Posted on 12/30/2008 6:23:54 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
Could this be the most unvarnished insult to someone's intelligence in the recent annals of major network television? Here was Zbigniew Brzezinski, speaking to Joe Scarborough on today's "Morning Joe." [H/t reader Melody.]
"You know, you have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on that it's almost embarrassing to listen to you."
It was Scarborough's exposition of the widely accepted view—shared by Bill Clinton himself—that Yasser Arafat was to blame for the failure of the 2000 Camp David summit, that prompted Brzezinski's remarkable display of disdain.
View video here.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
Funny, I saw that face and 'the face of evil' was the first thing that came to my mind, too.
LOL!
Thanks, PG. An instant classic!
Heh.
You bet. In ways we can’t yet even imagine.
“2000
The Camp David II Summit ends when Arafat abandons the talks even though offered significant concessions by Ehud Barak.”
Your timeline is incomplete:
“In December 2000 President Clinton presented a “bridging proposal” aimed at ending the most recent Al-Aqsa Intifada culminating with the Taba Summit (January 22 and January 28, 2001).” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taba_Summit
Zbig is correct that negotiations continued, but if you listen to his account, it implies that they continued in Jan. 2001 “while WJC was leaving office” (implying before 1/20/01) and that everything fell apart because of the Bush administration.
In fact, the last round occurred after Bush was inaugurated and whether you blame Arafat or Israelis for these talks no longer continue, what the historical record shows is that it had nothing to do with Bush and everything to do with the refusal of either of the negotiating parties to go further etc.—a sharp contrast to the picture implied by Zbig.
Dennis Ross was one of the official American negotiators. In numerous television appearances he has described the talks and how they broke down.
He emphatically states that the breakdown was because Arafat, after being offered over 99% of what he asked for, simply walked away and gave the order to initiate a new round of intifada violence. Ross further states that even Arafat’s own aides were astounded and perplexed by this - they thought they had secured a great victory.
Ross attributes Arafat’s reversal to his realization that if a real peace was attained, then he would become superfluous...
Zbig is not just wrong, he’s a liar...
That said, I can accept that it’s painfully embarrassing to listen to Scarborough... /g
He only got part of his comment right. Joe for the most part has become stunningly superficial in order to host a show on PMSNBC. The part about Arafat however is bogus.
Did Hitler get the Nobel Prize or did they miss him by oversight?
The Romans knew how to bring down the curtain on a life in politics. Consider Marcus Tullius Cicero. Consider Julius Ceasar.
In these latter days, instead of stepping into history, public figures struggle on, doing their best to remake it, through persuasiveness.
Very wise!
Z is the one on the left.
Isn't his arrogance stunning? Everyone associated the with Carter administration should STFU and go hide somewhere in shame. They had two major failings: foreign policy and domestic policy. Other than that they were just annoying. Hamilton Jordan said it best: "We used up all our luck just getting there." Luck was all they had to rely on. We may be seeing the sequel in 2009.
Funniest thing I’ve seen today....Thanks!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.