Let's talk about the meaning of "fixed" again

[PurityOfEssence]

Even if the cockamamie spin WERE correct, it's at least as damning.

What they're trying to say is that facts were being fastened around some pillar of policy. That's not what intelligence is supposed to be for; it's supposed to be raw information from which one sees what's really happening and then one makes a plan to deal with a problem. You don't make up your wicked little mind and then look for justifications, even if they're not distorted; the very act of doing that is cherry picking, and that's a form of distortion.

These dicks pass sentence on someone and then look around for a suitable crime to justify it. That's pure deceit. The punishment's supposed to fit the crime; you're not supposed to dig up some crime to fit the punishment.

The real, common sense truth about all this is that nobody came running to the Administration like Chicken Little warning about the big bad mustache man. Even putting the screws to our intel analysts couldn't shake out enough to slap his wrist. Those foreign intelligence agencies who "all got it wrong, too" didn't come running to us, and none of them believed he had any nuke program.

They weren't "rising to the occasion", they were trying to make up some occasion because they'd already risen. As Rand Beers said upon leaving the NSA, they've already made up their minds about things; all they do is look for justifications and cover.

So, even if "fixed" doesn't mean falsification, their lame excuse has it meaning "fastening excuses" around a reckless, pre-determined policy to merrily go about waging war, mass murder and resource theft.

Oh, and by the way, what was really meant is what we think was meant: gin up some excuses, misconstrue, fake, lie and fearmonger to whip up a frenzy to get permission to kill and steal.

Some excuse.

[BlueStateGirl]

1. I have heard people say fixed means "arranged " in Britain.

I know it can have that meaning, but not in this context.

Take out the word fixed and replace it with arranged.

"The facts and intelligence were being arranged around the policy"
It doesn't make sense. Facts and intel can support a policy, and ideally a policy should be made based on facts and intel.

Now read,

"The policy was being arranged around the facts and intelligence"

That makes sense. That means the facts and intel support the policy. And if that is what the author of the memo meant , he would have said it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Also, the quote is "*But* the intelligence and facts were being fixed"

indicating that the fixing is something out of the normal run of things.

[OrlandoGator]

2. There is no other context in the English language for the word "fixed".

It's just bullshit deflection.

And the fact that the GOP talking heads are having to even deal with DSM now (what, two months later?) is a testament to us getting the message out.

[Applan]

3. I'm starting to get a bit tired of all these "fixed" posts

But anyway, here's what the Times journalist had to say about it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion ...

Michael Smith: There are number of people asking about fixed and its meaning. This is a real joke. I do not know anyone in the UK who took it to mean anything other than fixed as in fixed a race, fixed an election, fixed the intelligence. If you fix something, you make it the way you want it. The intelligence was fixed and as for the reports that said this was one British official. Pleeeaaassee! This was the head of MI6. How much authority do you want the man to have? He has just been to Washington, he has just talked to George Tenet. He said the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. That translates in clearer terms as the intelligence was being cooked to match what the administration wanted it to say to justify invading Iraq. Fixed means the same here as it does there. More leaks? I do hope so and the more Blair and Bush lie to try to get themselves off the hook the more likely it is that we will get more leaks.

And as a Brit, I can myself assure you that fixed means exactly what Smith says it means. The books were cooked, they had no legitimate reason for starting a war so they had to concoct some.

[jojo54]

4. That's it in a nutshell.

Smith hit the nail on the head:"fixed as in fixed a race, fixed an election, fixed the intelligence". Nothing else need be said.

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Fair enough.

Maybe I just missed it if anyone else pointed it out, but the excuse itself was an admission of something inherently greasy, and I hadn't heard that.

It's just such a crappy excuse; it's the equivalent of responding to "you lied" by saying "no, I told you bits of things that made it seem different".

They've been trying to wriggle out of this, and the focus seems to be on whether they've got a semantic leg to stand on, when their excuse--even if true--betrays a deep cynical ugliness. Just thought I'd share that.

[omega minimo]

6. Everybody's right and everybody's wrong

There is no real argument here. The dispute over "it depends on what the meaning of 'fixed' is" is a paper tiger that the Roval Orifice is using to fan the "mother of all smokescreens."

Look at what Michael Smith (Thanks, Applan) says:

"He said the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. That translates in clearer terms as the intelligence was being cooked to match what the administration wanted it to say to justify invading Iraq." Cooked, stirred, basted, stewed, skewered. Suateed perhaps. Cherry-picked for sure.

And your comment:

"So, even if "fixed" doesn't mean falsification, their lame excuse has it meaning "fastening excuses" around a reckless, pre-determined policy to merrily go about waging war, mass murder and resource theft." They were organizing information around the framework of their warplan.

Fixing facts around the policy means just that. Arguing over whether it means that they "falsified" or merely "manipulated" intelligence to pursue their agenda is short-sighted. It falls right into the hands of the Bushagandists. It gives them something to fix their denials around.

[omega minimo]

7. Still a fixation

popping up on DU with "what an idiot how could they say fixed means organized"!!!!!!!

Fixed around does mean organized, arranged. Fixed. Around. Made. To. Fit.

Do we have to see in black and white here?