Howie Klein rode next to Peter Beinart on a cross-country flight last week and came away with the opinion that my dogs would be better at determining US foreign policy.
Yesterday while discussing his new film No End In Sight director Charles Ferguson had this to say about his fellow wonks from the Brookings Institute:
I have found O’Hanlon and Pollack to be quite intellectually dishonest, and I’m very disappointed in the role they have played. Factually, their recent comments are quite dubious, and were based on a very brief trip completely supervised by the U.S. military.
When you think about the bona fides of people whose august opinons are treated with great reverence by Those Who Matter, a pack of poodles really doesn’t seem like they could do much worse.
Related posts:
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
Zed
zed?
The poodles are honest and have much more common sense.
Get this. Get it straight, and remember it:
The media, Wall Street, and the government are liars. Every time, all the time. No exception to the rule.
Now, keeping that in mind, stop lying to yourselves.
You, personally, must be the end to the bullshit cycle.
I would say it would be more entertaining for the rest of us to see those who determine US foreign policy sniff each other butts and make nice…
Howie Klein rode next to Peter Beinart on a cross-country flight last week and came away with the opinion that my dogs would be better at determining US foreign policy.
Dogs rule, political sock puppets drool….
Alas, the foreign policy has resulted in EXACTLY what they wanted: the mid-east in turmoil & mucho profits for american businesses.
By the way, there is a truly DISGUSTING artice in the NYT magazine tomorrow. It is about how the West separated religion from politics during the era of enlightenment, whereas the rest of the world (read Islam) did not. Spare me, what about the rapture christinista wing nuts. And, alas, that group also is where our foreign policy is deriving from.
Recent events in Boston are interestin too. The local head of JDL supported designating Armenia as a site of earlier genocide. The national JDL had him fired ostensibly because Turkey has been supporting Isra*el and they don’t want to jeopardize that tie. POlitics and religion separate? NOt so much.
Hope you are feeling well Jane. Pretty pups.
Jane,
Now I’m more of a cat person (as I watch my Dan’l sit in the window wishing he could get outside to the birds).
But cats or dogs could do a better and more humane job than id10ts like Richard Perle and Little Billy Kristol.
Marcus Aurelius @ 4
Sue their sorry butts.
Peter Beinart is just another flack who got in on the pundit gravytrain where being wrong all the time means never having to say you were wrong all the time.
I would call him an airhead but airheads might take offense. Glenn Greenwald would probably call him (ironically, of course) another Very Serious Person.
give the Nobel Prize to Kobe
Jane,
Great picture of your dogs.
I have 2 dogs — a Samoyed (male) and an Australian Shepherd (female).
IMO, Charles Ferguson may have made a great film about the fuck-ups in Iraq.
But it, the war, was fundamentally wrong. It was immoral and a war crime to invade Iraq.
The outcome there is irrelevant.
Oh yes, there are those who will argue that the war in Iraq could have been won (whatever that means) if the Bush players had been competent.
I reject this argument.
In fact, I’m glad we’ve failed.
Because if we had succeeded (whatever that means), the U.S. would be fighting wars until the end of this planet.
And then there is that great foreign policy advisor and sage, Henry Kissinger. Henry the K., so brilliant and loveable.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 13
he’s always back there somewhere
Dogs and cats are intelligent, no doubt.
But I’m thinking that even the slugs that are devouring my hosta have more intelligence and compassion than some of these people – and the slugs are not NEARLY as slimy.
Your poodles run a tight ship, eh, Jane??? *g*
Elliott @ 14
He’s the Don.
LS @ 17
but surely not the Don Juan
*snicker*snicker*
When you think about the bona fides of people whose august opinons are treated with great reverence by Those Who Matter, a pack of poodles really don’t seem like they could do much worse.
My cat Max could have done much better (Max, adopted 4/1984ish, went to kitty heaven back in 12/2005).
If there was any soul to this country there would be about 50,000 people with eggs outside the studio of appearance William Kristol makes.
Elliott @ 18
Unless he gets free V**g*a…Ewwww….where’s Larry Flynt.
I mean of every appearance.
Everythingseemssoneat @ 20
I’ve got a dozen bad eggs in the fridge and a tankful of gas… .
We’ve been reduced to this. Larry Flynt for redemption….whatever it takes.
ot?
i’ve just come across the word
clerisy
can anyone say what it is please?
do i eat it or wear it or hit it with a rock or make friends or avoid it like the plague?
Jane,
I am continually impressed by your turn of phrase. Another excellent post!
may @ 25
You embrace it – or rather, them *s*
Elliot-That perma-smile on Sunday morning is just too much.
I think it might be time to address James Woolsey.
Right on! I’ve been thinking a lot about the YKOS panel with Beinart and Clemmons on Foreign Policy and each time I think about it, I get pissed off again. The unbelievable hubris of the very serious people … amazing. While there was some disagreement between these fellow, they were in complete agreement that it was our role to bring “democracy and modernization” to the Middle East … I wanted to suggest that we worry about our own lack of democracy before we go around meddling in other people’s countries.
KestrelBrighteyes @ 27
um
why?
I’d nominate my two minature poodles for cabinet positions. They’re smarter than me that’s for sure. I go to work to keep them in food, treats, and squeaky toys while they nap and wait for me to come home and play with them. They have the world by the tail (but in a positive non-threatening manner) and would gladly teach the Republicans how things should be done.
I have a bumper sticker on my car that reads, “My poodles are smarter than my President”. I crossed the “my” out before President and put “the” above it because I didn’t want anyone to think that Chimpy McFlightsuit would ever be MY President. So far I’ve gotten quite a few thumbs ups and smiles. There must be a lot of dog lovers out there as well as people who are sick and tired of the head of the Bush Crime Family.
Siun @ 30
That’s right.
Ed*ard Teller @ 6
Thing is, for the poodles to get it right, they have to be able to smell the sock puppets. We over-emphasize sight, and under-emphasize smell. When the sock puppets appear on TV, its hard for us to realize what’s happening.
Bob in HI
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 19
I’m sorry about your cat. I got my Max kitty in July 2006. Best move I ever made!
I don’t understand why this isn’t huge on progressive sites.
http://www.infowars.net/articl…..Cheney.htm
That said – folks like Beinart actually act rather a lot like our young pitbull who is still at the stage where he thinks every dog on the street is scheming to take his favorite bone or to hurt his people and so he needs to bark and growl and lunge to show he’s mr manly protector dog.
Of course, we are training him to learn to be much more discerning … wonder if there are puppy classes for pundits?
may @ 25
Best. Dictionary. Site. Ever.
FunnyDiva
And one day soon, they will pay millions to Secretary Rice, to hear her views on foreign policy, and read her books.
may @ 31
Because FDL-ers are members of the clerisy, and we LIKE hugs.
FunnyDiva
clerisy= the educated elite, the intelligentsia.
Yeah, I had to look it up, too.
Everythingseemssoneat @ 28
Seriously, I watch that half of Fox News Sunday just to observe his demeanor. I’m fascinated by what he says and the look on his face when he says it.
I would like to know what he was like as a kid. Can’t you see that creepy perma-smile on his face in his fourth grade school pic?
And lest we forget for a doggone minute who really runs things:
Junya: “Yup, ah believe in doG. He tells me things and ah do ‘em.”
Barney: “Yip, yip…arrghhooooo!”
Junya: “See? What’d ah tell ya? Where’s that there Iran place on mah map?”
Poodles can only do better!
Um, I thought that there was only one “official poodle,” Tony Blair…. (With apologies to the real, 4 legged, intelligent poodles.)
Elliot-He should be wading through an angry mob at every appearance.
Funnydiva2002 @ 38
Hey thanks!
I read in think progress that a few days after O’Hanlon did his penance with Glenn Greenwald, O’Hanlon decided to put all that honesty and disclosure stuff behind him and get back to SOP. Too bad. He decided being a naughty scholar is just fine if it keeps him on the A-list.
Only way to solve this I think is to concentrate on getting progressives into Congress big time in 2008. Forget the mainstream serious elites. Certainly forget thinking things will change if we focus too much on Presidency. Since too much danger of that office being co-opted no matter which hero or heroine is elected.
I been reading on the Very Serious People foreign policy establishment last couple of weeks. Seems to me that big chunks of neocon PNAC doctrine as gone mainstream somehow. Why, I don’t know, since I think these chunks of neocon dogma are vicous, depraved, immoral self-defeating and unworkable. And shown over last six years to lead directly to failure wherever they have been applied: Palestine, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, you name it.
Basically it comes down to being willing to resort to frank force and nothing but force to mantain illusion of US power to control world poltics by fiat.
We have reached a stage where people like Truman, Eisenhower, Marshall, Acheson, Vandenberg would be considered on the “far left” of spectrum of foreign policy thought, and would have a difficult time getting on Press the Face, and Beat the Nation, and This Freak shows. Which means something has really gone wrong. I am not saying that all the people I mentioned where so enlightened or their motives were not very mixed or that they did not do bad things. Just an illustration of how violent, infantile and deeply immoral and bankrupt the mainstream Very Serious foreign policy establishment has become.
Seems to me the are advocating what amounts to voolence and aggressive war as a routine policy instrument. Seems to me that their policies will not keep us safe. What the heck as gone wrong. Public seems to be wiser on basics than the influential wonks who get on TV and the other media space.
ot-
dakine-that building you like, that you all were talking about (located by the wtc) earlier, that is on fire, well, two firefighters died fighting the blaze…..don’t remember the name of the building……..
pursang at 32-i bet your poodles are also smarter than bush’s poodle…..
another great post, jane……will read the rest of the comments tomorrow…….
may @ 31
Cuz they is the smart folks what’s gonna get us outta this clusterfuck caused by the dumshits and numbnuts a’runnin this cuntry.
*laughing* Sorry, I’m in high gear smartass mode tonight.
Elliott @ 45
You’re welcome. Use it in good health.
I use it all the time when editing medical/technical manuscripts.
FunnyDiva
BTW, I also would trust the poodles nore. I would even trust dachsunds, which do have a vicious side in common with the Very Serious, but do slso tend to have a lot of common sense -which makes a difference between them and the Serious.
Funnydiva2002 @ 40
I have had formal education but am not part of the clerisy.
I don’t mind hugs.
I want to find here reason.
Is there like a green room or something where people go to wait until their comments get out of moderation?
And are there snacks?
dmac @ 47
Deutsche Bank?
Oh, sweet Jeebus, not more dead firefighters?
FunnyDiva
See ya, dmac.
Smelling out sock puppets applies a couple threads back to who controls the mining news. I was late to that party because I was out meeting with my congress critter, but can I refer you back to my post there please? I wanted to leave a sound track, some lyrics, and a video of a Harlan County family to accompany information about the films Harlan County, USA, and Matewan (both highly recommended).
Bob in HI
I assume everyone is reading Peter Dale Scott’s new book.
may @ 25
A word introduced by Coleridge in 1818 to express a notion no longer associated with the clergy..learned men as a body, scholars.
Can’t beat the 20 volume OED.
dmac @ 47
dmac,
It was the Deutsch Bank building – it had a unique fountain and architecture out front as I remember.
Jonathan @ 50
Dood!
I was here trying the definition of “clerisy” to expand. Or to narrow to folk of goodwill and good faith who are willing to use their intelligence and education for the benefit of others, regardless of actual social status.
FunnyDiva
sorry…just couldn’t get that 2nd sentence into Yoda-ese…
Hercules the Rez Dog is smart. He ignores me when I tell him to do something. But he does wag his tail when it is time to go for a walk cuz he knows he can chase cottontails. He hasn’t caught one but loves to chase them.
Everythingseemssoneat @ 54
Linky?
Why? Is it a good murder mystery? Or does he write as good as FDL front-pagers?
FunnyDiva
FunnyDiva, thanks a million for the linky to that great dictionary site. I’m a word nerd, so I’m going to LOVE that place!
Bob Schacht @ 53
Oooh. Thanks, Bob, you’ve always got good stuff to add. Good to see ya. Aloha.
FunnyD
wesgpc @ 46
I’m with you. And starting to call out just what these malevolent spinsters really mean. To wit:
You know I am surprised that Howie tried to explain anything to Beinart. A person like that is not open-minded. He already knows everything.
The position here is that Noam Chomsky knows more about foreign affairs than just about anybody.
Funnydiva2002 @ 62
T’ank oo. Howdeedoo?
Bob in HI
Funnydiva2002 @ 40
Funnydiva2002 @ 38
hokaaay
intelligentsia,etc
this must be a brand new coin
coined by whom?
not in oxford not in cambridge
Oklahoma kiddo @ 64
He’s way too far left for some but I find him just about right.
I forgot now is time to plug John Adams. Read half-crazy half-genius John Adams on the dangers of an aristocratic society and how the aristocrats will act. I think that explains alot. We are living in a degraded corporate money-political power aristocracy, and the aristocrats are acting true to Adams’ predictions. His most unglued hilarious and insightful rants are in the Jefferson-Adams letters.
There’s a guy, Henry Kissinger. For twenty-five years I called him the most evil person of the twentieth century and here he is, his fingers in every human foreign policy tragedy, still on the Foreign Policy Board. Wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity, he slips around the globe doing his evil deeds and managers to slip out of the hands of authorities.
I am falling apart and Kissinger is still a mighty force. I know why, he’s Rasputin. He never dies. Like Rangda, he is here forever. The guy will out last me. And what will I be saying to my grandchildren on my dying bed, “Beware of Henry Kissinger.”
Does anyone else remember when he has brief affair with a reporter and how crushed she was when he treated her like dirt after the long cigarette? Remember Oriana Falacci’s infamous interview with Kissinger? That was a coup. When asked what was the greatest mistake in his career he said, letting Oriana Falacci interview him. Love that woman!
How about when he was in a Paris hotel and learned an international council was going to deliver papers to him on war crimes relating to Chili. Without checking out he slipped away in the middle of the night to avoid being served. He rushed home with his tail between his legs. Or, when he lied about his role as the mastermind of the invasion of Timor (annexing, he called it). While he was sleeping in Jakarta Javanese war ships with Us munitions on board went out to attack an independent country. He wasn’t satisfied until almost half the Timorese were exterminated. Greater in decimation than what Hitler did to the Jews. Not a twinge did Henry feel. It was all for oil and natural resources.
I could go on and on about Henry’s lifelong exploits around the globe. And still he is free as a bird and in better shape than I am. Henry. Henry. It is true. It is better to be evil because you can’t kill evil and your deeds will live on for generations to come. I have seen your handy work with my own two eyes.
Twain @ 68
I have been accused by one or two of being a little left of center too. ;0)!
yes belated thanks for dictionary site
Funny diva
it’s doozy
Our Founders pointed out IN THE CONSTUTION that a free press was necessary for the preservation of liberty. Our press is NOT free, anything but! In fact it isn’t really a press. How can people decide correctly with wrong information,or no information?
Zbig is high on the list also.
QuakerGirl at 69
Do you think Henry Kissinger believes what he does is good in a moral sense?
Or do you think he doesn’t care about morality?
The Bush foreign policy agend will go down in history as unremarkable, save for it’s brutality.
Steve-AR @ 56
i avn’t got the 20 vol OED
Coleridge ay?
well ,well,you live and learn.
thanks again
Marion in Savannah @ 60
I’m so glad!
Just wish we could all afford the OED online, the ultimate word nerd paradise!
Marion, do you read Language Log by any chance? Another playground for word nerds and language lovers.
FunnyDiva
D’oh! Blog Pimpin’ again…
In my liftime, the most remarkable American foreign policy peacemaker is President Carter.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 78
Well said. A man of peace, honor, and strength.
Mr. Kissinger has the blood of thousands upon thousands on his hands.
Jonathan @ 75
Part of Kissinger’s psyche, I think, is emotionally stuck as a 15 year old who left Germany, but whose family was annihilated during the holocaust. It is something he doesn’t speak about publicly (but has been recorded on film). Guilt and rage, but suppressed. That is a dangerous cocktail. The underpinning of any advice he doles out, may be based on that. JMHO
Oklahoma kiddo @ 73
did you ever read about his sidewalk fight? It’s a curious story and reveals a bit about the man’s personality, I’d say.
Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 78
And probably the most respected–outside the US and Israel, of course!
FunnyDiva
dakine01 @ 80
Best Ex-Prez… evah!!! Habitat for Humanity, Carter Center…!!! *g*
QuakerGirl says: August 18th, 2007 at 6:54 pm:
I don’t like Kissinger either, but I think it is more than Kissenger. It is Truman, Marhall, Eisenhower, Acheson, Kennan, Vandenberg, JFK on bad speed and wood alcohol with some hash oil thrown in, or as interpreted by infantile people with no life-experience who have a deep manhood insecurity issues, or who are so self-centered that vying to be top dog on the Very Serious Person shit pile is the most important thing. It is true decadence in a big part of the Best People in society.
The people who tried to keep Reagan from talking with Gorbachev, who wanted to keep the Cold War going, are now in charge, both in terms of political power for the next 18 months, and in terms of setting bounds for the acceptable public debate. Remember how they wanted to gin up an confrontation with China before 9/11 happened? There is a truly depraved and deeply stupid, but influential element in the opinion elite who think the US must always have a Great Satan and alwys have war to retain its influence. I think that kind of psychic volence has been unconsciously absorbed by the lizard brain segment of foreign policy establishment thinking. We all have a lizard brain segment, but we also have other parts in our brains that should tell us when the lizard brain is right and when it is wrong. Right now the lizard brain is kind, and the recent 100% record of failure of following the lizard brain first, last and always, has not seemed to have changed things. Scary stuff.
Jonathan @ 83
They must have had no other candidates that year.
wesgpc @ 87
Just a week or so ago, David Brooks was ginning up a confrontation with China. these people have no souls.
Jonathan @ 84
When I think Henry Kissinger, I think Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and prolonging war for the political gain of his boss, Richard M. Nixon. I think of Kissinger; advisor to the current president’s administration.
I meant to say ‘Lizard brain is king’, not kind.
Thought following the lizard brain has been very kind of some peoples’ careers.
Zbig on W and the surge:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01572.html
Twain @ 87
He shared the prize in 1973 with Le Duc Tho for jointly negotiating the end of US direct involvement in the Viet Nam war
Twain @ 88
before 11 sep there was a glimpse and a glimmer of war crimes charges for
Cambodian actions
after ———- ?
wesgpc @ 87
We have yet to exorcise the ghosts of the Dulles brothers from State and CIA. I don’t know what it will take, but it must be done.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 90
When I think of Kissinger, I think of all those Laotians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Indonesians, Filipinos, Chileans, Argentines, Guatamalans, Iranians and Americans who will sit in judgement of his soul when it passes this sphere. He must be getting antsy, ’cause he’ll be lucky to reincarnate that high up the ladder of being.
Ed*ard Teller @ 96
Yeah, he’ll be pretty much on the fastrack to amoeba reincarnation…nothing against amoeba that is.
Slightly OT from tomorrow’s WaPo0: How Rove Harnessed Government for GOP Gains with Stenographer John Solomon one of the co-authors
When I think of Henry Kissinger, I try not to think of Henry Kissinger.
Call me when the conversation turns to something pleasant, like leprosy or poop-eating dogs.
Gunga Djinn @ 99
I had a dog that liked to raid the cat box, so I bought a “covered” cat box. He decided to indulge shortly thereafter, and he got the cover stuck on his head and ran all over the house banging into walls and everything……he never, ever, ever went near the cat box again. There, you have it.
LS @ 100
Gee thanks LS, now I have to clean the wine off my monitor.
KestrelBrighteyes @ 101
I’ve got more poop-eatin’ dog stories…did I tell you about horse-poop eatin’ dogs…nevermind…I even have one about Riverside Park in NYC, but ….I ain’t goin’ there either. ;>
We collectively thank you for that consideration, LS :~)
Gunga Djinn @ 99
all right then
A Song of Praise to
President Carter
my view from this neck of the woods-
he represented the best of the best
he was a steady,wise and commpassionatly strong influence on the world
he did the best he could without being a loudmouthed skite about it
i never felt anything but relaxed(almost) about your countrys’ motives when he was in charge
Gunga Djinn @ 99
Poop-eating dogs are just doing their part to recycle.
he was and is a good bloke
marymccurnin @ 105
Absolutely!
There are so many ways for our canine friends to help the environment – for instance, eating low on the food chain to reduce the poop-factor.
Talkin about helping the environment – we had a dog once that we almost had broken from eating altogether!
Unfortunately he died.
Jonathan @ 84
And Kurt Waldheim was SG of the UN.
KestrelBrighteyes @ 107
Terrible.
KestrelBrighteyes @ 52
I had this instant vision of what the FDL Green Room would look like. I like it!
I don’t see any snacks yet, but there are hugs from people who are waiting there with you, all wondering the same thing. “What’d I do? Huh?” ;)
KestrelBrighteyes @ 106
What a strange thread – did everyone suddenly become pod people when I wasn’t looking? Kissinger was going strong and now it’s dog poop. Oh, wait……..
What chafes my buns is another example of what the press knows and doesn’t tell us. They had to know the Henry was spending a lot of time at the WH and only saw fit to mention it years into the fiasco.
Twain @ 111
We are multi-dimensional people.
Jonathan @ 75
Jonathan – I have no way of grasping a mind like Kissinger. His deeds are beyond my comprehension. I don’t buy the story of his family’s suffering in the Holocaust thus he is the way he is. Thousand went through the same and didn’t become a Henry Kissinger. Because of it they are more humane and never want others to suffer this way. It is his own being that is that way. It’s like asking what went wrong with a Ted Bundy? Nothing that others didn’t go through but they made a different choice. Kissinger loves power over others. He loves human suffering.
After the first time you see the terrible consequences of your acts, wouldn’t you change so as to never repeat it? I don’t think morals are part of his consideration. He certainly has not considered ethics in his consultant firm.
What baffles me more is that he is still making policy decisions and considered a valued adviser. It’s like calling GW a brilliant business man. It’s not based on success but on failure.
The more brutal a regime is the greater Kissinger’s support. He could also have been a Elie Wiesel. That isn’t caused by environment and circumstances, it is the make up of the person. I’ve never heard remorse in his voice for anything he did.
Okay – now we need stories about chafing buns…who’s up?
Helpless Dancer @ 112
They didn’t even tell us about Jeff Gannon’s visits. And where were the fundies when we needed them?
I wonder if Gannon has chaffed buns.
marymccurnin @ 116
Those two examples just about sums up the press in a nutshell. That the architect of VN was advising the admin or a male pr**titute doing overnights weren’t stories.
(peeking head out from behind curtain) Late Nite will be up shortly.
how come no one is hammering the fact that Clinton balanced the budget and when he left office there was money to burn?
may @ 120
Because Clinton got a blow job.
Twain @ 111
You will be assimilated! Resistance is futile!
Does Kissinger get paid with our hard earned tax dollars in his adviser role to the Bushies? I’ve supported this guy for decades. Talk about on the welfare dole.
Quaker Girl
(about Kissinger)
I’ve never heard an inflection in his voice.
The man has a voice like the sound of the grinding of souls. It’s now getting higher pitched as he reaches his old-manhood. That is the only difference in his voice I’ve heard since the 60s.
new thread..Thers upstairs
I’m trying to get laundry done and get the house vacuumed, hubby’s coming home tonight. I’m bouncing back and forth between the computer room and the rest of the house.
And every time I come back to this thread, it’s gone off in another direction.
It’s like I’ve died and gone to ADD heaven!
marymccurnin @ 121
veiw from here is
bj–so what?
he balance the budget
and balanced budgets are very topical
no?
Margot @ 124
HAHAHAHA! That’s so true. Good observation – grinding of souls. It’s hard to get a laugh out of such a dark subject as Kissinger.
Kissinger’s contempt for the Hoi Polloi couldn’t have been made clearer than in his remarks made in 1973; “the issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves” and “I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its people”.
It is no surprise that there are no long lines forming for the brand of democracy the US is exporting.
the FIRE DOGS!! they elevate any post they adorn! now let me go back and actually read the post, LOL
nonplussed @ 129
Thank you for posting this nasty piece of Kissinger history. Two years later he plans the annexation of East Timor upon their getting their independence from the Portuguese. This was not about disliking the way the election went and there was no communist threat about. It was for the oil.
That was much better. Thank you.
and now for something completely different…
Euphemism, me doctor.
Eric Idle
pundits or poodles? Poodles, of course!
Poodles are honest.
the situation is a circle jerk: when “Those Who Matter” need a certain conclusion, they solicit the “people of august opinion” who will give them the correct answer. And the “people of august opinion” being in desperate need of feeling important are more than happy to give them any answer they desire – the resulting attention and renumeration from delivering the correct responses are more than their nonexistent souls could ever fight off, regardless of the dishonesty involved or catastrophic consequences.
.
It is not fair for you to choose a pack of “poodles” to compare our president to – poodles are generally regraded as the smartest pooches of them all – there’s simply no way he can compete against them . . . maybe a pack of squirrels would be a more fair fight.