"If he declares he has none (weapons of mass destruction), then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world."
Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing
December 2, 2002

"We know for a fact that there are weapons there."
Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing
January 9, 2003

"Well, there is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly . . . all this will be made clear in the course of the operation, for whatever duration it takes."
Ari Fleisher
Press Briefing
March 21, 2003

"I think you have always heard, and you continue to hear from officials, a measure of high confidence that, indeed, the weapons of mass destruction will be found."
Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing
April 10, 2003

Ari Fleischer: Lies Billable (offshore) by the word, the hour, and/or the loyal depth.

Fleischer lied to get America into war and thousands of Americans killed. For Tiger's billions, Fleischer would kill his own mother. LIVE. On national television. Sunday. During the final round of the Masters.

Lots of advice! The best advice to Tiger has been right here on this site ... from us!

Honestly, all the nuggets of truth and reality and how educated and articulate golf fans have perceived the situation. Right here. Of course, I know Team Tiger has been perusing our posts … or not!

That quote is worthless drivel. Sorry Ari...when you profit to the tune of ten of millions of dollars on an image that is a fraud...IT's OPEN SEASON after that. Tiger lost his facade and now his handlers and hired guns want the public to forgive and forget....fat chance. Keep wasting your cash Tiger...these clowns will take it and you're still who you are.

At 8:20 this morning the golf.com link no longer works.

Makes one wonder............

"He's going to return -- that's good for the game of golf and that's good for Tiger because that's what he is. He's a golfer. I expect him to pass my record. He's still a young guy and such a great talent."

-- Jack Nicklaus --

Fleischer has been shown to be a liar, just like Tainted Tiger and the PGA Tour. This move is supposed to control damage? Team Tainted Tiger digs their hole deeper.

"Fleischer lied to get America into war and thousands of Americans killed. For Tiger's billions, Fleischer would kill his own mother. LIVE. On national television. Sunday. During the final round of the Masters." -Mark

"Iraq does pose a serious threat to the stability of the Persian Gulf and we should organize an international coalition to eliminate his access to weapons of mass destruction. Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to completely deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." -- Al Gore, 2002
"The debate over Iraq is not about politics. It is about national security. It should be clear that our national security requires Congress to send a clear message to Iraq and the world: America is united in its determination to eliminate forever the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction." -- John Edwards, Oct 10, 2002
"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retained some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capability. Intelligence reports also indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons, but has not yet achieved nuclear capability." -- Robert Byrd, October 2002
"The community of nations may see more and more of the very kind of threat Iraq poses now: a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction, ready to use them or provide them to terrorists. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow." -- Bill Clinton in 1998
"I am absolutely convinced that there are weapons...I saw evidence back in 1998 when we would see the inspectors being barred from gaining entry into a warehouse for three hours with trucks rolling up and then moving those trucks out." -- Clinton's Secretary of Defense William Cohen in April of 2003
"Iraq is not the only nation in the world to possess weapons of mass destruction, but it is the only nation with a leader who has used them against his own people." -- Tom Daschle in 1998
"I share the administration's goals in dealing with Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction." -- Dick Gephardt in September of 2002
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." -- Ted Kennedy, September 27, 2002
"There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime is a serious danger, that he is a tyrant, and that his pursuit of lethal weapons of mass destruction cannot be tolerated. He must be disarmed." -- Ted Kennedy, Sept 27, 2002
"I will be voting to give the president of the United States the authority to use force - if necessary - to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." -- John F. Kerry, Oct 2002
"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -- Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998
"Even today, Iraq is not nearly disarmed. Based on highly credible intelligence, UNSCOM [the U.N. weapons inspectors] suspects that Iraq still has biological agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, and clostridium perfringens in sufficient quantity to fill several dozen bombs and ballistic missile warheads, as well as the means to continue manufacturing these deadly agents. Iraq probably retains several tons of the highly toxic VX substance, as well as sarin nerve gas and mustard gas. This agent is stored in artillery shells, bombs, and ballistic missile warheads. And Iraq retains significant dual-use industrial infrastructure that can be used to rapidly reconstitute large-scale chemical weapons production." -- Ex-Un Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter in 1998
"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years. And that may happen sooner if he can obtain access to enriched uranium from foreign sources -- something that is not that difficult in the current world. We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction." -- John Rockefeller, Oct 10, 2002

Context, baby, context

This piece on Winston Bennett sounds familiar.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/16/winston-bennett-sex-addic_n_500970.html

Pro golf needs to clean up its muck, and "spinning" isn't the way to do it.

can't wait to see chuck's response(s) to all this fleischer love (not).

i don't need tiger to tell me anything about his issues. i don't think it's any of my business who he did when and how, and i really don't want to know.

i just want him to play golf, and stop acting like a dick all the time (no more pouting, swearing, club throwing, close-standing, hissy-fitting, stink-eyeing, etc. He can keep on spitting if he likes. I have no issue with that). i'd also like him to either participate in press events (related to his golf game) in good faith, or just stop speaking to the press altogether.

Well let's cast Ari aside and forget about him. What do you say we focus on what 18-time major winner and platinum standard family man Jack Nicklaus has to say? I mean who's prepared to impugn Jack Nicklaus?

-------------------

"He's going to return -- that's good for the game of golf and that's good for Tiger because that's what he is. He's a golfer. I expect him to pass my record. He's still a young guy and such a great talent."

-- Jack Nicklaus --

Dear T Money, you didn't provide context, you provided us with the more of the same. The fact that you can quote more people who spoke the same lies does not diminish the fact that Ari Fleisher as chief spokes person for the whitehouse spoke them. There is no doubt the band-wagon was full of cheerleaders who had been fed false information about Iraq by a intelligence community that had been instructed to paint a certain picture by Cheney and others (proven to be true). However Fleisher was head LIAR on the road to hell and people like that don't change who they are. The difference between many of the people you quote and Fleisher is they were just going off information they had been given during briefings by the intelligence community, whereas Fleisher knew he was lying every time he spouted off the fabrications he had been instructed to say. He's high-paid lying garbage.

Tiger - well he's pretty much garbage as well - he can just play golf very very well.

Press Agent, To call Tiger "pretty much garbage" That takes one to know one. Did not your mother tell you that God did not make people as Junk. Get a life.!! Tiger's behaviour was horrendous to his family- That is not in dispute! Your comments shows that you need to look in the mirror more frequently. All Humans are flawed- we all have done, and said things that if revealed in the light, in public we would be humiliated, ashamed and embarrassed and go into hiding. So stop with the name calling and exercise compassion, and wish that Tiger can resolve his demons and become a better husband and person.

yes. peachtree's admonition for everything is more mirror-gazing.

Press Agent,
Are you telling us we have a bunch of politicians in D.C. that can't do their own research, think on their own, and come to a conclusions on their own. That they just get in line and follow the crowd.

Fleisher may have been part of the program that hyped the intelligence that was used to get us into war, but we're here talking about golf and I think that his comments about Tiger drawing a line in the sand is pretty solid. He's a private citizen, not a political figure, so there is no public need to know the prurient details of his private life. Enough dirt has been tossed around anyway, so there's no need to stoop to the gutter and grab some more.

We don't need an explination of his personal life in terms of who he shagged, when, and how it went.

But FHP acknowledged he broke the law (he was ticketed), and we have no explination from him on what happened thanksgiving night, why he was in rehab, if he has a perscription drug problem, or what his future golf plans are beyond the Masters.

All of those questions are within the realm of appropriate for your 'brand' as a golfer.

"I believe he should draw a line in the sand between <business> and private matters. Being in public life doesn't mean you have to succumb to the overwhelming curiosity factor that permeates everything in our society."

You know, I am starting to admire Tiger for his handling of the media. It is not anyone's public business, just curiosity and nosiness desiring to be satisfied. Is it possible that Tiger's manifest insistence on privacy here is a harbinger of changes to come from celebrities? We could finally see a sea change in the ubiquitous presence of paparazzi and trashy tabloid journalism. By taking a dramatic unbending stand, he is setting a new tone previously unseen in the celebrity world. I have to say, I appreciate it now, and hope that he maintains it. After all, it's not our business.

Is anyone else starting to see that his insistence on privacy may ultimately pay off?

I think Dan hit it on the proverbial head (no, that's not a pun) when he said that the accident details are within the public's right to know. The problem there, however, is that Tiger was well handled and well represented on the interaction with the police and the prosecutors, who ultimately never obtained the evidence that would have shed light on what happened that night. Now, Tiger won't answer those questions, because he won't give any statement that could implicate him in any criminal matter, even if it's a misdemeanor. Sort of a Catch-22, if you will, but there's no way that he'll answer those questions.

dan,

Spellcheck for sale. 1/2 off.

tlavin, you are so right. As a matter of fact, you have a right to not answer the police until you are charged with a crime. You can get a rep/lawyer to handle the police. most people dont know this fact of the law, primarily because of the lack of knowledge and money. Notice what is happening with the NFL player who is accused of rape, he has not been charged with a crime- he still has not spoken with the Police- his Lawyer is doing all the speaking and it is going on at least 14 days now. (I have not heard any outcry from the public about favoritism of celebrity) I wonder why!! Someone is accused of a crime!!! I wonder if the color of his skin is playing a part!!!

Peachtree,

Your and my take on the whole Tiger debacle is completely different - as you have read in my comments since this started. I never really had a problem with Tiger and his boinking other women, I just think he should not have entered into a sham marriage to attract more endorsement dollars. A man in his position is expected to eat from the buffet that gets laid out in front of him - I have no problem with that. Where my problem starts with Tiger is everything he has done since his accident, I will not go over them all, but in my opinion he has proven time and time again that he does not care for anyone else, he is still incredibly sell-centered, he continues to hold grudges, he thinks the world owes him a debt of gratitude, he's bullshitting people by intimating that a few weeks in a 5-star rehab center can cure a person of a non-existent illness......he continues to try and control everything around him.....he hires a slick disgusting PR person rather than just being a human being and dealing with things head-on...

If he had simply come out after the accident and said he enjoys the company of other women, he knows it's wrong to have a wife and kids and continue to carry on in such a manner and he's going to work on figuring out what he really wants in his life - I would have been in his corner all the way. Even if he said he was going to give up the staged family life and just live it up for a while with some partying and girls etc., I would have been with him all the way.

There are no demons, he does not need to be "cured" of anything. He's a man and like most other normal men, he likes to have sex with women. Trying to manipulate the whole world around you and play them for fools while you also take their money - that is another matter. We don't owe Tiger anything, and until I see some humility out of him and think "here is a guy I think is being honest and not trying to spin anything" I for one will not give him one inch.

Dear HW,

If the pentagon and defense department were telling the politicians what was what in Iraq, and were also told to report ONLY TO THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT, how would you suggest they do their own research??

There were people who tried to do their own research, you may remember: people like Sean Penn, who went to Iraq on his own dime to see what it was really like on the ground in Iraq, and he took out full page adds in the New York Times on his own dime. You may also remember those people were labeled anti-Americans and traitors. There was one choice under that regime, play along with the same tune or suffer the consequences.

Terry,

Most of the time I agree with you, both here and on GCA, however this time I do draw my line in the sand with the likes of Ari Fleisher and his recent hire as "liar-in-chief," and Team Tiger's newest enabler.

Tiger is indeed a private citizen, but he's also quite a public figure and he and his enablers have never shown any shyness about using the public media to dispense his commercial image or message when he's seen it as advantageous to himself. Fleisher is a master of this spin game and, as such, will only reaffirm Tiger's structural and behavioral arrogance.

I agree that we should refrain from "stooping further into the gutter" and should leave the details out, but Tiger has dug his own ditch and has shown little inclination for losing the BS arrogance that put him there.

The game is about honesty and decency, and right now Mr. Woods needs to prove to all of us that his play and involvement will 100% adhere to those principles. So many of us, who really don't care about the prurient and sordid details of his private life, still care the most for the game and want to see Wood's behavior honor that.

The hiring of Ari Fleischer to help send Tiger's message is wrong on every count and I fear that it will only serve to further impugn the game and instead reinforce yet another example of contemporary sports failing its past.

Theos and Neos, Cons one and all,

Yes, I understand your blind loyalty to the Cheney Administration and Tiger Woods, the golfer with nearly as many major championships as women on the side.

Marriage always is a tough thing for you Theos and Neos. Bill Clinton is the devil spawned, John Edwards and Eric Massa his two wingmen.

Of course, Theos and Neos give passes to Rush (three divorces), Newt (three marriages, two divorces), Giuliani (three marriages, two divorces), Freddy Thompson (two marriages, one trophy wive), McCain (two marriages, one rich trophy wive), David Vitter (one wife, many prostitutes), John Ensign (marriage, fling with wife of staff/friend, financial payoff by Mummy and Daddy), and, my personal favorite, Mark Sanford (Walkin' the Ole' Appalachian Trail - straight to his South American tramp while the wife and sons linger in the Palmetto State). Boys will be boys.

Question here remains CREDIBILITY, Theos and Neos. The CREDIBILITY of Fleischer, which is nil, and the CREDIBILITY of Woods, which is a joke.

Add to it the CREDIBILITY of a weak, fawning media, led by Dan "Gimme Another Drink" Jenkins and abetted by the entire staff at Golf Digest, CBS, ESPN (better known as Bodenheimer's House of Workplace Sexual Harassment), and Shack, that places a priority on "access" and "fluff" at the expense of easing the afflicted and afflicting those who have it easy.

If you want to believe Ari, Tiger, and the media, so be it. Hey, you Theos and Neos believe that Texas School Board crowd that didn't consider Thomas Jefferson, Thurgood Marshall, and capitalism (no joke, google it yourselves) good enough for study by students in public schools. And you give billions to the likes of Rev. Pat, Rev. James, and Rev. Rick. For a few weak lines, you'll gladly open your checkbooks. No surprise that you're so willing to believe Ari, Tiger, and the Cocktail Club that is the golf media.

Just sad, that's all.

I have no interest in "believing" Tiger. He acted like a pig and disrespected his apparently faithful wife. We have more than enough circumstantial evidence on that subject, Bunky. I don't need to hear any more and I won't think less of him as a golfer as a result of his marital prevarications. As for Ari, I could care less about anything he'll say. This is all about posturing; I care about the golf and the records. Even if Tiger never improves his moral image, I will still be interested in his golf game and his pursuit of the records held by Nicklaus. The game is better and more interesting with him playing. And there is very little that is interesting in all of the side show at this point. I'm suffering diddle fatigue.

Way to go Mark!

The gutter is just getting deeper for Mr. Woods. One of his mistresses has posted his text message online and the NY Post has reposted them for all to see.

They are not pretty.

Much as I don't want to bring politics to Geoff's digital house... this guy is a political mouthpiece ... so ... It's funny, the Bush administration he served in felt exactly the same way about the way it conducted its business: It's nobody's business but ours and when we want your opinion, we'll tell you what it is. They were a remarkably secretive bunch, and other than leaving office widely regarded as having failed on all the big issues -- war, the economy, etc. -- the secrecy thing worked for them.

Mark, Press Agent - you sound like you work for the Tabloid "Media" What angry, bitter, envious, emotionally challenged people?You both sound as if you live in Tiger's house and are personal friends of his. You know so much, because; you see him on TV playing golf, on commercials!! Wow , you are psychotic (sic) genuises? By the way when did Team tTger made the announcement that Ari Fleischer was hired by them? Did that announcement pass me. Newsflash!!! If we knew about the bad behaviours of all the US politicians, other public people, athletes, sports people, people who are in TV commercials, people on the blogs, sportswriters etc, then the world woud be in trouble, since there would be no one to do these jobs

Peachtree,

I won't stoop to the level of calling you names ie: "What angry, bitter, envious, emotionally challenged people?" but I will say that I don't need to live in Tiger's house to know what I know. I'm not going to apologize for being more attentive, intelligent and aware of the world around me that you are. If you feel you need to live in someone's house to understand a situation, that is your shortcoming, there are those of us who have been educated and trained to be able to size things up and get a good understanding of a situation without living inside it. You are a fan of Tiger's - that is fine, but you don't need to attack us to make the point that you like him.

In my opinion there is no "real" Tiger that comes out when the cameras are turned off. You think that in the privacy of his own home Tiger is some warm loving down-to-earth human being and that we simply don't know him - YOU'RE WRONG. Tiger is a machine who was raised from a very young age to do one thing: play golf better than anybody else. When he was 3 years old he knew he was special and deserved to be treated differently than everyone else and that continues to this day. I don't care one bit about his affairs, the lifestyle or the women etc. etc. I just want Tiger to one day become a real person - someone who I would like to have a beer with.

I'll also add that I am one of the few people in the world who has spent some time with Tiger outside of the golf world - about 4 1/2 hours on a fishing boat with him and 8 other people, just relaxing, fishing and having a few drinks about 6 years ago - there is not any other aspect to his personality than what you see. He is practically a robot.

One actually has to wonder what Elin saw in him.

Lord God almighty, peachtree ... you've bought the barbed wire from the farm implement store already, I'm sure ... now whip yourself with it and then pour the gasoline all over yourself and light the match and martyr yourself for all of us. Please consider immolating yourself in front of your church. Pentocostal, probably? Or on a golf course ... for effect. Or keep posting, my friend. You keep us sharp. Like barbed wire.

Peachtree,

Blindly obey, that's your style. Little else is expected from you. Preacher or Tiger says "jump." You respond: "How high, sir!"

Press Agent, those texts would suggest he's far from robotic!

As for what Elin saw...isn't it obvious?

Dr. Phillips: $$$$$$ ?

Those texts are brutal but some interesting disclosure in there...

...still think Steinberg was complicit?

getting kind of creepy, Press Agent...

Press Agent, bingo.

Wonder what value this skank sees in posting all these messages? Pound of flesh? Guess she'd probably fit right in with the moral majority here at geoffshackelford.com...

I read the sexts! What fun!

Why did she reveal them? She's a bit mad Tiger boned a bunch of other bimbos, that's why. Porn stars are human, too, and she's mad and jealous!

I'll say again, boys, will the honorary starter for the 2010 Masters feel dirty and used when he announces that Tiger is now driving? Or will the old Irish bastard pat the former champion on the back as he strides away?

TMoney,

The problem with your list of quotes (and the neocons always fail to mention this overwhelming fact when citing these qutoes) is that NOBODY quoted was saying lets invade Iraq and kill as many innocent victims as we can. Only Bush the "decider" believed that going in was the preferred choice.

Remember, we already had an embargo and no fly zones and weapons inspectors (hey where's the Scott Ridder quotes from right before the war?) which had Saddam bottled up pretty well, so please give up the bullsh*t justification that because others believed he might have WMD's, we were justified in going in militarily.

Now on to Tiger and all you defenders (like Fleischer) who believe questions pertaining to his private life are out of bounds.

Let me ask you this question: lets say Tiger was caught on video, dressed in Nazi regalia, standing in front of a "kill the Jews" sign and it came out that he was a holocaust denier.

Are you "private matters are private" boosters really gonna tell me that if TW came out and said to the press, "hey, what i do in my private life is my own gig, just ask me questions about my putting" ...do you think that shtick is gonna fly?

He is a friggin; public figure and the press has every right to question him, just as he has every right not to answer.

But, the "its my private life screed" is pure BS.

As been stated ad infinitum on this blog, you can't use the public image to rake in hundreds of millions, then turn off the spigot when the spotlight gets too bright. (sorry for the mixed metaphors)

If someone should ask, "Tiger whats up with the Hitler worshio" is that out of bounds?

Well Miss Priss in all fairness she was also boned by a bunch of HIMBOS as well.... ;)