An Un-American Way to Cam(paign): NY Times OP ED

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/25/opinion/25sat1.html

An Un-American Way to Cam

Published: September 25, 2004

President Bush and his surrogates are taking their re-election campaign into dangerous territory. Mr. Bush is running as the man best equipped to keep America safe from terrorists - that was to be expected. We did not, however, anticipate that those on the Bush team would dare to argue that a vote for John Kerry would be a vote for Al Qaeda. Yet that is the message they are delivering - with a repetition that makes it clear this is an organized effort to paint the Democratic candidate as a friend to terrorists.

When Vice President Dick Cheney declared that electing Mr. Kerry would create a danger "that we'll get hit again," his supporters attributed that appalling language to a rhetorical slip. But Mr. Cheney is still delivering that message. Meanwhile, as Dana Milbank detailed so chillingly in The Washington Post yesterday, the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, said recently on television that Al Qaeda would do better under a Kerry presidency, and Senator Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has announced that the terrorists are going to do everything they can between now and November "to try and elect Kerry."

This is despicable politics. It's not just polarizing - it also undermines the efforts of the Justice Department and the Central Intelligence Agency to combat terrorists in America. Every time a member of the Bush administration suggests that Islamic extremists want to stage an attack before the election to sway the results in November, it causes patriotic Americans who do not intend to vote for the president to wonder whether the entire antiterrorism effort has been kidnapped and turned into part of the Bush re-election campaign. The people running the government clearly regard keeping Mr. Bush in office as more important than maintaining a united front on the most important threat to the nation.

Mr. Bush has not disassociated himself from any of this, and in his own campaign speeches he makes an argument that is equally divisive and undemocratic. The president has claimed, over and over, that criticism of the way his administration has conducted the war in Iraq and news stories that suggest the war is not going well endanger American troops and give aid and comfort to the enemy. This week, in his Rose Garden press conference with the interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, Mr. Bush was asked about Mr. Kerry's increasingly pointed remarks on Iraq. "You can embolden an enemy by sending mixed messages," he said, going on to suggest that Mr. Kerry's criticisms dispirit the Iraqi people and American soldiers.

I hope it resonates with some American voters. I'm starting to get ill with the whole thing.

He is the leader of MIHOP. Prove you didn't do it, Dick. After all, that's what you told Saddam he had to do--prove a negative.

Laura is including references to "terrorists" holding schools hostage, killing children in Russia and of course "9/11" (hubby Bush's luckiest break of a failed lifetime) as FEAR BUTTONS to push at every one of her speeches lately. American mothers need not fear, because Fearless George will keep American kids safe.

just my thought...

I thought exactly the opposite, they should underline what the GOP is doing, just like the NYT is doing here, many people don't realize it.

Why do you think they shouldn't address this?

It's about fucking time. See what's being done to CBS? You better take notice.

It would be alot more impressive if the NYTimes had published this in their SUNDAY edition instead of on Saturday.

I've noticed over time that they seem to have an unfortunate habit of doing this -- publishing some of their most critical denunciations of bushco on Saturdays, whereas if the same piece were published in the Sunday NY Times (to which people all over the country subscribe in hard copy), it would reach millions more readers.

Is it cowardice? Criticize, but not too loudly?

Anyway, it bugs me...

sw

Finally the editorial board stops trying to be politically correct and just tells the damn truth.

Too bad they published it on a Saturday.

"It reflects badly on the president's character that in this instance, he's putting his own ambition ahead of the national good."


From the sound of this, you'd think that they were just realizing it, despite the fact that he's done this his entire term.

to campaign this way, you are just showing how naive you are. There is at this point, literally nothing these guys could say or do that would surprise me.

“May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) | U.S. General, Republican Politician, President | Speech, May 31, 1954, New York City

When did dissent become a crime in this country?
That is the tone being set by George Bush, Dick Cheney and Republican leaders. This is the politics of fear–the mainstay of modern Republican campaigns. Because they’ve had four years with nothing to show, the party in power in resorting to tactics that set a dangerous precedent–attempting to affect the results of this election by spreading fear. Here’s what Republicans have said in recent days:
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“(Terrorists) “are going to throw everything they can between now and the election to try and elect Kerry.”
“(Democrats are) “consistently saying things that I think undermine our young men and women who are serving over there.”
Republican Senator Orrin G. Hatch
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“His words embolden the enemy.”
Republican candidate John Thune about his opponent, Senator Tom Daschle
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“That’s my opinion, yes.”
Republican Dennis Hastert when Asked if he believed al Qaeda would be more successful under a Kerry presidency
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(Terrorists in Iraq) “are trying to influence the election against President Bush.”
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage

These are the statements of dangerous men, who neither understand nor defend the constitution–chilling acts of desperation–from men who desecrate our Bill of Rights in the name of holding on to power. Not only are these statements false, they are a perversion of political discourse. Americans have fought and died defending the rights of every citizen to speak freely. And that is the ultimate hypocrisy of these Republican politicians.

We need leaders with courage, compassion and credibility.
We cannot afford four more years of censorship, fear and desperation.



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It is so sad to see what these guys are doing to freedom of speech - I didn't think things could get scarier than they were at the height of dissent over Vietnam, but I think in some way they have.

I just think people have very short memories, and some people only hear what they want to hear. Guys like Bush, Cheney, Hatch, Armitage think it's OK to take this gutter-dweller approach to politics. They're all about winning and screw the Constitution -- "that doesn't apply to us".

People need to be reminded that dissent is good, that this country was founded by dissenting voices, and that today's Republicans will say and do anything to maintain power, to maintain their cozy relationship with business, and they somehow think that average Americans like you and me don't really matter.

"prepared"!! I was freakin' Prepared..why weren't they?

How smart is that?..not to know the bushinc cabal by now?

Hastert is from my home state of Illinois. I wrote this LTTE to the Chicago Tribune but, alas, they didn't print it:

House majority leader Dennis Hastert warned that terrorists may try to influence the U.S. presidential elections like they did in Spain. His message is that voting against Bush in the wake of another terrorist attack on American soil would be a victory for al Qaeda. However, if there isn't another attack the Republicans will no doubt attribute it to the president's strong leadership in the war against terror.

Rather than fall for this obvious political spin, voters should examine Bush's actual record. He ignored repeated warnings before 9/11, failed to deploy enough troops to capture bin Laden or make Afghanistan secure, then committed our military to fighting a prolonged bloody insurgency in a country that neither attacked nor threatened us. Images of dead Iraqi civilians and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib are furthering the cause of Islamic extremism and recruiting the next generation of terrorists.

A president who boldly leads in the wrong direction is not a strong leader. He is just plain wrong, and doesn't deserve another four years regardless of what the terrorists do between now and November 2.

While I've been trying hard to take a positive pro-Kerry approach in my ads and flyers, I felt that the recent attacks by the Republicans essentially tying a Kerry victory to Al Queda attacks and the outrageous claim that Kerry's stance on Iraq "emboldens the enemy" cannot go unanswered. MSNBC and the New York Times have both highlighted these attacks in featured articles.

Here is my message (see http://bigpath.net/politics/Politics_of_Fear/PoliticsFearStart.html):

As the race for the White House and Congress tightens, the Republicans have reached a new low, subverting political debate and chipping away at every American’s right to free speech, fearful that they may indeed lose their tight grip on power.

Not only are the Republicans' statements false, they are a perversion of political discourse. Americans have fought and died defending the right of every citizen to speak freely. And that is the ultimate hypocrisy of the Republican comments concerning Iraq and the war on terror.

John Kerry and John Edwards offer courage, compassion and credibility. And they need a Democratic Congress to help them restore decency and honesty to our government.

We cannot afford four more years deception, censorship and fear. On November 2, the Choice is Clear.



The page(s) above, as well as others, is/are available as free, full-size, high-resolution JPEG or PDF downloads at http://www.bigpath.net. Please forward, print, post, handout or carrier-pigeon them to as many people as you can. If you'd like to be on my email list (alerts when there's new content or changes to the site): email to signup@bigpath.net.

I hope more voices say this. This tactic, along with the "banning bibles" nonsense, is scary, especially since it's not generating much outrage.

its absolutely insane!

The repugs play so dirty! If the dems were half as shrewd as the repugs they would be screeching to high heaven that 911 happened under the watchful eye of 'W' ...and while that is total horse-crap, that is EXACTLY what the repugs would be screeching if Gore had been president when 911 happened.

ug!

if Bush wins I am moving to canada.

Does anyone know how to start their own country?

Always was. Without al qaeda and 911, this illegitimate government would already be gone, on a sea of indictments and convictions.