Well, it’s officially midterm election season. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve had a full round of speeches from the principles – Cheney, Romsfeld, and Bush. The premier issue is Iraq. Each, in their own way, has branded dissent about this war as unpatriotic, or being "wrong." The basis of their attacking dissent has varied, and verged on comical. Cheney said that pulling out of Iraq would be "…a ruinous blow to the future security of the United States." He went on to say, "There is a difference between healthy debate and self-defeating pessimism. We have only two options on Iraq – victory or defeat – and this nation will not pursue a policy of retreat." Rumsfeld pushed Nazi analogies, ""I recount this history [Nazi Germany] because once again we face similar challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism," he said. "Can we truly afford to believe that somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?" he asked. "Can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America — not the enemy — is the real source of the world’s troubles?" Then, along comes the President with, "That September morning brought to the United States a war we didn’t ask for, but a war we must wage, and a war we will win,” Mr. Bush said. And if the United States tires of fighting in the streets of Baghdad, he said, “we will face the terrorists in the streets of our own cities.” “So the United States will not leave until victory is achieved,” Mr. Bush said, warning that more sacrifice lies ahead and that the struggle will be a long one. Bush specialized in linking 911, Terrorists, and Iraq.
The left blogsphere is howling at the outright distortions of reality in these speeches. Even the Mainstream Media is pointing out the inconsistencies and talking about their Rovian strategies. Only the bloggers on the right are sympathetic. But it comes down to the voters, most of whom don’t read the Internet rhetoric, or for that matter, the newspapers. They watch T.V. News, for the most part. How are they going to respond all of this? An expectable Republican voter is going to have to eat a lot of crow to vote against this Administration. They’ve spoken this rhetoric for six years, put yellow ribbons on their cars, and developed something of a hatred for the "Straw Man Liberals" created by the Bush propoganda machinery. They’re going to have to connect that they’ve followed a liar, a set of liars, and reverse their flow. They’re going to have to see that the Gay Marriage, Abortion, Stem Cell research themes were dreamed up to win them over. They’re going to have to realize that the Administration critics are not a bunch of atheists, hippies, fools, communists, etc. but are decent right-thinking people just like them.
It’s going to be a reach, and I’m not sure that we can do a lot to influence them. They’re mostly going to have to figure it out themselves. I think they’ll do it. I’m like that, I actually believe that the people will do the right thing, on their own. But, even though I think it, I live in dread of the alternative. I’d love to go to sleep tonight, and wake up after the November elections with the votes counted.
Keeping one’s fingers tightly crossed for nine weeks hurts…
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