Keith, I wanted to forward my letter to Dana Milbank to you, since it was on your show that he made the comments that prompted me to write. Sorry for being such a windbag, but I think one of the worst tendencies of journalist commentary these days is the unquestioned storyline called “conventional wisdom”.One of the things that makes your show stand out from the rest is your ability to cut through the crap, with humor and insight. Please keep up the great work. You have many fans, and I am spreading the word about you to friends who don’t watch any “news” shows, but rather have moved on to internet news sources. Your show, along with Jon Stewart and c-span, are all that keep me from cancelling cable. Thanks for that!
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Dana,
I have read many of your articles and have found them on the whole to be very professional and well crafted. Whenever I see your byline in WP I make a point to check it out. So it was with some disappointment to see you on Olberman spreading the tired and increasingly outmoded “conventional wisdom” that Kerry supporters are merely ABBers, and lukewarm pro-Kerry at best. I write not to castigate you for this, but to share my thoughts on why this is an evolving situation. Please let me share with you my experience with this phenomenon.
It is true that in the primary period, many were so focused on their personal favorite candidate and did not know many details of john Kerry’s life story and record. It was not until around the time of the Dem convention that ANY biographical coverage was given, and the cable media in particular failed in providing any deep coverage of this, as usual. By then the Swift boat slime patrol was out in force, and the months of Bush/Rove smear money had taken it’s toll. Kerry’s Senatorial drone did not help matters either. Contrast that with the cult-like adulation and messianic attachment that the right showers upon Bush, and it looks like weak support, indeed. They do not get excited as one would for “a rock star” as you said, but something far more worshipful — indeed, for many of Bush’s base see him as literally sent by God and doing His work. Literally. Seriously.
Believe me; as a native Texan familiar with evangelical culture, I recognize the symptoms of Theocratic Nationalism, and it is a bit frightening when rational thought is replaced by fear and hate. We do not need a crusade of oil and blood that will last for generations, as they describe, nor the Apocalyptic End game that so many evangelicals pray for...
BUT, on to the process of discovering the potential of John Kerry.
I have followed Senator Kerry’s career a bit, being a freelance artist working at the computer, with c-span on most of the day. So I was aware of his investigatory roles in BCCI and exposure of Iran/Contra. This made me somewhat of a fan early. I also watched much of the POW hearings and the move toward reconciliation with Vietnam. Again, my admiration grew, and grading on a “politician’s curve” I would rank him up high along with the likes of Wellstone, Henry Gonzalez, etc.
So the Bush smears were of some concern to me, and I felt somewhat frustrated by the fact that his story was not given any airplay leading up to the convention. Around this time, c-span aired an old tape of Kerry vs. O’neill on the Dick Cavett show. I was stunned, as I realized I had first seen Kerry as a teenager of about 13. I remembered how proud I was of soldiers who came back to take on the government that had sent them to kill and die for ideological reasons with dubious justification. All the while using the war for power and profit. I knew he was one of a group of heroes who might save my younger age group from having to suffer through what they had suffered.
This prompted me to read Brinkley’s “Tour of Duty” and by that time I was TOTALLY sold on John Kerry.
As I went through this process and shared with various friends and web forum colleagues, I saw that it was only lack of information that was causing his tepid support. As he was improving his speaking skills, like a ball player early in the season, his base of strong support was slowly learning about a lifetime of amazing achievement and character. I saw “strong military” types admiring his service and support of Veterans, the Dean and Kucinich supporters admiring his anti-war activism, and so on. I saw the same light go off in peoples’ heads, as it did mine, when the magnitude of a life of service revealed to them just what an historical opportunity we had before us with Kerry as president. A Kennedy without the philandering, a Lincoln without the depression. And surely better secret service protection. Someone who has vision, and can fight smart and heal wounds at the same time.
Rest assured, we will never worship Kerry as the right worships their strong macho warlord. After all, democrats are much more prone to argue amongst themselves than fall in step with any leader. This is simultaneously a strength and a weakness. But in John Kerry we have a leader that more and more of us would be willing to stand up to the fiercest attacks by macho, bullying Rovian thugs, to fight for justice when (not if) the right wants to deny the legitimacy of our votes. And then, to stand together and heal the wounds caused by the belligerent attitudes raised with our rush to war in Iraq. Gone will be the crackdown on dissent, the free speech zones, the “watch what you say” clampdown. Instead we will be moving toward an energy independence, an emphasis on new technologies and scientific progress rather than stumbling toward a new dark age, where ideology trumps enquiry.
If it were not for a compliant press sucking up to the current administration, and the assigning of such Bush lackeys as Candy Crowley, Nedra Pickler, Carl Cameron (for god’s sake!) and others to “cover” Kerry on the campaign trail, the growing momentum of the large receptive crowds would be widespread knowledge. Because of this, it will be a closer election than what would have been, and therefore a much more contentious election process that will surely leave deep scars. I pray that reason and justice will prevail. And I hope that you will come down on the side of truth, and put your skills to the task of saving your country from a growing trend toward Empire.
I will still be looking for your articles. Please know that you have people out here who appreciate good work!
Sincerely,
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