What's Happening?
I'm still trying to come to grips with the election. I don't know if anyone will even read this, but at least it will help me organize my thoughts on the matter. If anyone does read it, maybe we can discuss what's going in the US and try to understand and figure out what we're going to do about it. I'm still pretty emotional. In fact, I wept the night of the election. I will do my best to stay rational and back everything up with facts and references, but please forgive me the occasional lapse and the occasional assertion it takes me a while to find a reference for. If anyone does read this, don't let me get away with those things, just be understanding and remind me of my promise.
President Bush, and roughly half the country, seem to be allergic to facts. A survey in the months before the election by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) shows that more than 70% of Bush supporters believe the Iraq had WMD or a major program for making them. Not only that, they believe the Duelfer report indicated the same. However, roughly 60% of the same Bush supporters believe that there was no justification for the war if Iraq had no weapons nor any connection to al Qaeda. For the complete results, press release, etc. go here.
To me, this means an awful lot of people voted for Bush based on a lie. The PIPA study I'm talking about also indicates that supporters of both Bush and Kerry perceive the President as saying that Iraq had ties to al Qaeda and WMD. We saw it in the Vice Presidential debate. Cheney implied very strongly that there was an al Qaeda-Iraq connection. He never actually said it, but he implied it.
Bush is the most Orwellian President in my lifetime, if not in history. His method of arguing is to repeatedly state his claim, even when the debate is about something factual like the consequences of the Doublespeak entitled "No Child Left Behind Act" or even his own record. While I hate to cite propaganda, the Democratic National Committee has a web ad that details many of Bush's Big Brother-style about-faces. Of particular horror is the quote they attribute to Bush on August 30, 2004 saying of the war on terror: "I don't think you can win it." Followed by a quote on August 31, 2004, "We are winning and we will win." I feel like I saw the first quote on television, though perhaps it was the Daily Show. I'll try to find a better reference for that.
I blame the news media for all of this. When I was growing up, I watched journalists mercilessly press politicians in interviews. When someone lied, dodged the question, or otherwise evaded, the journalists, smelling blood, pressed the attack. With Bush/Cheney, there's been so much blood in the water that every news shark in the world should be showing up for the feeding frenzy. Instead, the tough questions are casually dismissed, when they are even asked at all. And I continue to weep...
President Bush, and roughly half the country, seem to be allergic to facts. A survey in the months before the election by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) shows that more than 70% of Bush supporters believe the Iraq had WMD or a major program for making them. Not only that, they believe the Duelfer report indicated the same. However, roughly 60% of the same Bush supporters believe that there was no justification for the war if Iraq had no weapons nor any connection to al Qaeda. For the complete results, press release, etc. go here.
To me, this means an awful lot of people voted for Bush based on a lie. The PIPA study I'm talking about also indicates that supporters of both Bush and Kerry perceive the President as saying that Iraq had ties to al Qaeda and WMD. We saw it in the Vice Presidential debate. Cheney implied very strongly that there was an al Qaeda-Iraq connection. He never actually said it, but he implied it.
Bush is the most Orwellian President in my lifetime, if not in history. His method of arguing is to repeatedly state his claim, even when the debate is about something factual like the consequences of the Doublespeak entitled "No Child Left Behind Act" or even his own record. While I hate to cite propaganda, the Democratic National Committee has a web ad that details many of Bush's Big Brother-style about-faces. Of particular horror is the quote they attribute to Bush on August 30, 2004 saying of the war on terror: "I don't think you can win it." Followed by a quote on August 31, 2004, "We are winning and we will win." I feel like I saw the first quote on television, though perhaps it was the Daily Show. I'll try to find a better reference for that.
I blame the news media for all of this. When I was growing up, I watched journalists mercilessly press politicians in interviews. When someone lied, dodged the question, or otherwise evaded, the journalists, smelling blood, pressed the attack. With Bush/Cheney, there's been so much blood in the water that every news shark in the world should be showing up for the feeding frenzy. Instead, the tough questions are casually dismissed, when they are even asked at all. And I continue to weep...
posted by PuzzledPatriot at 11/07/2004 01:38:00 PM
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