I watched McCain and Giuliani last night. What a bunch of nonsense.
McCain was not nearly as bad as Giuliani, though I was disappointed in him for continually talking about the war in Iraq and 9/11 in the same breath, as if the two had some connection. I think that is a very deceitful and manipulative tactic that George Bush and his administration have been utilizing since they started promoting and pursuing war with Iraq. The war against terrorism is NOT the war in Iraq. And I am tired of hearing these blowhards insist or insinuate that it is. At the same time, he talked about how war and democracy conflict and we have to deal with that disparity. How about not waging a costly war in the so-called interest of democracy, and trying to accomplish your goals democratically instead. Fighting for peace truly is like fucking for chastity.
McCain and Giuliani both made the statement "George Bush told the terrorists that they would hear from us. And they have." The terrorists heard from us loud and clear. I'm sure they laughed as they watched us invade Iraq, knowing that we were digging our own grave. They heard that we are lead by a corrupt government that will attack Iraq under the guise of a war on terrorism, pretending that they are the same thing, which bodes well for terrorists, as George Bush has given them the perfect recruiting pitch. (I truly believe that if terrorists could vote, they'd vote for Bush, just to keep the fire burning). Other people heard too. People who weren't terrorists, but felt compelled to join the jihad once they saw how corrupt the American government can really be. They heard from us. They heard, and then they turned around and picked up a weapon and came out to fight the American troops. A lot of innocent people have heard from us too. Families who didn't deserve to lose their loved ones in this badly planned war. Soldiers who don't know what they're fighting for or don't think it's worth it. The whole world heard from us when we found out about the atrocities being committed at Abu Ghraib. Not only did they hear about our hypocricy and lack of integrity, but they also heard when our president brushed the abuse aside. They heard when it was revealed that our government condoned that type of abuse by allowing Rumsfeld to stay in office and patting him on the back rather than forcing him to resign, and they heard the revelations of torture memos and legal briefs promoting and attempting to justify violation of the Geneva Conventions.
McCain told us: "President Bush made the difficult decision to liberate Iraq." First of all, the liberation cause was mentioned only twice last night - once in McCain's speech and once in Giuliani's - before they quickly went back to talking about [elusive or non existent] weapons of mass destruction and jumbling all the issues and facts together so that the American people can't figure out what the hell our reason was for going to war, nor focus long enough on the discrepancies in the way the big picture is being drawn out to realize that they are being taken for a fucking ride. Furthermore, the decision to "liberate Iraq" didn't seem too difficult for Bush. According to members of his administration who have since criticized Bush, not only was it not a difficult decision for him, invading Iraq was on his agenda from day one, long before 9/11 ever took place. Remember how the whole "Operation Iraqi Freedom" phrase only popped up on Fox News AFTER the attacks on Baghdad were well under way? Reasons for the Iraqi war became a free-for-all: whatever you can come up with to defend this crooked war, take it and run with it. Meanwhile, Bush has used the tragedy of 9/11 to the fullest political advantage.
The testimony of the 9/11 widows was one of the most blatant manipulations. Of course, they did not have any of the widows or families speaking who don't support the war or George Bush, though their numbers are many. Once again, exploiting the death and tragedy. Just as he did in photo ops at the WTC and in ads depicting tragic footage of the attacks. I found this deeply appalling.
When Mayor Giuliani took the stage, I cringed the moment he opened his mouth. He is an arrogant jackal, pumping his NY fist and thinking that his status as "Mayor of America" entitles him to act like a pompous ass. He thinks he's funny, but he's not. That might be the most painful part, if not for how long and fucking boring his speech was. What was he talking about again? Certainly not anything that mattered. He told a whole bunch of pointless little stories, which he thought were far more entertaining than they really were, and somehow tried to connect to his inflation of George Bush's valor and leadership. "George Bush got up on that pile of rubble with me..." Any president would have done what George Bush did on 9/11. Stood up there and pleged his conviction to find out who had done this and bring them to justice. I don't see how any of it makes him a hero or proves him to be a good leader. He did what any American President would do. If these people were such great leaders and heros, perhaps they would have paid attention to the flood of intelligence and all the red flags that could have clued us in to this impending disaster. Perhaps they could have done something. Something other than standing on the rubble and flexing machismo and basking in glory, for what, I don't know. They called Giuliani "the mayor who saved NY." He didn't save anything. Thousands died. He's a talking head. After the proclamation that we would find our attackers and bring them to justice, it was all downhill as Bush focused a minimal amount of energy on going after the Taliban in Afghanistan to create the appearance that we were trying to catch Osama Bin Ladin, before all but abandoning that objective to pursue his war against the guy who tried to kill his daddy (and who presided over the most oil rich country in the middle east), squandering every bit of good will that had been garnered as a result of 9/11 with his hasty and badly orchestrated decision to invade Iraq. The whole thing absolutely stinks to high heaven. And Rudy has the nerve to tell us "either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists!" That statement really betrays total ignorance and a complete lack of understanding as to what it is that most democrats object to about Bush's strategy.
Of course, Giuliani didn't hesitate to tell us that on 9/11, as he watched burning bodies fall from the windows of the WTC, he grabbed Bernard Kerik, that corrupt bastard, and exclaimed "thank GOD that George Bush is our president!" (This was one of the many references to God, Christianity, and the Old Testament that were made during last night's speaches). Thank God George Bush is our president? Why? Did God help him steal the election? No. That was Katherine Harris and the U.S. Supreme Court... Did God put him here to start wars and sit around at his ranch in Crawford while terrorists freely plan and carry out attacks on our soil? Thank God that he ignored that August 6 memo? Thank God that he took 9/11 as the perfect opportunity to spin his flimsy case against Iraq? Thank God that he belittled and disregarded our allies and squandered their support? Thank God that he abandoned the real needs of America and the real war against terror to pursue an exorbitant war for oil, power, political gain and profit? Thank God for what, Rudy?
All in all, the speakers last night conveyed a real air of defensiveness, resorted heavily to ridicule and revealed their one track platform, showing us just how little George Bush has to run on and how deadset republicans are, not to be questioned, and to avoid addressing any of the many concerns of the American people outside of this heartstring tugging charade designed to prod people into reacting and voting based on emotions and anger rather than rational solutions. I found it to be very negative, and not enough said about what we are going to do, how we are going to improve both domestically and in Iraq and what kind of positive future we can look forward to in this country, other than the promise of an indefinitely drawn out war and ever present climate of fear.
note: this entry has been revised as my wheels have kept turning...
Posted by Maria at August 31, 2004 10:19 AM | TrackBackOnce again Maria, your writing inspires and infuriates.
One thing though, that I think you don't touch upon enough is the 9-11 and Iraq connection. I don't think any of us who are against the Administrations agenda really focus on.
If you recall, we speifically invaded Iraq because of the "overwhelming evidence of WMD's." We invaded Iraq because of Saddamms unwillingness to turn over these WMD's that we had "undeniable evidence" if their existance. Colin Powell stood there and said we have actual pictures of these massive stockpiles of WMD's. That is why we invaded. Never once did Bush or anyone else say "we are invading Iraq because of 9-11 or terrorism." Only after the fact, only after we invaded and didn't find anything substantial, did the Administartion change their tune. They said this was a war on terro and than Saddam was linked to 9-11.
I find that fact very interesting in that:
a) If Bush had it on his agenda even before he took office - BEFORE 9-11, then it seems to me the real flip-flopper here is Bush - fli-flopping hsi reason why he invaded.
b) No WMD's. But yet all this talk about "undeniable evidence" yet nothing found. So now they change their story of "undeniable evidence" that Iraq was linked to 9-11. Where is it?
c) Me, personally, had Bush said before he invaded Iraq - We are going in to rid the world of Saddma. I would have supported it. Regardless of the underlying agenda that it is really for oil, I would have supported the main reason to overthrow Saddam. There is nothing wrong with pre-emptive strikes for the right reasons. But since Bush misled us based on shakey evidence and than stood there telling us it was undeniable, then waffled on it until he had no more syrup, THEN changes his story that it was linked to 9-11 but he still thinks he did everything right THEN tells us he thinks he "miscalculated."
That is another thing that just bothers me. Miscalculated. How would you feel if you sent a loved one overseas with no idea of when they were to come back. Months down the line, you are notifed that your loved one was killed. The person who sent them there then tells you "well, maybe I miscalculated." That is spoken like a true bean counter with no compassion for the human factor. I am sorry, but you don't "miscalculate" going to war, planning for war, and ultimately, planning the victory. Why are not more of the GOP supporters up in arms about this? They claim to be the more level headed and more educated voters. Why is it OK for BushCo to "miscalculate" going to war and not have NAY reprecussions, but yet we can impeach a president for lying having extramarital affairs? (Yet, it is ok for Guliani to do so, and ok for Ahnold to be a groper - rember, the GOP is the "family values" and "higher moral standards" party).
Please tell us "gordon"/geoff, mad mikey, etc. Why is it ok for Bush to have "miscalculated" a war and further more, noe that he acknoledges such, what is he going to do to fix it?
Sidenote - I really hate that the dems are not focusing on what I taled about and more on that silly statement Bush made about "not winning the war on terror." I heard it and it is obvious he didn;t say that. He really did mean it in the contect liek it was a war on drugs. All you can really do is keep fighting. But it brings me back to the beginning that he should have never said "We can win the war on terror." Conme on dems and inds - lets focus on this pigs blatent lies about the Iraq war, not the petty shit like the GOP does.
Posted by: nunya at August 31, 2004 12:39 PMDid God help him steal the election? No. That was Katherine Harris and the U.S. Supreme Court
I know this is an excercise in futility, but can you find some proof that the numerous re-counts after the election showed Gore won? I doubt you will.
You gotta let this go. When President Bush is re-elected in November, I fear that most of the people that insist that the election was 'stolen' will have heart attacks or choke on their own bile.
Posted by: Mad Mikey at August 31, 2004 02:51 PMMikey, I get the feeling you don't quite understand what happened in the 2000 election.
Let's watch a little presentation.
It wasn't just the fact that the recount was halted by the Supreme Court, but also the tactics that were used to prevent many people from voting. Or did you miss that little piece of history? Scarier yet, is the fact that they are trying to suppress voters AGAIN during this election! If it comes down to another Florida debacle, you can bet I'll be screaming. I'm sure Jeb would do anything possible or necessary to keep his brother in office for four more years.
Posted by: Maria at August 31, 2004 03:03 PMI find it funny that Geoff and his little cohorts (including Mad Mikey) are so adament about how the courts should not be involved in decided sam sex marriage (Geoff is a big opponent of court involvement in state affairs) but yet you don't see them condemning the supreme court OEVERTURNING what the state of Florida wanted to begin with? Hmm? Hows that song and dance go again, neocons? Talk about waffling and flip flopping....
Posted by: Nunya at August 31, 2004 03:41 PM"note: this entry has been revised as my wheels have kept turning..."
Is that what you backpedaling these days?
Posted by: Gordon at August 31, 2004 06:59 PMHanoi John voted for the war in Iraq. He also voted not to fund it.
Posted by: Geoffrey at August 31, 2004 08:00 PMjust like bush said we cannot win the war on terror one day than the very next day he said we could win it...double standards, buttwipe, double standards.
Posted by: nunya at August 31, 2004 09:10 PM"Is that what you backpedaling these days?"
No, it's called editing, as I find things that I think need changing or moving around or adding or subtracting. If you knew anything about writing as your sole form of artistic and human expression, you would know how common that practice is, *cough* shitforbrains *cough*.
Posted by: Maria at September 1, 2004 12:03 AMI think you have to be here to truly appreciate the level of graft that is the hallmark of politics in Florida. Its at every level of government and is bipartisan to boot. Thanx for that vid link, Maria...and kudos for the terrific post.
Posted by: cul at September 1, 2004 09:12 AMI think the title would make a better blog name for you than By Beauty Damned.
Bad-a-bing!
Posted by: Gordon the Magnificent at September 1, 2004 09:59 AMUsing it in the same context as you have, I mean.
Posted by: Gordon at September 1, 2004 11:58 AMHanoi John voted for the war in Iraq. He also voted not to fund it.
See this is the level of stupidity that has been a hallmark of the right throughout this whole election cycle. It is quite plausible to have granted Bush the benefit of the doubt about the desire to go to war given the climate and data Kerry was privy to immediately post 9/11 and given the way that the Bush administration was loathe to give out any details to anyone including congress claiming national security concerns. Once the data became clearer however and its veracity began to surface that it was all a bunch of hooey, it made perfect sense for a member of the loyal opposition to vote against funding the war in order to try to stop it. So there is no flip flop, no desire to hurt the troops, no anti-American sentiments on Kerry's part. But that won't stop the superficial and out of context concatenation of the two votes by Republicans to abuse Kerry. Its a completely artifical and transparent construction so weak that it requires hundreds of repeats to make sound true. And that's the technique of the whole Bush campaign...say it enough times and voila, its true.
Intellectual weaklings, I say.
Posted by: cul at September 2, 2004 12:12 AM
AMEN, Cul. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the republican party has hit a new low with the smears and aggressive repetion of baseless accusations in this campaign. I pity the fool who fails to see through it.
Posted by: Maria at September 2, 2004 11:25 AMThat is a psychological tactic - repeat something to someone enough times, then they will start to beleive it as truth. That really does show us the depths of how low the GOP has stooped to take power in this country. All for money.
Posted by: nunya at September 2, 2004 01:02 PMThe scariest part of the technique is that the liars begin to believe their own lies.
Posted by: cul at September 2, 2004 04:56 PM"it made perfect sense for a member of the loyal opposition to vote against funding the war in order to try to stop it."
Of course that's a flip flop considering he voted FOR it, then against it. You need to lay off the Boone's Farm Cul.
Hmmmmmm.
I voted for the war then voted against it so we wouldn't actually go to war.
Yep, that's a flip flop.
Posted by: at September 2, 2004 05:40 PM"The scariest part of the technique is that the liars begin to believe their own lies."
You two seem to have a keen insight on this.
Posted by: Gordon at September 2, 2004 05:41 PMYou are the posterboy Gordon. Just decide what you WANT the truth to be, insist that it IS the truth, and in your own mind, you make it true. It's truly the work of a disturbed psyche.
Posted by: Maria at September 2, 2004 07:57 PMAgain, you seem to know the topic well.
Posted by: Gordon at September 2, 2004 11:40 PM