GOP Cranks up Fear-Mongering; Dems Cower by David Sirota

[Douglas Carpenter]

http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=F7236F64-91A6-D28C-7144D97169925563
{http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=F7236F64-91A6-D28C-7144D97169925563}


You knew it was coming, didn't you? That's right - within 24 hours,
the right-wing spin machine is up and working to transform the tragic
London bombing into a way to attack progressives as weak on terrorism.
Sadly, it is a tactic that continues to emasculate many Democrats, who
still can't seem to find the guts to stand up to this nonsense.
Exhibit A is this morning's Wall Street Journal opinion page - the
place that essentially re-prints talking points from the Republican
National Committee. There James Taranto says that "certain people
don't remember" that "an attack on a much worse scale happened in the
U.S. less than four years ago." Really, James? Who are those people?
Are you speaking of people who have become senile in that time? No,
Taranto says it is people like Vermont's Independent Congressman
Bernie Sanders (I) who passed bipartisan legislation reforming the
Patriot Act. Taranto, of course has no proof that the provisions
being reformed under Sanders' bipartisan legislation would have had
any preventive value in the recent attacks, or in future attacks. Nor
does he even make the case that the specific reforms would weaken
national security. But to a hack like Taranto, proof or facts are not
important - what's important is once again impugning the patriotism
and "strength" of progressives. This has been much the same tactic
used over the last few years - and we see just how effective that
tactic has been in emasculating Democrats. Even before the attacks
and the subsequent fear-mongering, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D) published a
letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal this week claiming he
is outraged about the right-wing's hyperbolic attacks on Democrats in
this vein. Yet, he then goes on to actually BRAG that Democrats
helped "provided more than $340 billion to fund the war" - as if the
party should be proud to have helped waste that money sending our
troops to die for a war based on lies. Emanuel goes on to say that
"it is long past time for a candid discussion on Iraq." In that he is
right. Yet, the fact that he is simultaneously bragging about his
complicity in the war, means he is not willing to have a candid
discussion about the subject himself. In fact, the headline of his
letter includes the statement "We Support the Iraq War" - proof
positive that many top Democrats are still so spineless and so
frightened of the right-wing machine that they can't even stand up
against this atrocity with public opinion polls at their backs, and
with the Bush administration's own CIA director essentially admitting
that the war has made America less safe. And remember, this letter was
published before the attacks, before the right-wing has intensified
its rhetoric. After the attacks it was much of the same - few, if
any, Democrats actually had the guts to say what is obvious: that the
Bush administration's national security strategy is an incompetent
failure. Instead, as the Baltimore Sun reported, "many of the same
Democrats who excoriated Bush last week for tying the war in Iraq to
Sept. 11 reacted to yesterday's events with expressions of strong
support for fighting terrorism and solidarity with the president."
And then Democrats wonder why the public thinks they are
flip-floppers and stand for nothing. So in light of all of this, I'm
just going to tell it like it is, to both sides. Here's a dose of
truth for the Republican Party in Washington, D.C.: your
war-mongering policies and devotion to creating a constant state of
panic/fear in this country has made America less safe, especially in
light of your negligence on homeland security. Your heated rhetoric
that indicts the strength and patriotism of progressives is a sad
attempt to cover up your own pathetic failures. Now, here's a dose of
truth for the insulated Democratic establishment in Washington - an
establishment that continues to lose elections, yet, incredibly,
refuses to change: if you continue to pathetically cower in the face
of all of this; if you continue to ignore the courageous lawmakers in
your ranks who know the party needs to stand up; if you continue to
defend the Iraq War in light of public opposition to it, in light of
proof that the Bush administration lied about it and in light of
proof it made America less safe; and if you continue to have
positively no courage of any convictions and positively no ability to
give voice to the concerns of the majority of Americans, then you will
continue losing elections far into the future. Sources: Wall Street
Journal cranks up GOP fear mongering:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110006927
{http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110006927} Bipartisan
legislation reforming the Patriot Act passes:
http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/06/vote-victory-privacy-bill-passes-over.html
{http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/06/vote-victory-privacy-bill-passes-over.html}
Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel brags about supporting the Iraq War:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112061015205178037,00.html?mod=todays_us_opinion
{http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112061015205178037,00.html?mod=todays_us_opinion}
Public opinion polls show American public does not support the war:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/27/iraq.poll/
{http://edition.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/27/iraq.poll/} Bush CIA
director essentially admits Iraq War makes America less safe:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28876-2005Feb16.html
{http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28876-2005Feb16.html}
Baltimore Sun says instead of criticism, Dems "show solidarity" with
Bush:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.bush08jul08,1,1804215.story?page=2&coll=bal-news-nation
{http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.bush08jul08,1,1804215.story?page=2&coll=bal-news-nation}

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http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/04/who-is-bernie-sanders.html

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[otohara]

1. I Was Looking For This

thanks for posting - knew someone on DU would