Hypocrisy Central
It appears that John Kerry may have read my blog entry yesterday. After getting "caught" making an unflattering comment about Republican attack dogs yesterday when he thought he was off-mic (at least that's the *official* version, I think he knew he would be heard), today Kerry stood by his comment. "'I have no intention whatsoever of apologizing for my remarks,' Kerry said during his appearance with Democratic senators. 'I think the Republicans need to start talking about the real issues before the country.'" Of course, Republicans are shocked and outraged by the remarks, and have demanded an apology. Funny, I don't remember them demanding an apology 3 1/2 years ago when Bush called a New York Times Reporter a "major-league asshole." Pot, meet Kettle.
In another outrageous example of Presidential hypocrisy, it turns out that Dubya has been allowing campaign contributers to stay overnight at the White House, and even sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom. Ironic, considering what Bush had to say nearly four years ago about Clinton allowing contributers to stay in the Lincoln bedroom: "I believe they've moved that sign, 'The buck stops here,' from the Oval Office desk to 'The buck stops here' on the Lincoln Bedroom. And that's not good for the country." One more example of so-called GOP standards turning out to be double standards. Speaking of double standards...
Apparently the hate amendment isn't the first amendment to the Constitution Bush has proposed. According to this op-ed piece, Dubya has proposed a total of seven, including amendments to ban abortion and flag-burning, and one requiring a balanced federal budget (yet more irony). Interestingly, but not surprisingly, he's against the Equal Rights Amendment, his excuse being...that it's unwise to mess with the Constitution. Apparently it's only unwise when it risks offending his Ultra Right-Wing constituents--how conveeeeeenient!
In case you're not yet sufficiently disgusted with the Right Wing, check out this Truthout editorial featuring some choice Right-Wing quotes, guaranteed to get your blood boiling! (Warning: If you suffer from heart disease, stroke, or high-blood pressure, you should probably skip this one. It could be hazardous to your health.)
Quote for the Day: "I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."--Abraham Lincoln (Amazingly prophetic!)
Idiotic Quote for the Day: "This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve."--George W Bush speaking during PERSEVERANCE Month at Fairgrounds Elementary School in Nashua, N.H. (Courtesy of the Mad Prophet.)
Pre-Blogspot Entry from March 10, 2004
Salon.com has an enlightening article about Dubya's Thanksgiving Day in Baghdad PR stunt. Apparently, soldiers who didn't support Bush were left out. (If you're not a Salon.com subscriber, you can get a day pass to read the article by sitting through a short ad, or you can check out an excerpt on Blah3.com).
John Kerry has been widely criticized by the GOP for flip-flopping on the issues, but Bush hasn't faced nearly the same level of scrutiny by the Democrats, as a whole. In her latest Alternet article, Fighting Firefighters With Fire, Molly Ivins accuses the Democrats of dropping the ball when it comes to pointing out Bush's own waffling on the issues, particularly his post-9/11 promise to grant $35 billion in aide to local police and fire departments, which he later reneged on. Since Bush is using the events of 9/11 in his campaign strategy, pointing out such an egregious act of hypocrisy could be huge, and is not an opportunity that should be passed up!
I wholeheartedly agree with Ivins that the Dems are repeating the same old mistakes--as a whole they've become a bunch of spineless, simpering wimps! They're passing up prime opportunities to strike at the GOP, even as the Republicans are practically handing them ammunition on a silver platter! On the rare occasion they do take aim at conservatives, instead of firing missiles, they shoot spit-wads. Bush's flip-flops on the issues are nearly endless; some are mentioned in Ivins' article, and even more are spelled out in this list on the Daily Kos website. The Dems should be using that to hammer away at Bush's record with every opportunity. Wake up, people, the man has a nearly bottomless campaign war-chest, he'll be hitting you with everything he's got--fight back!
Democrats seem to have missed the fact that liberalism (or progressivism, or whatever buzzword you prefer) is not only alive, but thriving in this country, and conditions are ripe for them to make a huge impact politically. Liberal authors such as Ivins, Michael Moore, and Al Franken are competing well with conservatives like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Michael Savage on the bookshelves. While mainstream media is becoming more conservative as a whole (liberal media, my ass), alternative liberal outlets like Alternet and Take Back the Media are increasing in popularity. Liberal radio personalities Randi Rhodes, Peter Werbe, and Jim Hightower are increasingly popular, and as stated in a previous post, a new liberal talk-radio network will be up and running later this month or early April. Even formerly Bush-friendly Howard Stern started attacking the President recently, and subsequently was pulled from Clear Channel's airwaves. (It had nothing to do with indecency folks, Clear Channel's conservative ownership can't stand hearing the President criticized on its own airwaves--remember the Dixie Chicks? The obscenity excuse was just a smokescreen, though Clear Channel's owners are no doubt quietly applauding Janet Jackson's impeccable timing in unleashing the indecency watchdogs.) Now Stern is even more critical of Bush, which can only be good for the Democrats. Even Bill O'Reilly was forced to eat his own words recently when WMD's couldn't be found in Iraq. (Okay, so Stern and O'Reilly aren't exactly evidence of the rise of liberalism in America, but they are proof that even conservatives are unhappy with Bush, which also shouldn't be overlooked.) And then, of course, there are the liberal bloggers, whose numbers seem to be multiplying exponentially. They're doing what the Dems *should* be doing, hammering away at Bush relentlessly with every piece of ammunition they can dig up.
The GOP is ripe for the picking. Bush is ripe for the picking. Unfortunately, the Democrats are suffering from a collective rectal-cranial inversion, and if they don't correct it soon, they're going to blow one of the biggest opportunities they've had in a long time to really make a difference.
Quote for the Day: "He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions."--Thomas Jefferson
Idiotic Quote for the Day "I do not need to explain why I say things. - That's the interesting thing about being the President. - Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."--George W. Bush (Quoted by Bob Woodward in his book "Bush At War")
<< Home