I've seen some clips of Rummy's comments on various issues recently - this guy is great, he knows how to hit back, hard and concise.
You will only understand the symbolism of the following if you learned
through extraneous history or were old enough to have watched it play out
that Ted Kennedy drove off of a bridge in Massachusetts on his way to an
island with Mary Joe Kopechne in the late 60's.
He did NOT seek help to rescue her when he surfaced. Instead he made his
way to a hotel, called friends and the next morning reported the accident.
She was, needless to say, both dead and wet. Kennedy faced no type of
any censure or reprimand, much less any legal punishment for this negligent
act of manslaughter.
Kennedy power extends wide in that part of America. You have got to the
chutzpah of Rumsfeld.
February 05, 2004
Rumsfeld: Kennedy 'All Wet' About Bush Lies
(5 Feb 2004) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Sen Edward M.
Kennedy yesterday that he was "all wet" when the Senator alleged that the
Bush administration lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to
justify
going to war.
The verbal clash came during Mr. Rumsfeld's testimony at a Senate Armed
Services Committee hearing probing the state of pre-war intelligence.
Sen. Kennedy began his questioning of the Defense Secretary by saying,
"Don't you think some members of the Bush administration should be held
legally accountable for the lies they told about Iraqi weapons, and the
subsequent cover-up?"
"First, with all due respect Senator Kennedy, you're all wet," said Mr.
Rumsfeld . "The administration has not lied or covered up. However, in
general I do believe that when a man commits a crime he should face the
bar
of justice. He should not be allowed to serve in positions of power in our
government, and be hailed as a leader, when the question of his guilt
remains unresolved, if you know what I mean."
"I'm sure I do not know what you mean," Mr. Kennedy said. "But the
American
people deserve to know why you can't find Saddam's weapons of mass
destruction."
"Sometimes things are hard to find, even when you know where they are,"
said
Mr. Rumsfeld. "For example, I've heard of a man who missed a bridge and
drove his car into the water, even though he knew where the bridge was.
And
then sometimes you just keep diving into a problem and despite repeated
efforts, you come up empty handed. That doesn't mean that nothing's
there.
As you know, eventually, the truth comes to light."
Having no further questions, Mr. Kennedy yielded the remainder of his
time.
I haven't heard that Kennedy -Rumsfeld exchange. Thanks for posting it.
Rumsfeld is a gem!
Are you serious? Did this exchange actually happen, IN PUBLIC? And it was recorded? If true, could you cite a source? And THANK YOU VERY MUCH for posting this!
Did Rummy actually make those remarks about "a man who missed a bridge..."? Man, that is great if he actually said that. Are you sure that isn't a Scrappleface article or something like that?