watching the authoritarian gatekeepers discredit themselves over this Morales incident..

[DirkGently]

126. We should map the dissembling for posterity.

It's evolving minute-to-minute, as one false theme after the other collapses.

Off the top of my head.

STAGE I - Denial / general attempts to ridicule

- Didn't happen. Morales smiled in a picture.
- Didn't happen. Morales has a "hairpiece."
- Didn't happen. France says so.
- Didn't happen. Austrian officials are more credible than Bolivian officials.
- Didn't happen. It was a "fuel gauge problem."
- Didn't happen. Here's a Google Map of an airport.

STAGE II - Obfuscation

- We can't know if it happened, because there was that French denial before that French apology.
- We can't know if it happened, because there's a lot of information coming out.
- We can't know if it happened, because a lot of people argued before that it didn't happen, even though it now looks like it happened.

STAGE III - First admission of facts, coupled with denial / obfuscation of cause

- Well, something happened, sure, but we don't know why.
- Okay, well, yes, several countries were involved in stopping a diplomatic flight, probably for no reason. Those crazy foreigners!

STAGE IV - Further backpedaling of denial / first theories of non-culpability

- Okay, they were looking for Snowden and they stopped a diplomatic flight. Purely for their own reasons
- Well, yes, obviously they stopped a diplomatic flight, looking for Snowden, based on U.S. concerns, but on their recognizance
- Sure, they stopped a diplomatic flight, looking for Snowden, to appease the U.S., but it's not like we called them or something. Haha.
- Okay, we called them. Probably. But they won't confirm / deny so ... suck it?

STAGE V - Rationalization / Justification

- We did it. So what? Something something treaties, something "international fugitive."
- Everybody does it. Or would do it. Or should do it.

All within 12 hours or so.

Amazing.