When I saw the editorial titled Kabuki Congress, I knew what the next blog post would be.
The question is whether the Bush administration broke the law by allowing the National Security Agency to spy on Americans and others in the United States without obtaining the required warrant. The White House wants Americans to believe that the spying is restricted only to conversations between agents of Al Qaeda and people in the United States. But even if that were true, which it evidently is not, the administration has not offered the slightest evidence that it could not have efficiently monitored those Qaeda-related phone calls and e-mail messages while following the existing rules.
In other words, there is not a shred of proof that the illegal program produced information that could not have been obtained legally, had the administration wanted to bother to stay within the law.
…Putting on face paint and pretending that illusion is reality is fine for Kabuki theater. Congress should have higher standards.
I mean, it’s the usual NYT line, but you gotta love the kabuki.
We need to create a new category, “Kabuki,” for stories like this.
I second that. I wonder if those ninnies realize how many laughs we get at their expense.
If I were White House press secretary, I would hire an assistant and pay them to be on the lookout for any reporter that used the word “kabuki” as a descriptive. Then, I would make sure to find that person in the next press conference and call them out: “Hey asshole, have you ever actually _seen_ kabuki? Do you know what it’s all about, or are you just using it to describe something your feeble reporter brain just can’t quite grasp? Or maybe you’re too lazy to go into any greater detail, so you just write it off as ‘kabuki.’ And while we’re at it, don’t all forms of acting ask us to pretend that illusion is reality? I mean, aside from the Rambo films and Bambi, don’t we always have to suspend belief when we step into a theatre? Next question.”
Hmm, I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard people speaking Greek to each other, but I’ll still call something that I can’t understand at all “Greek to me.”
Oh, yes Kabuki is GREAT. It’s much better than politics though. But many kabuki plays end in lovers’ suicide. How exactly does that relate to the Congress though? J/K
It relates only in dreams…
It relates only in dreams… (I’m kinda, okay super, pissed at Congress over the Dubai Ports issue right now.)