Monday
Jan312005
End of the spin cycle
Monday, January 31, 2005 at 3:00AM
By Ellen Ratner
George Bush has barely begun his second term and the Republican hate chefs are heating up the old leftovers and spicing up a few old recipes with some peppery additives and preservatives. Karl Rove may credited by the president as being the "architect" of his second assault on the United States of America we once knew, but this is no solo act. Rove is flanked by a cadre of "evil sniffers" determined to keep America safe from the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants and Tinky Winky the Teletubbie.
This 21st-century Republican infinite spin cycle is made up of a diverse group to include paid political consultants, clergy, think-tank members, a few rent-a-journalists, Cabinet members, and wannabes from every corner of the American political landscape, to include some wannabe presidents. For example, you may have seen one of the hundreds of inaugural photos that show Sen. Santorum's mug in mighty close proximity to W's as President Bush began his second term.
The Democratic Party is on the eve of selecting a new party chairman. The task of rebuilding the party may seem insurmountable, but if the Democratic Party is going to survive the 21st century, we are going to have to first stop the Republican distortion machine. Here are a few starters. We can begin to respond to the common following attacks.
Democrats are whiners and hate America
Democrats love this country and that is why we recognize that just as we are economically interdependent with the rest of the world, we are also politically interdependent. We also recognize that one key to fighting terrorism is a strong, reliable worldwide intelligence network (which necessitates international cooperation).
The Team Bush mantra that the best defense is a good offense only works if you have a good offense. The latest estimates show that there are as many insurgents as there are U.S. troops in Iraq. Nice job for a mission that was dubbed "accomplished" by W almost 20 months ago.
Oh, but what about Freedom, Freedom, Freedom? Using the elections in Afghanistan and Iraq as the evidence to say these countries are free is like saying because Saddam was "elected" with over 98 percent of the vote, Iraq was free before. The United Nations had to monitor these "free" elections from Jordan due to the abysmal security situation in Iraq.
And as I said last week, U.S. credibility on the issue of democracy in the region is shaky at best given our gross blind spots when it comes to the hegemony in the Arab Gulf States and other authoritarian regimes that serve our economic interests. And I don't believe it's whining to admit that there is a problem. Perhaps the president has been sober too long to remember that, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.
Democrats want to raise taxes
The reality is, as I have said before, Republicans are the charge-and-spend party. Democrats want to balance the budget. They recognize you can't keep cutting $80 billion checks every few months to Iraq and to your wealthiest base and to your favorite industries. Now that sounds like a liberal idea to me.
Democrats are not strong on defense
Republicans support the military industrial complex while the Democrats support the troops. It's one thing to stick a magnetic flag on the family SUV and open the wallet to Rento War Toys Inc., it's another to sponsor legislation that guarantees medical benefits to the families of reservist, doubles combat pay and family separation pay for those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, reimburses troops for the out-of-pocket expenses to purchase the personal armor that the president's secretary of sefense didn't think was a priority before sending them into harm's way.
All of these troops-supporting initiatives were sponsored by Democrats after having been cut or stonewalled by a Republican Congress. The Democrats understand, because many of them vs. their Republican colleagues actually know what it's like to be in combat, that it's that 19-year-old soldier who is going to win the war in Iraq, not a 500-pound smart bomb in the living room of an alleged insurgent.
Democrats want to take all the guns away
No. Democrats don't think the founding fathers intended a citizen to have a personal armory the size of Mexico's in their basement.
Democrats are anti-family values
The reality is that Democrats agree with President Bush when he says that every person is entitled to equal representation and treatment under the law. Unlike the president however, the Democratic Party guarantees these rights, not with words, but deeds.
"I cannot reconcile my Christian values and vote for a Democrat"
Would Christ have invaded Iraq at all, let alone under false pretenses? By the way, false pretense is a fancy elitist word for lie. Would Christ have put 142 people to death, as George W. Bush did as the governor of Texas? As a side note, at least one of those 142 souls had had a jailhouse transformation and worshiped the same Christ as George W. Bush. Yet Gov. George said in a press conference that he had no regret in putting her to death because, "I prayed about it." I guess you could say that God told him to kill her. That statement is remarkably similar to a lot of death row insanity pleas I've heard over the years.
Democrats are elistists
I guess you got me on that one. Hum. I don't even know what this means. It seems that the elitists are the ones who want to shelter their children in voucher-sponsored schools, cut Pell Grants so the poor have no educational opportunities except for what is provided in the military (solves the volunteer army recruitment problem). Republicans think they know what "values" your child should be taught in school.
I'm for equal opportunity for all Americans. I don't think I have all the answers when it comes to the health or moral decisions required of an expectant mother. I think the most serious decisions of life are to be made between a person and their God. So if my way of thinking makes me an elitist than so be it.
My prediction is that the time is just about up on the Republican spin cycle. They have laundered the American psyche long enough.
George Bush has barely begun his second term and the Republican hate chefs are heating up the old leftovers and spicing up a few old recipes with some peppery additives and preservatives. Karl Rove may credited by the president as being the "architect" of his second assault on the United States of America we once knew, but this is no solo act. Rove is flanked by a cadre of "evil sniffers" determined to keep America safe from the likes of SpongeBob SquarePants and Tinky Winky the Teletubbie.
This 21st-century Republican infinite spin cycle is made up of a diverse group to include paid political consultants, clergy, think-tank members, a few rent-a-journalists, Cabinet members, and wannabes from every corner of the American political landscape, to include some wannabe presidents. For example, you may have seen one of the hundreds of inaugural photos that show Sen. Santorum's mug in mighty close proximity to W's as President Bush began his second term.
The Democratic Party is on the eve of selecting a new party chairman. The task of rebuilding the party may seem insurmountable, but if the Democratic Party is going to survive the 21st century, we are going to have to first stop the Republican distortion machine. Here are a few starters. We can begin to respond to the common following attacks.
Democrats are whiners and hate America
Democrats love this country and that is why we recognize that just as we are economically interdependent with the rest of the world, we are also politically interdependent. We also recognize that one key to fighting terrorism is a strong, reliable worldwide intelligence network (which necessitates international cooperation).
The Team Bush mantra that the best defense is a good offense only works if you have a good offense. The latest estimates show that there are as many insurgents as there are U.S. troops in Iraq. Nice job for a mission that was dubbed "accomplished" by W almost 20 months ago.
Oh, but what about Freedom, Freedom, Freedom? Using the elections in Afghanistan and Iraq as the evidence to say these countries are free is like saying because Saddam was "elected" with over 98 percent of the vote, Iraq was free before. The United Nations had to monitor these "free" elections from Jordan due to the abysmal security situation in Iraq.
And as I said last week, U.S. credibility on the issue of democracy in the region is shaky at best given our gross blind spots when it comes to the hegemony in the Arab Gulf States and other authoritarian regimes that serve our economic interests. And I don't believe it's whining to admit that there is a problem. Perhaps the president has been sober too long to remember that, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.
Democrats want to raise taxes
The reality is, as I have said before, Republicans are the charge-and-spend party. Democrats want to balance the budget. They recognize you can't keep cutting $80 billion checks every few months to Iraq and to your wealthiest base and to your favorite industries. Now that sounds like a liberal idea to me.
Democrats are not strong on defense
Republicans support the military industrial complex while the Democrats support the troops. It's one thing to stick a magnetic flag on the family SUV and open the wallet to Rento War Toys Inc., it's another to sponsor legislation that guarantees medical benefits to the families of reservist, doubles combat pay and family separation pay for those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, reimburses troops for the out-of-pocket expenses to purchase the personal armor that the president's secretary of sefense didn't think was a priority before sending them into harm's way.
All of these troops-supporting initiatives were sponsored by Democrats after having been cut or stonewalled by a Republican Congress. The Democrats understand, because many of them vs. their Republican colleagues actually know what it's like to be in combat, that it's that 19-year-old soldier who is going to win the war in Iraq, not a 500-pound smart bomb in the living room of an alleged insurgent.
Democrats want to take all the guns away
No. Democrats don't think the founding fathers intended a citizen to have a personal armory the size of Mexico's in their basement.
Democrats are anti-family values
The reality is that Democrats agree with President Bush when he says that every person is entitled to equal representation and treatment under the law. Unlike the president however, the Democratic Party guarantees these rights, not with words, but deeds.
"I cannot reconcile my Christian values and vote for a Democrat"
Would Christ have invaded Iraq at all, let alone under false pretenses? By the way, false pretense is a fancy elitist word for lie. Would Christ have put 142 people to death, as George W. Bush did as the governor of Texas? As a side note, at least one of those 142 souls had had a jailhouse transformation and worshiped the same Christ as George W. Bush. Yet Gov. George said in a press conference that he had no regret in putting her to death because, "I prayed about it." I guess you could say that God told him to kill her. That statement is remarkably similar to a lot of death row insanity pleas I've heard over the years.
Democrats are elistists
I guess you got me on that one. Hum. I don't even know what this means. It seems that the elitists are the ones who want to shelter their children in voucher-sponsored schools, cut Pell Grants so the poor have no educational opportunities except for what is provided in the military (solves the volunteer army recruitment problem). Republicans think they know what "values" your child should be taught in school.
I'm for equal opportunity for all Americans. I don't think I have all the answers when it comes to the health or moral decisions required of an expectant mother. I think the most serious decisions of life are to be made between a person and their God. So if my way of thinking makes me an elitist than so be it.
My prediction is that the time is just about up on the Republican spin cycle. They have laundered the American psyche long enough.
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