing.
What gets me is the people that admit Bush was wrong to invade Iraq, that Bush lied his ass off, but these dopes still support Bush and all his works.
"But, we don't know what will happen if we pull out," followed by various Faux Noise talking points. You know, "Al Queada will take over Iraq," "Iran will move right in," " the fucking terrorists will follow us home," and any number of other fantasies.
The fact is that nobody knows what will happen, but I know what will happen if we stay. We should take our chances.
Like other posters, I was never convinced of the legitimacy of invading Iraq when NOT ONE IRAQI was on any of the four 9/11 airliners. I do admire Cafferty for admitting he was wrong. He's one of the few. What bothers me is the new ad with a war veteran saying we have to stay the course in Iraq, or the loss of both his legs in the war would have been in vain. I guess he's saying we should stay and sacrifice more soldiers, or their limbs. Crazy rationale.
As for Phil Donahue, who should still be on the air, of course MSNBC silenced him. The cable network is owned by GE, a major defense contractor. Do ya think they could accept having anyone voice contrary opinions to a war that would earn them billions? Of course not. He had to go. Phil, I miss your rational voice.
Hey Howie....
Larry Craig left a message for you at the front desk of your hotel....
Hurry up...flights to Minneapolis are booking up....must be a GOP 'con-vention' in town....
09/17/07 Countdown, at 6:00 pm (?) the Pentagon released a report that the violance in Iragi is at 2002 levels. Why isn't this discussed??
The motherf***ing public was in favor of the war by over 70%
by the time the president initiated the festivities.
The public had a chance to weigh in on this war (that they evidently
have grown tired of now) back in November 2004, but they drank the
KoolAid again.
So much for the public.
An interesting note about "drinking the koolaid". Not everyone in Jonestown willingly drank the koolaid. Many were forced to drink at gunpoint, given injections or shot.
I am just a simple citizen living in the South among a bunch of bible thumping willing koolaid drinkers and I knew instinctively that Bush was lying us into this war. I lost friendships and alienated family members due to my arguments about George Bush and his evil administration. People actually believed that he was a good christian and going to restore America to it's moral center. (WTF? I was NEVER fooled) What does it take to stand up and take the gun rather than the drink? What makes some of us follow the cult leader and not stand independent and strong? Why are some people so easily fooled? God help us all.