A Disgraceful Campaign Speech
I've been perpetually amazed during this election cycle at how much easier it seems to be for Republicans to get away with saying things that Democrats could never say. The Swift Boat affair was all the media could talk about, while Bush's Guard service seems to be something they'd prefer to steer away from. And imagine if Kerry or Edwards said that a vote for Bush would make the country less safe? Yet when Dick Cheney says that voting for Kerry encourages another terrorist attack, it's almost as if he's talking in a vacuum; everyone mentions it but no one follows through. Thank goodness the New York Times is willing to denounce this for what it is: a disgrace to American politics. There are legitimate differences of opinion in this campaign. But to suggest that a victory for Kerry is a victory for terror crosses the line.
I don't think the NYT editorial will have any impact, though. Cheney will keep saying this kind of stuff. It's the M.O. of this White House to do so, to do things so outlandish that when people see the headlines, they think, "That liberal media is going crazy again" and ignore them. That's lesson one from the last four years: if your actions seem implausible enough, you can get away with them in plain sight because no one will believe you're really doing them. Isn't that the kind of country you want to live in?
1 comment:
The level of either 1) malevolence or 2) self-delusion demonstrated by the Bush campaign is mind-boggling. On one hand I know politics is a cynical beast, but Cheney's comments mentioned here, and Bush's comments today in Pennsylvania about Kerry's "hidden tax plan" are so clearly attempts to force people to vote a certain way out of fear.
Like Richard says, this administration has been doing that since the beginning. The other way they're getting away with these horrible things is by dressing them up with a catchy or misleading name, thus appealing to the consumer mentality of the country. Hidden tax plan? Ohhh, it's hidden! We won't be able to see it until it's too late!
What I don't get is this: The people who are likely to fall for this are probably the people who watch a lot of TV and movies. Aren't they paying attention? Can't they equate Bush and Cheney with Darth Vader, Ming the Merciless, Boss Hogg, or any other greedy, plotting, heartless villain? Actually, I would say that Cheney is Serpentor and Bush is Cobra Commander.
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