| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
03 Sep 2006 04:07:30 PM |
| Object: |
My goodness, there's lotsa right wing desperation in the air. |
From The Chicago Tribune, 9/3/06:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0609030170sep03,1,1047242.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed
There is desperation in the air
By Michael Tackett
the Tribune's Washington Bureau chief
You know the White House is getting nervous when the president of the
United States starts dropping the "f-bomb."
And not just him.
We've heard it from Vice President ***** Cheney and from Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, among others.
So there's not much doubt that this is part of a plan.
Few administrations have perfected the notion of a drumbeat better
than those in Bush 43.
You won't have to cover the children's ears when you talk about this
"f-bomb," but there will be a need for some explanation.
It's not every day, you know, when you come face to face with the
threat of a fascist.
The word has resonance with Americans of a certain age, schooled that
Italy's Benito Mussolini, Germany's Adolf Hitler and Spain's Francisco
Franco were first-team-all-fascist.
But Bush now is casting a much wider aspersion that includes those
whom he decries broadly as "Islamic extremists."
It is an interesting gambit, using the echoes of World War II to win
approval during the war on terror.
The pivot from "extremists" to "fascists" suggests that "extremist"
wasn't cutting it in terms of ringing the voters' chimes and summoning
support for the war in Iraq, which the president continues to say is
the epicenter of the global war on terror.
There is increasing evidence that a majority of Americans no longer
agree with how the president connects those dots, or his success in
fighting either battle.
The more right-leaning members of the conservative movement have been
pushing the language "Islamo-fascist" for at least a couple of years,
as though demonizing an entire people somehow makes the argument more
powerful.
They clearly hoped that their term of art would take hold in a broader
public square.
And eventually, they succeeded.
The president, in a speech following the arrest of terrorist suspects
in Britain, dialed back that terminology to "Islamic fascists."
Editing can be such a subtle art.
Rumsfeld, a master of rhetoric and parsing, joined Bush in the fascist
bashing, and he added another World War II-era concept of appeasement
in a speech to the American Legion convention last week.
So now those who don't agree with the administration are fascist
appeasers.
Things are indeed getting ugly.
It seems the term fascist would go down more easily if they could name
an actual leader in control of an actual country, perhaps leading a
daily goose step or two, but that's clearly being hypertechnical.
Maybe someone will cue the old Al Qaeda training videos from
Afghanistan.
Or Osama bin Laden will again pop up with another diatribe against the
United States.
Not so technical--indeed quite obvious and literal--is that the
president wants the midterm elections to be driven by a focus on the
war, with the Democrats cast in the role of appeasers.
Will that tactic work again?
It worked well in 2002 when Republicans made gains in midterm
elections, and it most certainly worked in 2004 when the president's
campaign pummeled John Kerry and other Democrats on national security.
It goes to a long-held, core perception of Democrats--at least since
Vietnam--that they are soft on national defense.
For years, Democrats have offered a rather impotent defense, winning
elections when voters cared more about their pocketbooks than their
personal safety.
Democrats now openly challenge the president.
They draw clear distinctions between Iraq and the war on terrorism,
and argue that all the money, troops and attention in Iraq actually
undermine the fight against terrorism.
They argue that the administration has mismanaged the war and call for
Rumsfeld to step down.
Bush's focus on security will be seen again and again during the Sept.
11 commemoratives in the next few weeks.
Inescapably, the moment will be used to reinforce the broader message
about the president and Republicans as the better protectors.
But this will be the first major Election Day across the country since
the public mood so demonstrably soured on Iraq, the war on terror and
Bush's job performance.
Most Republicans expect to suffer losses and erosion in their already
spare majority in Congress.
The issue might be whether the use of fascists can stop the bleeding.
__________________________________________________________
O mischief, thou art swift
To enter in the thoughts of desperate men!
Romeo and Juliet Act V. Scene I.
Harry
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| User: "Chuck Feney" |
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| Title: Re: My goodness, there's lotsa right wing desperation in the air. |
03 Sep 2006 06:14:38 PM |
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With all his talk about fascism, you don't suppose Bush is about to
start mucking up the train schedules, do you?
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| User: "Genaro" |
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| Title: Re: My goodness, there's lotsa right wing desperation in the air. |
03 Sep 2006 07:12:27 PM |
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With all his talk about fascism, you don't suppose Bush is about to
start mucking up the train schedules, do you?
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Good question. Did you see something suspicious on the train?
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| User: "Chuck Feney" |
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| Title: Re: My goodness, there's lotsa right wing desperation in the air. |
03 Sep 2006 10:59:29 PM |
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Genaro <genaro@cablespeed.com> wrote:
With all his talk about fascism, you don't suppose Bush is about to
start mucking up the train schedules, do you?
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Good question. Did you see something suspicious on the train?
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I saw Il Duce making the trains run on time.
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| User: "Genaro" |
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| Title: Re: My goodness, there's lotsa right wing desperation in the air. |
03 Sep 2006 11:30:53 PM |
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Genaro <genaro@cablespeed.com> wrote:
With all his talk about fascism, you don't suppose Bush is about to
start mucking up the train schedules, do you?
-----------
Good question. Did you see something suspicious on the train?
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I saw Il Duce making the trains run on time.
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Commendable work, as far as it goes. Still it is a good idea to keep in
mind 800 492 TIPS.
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| User: "Rich Travsky" |
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| Title: Re: My goodness, there's lotsa right wing desperation in the air. |
05 Sep 2006 09:22:31 PM |
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Genaro wrote:
With all his talk about fascism, you don't suppose Bush is about to
start mucking up the train schedules, do you?
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Good question. Did you see something suspicious on the train?
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He's talking about schedules....
RT
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