When I began this blog in 2001, I was appalled by President Bush's headlong rush to an illegal war (we were not in fact under attack). As time wore on and Bush began his assault on the Constitution and any people bold enough to criticize, I believed that "the republic is endangered more by actions of our own government than by those of any terrorist." With the election of a high-minded, compassionate, intelligent man like Barack Obama, my fears have ceased.
"Honor them with peace, not war"
United for Peace
Sunday, August 21, 2005
The Swift Boating of Cindy SheehanNew York Times columnist Frank Rich has an excellent piece today on the failure of character assasination in the Sheehan case. It serves as a reminder of how often the tactic seems to have worked. It's a ploy Karl Rove seems to have taken straight out of the Hitler playbook, repeating a lie until it gains credence. *
*Am I equating Rove with Hitler? No, I am equating the early years of Hitler's regime with the current years of the Bush regime. Hardly anyone thought Hitler could be as bad as he ultimately became, and there's a lesson in that for us. Why wait until he's that bad? Contrary to their sense of entitlement, the Bush people do not have a "right" to the White House - they have to earn and keep our trust.
Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
Character assassination fails in Cindy Shehan case
The Swift Boating of Cindy SheehanNew York Times columnist Frank Rich has an excellent piece today on the failure of character assasination in the Sheehan case. It serves as a reminder of how often the tactic seems to have worked. It's a ploy Karl Rove seems to have taken straight out of the Hitler playbook, repeating a lie until it gains credence. *
Character assassination is the Karl Rove tactic of choice, eagerly mimicked by his media surrogates, whenever the White House is confronted by a critic who challenges it on matters of war. The Swift Boating is especially vicious if the critic has more battle scars than a president who connived to serve stateside and a vice president who had 'other priorities' during Vietnam.
The most prominent smear victims have been Bush political opponents with heroic Vietnam résumés: John McCain, Max Cleland, John Kerry. But the list of past targets stretches from the former counter-terrorism 'czar' Richard Clarke to Specialist Thomas Wilson, the grunt who publicly challenged Donald Rumsfeld about inadequately armored vehicles last December. The assault on the whistle-blower Joseph Wilson - the diplomat described by the first President Bush as 'courageous' and 'a true American hero' for confronting Saddam to save American hostages in 1991 - was so toxic it may yet send its perpetrators to jail.
True to form, the attack on Cindy Sheehan surfaced early on Fox News, where she was immediately labeled a 'crackpot' by Fred Barnes. The right-wing blogosphere quickly spread tales of her divorce, her angry Republican in-laws, her supposed political flip-flops, her incendiary sloganeering and her association with known ticket-stub-carrying attendees of 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' Rush Limbaugh went so far as to declare that Ms. Sheehan's 'story is nothing more than forged documents - there's nothing about it that's real.'
*Am I equating Rove with Hitler? No, I am equating the early years of Hitler's regime with the current years of the Bush regime. Hardly anyone thought Hitler could be as bad as he ultimately became, and there's a lesson in that for us. Why wait until he's that bad? Contrary to their sense of entitlement, the Bush people do not have a "right" to the White House - they have to earn and keep our trust.
Palema
7:26 AM
Comments:
Post a Comment
Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
|
|