July 19, 2006

You heard the rumblings last month from the alleged "brain" of the GOP, Karl Rove. The GOP was going to play up security as their primary issue heading into the vital mid-term elections. I chuckled at the time because I thought for sure it must be a joke but apparently they are quite seriously. Then it begs the question; do you honestly feel safer with the Republican Party in complete control of the government?

We are starting to see the tact already as Republican Ohio Senator Mike Dewine has aired an ad painting his Democratic opponent as weak on security by using images from the burning World Trade Center. Trying to look past the sleaziness of playing on the collective pain this country feels from 911, exactly what is the point of Senator Dewine? The often forgotten fact is that 911 occurred on George W. Bush's watch. In fact it occurred nine months into his presidency, one month after he was specifically warned that Osama bin Laden was planning an attack inside the United States, and several weeks into his vacation clearing brush. I know it is a favorite logic of the GOP to blame everything on Bill Clinton, including 911, but the attack did not occur anywhere near his presidency. It is important to note that the pictures Dewine used in the ad were doctored. Not only did he have no conscience about using our worst memories against us, but he had to doctor them as well.

Another favorite talking point of the Rovian GOP is to say that because there have been no attacks on American soil since 911, Bush must be doing something right. Of course this silly logic overlooks the fact that 911 did occur on his watch and it completely ignores that we had no such attack prior either. So, what exactly has the GOP Congress done over the past five years to make us safer that they would have the gall to run on this issue? They started by creating the Department of Homeland Security who for the first several years spent their time and money on creating a color coded fear chart to scare the populace each day with the "elevated" terror alert. This chart was used primarily to distract the American people when the GOP or the president was facing bad news. If the president's approval rating dropped, we had an "orange terror alert". Democrats had a successful convention during the 2004 election season? Orange terror alert time. Even Tom Ridge had to admit after he left DHS that the chart became more of a political weapon then an anti-terrorism tool.

What else did the GOP rubber stamp Congress provide us with in the area of security? Mike Brown to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency? The man who was fired by the Arabian Horse Society lied throughout his resume and eventually presided over one the worst natural disasters in this nation's history. This is how the GOP protects the American people. What else? How about the blanket approval of anything the president wanted? Do you honestly think that the suspension of Congressional oversight is in the best interest of our security, or the security of the President? Do you think that the NSA illegal spying is protecting you? Do you think that exposing the secret identity of a CIA covert operative for political payback is an example of good security policy? Do you think that declaring petting zoos terror targets in order to shift millions of dollars out of cities that are legitimate targets makes us secure as a nation?

What about the Iraq War? Most unbiased sources agree that this failed venture has destabilized the region, created a haven for terrorism where one did not exist, and has descended into a chaotic civil war. Do not forget that while the president and his rubber stamp Congress were waging this war based on lies that bin Laden disappeared, North Korea reconstituted their nuclear weapons program and Iran went unchecked. The war was based on lies; there was no threat to this country and no weapons of mass destruction to speak of. Only in the bowels of Karl Rove's dementia can anyone construe the Iraq War as having had a positive affect on our national security.

Has cowboy diplomacy and the rubber stamp gang really made us safer? Do you feel safer knowing the government is spying on you and ignoring Congress and the courts? Do you feel safer knowing that your government tortures people? Do you feel safer knowing that over 100,000 people have died now in this war from a country that posed no threat and had nothing to do with 911? Do you feel safer America? Does London feel safer? Does India feel safer?

The GOP is a party devoid of any moral authority and leadership. They have lost over 550 billion dollars since taking over, have threatened to dismantle Social Security, made it harder for working families to get ahead, made health insurance unaffordable, made it harder to declare bankruptcy, done nothing to secure our borders, left millions of kids behind in education, massacred social programs, started wars based on lies, turned a democracy into an autocracy, allowed illegal spying on the citizens of this country, condoned torture as policy and now they come to us asking for our votes based on "security". It would be laughable if it wasn't so sad.