"How dumb do they think we are"---Mark Shields

[Inland]

(Well, pretty dumb, Mark, not entirely without reason)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/18/how.dumb/


Are you ready for a barefaced lie? Listen to the Republican talking points. It is true that Rove did talk to Matt Cooper. But he was not trying to smear Wilson and thus silence a formidable critic of Bush's Iraq policy.

No, Rove's only motive was to make sure that Cooper and Time did not publish something that could turn out to be false. This is a side of the man we have not seen before -- selflessly saving gullible newsmen from publishing anything inaccurate.

Imagine how busy Rove must have been during Bush's 1994 race for Texas governor, when his campaign was accused of launching a whispering campaign in East Texas about Democratic Gov. Ann Richards' affinity for gays. Try as he must have, Karl just couldn't stop the circulation of those ugly rumors.

In 2000,George W. Bush's campaign was accused of spreading the vicious charge that Bush's main rival, Sen. John McCain, was unstable because of the time he had spent as a POW in isolation.

You just know Karl must have been speed-dialing reporters, valiantly trying to kill that slander. In 2004, the man who bankrolled the Swift Boat Veterans against John Kerry was one of Rove's oldest Texas allies.

[ewagner]

1. Coming from Mark Shields

that' pretty powerful stuff!!!

He has them dead to rights...

Do you suppose that if Rove came forward and said: " Yes, I told reporters about Wilson's wife and I did it in a way that wasn't against the law, and you know what else? I did it to destroy Wilson because politically, that's what I had to do... That's how the game is played, and if you don't like it then you can't play on this level."

would the public say...that's just politics.?/

[jaysunb]

2. The answer Mark is, HELL YES !

they do think we're that dumb, and guess what ? about 40% of this country is.

[Inland]

3. Or slow learners.

I like to think that almost all Americans can figure something out over a period of six or seven years.

[getmeouttahere]

4. 6-7 years is more than enough time for the repugs...

to destroy everything that made this country great, everything we hold dear.

[belle]

6. Was it MLK who said that whatever it is you see as human nature,

you'll find? Words to that effect. Anyhoo, the neocons see us as cowed, ignorant sheep, and by God they've done their best to make it so; and to a large degree it has been so.

MLK believed in the essential goodness in humanity; and, well, you know leaders by their followers, and their legacy, don't you.

[indepat]

11. At a very minimum

[Wetzelbill]

14. it wouldn't surprise me if it was more than 40 percent either

I never realized how mind blowingly stupid some.... well, alot of our country is. I never knew how easy it was to convince people of anything. These last 4 years or so have made me wonder, have we really come as far as we think we have?

[jwirr]

5. What I see positive about this is the fact

that Mark Shields can still speak out on NPR.

[spydertl79]

7. Nice

Nicely said, Rove personifies the problem with American politics.

[newyawker99]

10. Hi spydertl79!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[WhiteTara]

12. hi spydertl79

Welcome to DU :hi:

[geckosfeet]

8. Oh yeah,,, Shields is dialed in on this one. nt.

[Skittles]

9. yes, they believe people are that stupid

and they have REASON to believe in the stupidity of people - look how many of them vote republican

[AlwaysQuestion]

13. I'm riled!

If I were an American and I learned that the President of my country initiated a bogus war and sent close to two thousand young men and women to their deaths and condemed many thousands more to a life of trauma, lost limbs, lost sight and perhaps even worse, I would demand that the SOB be put on trial and if found guilty be put away behind bars until the day he dies.

If it is true and I don't doubt that it is--still, if it is true that this bastard and his lieutenants presented false information to the public in full knowledge that the American people are conditioned, cajoled, shamed, peer-pressured into upholding the dictates of their president no matter what, I think the public should be screaming for his g.d. head--and all the other subheads like Rove, Cheney, Rice, et al.

Sending others to die for the benefit of the elite is simply beyond the pale. I can't wrap my head around it.

How dare any government think it is my or anyone else's patriotic duty to sacrifice my loved ones for an unjust war--especially since the Iraqis had already been whipped and beaten down long before Bush and the gang thought it would be fun to go to war with them using his own people as fighting pawns. Feel the outrage. Seathe.

When is Mr. and Mrs. Joe Average American going to turn off those bloody t.v. sets filled with the most putrid, dumbing down programming and start tuning in to their own common sense and looking for their own answers. Instead, they sit in front of their sets and allow others tell them what to think. There is no news in the U.S. It's all editorials.

So why the hell should I from Canada be so concerned about what goes on the U.S. For the simple reason, like most Canadians we have some serious ties to your country--people whom we love dearly.

I would be sick to death of being told that it was my patriotic duty to send my kids overseas to be slaughtered for no reason other than I must show my patriotism. Patriotism be damned. That's the type of rhetoric that is instilled in the American child from the day the little tyke hits pre-school. The pledge of allegiance which when I first heard it as a young teen, even then knew instinctively that there is no such thing as justice and liberty for all. Justice is directly dependent on your ability to pay for it. And liberty and the pursuit of happiness is also tied to the thickness of your wallet. All right already, so that's life. Fine. But don't bloody well enforce the saying of such tripe when it is patently false. It is sheer propaganda, and it is introduced right from the get-go. It should be summarily ditched for the propaganda it is.

I think Bushco is every bit as dispicable as some of the worst dictators the world has known. I loathe the man with every inch of my being. He'd never get my kid I can tell you. I'd do everything within my power to avoid serving "my country." Besides which, what the hell is meant by "my country." Bugger the country; think of the people who dwell in it. I'm not naive to think that there aren't wars that should be fought but they damn well better not be bogus ones.

Yes, this is a rant. I'm not feeling too charitable this evening. I'm not interested in any bloody country. I'm interested in people and the dreadful things people do to others in the name of patriotism. I judge all countries by how they treat their lowliest citizens. That's what makes a great country--how you treat people. The rest is all smoke and mirrors and worse. People love to kid themselves. Bush and his rats love to talk patriotism--YOUR patriotism. Bush and his rats love to talk war--YOUR war; YOUR kids; YOUR loved ones. Bush and his rats love to preach GOD.......... I'm fairly screaming now. Better go take a walk around the block and calm down.

Sorry guys, but this is how I feel.

[Martin Eden]

16. Good Rant

No need to be sorry about it.

I've gone through various stages of outrage myself, over the last few years. During the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq and for quite awhile afterwards, I would have a phyisical reaction -- almost like hackles rising on a dog -- when I saw or heard Bush. Since that time, as more outrages and lies piled one atop another, I eventually reached a state of normalcy in which I could intellectualize the outrage without letting my emotions constantly flare up (though I still get pretty angry at times).

My biggest concern is that the outrages of this administration have achieved an acceptable normalcy in which the general public sees nothing amiss. The criminals in this White House keep moving the bar, and like the frog in a slowly heating pot of water the public doesn't realize they need to change this environment before it's too late.

[AlwaysQuestion]

19. Appreciated your response

"The criminals in this White House keep moving the bar, and like the frog in a slowly heating pot of water the public doesn't realize they need to change this environment before it's too late."

Yes, I never thought of it that way--good analogy.

You're also right about undue emotionalism getting in the way of effective communications. Sometimes--remember, the operative word is sometimes--I come off as a raving lunatic--which in terms of effecting change is counterproductive.

[jbfam4]

17. I share your feelings

Please send your thoughts into several big US newspapers.

[AlwaysQuestion]

20. Thanks

I should. Of course, I'll need to whittle it down by at least half. Okay, I'll work on it.

[buddha8]

15. follow the money

To my mind the investigation has to be framed so it is easily understood and reflects the thinking of popular spy novels by Clancy,etc.

One of the things that broke open the Nixon scandal was the Slush Fund. They need to find where the Bush Slush Fund is, what its source is, how many millions or billions are involved and how many players are on the payroll. Think about it. Very few talk about Bush from the inside. So many operators were involved in the 9/11 Norad stand down thru the Cheney Energy meetings, the runup to the war, Interlligence Fixing, the Control of the Voter count,etc. It would be very easy to reach the public if finally the aw-shucks cowboy were exposed as a mafia boss who simply controls a huge slush fund to buy the silence of all his assorted lieutenants. Everyone should encourage any remaining journalists to uncover the fund and follow its trail. Once found, the game is off, the public relates immediately and bush is exposed as a crook, a classification that silly Americans with all their skewed and prissy morals finds much more reprehensible and much more understandle than 'war criminal'. War criminal is too much of a leap for them to bend their minds around it. Common,garden variety thief and crook is what they got Nixon on.

[samsingh]

18. many have shown themselves to be pretty dumb

about 35% of the public are beyond hope.

[IggleDoer]

21. You can bet President Rove tried

Didn't Rove try to warn Dan Rather that the National Guard Documents that he sent were only copies? And how he tried to tell the Swift Boat Vets not to publish their book. He probably tried to tell the RNC not to distribute Purple Heart Band-Aids to the Convention for fear it might offend vets.