WP: Bush's Oratory Helps Maintain Support for War

[kskiska]

By Dana Milbank

With skillful use of language and images, President Bush and his aides have kept the American public from turning against the war in Iraq despite the swelling number of U.S. casualties there.

Even with the loss of more than 700 U.S. troops in Iraq, recent uprisings against the U.S.-led occupation there, a dwindling number of allies and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, a majority of Americans still believe that going to war in Iraq was the right thing to do. By 52 percent to 41 percent, Americans trust Bush more than Democratic challenger John F. Kerry (Mass.) to handle the Iraq situation, according to last week's Washington Post/ABC News Poll -- a double-digit improvement for Bush from a month before.

Political strategists and public-opinion experts say a good part of this resilience of public support for Bush and the Iraq war stems from the president's oratory. They say Bush has convinced Americans of three key points that strongly influence overall support for the war: that the United States will prevail in Iraq; that the fighting in Iraq is related to the war against al Qaeda; and that most Iraqis and many foreign countries support U.S. actions in Iraq.

At the same time, the administration has limited damaging images of the cost of war in Iraq. While the president has met privately with the families of many of the war victims, Bush has not attended any funeral for fallen soldiers, and until last week the administration barred the public release of images of flag-draped caskets.

Bush's opponents say he is building support for the Iraq war -- and himself -- by deceiving the public. "He has not leveled with the American people about the true cost of the war, how long we'll be there, or the number of troops that will be needed," said Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. "Americans would rather see sound policy rather than just positive rhetoric."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39836-2004Apr24.html

[dbt]

1. WTF? bu$h has "skillful use of language and images?"

In WHAT parallel universe does Milbank live? This stammering, hem-hawing fool that cannot string three words together without four "ums" is skillful?????????

I don't think so, Tim.

:grr:
dbt

[xxqqqzme]

6. now, let's B fair - it says skillful

not truthful and we all agree squatter and his power poachers R XtremelY skillful LIARS!

I do, however, have a major problem w/ oratory and squatter appearing 2gether in the same paragraph much less, same sentence.

[saigon68]

12. Here's some "skilful Images" Designed to PISS OFF the PUBLIC

Outrage Photos









Iraqi child Isra Jawad, 9, screams in pain as she is comforted by her mother in the hospital in the
Baghdad suburb of Al Sadr CityI, Iraq (news - web sites), Saturday, April 24, 2004. Isara and
two of her sisters suffered severe burns during an explosion when al-Mahdai army, supporters of
the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and U.S. troops clashed late Friday. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)



United States Marines carry the coffin of Cpl. Kevin T. Kolm as he is buried at the Long Island
National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York, April 23, 2004. Kolm's grandfather served as a
Marine in World War II and his father served as a Marine in Vietnam. Kevin Kolm, a 23-year-old,
third generation Marine, died from hostile fire in Iraq (news - web sites) while serving with the
3rd Assault Amphibious Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. (Chip
East/Reuters



The widow of Marine 2nd Lt. John T. Wroblewski, Joanna Wroblewski, left, weeps as Captain
Martin Lewis, right, hands the American flag that draped her husband's coffin during a funeral
ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Friday, April 23, 2004, in Arlington, Va. Wroblewski,
25, of Oak Ridge, N.J., died April 6 due to injuries received from hostile fire in Al Anbar
Province, Iraq (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

[rocktivity]

21. PUFF PIECE ALERT!!!

The words "oratory" and "George W. Bush" don't belong in the same solar system, never mind the same sentence.

The opening should read, "With the supression of opposing opinion by a compliant, sychophantic mainstream media, ....Bush...(has)...kept the American public from turning against the war in Iraq..."

:puffpiece:
rocknation

[The Zanti Regent]

24. Bob Somerby exposes Milbank for the liar "IT" is!

Somerby repeatedly dissects Dana the Dork in the Daily Howler.

http://www.dailyhowler.com/

BTW--Dana is a member of Skull and Bones.

[keithyboy]

26. Like Reagan was the 'great communicator.'

How fucking ridiculous. He can't even string two coherent sentences together. That shows you that most of America is illiterate and when spoken to in Dick and Jane terms you can get them to do anything. Wonder how Harvard feels about the boy wonder? It's called 'yeebonics' the red-neck version of e-bonics.

[TankLV]

29. I would never connect "bush*" & "oratory" in the same sentence either.

I guess if you include all the dead air, lies and "ummmmms" & "ahhhhhs", you'd have the complete "thought", tho.

It's just gets more and more absurd, doesn't it?

[xray s]

2. Orator my ass! He is a damn liar!

And too many Americans are too blind to see that.

Dana Milbank...press whore du jour.

[Mike Niendorff]

3. "skillful use of language and images" ???

And, in other news:

War is Peace.
Ignorance is Strength.
Freedom is Slavery.


MDN

[bemildred]

4. Translation:

State propaganda organs continue to pretend there is support for war.

[robbedvoter]

5. Dana ate fried chicken at the pig farm pool. Even allowed to pee in the

master's house. He said: "Unlike Gore, W doesn't make you feel that he is better than you, although he probably is"

[DeaconBlues]

7. Here's another whore we all need to write to

or else he'll believe the American people actually buy his tripe.

I'm off to write me a letter.

[PfcHammer]

8. "Bush speeches becoming 'Clintonesque'"

April 10, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4709672/

WTF, * is a babbling drunk

[robbedvoter]

22. Talking poing: lay it on thick while appearing to criticize

As in: "Man, this angel from the sky has rosy chicks!"
I remember he was Churchill after 911. Seems karen decided he'll be "Clintonesque' now - only without lying."

[drscm]

9. "until last week the administration barred the public release of images...

of flag-draped caskets."

What is this crap?

The administration is now responsible for releasing the images of our dead in coffins?

Milbank, WHORE is thy name!

[Mari333]

10. The US public cannot seem to embrace the idea

that every one of those soldiers that died, every civilian wounded, every one of the civilians killed, and every one of the soldiers wounded, all died and were wounded for
nothing.
That concept is terrifying to them, to admit that to themselves. They prefer denial, and the false comfort of denial. They cannot seem to embrace the idea that they believed a lie, even tho they know deep down it is a lie. It makes them have to look in the mirror and admit they were wrong.
They dont want to admit they were wrong, and they are fighting it inside themselves because they are afraid of self reflection.
The truth hurts.
People avoid pain.
People prefer denial.
They turn the channel.
I cant turn the channel, I live the Iraq war 24 hours a day.
I refuse to live in denial.
Eventually the truth will catch up to them, and then it will be too late.
A lot of denial occured amongst people in Germany right down the road from the concentration camps.
Sadly, when the truth came out, and it always does, they had to look in the mirror at what they allowed.

[kskiska]

11. Spoken by one who's been there.

Thank you, Mari.

[fishnfla]

13. Ma'am, they dont even want to think about it.

They might think they care about it, but then the commercial is over and that idol show is back on.

So yeah, turn the channel

[bemildred]

14. While I agree, it's not the public that can't admit it.

It's all those assholes in Washington, DC. Once they admit
it, they are toast, it's time to fall on your sword, and they
don't have that sort of integrity.

[TankLV]

30. You've summed it up in a nutshell.

Only a 2x4 upside the head will get to these people, even if then.

The only other alternative, if we had an unlimited amount of time, would be to slowly ease the sheeple to see the truth - but we don't have the time that this would require, either.

The disconnect between the reality and truth we all can see, and those who prefer to believe the lies, is an ever widening chasm that is likely only to get worse.

If anyone has seen MAD TV last nite, with the football coach's press conference, I couldn't help but see bunkerboy and his thugs in that spot. The only difference between that script and reality, was that the press got to ask good follow-up questions. And I think that was the whole point of the skit. We have become the old Soviet Union, and we have to learn how to read between the lines and recognize non-direct criticisms as the dead-on critiques they are.

[Career Prole]

15. Sure...give all the credit to Bush*'s oratorical skill...

...and don't say a word about Cheney's athleticism or Limbaugh's rugged good looks.:D

[SOS]

16. "skillful use of language"

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

You've looked back before 9-11 for what mistakes might have been made. After 9-11, what would your biggest mistake be and what lessons have learned from it?

BUSH: I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it.

John, I'm sure historians will look back and say, gosh, he could've done it better this way or that way. You know, I just Ñ I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn't yet. "

[grasswire]

17. remember....

..that even though Milbank is often on the sh*t list at the WH for critical remarks of the administration, he IS a member of Skull and Bones and a Yalie through.

[Bob3]

18. this is one for the daily howler - classic whoring

Some comments:
You'll notice that Milbank does not cite any polls about the war itself which - if memory serves - show the American public think we have gone completely off the rails here. (by about 58%)he finds the one poll that will make his point and uses it. (notice no margin of error mentioned here)
You will also notice nobody he talks about saying good things about * is NAMED here - they are the blah dee blah blah "experts" that you see this all the time in these glue sniffing puff pieces. Which says to me given the current laziness and track record of the press corps these days means HE IS MAKING THIS SHIT UP.
Notice Milbank passes by without comment the linking of the war in Iraq with Al Qaedea by *. He knows this is A F**KING LIE. HE KNOWS that they have nothing to do with each other. He knows that the war in Iraq has hurt our efforts against the stateless Al Qaedea. But he - like the rest of this corrupt press corps - does not care about that - they only care about who's winning the game - the truth is not their problem.
This pig is full of open admiration for the manipulation of public opinion. That PEOPLE ARE F**KING DYING for F**KING NOTHING - THAT WE ARE BEING LIED TO illicts no reaction. This more than anything else reveals the utter corruption of our Washington press corps. Christ on a crutch does anybody think is JOURALISM? This is pig slop for people who want to feed at the big guy troth and feel like insiders. These pigs should be driven from their desks with cattle prods and forced to do honest work like collecting garbage or cleaning city streets.

[saigon68]

23. These pigs should be driven from their desks with cattle prods

That would be interesting I would like to sell tickets to watch.


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On a sad note however don't give them ideas

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/567/567p4c.htm

Navy used cattle prods on asylum seekers

Allegations by asylum seekers of the use of cattle prods by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) when boarding refugee boats, especially at the time of the children overboard scandal prior to the 2001 federal election, have again surfaced.

In an interview with refugees who were formerly detained at the Lombrum detention centre on Manus Island after their boat, the Olong (SIEV-4), was intercepted by HMAS Adelaide, New Zealand journalist Kim Ruscoe, writing in the January 10 Wellington Dominion Post, quotes an Iranian man, Khalil Alibrahimy, as saying that asylum seekers were “treated like criminals, physically abused by Australian guards and kept in line with electric cattle prods”.

[kodi]

19. the words Bush and oratory should not be used in the same sentence

Demosthenes, wherever he is, weeps when Bush opens his mouth.

[NeoConsSuck]

20. Americans would rather see sound policy rather than just positive rhetoric

That is giving the average american too much credit.

The average american just wants reassurance that the Iraqi oil fields are secure for their SUV's and Dodge Rams. And that their borders are secure so they can watch Survivor and The Apprentice in peace.

[symbolman]

25. Here's a little something for them - a New Flash MOvie

"MURDER BY NUMBERS" based on the Police song..

I worked for days on this one.. it takes them to task..

go watch it and tell all your pals, please pass this one around..

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/murderby.html

turn up those speakers.

[John_H]

31. Web Experts: Why does Norton Internet Security block TBTM. com

and a bunch of my other favorite sites? I just switched over from Mcaffee, which didn't block nearly as many sites, esecially ones I know to be safe.

I assume I set it up wrong, but I have no idea which settings I need to change.

[susu369]

27. Talk about an oxymoron

"skillful use of language and images, President Bush" - well, make that an oxymoran...

Oh, please, why would Dana even write such tripe:

"Bush has also encouraged a public perception that most Iraqis want Americans in Iraq -- another key support indicator. He said the uprising is the work of a "violent few" and is "not a popular uprising."

Bush also encouraged a view that there is broad foreign support for the war. "Other nations and international institutions are stepping up to their responsibilities in building a free and secure Iraq," he said."

[Malva Zebrina]

28. Jesus this is outrageous

skillful use of language? Who the hell does Milbank think he is writing to? Eighth grade kids? Is he shaping the debate so that Democrats who are Bush lite will have some talking points?

What the hell is going on this forsaken, once proud nation?

I cannot stand it--this is absolutely so far removed from the truth that Milbank deserves to be thrown out on his ass for lying to his readers.

Loss of soul, loss of human dignity and excessive reliance upon the status that large amounts of money bestow on idiots and consumerism, and junk items constantly flowing from their hands to your brain and you are hooked--as hooked as if you were shooting heroin five times a day.

The only powerful image I have, is an image of Bush down in the dirt on his knees, sobbing, and begging forgiveness from the people of America--while a slow moving march of more than seven hundred flag draped caskets passes him by--to the cadence of a single drummer