"Waypoints"

On the excrable Laura Ingraham Show last night, criticism of Rumsfeld's handling of the war, his (lack of) response to prisoner abuse, and his (lack of) response to the armor and supply issues, was handled by saying, "There are a lot of waypoints before an issue gets to Rumsfeld."

Interesting. So, the person in charge of an organization is not the person ultimately responsible for what happens under him or her, eh?

I'm sure that this will come as a surprise to the general who was in charge of prisons in Iraq and was blamed for Abu Graihb. I'm sure this will come as a surprise to all the officers who have had to take responsibility for the actions of subordinates in this war (and there are many).

I guess "the buck stops here" isn't a conservative value anymore.

And, I'm so glad the conservatives have been consistent on this issue. Naturally, when the Clinton State Department did something conservatives didn't like, they didn't blame Madeleine Albright, since there are "a lot of waypoints before an issue" reached Madeleine. Oh, wait, they did blame Albright. But, at least, they didn't blame Janet Reno for mistakes in the Justice Department. Oh, wait, they did blame Reno.

And, certainly, there are even more waypoints before something reached President Clinton, so that shielded him from criticism, right? Oh, wait, it didn't.

What a crock. We never heard about these so-called "waypoints" before. The intellectual dishonesty that American conservatives demonstrate every single day is just astounding.

Ingraham also criticized Campbell Brown, who is apparently filling in for Chris Matthews on Hardball this week, for asking Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage whether the elections in Iraq should be postponed six months or a year. So, now, it's wrong to even ask a question that conservatives don't agree with? It's not like this gave Armitage a chance to explain why the elections shouldn't be postponed. Oh, wait, it is like that. What, exactly, does Ingraham want? Brown only to ask questions like, "Why is President Bush so dreamy?" Give me a break.