Oh, man. This CNN report focuses on the fact that George Bush, when meeting with Republican senators yesterday, wasn’t even asked about Iraq. I think most people reading this story focus on Trent Lott’s bizarre assertion that “real people out in the real world” don’t think much about Iraq.
Yes, this is strange — although, not much is actually strange these days — but what I find really telling is what Trent Lott said next, the part of the story that some other media outlets (the finger points at you, Washington Post) fail to quote. Read the last paragraph of this, in particular the very last sentence, then you tell me: why do so many prominent Republicans have trouble keeping their mouths shut?
President Bush barely mentioned the war in Iraq when he met with Republican senators behind closed doors in the Capitol Thursday morning and was not asked about the course of the war, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, said.
“No, none of that,” Lott told reporters after the session when asked if the Iraq war was discussed. “You’re the only ones who obsess on that. We don’t and the real people out in the real world don’t for the most part.”
Lott went on to say he has difficulty understanding the motivations behind the violence in Iraq.
“It’s hard for Americans, all of us, including me, to understand what’s wrong with these people,” he said. “Why do they kill people of other religions because of religion? Why do they hate the Israelis and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me.”
As Leela once said to Fry, “Remember we talked about you ending your conversations one sentence earlier?”
