Where's the Honor and Dignity?
A
BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by Troy Torstrick
George
Bush promised to bring honor and dignity "back" to the Oval
Office.
Since taking office, George Bush has far outpaced his predecessor, the
last elected President Bill Clinton, at fundraising for his party. So
much so that he has come to have been nicknamed the fundraiser-in-chief.
And let’s not forget the scorn heaped on Bill Clinton for fundraising
for his party during peacetime by Congressional Republicans. Now that
Bush is outpacing Clinton in fundraising during wartime when he has much
bigger fish to fry in Washington, Congressional Republicans are hypocritically
silent. Where is their outrage? Where is their scorn?
Bush's most influential advisor, Karl Rove, offered a PowerPoint presentation
to Republican officeholders up for reelection and hopefuls challenging
Democrats. In this presentation, he offered despicable advice: politicize
war to win elections. Unfortunately for Rove and Bush, a Democratic staffer
found a copy of the presentation that had been accidentally dropped in
a public park back in June ‘02. Here is an excerpt from his presentation:
"Republican Strategy
Focus on War and Economy"
http://www.politicspa.com/mehlman-rove_files/v3_document.htmCheck out this recent excerpt:
"But across the country, the hard-hitting message of Republican challenger Saxby Chambliss is not unusual. As terrorism and the possible conflict with Iraq dominate headlines, Democratic candidates are facing charges that they are not sufficiently committed to national defense, soldiers' salaries, military funding or weapons systems."
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?
id=1&display=rednews/2002/10/28/build/world/n-gop-ads.inc
Saxby
Chambliss is leveling this attack on incumbent Max Cleland in a campaign
commercial: "Since July, Max Cleland has voted against the president's
vital homeland security efforts 11 times. Max Cleland says he has the
courage to lead, but the record proves that's just misleading."
One doesn't fully understand exactly how despicable this attack really
is until one realized that Max Cleland is a national hero who lost both
legs and part of one arm when he suffered injuries from a grenade in Vietnam.
It gets worse: Saxby Chambliss, chickenhawk, didn't serve in Vietnam because
of bad knees (see the chickenhawk database: http://www.nhgazette.com/chickenhawks.html).
I'll bet that Max Cleland wishes he still knew what it felt like to have
any knees at all.
The sad truth is that despite how despicable Rove’s suggestion was, Republicans
across the nation, like Saxby Chambliss in Georgia, took heed and are
now playing the "War and National Security" card. Makes one
wonder why Bush chose a few weeks before the election to focus on Iraq
when even the CIA has said that the threat to America from Iraq was low.
Is the tail wagging the dog? Does a one-legged duck swim in circles?
Sadly, Republicans only seem to be taking part of Rove’s advice to heart
since no Republicans are talking about the economy.
Here's what Ralph Reed, chairman of Georgia’s Republican Party had to say about the Chambliss/Cleland flap:
"Max needs to understand that when somebody is telling the truth about his voting record, just because he gets upset about it doesn't mean they're questioning his patriotism."
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&
display=rednews/2002/10/28/build/world/n-gop-ads.inc
Yeah, right Ralph. I’d like to know if you're being honest or trying to mislead us to support your party. It seems that we'll never really know, considering what you've said in the past:
"It's like guerrilla warfare. If you reveal your location, all it does is allow your opponent to improve his artillery bearings. It's better to move quietly, with stealth, under cover of night. You've got two choices: You can wear cammies and shimmy along on your belly, or you can put on a red coat and stand up for everyone to see. It comes down to whether you want to be the British army in the Revolutionary War or the Viet Cong. History tells us which tactic was more effective."
-- Ralph Reed, Los Angeles Times, March 22, 1992, admitting that he wants to deceive us regarding his true aims
http://moose-and-squirrel.com/bozo/bozo.html
Troy Torstrick
* * *
