WNDIAH (WIN-DEE-AH): A new Republican Brand!!

[Hailtothechimp]

I just saw Haley Barbour on Hannity and Colmes. Talk about nauseating.

Every chance he got, he mentioned that Mississippi had been hit by the Worst Natural Disaster In American History. An obvious talking point if I ever heard one. Kept repeating it, over and over and over.

I don't know how he judged that (or who gave him the authority to do so), but he apparently has no problems using a natural disaster for Republican gain.

These people are the worst.

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. Would you mind

expounding on why this bothers you so much. As far as I'm concerned, and in the minds of many, he is telling the truth about it being the worst. Just curious about your rant. :)

[Hailtothechimp]

2. Here's what bothered me about it....

First off, the self-aggrandizing title. Like when New York had the Storm of the Century a few winters ago. When you give it a capital letter-type title, it makes it sound like no one has ever experienced anything like it before. I'm not saying Katrina wasn't bad, and maybe even the worst hurricane in our lifetimes. But promoting it like no hurricane has ever come before it is overdoing it.

Secondly, many other people have been hurt by hurricanes. Every island in the Caribbean has been destroyed by one, it seems. But to put your hurricane (and I think he was trying to own the storm for some reason) ahead of all others almost belittles anyone else's suffering. Sure, Rita came through and caused damage to Texas, but it wasn't WNDIAH (Worst Natural Disaster in American History). So there.

And lastly, the way he kept saying it again and again was strange. The first time it sounded odd, the second time it sounded forced, and by the third time he said it I knew everytime he opened his mouth WNDIAH was coming out. And sure enough, it did. You don't repeat something that many times without trying to burn a message into people's brains. Did Rove write that term? Or Frank Luntz? Was it tested with right wing focus groups? How did this phrase see the light of day? Because Haley Barbour didn't just come up with it extemporaneously on live TV.

The term, which was more like a talking point, as I suggested before, seemed exaggerated, dismissive of all other hurricanes, and repeated to the point of being propaganda. And I don't know why a hurricane should be used in such a way.

[SharonAnn]

3. Because then we shouldn't expect that * would've been able to help

in any significant way because he isn't BPAH - Bee-Pah (the "Best President in American History").