Just six days left until America goes to the polls and tells the GOP what they think about the past five years of Rubber-Stamp politics. As each day passes, bringing their demise closer, you see the ratcheting up of the most inane rhetoric designed to distract you, scare you, or just make you think about anything other than their horrific record of the past five years.
Yesterday the rhetoric came in the form of a White House and coordinated GOP response to innocuous comments made by John Kerry. While Kerry was trying to intimate that the wars waged by the GOP are fought by those with less opportunity in this country, he fumbled the words a bit. The resulting quote however was obviously not bashing the troops. John Kerry actually served in the military, won awards for his service, and took bullets for this country. George Bush and the vast majority of the GOP have never done such. But there they were yesterday, demanding Kerry apologize, when he clearly had nothing to apologize for. Why is this one of the hottest stories 6 days out of an election? Because it allows the GOP to play their "support the troops" card and provides the necessary distraction to not talk about the real issues on the hearts and minds of Americans. So the GOP rolls out their corporate media machine to spin, spin, spin, about a complete non-issue in the desperate hope that people get clouded again before they cast their vote to send this whole sorry lot packing.
Let's set the record straight. John Kerry is right. These wars are waged on the backs of those less fortunate and who have less resources. Kerry never said that it was because they could not do homework, or were somehow slower, that is the GOP corporate media spin. Tony Snow, the Professional White House Liar (that is, Press Secretary), said that this "fits a pattern" of negative remarks from Kerry about the troops. Trying desperately to dredge back up the comments Kerry made over 30 years ago after the Vietnam War and somehow make them relevant, Snow again shows he has no class and cares nothing about the truth.
President Bush, who still cannot explain where he was when he was allegedly serving in the National Guard slot he never should have had, showed even more hubris in relation to this non-story. Bush said that Kerry's remarks were "insulting and shameful." No Mr. President, lying to Congress to start wars that result in thousands of deaths of American soldiers is shameless. Purposefully deflating the true numbers of the dead for political gain is insulting. Claiming Iraq had ties to 911 and al Qaeda is shameless. Pretending you never said "stay the course", is insulting. When faced with the magnitude of the failure of these wars claiming you would "not change a thing", THAT is shameless. Maliciously outing a covert CIA operative who was working on WMD issues is insulting. Continuing to hand billions of dollars in contracts to your cronies while our kids die, THAT is shameless. Joking about not being able to find WMD is insulting. Are you getting the point Mr. President? Someone correctly claiming that wars are waged on the backs of those with less opportunity is not shameless or insulting. Secretly wiretapping American citizens and lying about it is. Eradicating Habeas Corpus and considering the Geneva Conventions "quaint" is. Establishing torture as American policy is both shameless and insulting.
Make no mistake about it America. The GOP will wrap themselves up in the flag and use the troops as much as they can over the next six days. The problem is the flag is already soaked with the blood of the innocent, sent to die in a desert half a world away that they never should have been sent to. They will claim they are the ones who support the troops and not the "cut and runners" or whatever other focus group-tested catch phrase Karl Rove tells the GOP to parrot over and over again. The truth is the people such as Kerry and I do support the troops, we just support the notion that they can come home without being encased in a wooden box with a flag draped over it. The GOP has tried recently to suggest that they are the party that seeks to "win" in Iraq and that anyone who dares to have the temerity to suggest that the soldiers should be allowed to come home outside of that flag draped box, is unpatriotic. That is the vilest piece of garbage you will hear over the next six days. When you hear that; ask yourself who truly supports the troops. Those who desire to see them come home safely or those who do not care if they continue to come home in boxes, all for lies that are now common knowledge and saturated in the blood of our children.
Those who know me know I have no love for John Kerry. He abandoned this country after promising to make sure all the votes were counted in 2004. He quit on us after just six hours in the face of MASSIVE voter fraud. That aside, I cannot allow the GOP to try and cloud the hearts and minds of voters with tripe such as this, with just six days left in their political lives. The GOP has nothing to run on. They have rubber stamped everything the executive has wanted. Torture? No problem! Waterboarding? Sure! Destroy Habeas Corpus? You got it! They have presided over the raping of both our economy and the environment and laughed all the way to the bank with our money. They gleefully attached a minimum wage increase to an elimination of the Estate Tax on the billionaires of this country. All the while smiling nice for the cameras while our kids die for their lies and no-bid contracts. They claimed the mantle of family values, accountability and even Christianity. In the end they were laughing again and gave us Jack Abramoff, Mark Foley, and Duke Cunningham.
They will keep on trying because they can see the writing on the wall. They will use their corporate media machine to amaze and distract you. They will cry crocodile tears of outrage over a flub of words and hide behind the troops they have committed to die for their sins. They will pick up that blood soaked flag and wrap it tightly around themselves because it is all they have left. In the end it will matter not. We will walk into the voting booths in 6 days collectively as a nation and say no more. We will say no to torture as national policy, waterboarding, and the shredding of the Geneva Conventions, which is designed to protect our soldiers as well. We will cast our votes and collectively say no to the eradication of Habeas Corpus, illegal wiretapping of US citizens, and the shredding of the Constitution of the United States of America. We will say no to Mark Foley, Dennis Hastert, and Dick Cheney. We will say no to the politics of fear and oppression. We will say no an economy where only the rich can succeed and where the wars waged by brave men who ran and hid when it was their turn; continue to send poor kids to die for their wars of greed. We will say no to corporate controlled media who try to continue to sell us whatever the administration wants.
The GOP likes to talk about patriotism but it is clear they do not understand the definition. Dissent is not unpatriotic; it is the lifeblood of a democracy. They have a name for a country where everyone blindly agrees with the leadership; an autocracy. Patriotism requires that country goes before party and ideology. Patriotism is more than the fabric that makes up a flag; it is the fabric that weaves us together as Americans. It is in believing that the will of the people is what grants consent to those that would govern, not that the will of those that would govern grants consent to the people. In a recent movie the line was proffered that a people should never fear their government but rather, the government should fear the people. We have lost that over the past few years in our zeal to feel some vague sense of "protection". We will reclaim it in six days and there is nothing John Kerry can say, that the GOP can manipulate, that will make a shred of difference to patriotic Americans everywhere who will collectively say, no more.
Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 40-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.
Clouding the Hearts and Minds - Thanks to the media
Hi Anthony,
Good one. You said it all. The GOP must be shown the door. They are obsolete, primative, bad news for the USA. It is time also for the media to show some backbone. Unless of course they are bought and paid for by the corporations that back the GOP ...
Keep on writing,
Peace,
Aimee
by
Aimee (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 113 comments)
on Wednesday, November 1, 2006 at 4:55:24 PM
I don't know what to say, you told it like it is and I hope and pray that on Nov 7, we will see the beginning of the end of this incredibly dark and shameful period in our country's history.
by
RCG (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 352 comments)
on Wednesday, November 1, 2006 at 11:01:43 PM
I saw the comments Kerry made, and I have to say there is much truth even in the flubbed statements. The war in Iraq is being faught by those who had no other choice. But it's not about their school work, it's about a liar in office, and the ability of so many to confuse nationalism and patriotism.
Patriotism is about standing up for ideals and principles. Nationalism is about wrapping one's self in a blood-covered flag. There is a real difference. Patriotism is what you and I do here by writing. Nationalism is what the GOP and other flag-waving morons do because they don't realize how they are supporting people who have no respect whatsoever for the principles that are supposed to be what we stand for in this country.
I don't know if you watch Keith Olbermann's Countdown on MSNBC, but he really gave it to DUBYA with both barrels again tonight. Firstly, he defended Kerry, something I found nice to see. Secondly, he aksed DUBYA where his apologies were to our troops.
DUBYA's the one that started a war on lies. He's the one who placed our troops in harm's way so Halliburton could have lots of nice no-bid contracts...ah, war profits..mmmm. He's the one who made jokes about not finding WMD's even as our troops were fighting and dying for his chickenhawk war.
DUBYA has yet to apologize for anything he's done, nor do I think he ever will apologize. Kudos to Kerry that he did, even though he had no real reason. I just wish that Kerry would have shown the balls he has shown in the last few days in 2004. Whether or not you personally like him, I'd much rather be under his presidency than DUBYA's.
Anyway, I just had to chime in and offer my support and two cents. Here's hoping our march to the polls next week has real meaning and a real effect. It would be nice to have America back again, if only for a few years.
Blessed be!
Pappy
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Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 863 comments)
on Thursday, November 2, 2006 at 3:23:04 AM
It seems i missed what Kerry was trying to say. By inserting the word "us", his comment is clearly a joke at Bush not doing his homework before getting us stuck in Iraq.
The corporate media though is relentless in their lying.
by
Anthony Wade (135 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 434 comments)
on Thursday, November 2, 2006 at 10:03:54 AM
