Ken Livingstone Has Lost It

He's the current mayor of London. Incidentally, he's also a socialist.

3 entries found for exaggeration

v. ex·ag·ger·at·ed, ex·ag·ger·at·ing, ex·ag·ger·ates

v. tr.

1. To represent as greater than is actually the case; overstate: exaggerate the size of the enemy force; exaggerated his own role in the episode.
   
2. To enlarge or increase to an abnormal degree: thick lenses that exaggerated the size of her eyes.

v. intr.

To make overstatements.

14 entries found for exaggeration

aggrandizement, amplification, baloney, boasting, BS, caricature, cheese, coloring, crap, crock, elaboration, embroidery, emphasis, enlargement, exaltation, excess, extravagance, fabrication, falsehood, fancy, fantasy, fish story, gas, hogwash, hyperbole, inflation, jazz, line, magnification, misjudgment, misrepresentation, overemphasis, overestimation, pretension, pretentiousness, rant, romance, stretch, stretching, tall story, untruth, whopper, yarn

Why have I bothered to copy that text from Dictionary.com?

Because Livingstone says Bush is 'greatest threat to life on planet'

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, launched a stinging attack on President George Bush last night, denouncing him as the "greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen".

His provocatively timed comments, on the eve of Mr Bush's arrival in London tonight, threaten to create severe embarrassment for the Prime Minister. They also come with talks under way on whether to re-admit Mr Livingstone to the Labour Party before his five-year exile ends.

Although he made his many differences with the Government on a range of issues clear, he reserved his strongest comments for the American President in an interview with The Ecologist magazine.

[...]

Mr Livingstone recalled a visit at Easter to California, where he was denounced for an attack he had made on what he called "the most corrupt and racist American administration in over 80 years". He said: "Some US journalist came up to me and said: 'How can you say this about President Bush?' Well, I think what I said then was quite mild. I actually think that Bush is the greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen. The policies he is initiating will doom us to extinction."

© 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

This is tinfoil hat territory. This is raving moonbat idiocy. This is talk that no one should take seriously it's so far out in Loony Land.

I'm no fan of Bush and many of his policies. I didn't say the above with the mindset of a flag-waving Christian conservative who believes war was justified against Iraq. I say it as someone who abhors people who are disconnected with reality and then attempt to translate that unreality to political effect. And anyone who believes President Bush presides over the most racist administration in 80 years and is dooming humans to extinction through his policies is doing one or more of these things:

1. Deliberately lying through gross and immoral fabrication. This is extravagant dogshit posing as stout and principled opposition.
   
2. Revealing his or her immense intellectual deficiency or blind political bias. This is merely to be expected with today's politicians.

Right now, I'd say it's a 65/35 mix of #1 and #2. I doubt Mr. Livingstone is stupid or really so ignorant.

Because he knows who all the Usual Suspects are who fit his words so much more snugly than Bush. The President is indeed a threat to peace in the absolute sense of the peace of nations that are suspected of sponsoring, have sponsored, or continue to sponsor terrorists. He is guilty of bringing war against a nation (Iraq) that I now believe posed no significant threat to the United States.

But a bigger threat to the planet than any of the nuclear-armed Cold War leaders? Than any of the WWI-, WWII-, and Vietnam era maniacs? An administration that poses a bigger threat to the lives of millions than the people running North Korea? Hell, let's go back further: what about the days of the Roman Empire or of the Mongols?

Yeah, the hints that the Bush Administration wants to take on other nations with Iraq as a stepping stone is deeply disturbing. But it doesn't translate into the invective Mr. Livingstone is spewing.

As for the racist thing, I'll need some convincing. Big time. Nothing I've seen over the last three years has indicated that Bush and his crew are racist; not in the common sense of the term. Wanting to roll back the government's involvement in our lives isn't racist. Wanting people to be admitted to college on the basis of their academic credentials isn't racist. Wanting people to stop using drugs isn't racist. Wanting good border security isn't racist.

It is possible there are people within the Administration who advocate these and other policies in order to deliberately hurt members of one race. But unless I can be pointed to definitive statements made by this Administration demonstrating their belief that their race is superior to others and they intend to hurt other races, then I can't accept the assertion of racism at face value.

As for corruption, I'm much more in agreement. The stench of crony capitalism is gettin' kinda rank around here. Then again, any government that has the power to invade and distort the economic lives of it's citizens is going to have corruption.

I hope Bush comes back safe from his trip to England. In the face of delusional opposition like this, I'd be rethinking the entire notion.

Posted by Drizzten at November 17, 2003 11:36 PM