See inside the message

Words that have truth are precious. Discerning people see through lies and distortions. Last night's message from our current president (OCP) to the nation was full of transparent untruth, to put it politely. My reaction was to avert my eyes from the TV screen, waiting for the Democratic response of Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I). To quote from the AP's, Jennifer Loven story,

In his 18-minute remarks Thursday night, the president ordered U.S. troop levels to drop to a point they were already slated to reach, while saying they would start seven months sooner than scheduled.

. . . The president's speech marked only the latest shift in direction - and rationale and packaging - for a war that has lasted 4 1/2 years and cost a half trillion dollars and nearly 3,800 American lives.

Bush's decision sets the stage for a fiery political debate in Congress and on the 2008 presidential campaign trail. Democrats said Bush's modest approach was unacceptable.

"The president failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it," Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in the Democrat's televised response.

OCP conflated reality - once again. The X-ray vision of my "boss" at The Reaction, Michael J.W. Stickings, also sees through the message of OCP. His excellent post (with updates), "The lies and exaggerations of George W. Bush" walks through the speech, point by point, ending with this:

. . . Bush seems to believe -- that is, he is making the case, whether he believes it or not -- that the Iraq War is the central theater of the larger war to defend America and defeat America's new Enemy, the monolith of Islamic Terrorism. To drive that point home, he drew it all back to 9/11, again, as he and those on his side so often have: If the Enemy is not defeated in Iraq, it will strike again, there will be another 9/11, or worse -- that is the message, in essence, his argument in support of the Iraq War and Occupation. It is, to repeat, a flawed argument, but it is the argument we will keep hearing from those who find themselves on the wrong side of reality.

Seeing inside the message is the key to discerning reality. Receiving the message correctly means understanding the words as well as what is hidden behind or inside those words. That is true of what is going on today or what happened in the past. For example, soon after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls people knew that the words hidden inside the scrolls were precious and true to ancient history. But many of the scrolls' words were lost inside the fragile, tightly rolled parchments. But there is now good news from the BBC. There is a Super-scope' to see hidden texts. To quote from yesterday's story,

The hidden content in ancient works could be illuminated by a light source 10 billion times brighter than the Sun.

Now, scientists from the University of Cardiff have developed a technique that uses a powerful X-ray source to create a three-dimensional image of an iron-inked document.

The team then applies a computer algorithm to separate the image into the different layers of parchment, in effect using the program to unroll the scroll.

Seeing inside the message - unrolling the campaign scrolls - will be the task for voters trying to decide who should next fill the role of "Our Current President." I have yet to decide but Senator Chris Dodd remains high on my list. And it is because his message seems to me to have consistent clarity, depth and authenticity. "Big Tent Democrat" posted about Senator Chris Dodd at the (9/12/07) Talk Left - "Epistles To This Generation." To quote,

Senator Chris Dodd was interviewed by Keith Olbermann tonight and discussed his views on Iraq and his new book, Letters From Nuremberg, a collection of letters from his father, Senator Thomas Dodd, who worked with Justice Robert Jackson at the Nuremberg trials.

This is Senator Dodd at his finest.

Seeing inside the message from OCP last night was easy. We have seen and heard it all before. We recognize it for what it is. Seeing through the messages of the Democratic candidates for President is not so easy. But it is a whole lot more fun.
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