September 24, 2004
SPADE:
Tying Kerry to Terror Tests Rhetorical Limits (Dana Milbank, September 24, 2004, Washington Post)
President Bush and leading Republicans are increasingly charging that Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry and others in his party are giving comfort to terrorists and undermining the war in Iraq -- a line of attack that tests the conventional bounds of political rhetoric.Appearing in the Rose Garden yesterday with Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, Bush said Kerry's statements about Iraq "can embolden an enemy." After Kerry criticized Allawi's speech to Congress, Vice President Cheney tore into the Democratic nominee, calling him "destructive" to the effort in Iraq and the struggle against terrorism.
It was the latest instance in which prominent Republicans have said that Democrats are helping the enemy or that al Qaeda, Iraqi insurgents and other enemies of the United States are backing Kerry and the Democrats. Such accusations are not new to American politics, but the GOP's line of attack this year has been pervasive and high-level.
And accurate, as attested to by this outrageous, ally-subverting, comment by Joe Lockhart, about Ayad Allawi: "The last thing you want to be seen as is a puppet of the United States, and you can almost see the hand underneath the shirt today moving the lips." So Mr. Kerry's top aide set out to do the very thing which he himself said was the last thing anyone would want to have happen. What is that if not working against our interests? or not sharing our interests? Posted by Orrin Judd at September 24, 2004 11:50 AM
Mr. Judd;
I liked the "whatever the merits" bit at the end, showing that your concern about accuracy is irrelevant to Old Media. Millbank never ponders the question "if a candidate was encouraging America's enemies, what should the other candidate say about it?".
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at September 24, 2004 1:14 PMAll of these Kerry and surrogate statements are just evidence that Kerry has written Iraq off.
He doesn't need Allawi because he's going to cut and run at the first opportunity.
Posted by: H.D. Miller at September 24, 2004 1:24 PMMaybe Joe is going to get fired for his part in the Rathergate fiasco, and is getting off as many shots as possible before he goes? Probably not.
And didn't Mr. Allawi himself point out the same thing that is so outrageous coming from Bush and Cheney? Of course, he IS a hand-puppet, after all...
Posted by: brian at September 24, 2004 2:13 PMMr Kerry if he wins the election is going to find out in a big hurry after ripping on our allies and Allawi.............
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ALL BY YOURSELF IN THE SANDBOX WHEN YOU DON'T PLAY NICE WITH OTHERS!!!
The sad thing is the boys and girls overseas will take the brunt of it when Kerry's finds his so called "Allies of the bought for" decide to take their balls and go home!!
Kerry's line of attack will endup hurting us in the longrun no matter who wins this election!!
THE MAN HAS NO SHAME!!