September 4, 2004

THE POINT WAS THAT IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN...AND AGAIN....AND AGAIN...:

Bush: Long To Reign Over US: the ‘dirty-tricks’ campaign against Kerry ensures Bush dynasty will go on (Iain Macwhirter, 9/05/04, Sunday Herald)

American liberalism faced the possibility of defeat last week. The forward march of John Kerry has been halted by a cynical and mendacious campaign against his war record and by the asinine populism of George W Bush. Even before last week’s text-book Republican convention, Kerry’s lead in the opinion polls had been erased. It’s not over yet, but the world must now face up to the possibility of four more years of George W Bush.

You have to hand it to the Republican Party: when it comes to winning elections, nobody does it better. The New York Convention was a master-piece of misrepresentation; a character assassination of Kerry; a cynical marriage of folksiness and jingoism. In other words, mission accomplished.

Bush’s people certainly didn’t trouble themselves with nuance. There was no serious attempt to explain why 1000 American soldiers and 10,000 Iraqis had to die in a war that should never have happened. Never apologise; never explain. Republican speakers showed no hint of contrition for the absence of weapons of mass destruction, for the systematic torture and abuse in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay or for squandering America’s affection in the eyes of the world.

You might at least have hoped for a few won’t-happen-agains. But Bush just doesn’t do regret. In Madison Square Garden, truth itself was mangled to fit the perspectives of American neo-conservatism. “Saddam himself was a weapon of mass destruction,” said ex-New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, in a breath-taking exercise in double-think. Removing Saddam he said, was “a wonderful thing”.


Is Mr. McWhirter saying it's not a good thing and that he wasn't a mass murderer? Why do the Iraqis, Iranians, and Kuwaitis want to try him for crimes against humanity?

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 4, 2004 7:48 PM
Comments

It amazes me how all these commentators had no problem with all the charges thrown at Bush (liar, corrupt, deserter, Hitler, etc.), but when some Swift boat vets stand up and say, "Hey, Kerry isn't telling the truth," suddenly that becomes negative campaigning by Bush unlike any the world has even seen.

Oh, and from the same writer:

Gutter Press Serves Us Well: Iain Macwhirter argues that tabloid tales of political trysts are essential in a democracy

Posted by: PapayaSF at September 4, 2004 8:15 PM

Dammit guys! I have to buy a new monitor now, since I threw the old one against the wall when I read MacWhirter's line "America didnt want to see its potential leaders tearing lumps out of each other when theres a war on. The Democrats observed this unspoken rule and scrupulously avoided personal attacks. But the Republicans simply got their army boots on and waded in."

Yeah, how many times did you watch F-911, whose director sat in honor next to a former (gag) US President, ya putz? Dare I mention "He BETRAYED his country".... "lie after lie after lie"..."a war concocted in Texas"... "Afghanistan is about a pipeline"....."Bush knew (about 9/11)?? Well, it's an interesting theory"....

Jeez, the global press scares me. It's not even bothering with reality any more.

Posted by: Andrew X at September 4, 2004 9:32 PM

Nothing will be more fun in this election that to watch the foreign press and governments who assumed we couldn't possibly be so stupid as to reelect the President.

Posted by: David Cohen at September 4, 2004 10:26 PM

David:
My greatest fun will come when Tom Daschle gets the ax (hope, hope, hope) and watching Dan Rather and Peter Jennings report the landslide.

Posted by: jd watson at September 4, 2004 10:49 PM

Oh, yes indeed. The entertainment factor alone is reason enough to re-elect Bush. I'm gleefully anticipating the sound of gnashing teeth coming from across the Atlantic.

Posted by: MB at September 4, 2004 10:56 PM

I'm reminded of Dennis Miller's routine. Bush is Hitler, Sharon is Hitler, Blair is Hitler, everyone is Hitler except for the guy with a funny moustache who engages in genocide.

Life is too short to listen to the Brits of the chattering class.

Posted by: Bart at September 4, 2004 11:03 PM

I sent him an email asking which alternative universe he lives in. Then wrote, Oh, wait, you're European.

Posted by: Sandy P at September 5, 2004 12:53 AM

May the miniscule Mac rot in his own manure.

Posted by: Genecis at September 5, 2004 6:07 PM
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