Genius
I've been lambasted by some of my liberal friends for referring to the genius of Karl Rove and the neoconservatives who have taken control of the Republican party and our nation.
There is, however, a kind of political genius in the way the party is being run these days, and the problem is confusing "genius" with "good". The stereotypical "evil genius" of bad science fiction movies is still a genius, even if that genius is put to evil ends.
I never cease to be amazed at the extent of their subtle and devious politicking. The main tenet of it is so simple and yet, when executed in lock step precision, devastatingly effective: repeat something often enough and most of the public will believe it, even if it is blatent falsehood.
But it's the amazing variety of ways in which they are able to further their message even when the talking point has been proven false that astounds me.
Case in point, I read Ken Mehlman's e-mails from GOP.com (I also read the ones from MoveOn.org) because I think it's important to see what both sides are saying. And clearly both sides play politics. But the sheer audacity in today's message, preceding several lies with "The Democrats are out lying about this, but we know the truth..." and then telling a blatent lie. It's the utter completeness with which he throws himself into repeating false talking points. He lies not only to the public but to his own people without a trace of skepticism or apology, which makes it all the more effective.
Democrats will have a hard time winning elections (even assuming they're fair) if they can't settle on a consistent message, which is a shame. I hate to advocate lying in our political leaders, because it gets us leaders who are already prone to corruption, but what else can we do? We need to return to the days when the three branches of government acted as checks on each other's power, not as one big unified corruption machine.
And so, if I can't have what I would most like, a world in which our political battles were waged cleanly and with the truth, then I have to hope for the next best thing, which is for BOTH sides to be equally unscrupulous, so they retain equal footing and continue to act as checks and balance on each other, battling each other so that neither side can really do any damage to the citizens they're supposedly there to represent.
I would seriously consider running for Congress in order to try to clean up the system, but the fact is in order to do that, I'd have to run a clean campaign, and if I did THAT, I'd be slaughtered by both sides.
So work on campaign finance reform and lobbying reform and any other reform you can think of, but until we get it right to the point that corruption is no longer tolerated, pray that the Democrats learn to be just as underhanded as the current Republicans (and no more so), and let us get back to the safe, properly checked and balanced government we so badly need.
Liam.
P.S. Sorry for the long and rambling thoughts. Some nights, I lie awake in an emotional cold sweat, seeing the extent to which checks and balances have broken down and the damaging direction our country is going in, and I just have to write until I feel at least a little bit better.
posted by Liam at 1/27/2006 12:28:00 AM
4 Comments:
And please, those of you who continue to call me a screaming liberal, read what I said and not what you want me to have said.
I'm not advocating Democrats taking power. I'm advocating an even split of power between the parties. I always have. You think me liberal because right now I'm rooting for the Democrats, but it's only to bring the see-saw back into balance, not to reverse the fortunes of government.
Liam.
Friday, January 27, 2006 12:50:00 AM
I looked, but I couldn't find the "The Democrats are out lying about this, but we know the truth" email you were talking about. Could you provide a link?
Monday, January 30, 2006 4:13:00 PM
I paraphrased, because I didn't want to get into the specific points, but here's the text of the e-mail:
The President's most solemn duty under our Constitution is to protect the American people. In the four years since we were attacked, this President has made a commitment to take this war directly to the enemy, and to use all the tools at his disposal to keep America safe. A critical element in this strategy is the terrorist surveillance program that the President authorized shortly after September 11th.
This week, President Bush discussed this vital program in remarks at Kansas State University and the National Security Agency. The President's remarks addressed the critics and debunked the falsehoods and distortions. The terrorist surveillance program monitors al Qaeda terrorists and affiliates making phone calls into or from the United States - precisely the type of communication that preceded the 9/11 attacks. This is not "domestic spying" on ordinary Americans arranging Little League practices or pot luck dinners. It's a tool that even FDR used in fighting World War II.
With Democrats deliberately distorting the truth about these efforts to stop attacks before they occur, will you help separate fact from fiction by writing a letter to the editor, calling talk radio, or calling your elected officals about this vital program?
After September 11th, we heard so often that our government failed to connect the dots. So, the President signed the Patriot Act, which had been passed overwhelmingly by Congress. He took appropriate action to connect the dots. He reformed the government bureaucracy, enabling it to fight a different kind of war.
Now, the Patriot Act is up for renewal. How do Democrats respond? They play politics, brag about "killing" the Patriot Act (video here), and accuse the President of breaking the law and violating civil rights. These are not the actions of a party that can be trusted to safeguard our national security.
The President is committed to fighting this war and will not let our nation let its guard down. Take action now and let your fellow Americans know that you won't either.
Sincerely,
Ken Mehlman
Chairman, Republican National Committee
On its face, no more odious than anything else that's been slung about lately.
It asserts as true things which are simply not true, however. Constitutional scholar after Constitutional scholar have come out and said that this spying program is illegal.
The Administration asserts that maybe if we'd had a program like this in place before 9/11, we would have managed to stop the attacks, BUT... in hindsight there's plenty of evidence we already HAD the information that the attacks were coming, and we ignored it.
Recently it was revealed that in all of the "surveillance", it was sometimes "difficult to determine" which calls were international in nature and which were entirely internal, meaning some entirely domestic phone calls WERE tapped. It also came out that virtually every tapped call led to innocent Americans. So these supposed terrorist affiliated phone numbers which were being tapped were, in fact, not terrorist affiliated at all.
The FISA law requires warrants for these sorts of "surveillance" activities, but the FISA secret court has only rejected 6 requests for authority to tap in its entire existence, and it allows for a 72 hour grace period to retroactively request authorization, in cases where the time it would take to get authorization would unduly hamper national security. This was set up this way specifically to ensure that there was oversight of civil liberties while not hampering cases vital to national security.
The Democratic party is not without its problems, but in this case, they are standing up for the Constitutional rights of American citizens.
When Mehlman says "With Democrats deliberately distorting the truth about these efforts to stop attacks before they occur", he is saying that the Democrats are out lying about this, and then he spouts a batch of stuff that has been proven false.
The fact is, the President did not have the authority to do this, several Congress people of both houses have come out to say they explicitly and expressly did NOT give the President the powers he claims, that the White House expressly requested them and Congress expressly did not include them in the declaration after 9/11.
And on the particular morning I read that e-mail, I was just floored by the extent to which Mr. Mehlman would repeat false talking points, all the while accusing Democrats (whose own talking points on this particular issue are closer to the truth) of being the liars.
Liam.
Monday, January 30, 2006 5:15:00 PM
This didn't fit well into my last comment, so let me add this here:
"The President has made a commitment to take this war directly to the enemy..."
Yeah, right. Then why are Osama bin Ladin and Ayman al-Zawahri among the living? Why did we pull so many of our resources out of the hunt for them and other members of al Qaeda and take them on a foolhardy mission into a country which had NOTHING to do with the attacks of 9/11, was no more of a threat to us than North Korea and several other nations, and has turned (with our help) into a breeding ground for the next generation of terrorist recruitment?
But, of course, this is the war President, protecting us from the bogeyman.
Liam.
Monday, January 30, 2006 5:19:00 PM
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