https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.png00emptywheelhttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngemptywheel2005-06-24 14:59:002005-06-24 14:59:00Rove accuses Dems of shortchanging the military–then lies to shortchange our Veterans
Anonymous says:
to continue the Rove discussion, let me quote my buddy (well, I’m sure he’d like me if he ever met me) Krugman.
We need to deprive these people of their ability to mislead and intimidate. And the best way to do that is to make it clear that the people who led us to war on false pretenses have no credibility, and no right to lecture the rest of us about patriotism.
The good news is that the public seems ready to hear that message – readier than the media are to deliver it. Major media organizations still act as if only a small, left-wing fringe believes that we were misled into war, but that â€fringe†now comprises much if not most of the population.
In a Gallup poll taken in early April – that is, before the release of the Downing Street Memo – 50 percent of those polled agreed with the proposition that the administration â€deliberately misled the American public†about Iraq’s W.M.D. In a new Rasmussen poll, 49 percent said that Mr. Bush was more responsible for the war than Saddam Hussein, versus 44 percent who blamed Saddam.
Once the media catch up with the public, we’ll be able to start talking seriously about how to get out of Iraq.
Yo, Krugman. Right on.
Anonymous says:
Here’s my other buddy (whom I’ve never met), Froomkin:
Karl Rove didn’t get George W. Bush this far just by luck. Rove has a brilliant and so far unbeatable strategy when it comes to political warfare: He doesn’t defend his candidate’s weaknesses, he attacks his opponent’s strengths. Unapologetically.
Consider the 2004 campaign, when Rove was faced with a Vietnam problem. A war hero was running against his boss, who had opted to stay well out of harm’s way. Rather than defend, Rove attacked — and put John Kerry on the defensive.
Today, Democrats are uniting against the war and the public is increasingly worried and critical about Bush’s leadership. So what’s Rove doing? Rather than defend against their criticisms, Rove has decided to go for the jugular.
…
John Harwood ’s ’Washington Wire’ column in the Wall Street Journal sums it up this way: â€Republicans play security card amid political slide.â€
Rove attacks out of weakness to shift to a strength. We can document Rove’s failings, but they don’t matter. He is speaking for Bush, and what makes Rove vulnerable is what makes Bush vulnerable: Iraq. And 9/11 rhetotic will not help either one. So 9/11 is Bush’s strength? Not lately according to the polls. That’s because Bush said Iraq is a repsonse to 9/11. If they were connected, Bush failed. If they were not, Bush lied.
They are vulnerable. Rove’s crap will not work. It’s not election time, it’s reality time/reckoning time for the American public and they smell rotting red meat coming from the WH.
Anonymous says:
Which might support my explanation for Rove’s mouthiness.
The Plame inquiry MAY be about to move, if SCOTUS announces on Monday that they’re not taking Miller’s and Cooper’s appeal on First Amendment excemptions. If John Dean is right and Fitzgerald is now working on a perjury charge, it would not take long to put together an indictment once Miller and Cooper talk. Presumably, if SCOTUS is not going to hear the case, then Karl knows about it–along with whomever else might get stuck in a perjury charge, if it’s not Rove.
So Rove trains wavering Republicans and the press to accuse Durbin and liberals generally of being traitors, knowing full well he (or some other senior WH official) may be branded a traitor within a week.
Then of course, maybe SCOTUS is going to hear the appeal, in which case Rove et al get a several month reprieve.
Anonymous says:
whether it’s Plame or general Iraq fatigue, they’re doing it because they have to. But the things driving the need to mouth off are the things that will bring them down.
Let’s assume this is aimed only at R’s. The Bush game plan is keep the R’s at 90% and screw the rest of the country. But my sense from talking to frineds amd colleagues in the NY/CT area is that Rove stepped into a shitstorm bigger than he thought. Yeah, it was the plan, but it may hit him harder than anticipated. IOW, I don’t know that R’s will bite this time in numbers necessary to keep Bush over 40.
And the fact he’d think to do this is another chapter in the Worst. President. Ever. bio.
Anonymous says:
I liked this quote in the original post:
â€Bush administration policies and votes in the House and Senate suggest that the GOP does not view the care of veterans as ’a continuing cost of war.’â€
This is a theme to hit. Bush/Rove see the troops as pawns and forget about them when they come home. They never calculate, much less plan for, the â€costs of warâ€. They don’t really care about the troops except as props, like they don’t care about children once they are born.
Anonymous says:
The Plame inquiry may be ready to move? Only a year and 49 weeks since Novak’s column? Couldn’t we wait until Bush’s third term? I mean we got a war on terror to fight and these terrible Democratic distractions are undermining our troops.
Anonymous says:
A new Rasmussen poll, 49 percent said that Mr. Bush was more responsible for the war than Saddam Hussein, versus 44 percent who blamed Saddam.
Anybody remember a guy named Osama something?
Anonymous says:
Yea, I remember Osama quite well — lives in a cove in the Upper Swat Valley in my opinion.
The VA Issue is huge — and we need a place where the names are being taken and counted. Apparently there is a discharge petition now in circulation that would bring back this funding issue. 186 apparently have signed — It needs what? 216 ior so. Listing names and hitting the non-signers districts is important.
What would really be effective would be identifying some of the non-signer’s districts with National Guard units that are deployed — and then getting letters from them about :Supporting the Troops: back to the local community papers.
And yea, one might also make a point that between ten and twenty percent of returnees need some degree of THERAPY for mental trauma — and the waiting lines are too long. PTS untreated can easily lead to suicide — and the Bushie Boys and their â€Culture of Life†ought to find that of some interest.
to continue the Rove discussion, let me quote my buddy (well, I’m sure he’d like me if he ever met me) Krugman.
The good news is that the public seems ready to hear that message – readier than the media are to deliver it. Major media organizations still act as if only a small, left-wing fringe believes that we were misled into war, but that â€fringe†now comprises much if not most of the population.
In a Gallup poll taken in early April – that is, before the release of the Downing Street Memo – 50 percent of those polled agreed with the proposition that the administration â€deliberately misled the American public†about Iraq’s W.M.D. In a new Rasmussen poll, 49 percent said that Mr. Bush was more responsible for the war than Saddam Hussein, versus 44 percent who blamed Saddam.
Once the media catch up with the public, we’ll be able to start talking seriously about how to get out of Iraq.
Yo, Krugman. Right on.
Here’s my other buddy (whom I’ve never met), Froomkin:
Rove attacks out of weakness to shift to a strength. We can document Rove’s failings, but they don’t matter. He is speaking for Bush, and what makes Rove vulnerable is what makes Bush vulnerable: Iraq. And 9/11 rhetotic will not help either one. So 9/11 is Bush’s strength? Not lately according to the polls. That’s because Bush said Iraq is a repsonse to 9/11. If they were connected, Bush failed. If they were not, Bush lied.
They are vulnerable. Rove’s crap will not work. It’s not election time, it’s reality time/reckoning time for the American public and they smell rotting red meat coming from the WH.
Which might support my explanation for Rove’s mouthiness.
The Plame inquiry MAY be about to move, if SCOTUS announces on Monday that they’re not taking Miller’s and Cooper’s appeal on First Amendment excemptions. If John Dean is right and Fitzgerald is now working on a perjury charge, it would not take long to put together an indictment once Miller and Cooper talk. Presumably, if SCOTUS is not going to hear the case, then Karl knows about it–along with whomever else might get stuck in a perjury charge, if it’s not Rove.
So Rove trains wavering Republicans and the press to accuse Durbin and liberals generally of being traitors, knowing full well he (or some other senior WH official) may be branded a traitor within a week.
Then of course, maybe SCOTUS is going to hear the appeal, in which case Rove et al get a several month reprieve.
whether it’s Plame or general Iraq fatigue, they’re doing it because they have to. But the things driving the need to mouth off are the things that will bring them down.
Let’s assume this is aimed only at R’s. The Bush game plan is keep the R’s at 90% and screw the rest of the country. But my sense from talking to frineds amd colleagues in the NY/CT area is that Rove stepped into a shitstorm bigger than he thought. Yeah, it was the plan, but it may hit him harder than anticipated. IOW, I don’t know that R’s will bite this time in numbers necessary to keep Bush over 40.
And the fact he’d think to do this is another chapter in the Worst. President. Ever. bio.
I liked this quote in the original post:
â€Bush administration policies and votes in the House and Senate suggest that the GOP does not view the care of veterans as ’a continuing cost of war.’â€
This is a theme to hit. Bush/Rove see the troops as pawns and forget about them when they come home. They never calculate, much less plan for, the â€costs of warâ€. They don’t really care about the troops except as props, like they don’t care about children once they are born.
The Plame inquiry may be ready to move? Only a year and 49 weeks since Novak’s column? Couldn’t we wait until Bush’s third term? I mean we got a war on terror to fight and these terrible Democratic distractions are undermining our troops.
A new Rasmussen poll, 49 percent said that Mr. Bush was more responsible for the war than Saddam Hussein, versus 44 percent who blamed Saddam.
Anybody remember a guy named Osama something?
Yea, I remember Osama quite well — lives in a cove in the Upper Swat Valley in my opinion.
The VA Issue is huge — and we need a place where the names are being taken and counted. Apparently there is a discharge petition now in circulation that would bring back this funding issue. 186 apparently have signed — It needs what? 216 ior so. Listing names and hitting the non-signers districts is important.
What would really be effective would be identifying some of the non-signer’s districts with National Guard units that are deployed — and then getting letters from them about :Supporting the Troops: back to the local community papers.
And yea, one might also make a point that between ten and twenty percent of returnees need some degree of THERAPY for mental trauma — and the waiting lines are too long. PTS untreated can easily lead to suicide — and the Bushie Boys and their â€Culture of Life†ought to find that of some interest.